The air was still thick with the strange heaviness that Mara’s outburst had left behind. Even after she finally stood and stumbled away, face blotchy with tears and shame, I stood there for a while, watching her retreating figure with an ache in her chest.
Part of me wanted to believe Mara had been genuine, that the remorse had been real. But something about it all didn’t sit right. Not completely.
Still, this wasn’t the time for emotional puzzles. I exhaled and shook my head.
Right. Beta Luca. The letter.
Then I turned and hurried back to Beta Luca.
I found Beta Luca where i had left him, seated on a large tree stump beneath the partial shade of the old sparring rings.
He was watching me approach with that same calm but unreadable expression he always wore when his mind was racing
