"Ethan, how could you have follow me into the village? I told you it wasn't safe. I warned you. What if something had happened to you today!?"
Alia's voice was raised as she reprimanded Ethan for following her into the village despite her explicit instructions not to.
While she was primarily furious with him, what really concerned her was the thought of what could have happened to him had he been caught by the Queen's men.
Ethan, however, remained resolute. His thoughts weren't focused on her words, but were consumed by a storm of questions. Many of these questions he had already answered himself, yet he yearned to hear them from Alia's lips.
"Who were those men, and what did they want with those boys?" Ethan asked, his gaze locked onto his mother's eyes. He refused to miss any hint of emotion she might attempt to conceal.
Alia hesitated, taken aback by his question.
