Leiah, the counselor I'd met yesterday, addressed me first. "Good morning, Reyin. It's time we get started, yes?" Advisors on the left wall readied their pages and ink as quietly as they could, but it sounded noisily in this silent room. Leiah paid them no mind, her attention entirely on me. "Now, Reyin, can you list—in exact order—at which the events took place after you were captured?"
Tipping my head once, I explained simply to the rows of counselors how I'd been relocated outside the kingdom for a while, traveling through unknown territories of the country. Typically soft-spoken, I projected my voice so the advisors could efficiently dictate my statement. I mentioned last that it was only after Ember had rescued me that I could return home.
"Is that all that happened?" a different counselor inquired, voice mingling with skepticism as though I withheld the truth.
