The Mark

"Of course, you don't remember," Father chimed in. Apparently, my mom opened the channel for him, and he could listen to our inner conversation. "When you were younger, you continuously sneaked into the mutts' village. You even befriended some of those animals and claimed they were good people. Eventually, you tried to drag Alexei down that path with you. As if you have forgotten what they did to us, what they did to your mother, brother, and sisters!"

"But those were not these people! You can't put the same label on the whole population just because of their origin, just because of the crimes of a few individuals. That is so wrong." I argued.

"Do you see that, Greta? She's falling into her old habits. That is why I tried to keep her away from that village or gold mines. But you insisted on giving her more responsibility. You said she was ready, and look at the consequences! She's an adult now. We can't change her mind anymore."

I froze with my thoughts in turmoil as the weight of the