***
Adaria was an empty shell at the funeral. She listened to the High Priest as he offered the sermon over her father’s corpse, but his words flew over her head. They were as meaningless as the wind, and when she looked at his old, wrinkled face, she wondered if the man had ever truly known her father.
Of course he hadn’t. They only ever saw each other when her father came to the chapel to pray, or when he would summon the High Priest to the castle. And yet he spoke of King Nazar as though he was his closest friend, and he talked about his kindness, and willingness to sacrifice for the sake of others. He talked about the struggles of his early days on the throne, during the days when the Lycans were said to roam the world. None of it was a lie, of course, but there was something insinc
