A Mother's Fear

As Danial’s friends continued to chatter around him, his world began to blur. Their voices faded into a distant hum, mere background noise to the storm raging inside his head. His eyes locked onto the doorway, where Sophie stood—the moment stretched, his thoughts spiraling into a deep, uncontrollable vortex of worry and uncertainty.

What do I say to her? Danial thought, his mind racing. About Dad? About this academy? About everything that happened?

His breath quickened. He hadn’t even come to terms with his father’s sudden reappearance, the battle with the Curse King, the injuries, or the secrets. And now, here stood his mother, her face pale, eyes wide with worry. She seemed as out of place in this strange world as he felt when he first arrived.

How can I explain all of this? The weight of the truth, buried under layers of half-lies and omissions, crushed him. He feared what would happen if he exposed everything, yet the web he had spun around himself was growing too tangled to maint