Chapter Sixty-One ▏The Parting

⇼ A L I S T A I R ⇼

“Are you okay?” I ask Elora, tapping her shoulder to get her attention. She’s sitting on a bench inside the arena, staring at the fighting area even though the last fight has long been over. “Elora?”

She flinches, and only then does she snap out of it. “Oh, Alistair!” With a quivering smile, she stands up and offers her hand. “Let’s go?”

“Okay,” I say a little uncertainly, carefully watching her face, which is scrunched up in a worried expression. “Everything good?”

Elora nods, but once we arrive at my quarters underground, she sits down on the bed and says, “Hendrik asked me how I will face my Father when the time comes.”

“Oh,” is all I can say.

I have to admit: I am taken aback by the question. For a moment I just stand there by the door silently, thinking of how to phrase what’s been on my mind and what we ha