Valeria stood still, her grip loose on her sword.
'Just what?'
Her eyes lingered on the young siblings, Riken and Sena, standing poised to strike, their expressions laced with pain so deep it seemed to weigh down their every movement. She could feel it as though it were her own—their sorrow, their fury, raw and uncontained, directed entirely at the man before them.
Her chest tightened, almost aching, as she took in the way they looked at the Whisperer, faces contorted with hatred far too vast for children to bear.
'How could they be so young… and yet look at him that way?' she thought, her gaze shifting to Lucavion. And when she saw him, her breath caught.
