LADY Aurora remained silent the entire time they were in the dungeon cell. Thalia still struggled to accept that the woman before them was an Elf, much less one who might share a connection with Leaf. She shifted her gaze to him. Leaf now sat across from Lady Aurora, and the sharp resemblance between them, those angular features, the otherworldly stillness, only strengthened the likelihood that they were of the same race.
“What is your intention in attempting to assassinate the Emperor?” Leaf asked, his voice steady.
Lady Aurora did not answer. Yet her piercing glare drifted past him and settled on Kallixto. Thalia recognized that look, eyes drowning in old grudges, burdened with a hatred so deep that even forgiveness hardly penetrated to her soul.
“Lady Aurora,” Leaf continued, leanin
