ELARA POV:
I didn't sleep after Kai left. Just sat in my office staring at the documents he'd given me, reading the same words over and over like maybe this time they'd say something different. Like maybe this time my mother's name wouldn't have "Eliminated" written in red ink beside it.
The sun was rising when Elder Iris knocked on my door. I'd been expecting her. Somehow I knew she'd come. That she'd have answers to questions I was too afraid to ask.
"You've been up all night." She entered without waiting for permission, moving with that ageless grace she always had. "Reading Theodore's research."
"Did you know?" My voice was raw from not using it for hours. "Did you know my parents were murdered by the Council? That everything I was told was a lie?"
"Yes." No hesitation. No apology
