Zorath shifted uncomfortably, glancing away from his mother before speaking. "You know Eyrx is a casted," he muttered, his voice lacking its usual confidence. "There's no way he could have stayed in the palace with the females."
His eyes flickered to Thalina, but he quickly looked away, clearly avoiding her gaze. "The females were scared of him," he continued, his tone lowering, almost apologetically. "They requested him out."
Thalina's brow furrowed as she listened. Something felt off. The words sounded reasonable, but there was an undeniable hint of dishonesty in Zorath's voice.
It wasn't just the way he said it, but the subtle tension in his shoulders. Thalina didn't press, though. She turned her attention to Zorath's mother, who had remained eerily silent up until now.
Her expression shifted, a flicker of something sharp passing through her eyes. "Casted..." she repeated softly, the word hanging in the air like a blade.
