Selena.
The courtyard was quiet, but it did not feel peaceful.
People moved around us, servants and guards and pack members preparing for departure, but the air felt tight. Heavy. Like something was waiting to happen.
I stood beside the hall, my hands folded in front of me, trying to keep my breathing steady.
Then I heard my mother’s voice.
“Selena.”
I turned.
Both of my parents were walking toward me. My mother’s face was tight with emotion. My father’s jaw was set, his expression hard and wounded.
For a moment, I felt like a child again.
Small.
Uncertain.
Caught between fear and duty.
My mother reached me first.
“How could you do this?” she asked. Her voice shook. “How could you leave us like this?”
My father spoke next, his voice low and heavy. “Do you have any idea what t
