Xavier's POV
"How did she look?" Chieftain Eos had asked, her light eyes full of hope.
I knew what she wanted me to say: bruised, battered, mangled. They were all horrible descriptors, suggestions of something unthinkable happening to her elder sister, something horrid, but it wasn't the truth and I wasn't the type to lie just to make her feel better about her aching urge to raid the Oscillius estate.
So, instead, I stuck to the truth: "Sad."
"Sad?"
"Healthy," I admitted with a frown. "But sad."
There was a moment of hesitation.
I could see her mind working over my words, realizing how problematic they were in her quest to save her sister.
Cantia was unharmed, at least as far as was visible to me. Unharmed and unwilling to leave.
The Chieftain slammed her hands down on the de
