Ilse looked at the three hundred Prismerions kneeling before her and couldn't help but feel her heartstrings tugged.
How long had it been since she felt such emotion? She couldn't remember.
Ilse focused her gaze on Selene and asked, "Child, how have you all been?" The words flowed naturally, though with some difficulty, like a mother seeking to know the well-being of her children after years of separation.
Selene raised her head and met Ilse's eyes. She wanted to speak of what had transpired since they passed through the stellar gate—how they had thought she had abandoned them, unaware that she had been secretly protecting them. She wanted to recount how they had foolishly fallen victim to the Manmade gods' plots, triggering the fall of Paradise and her death, and how they had been imprisoned with White Flame for thousands of years.
