"Oho, you're looking better, little prince," the elf drawled, voice thick with amusement.
His eyes flicked past Keiser toward the temple's interior, where the congregation sat bowed in their silent prayer. A sharp grimace twisted his face. "Ugh. Do they even know what they're humming? Elven nursery rhymes, of all things. About pixies gnawing on human flesh." He clicked his tongue. "Foolish humans."
The words cut through Keiser's guarded stillness, forcing him to turn his head. Only then did he truly listen. Beneath the hush of the mass, the sound rose faintly, an old melody, soft and unbroken, drifting through the temple like the low murmur of a lullaby.
It didn't sound as grim as the elf described. No shrillness, no horror. Instead, it pulled at him in a way he couldn't name, strange, lulling, heavy. His stomach clenched before his mind caught up, and then the truth hit him like ice water down his spine.
Hunger.
