Carina

Evaline was quiet for another moment, fathering her courage to ask her next question. "Biryn is your uncle. He's your family," she said slowly. "Do you love him?"

So Jerica couldn't run away. She was trapped, blackmailed into staying or else other people -- perhaps her loved ones -- would suffer in her absence. "Are you? Are you ...

"Maybe you have to run away to find your true worth," Evaline said, still staring straight ahead.

"...And do you believe that?" Evaline asked.

Evaline was quiet for a moment, staring straight ahead and focusing on the skyline. "Maybe the pain he inflicted on you is what makes you stronger," Evaline said calmly. "Maybe ...

"Why?" Evaline asked. "Why does he hurt you?"

Okay, so Levi was Jerica's uncle, and Biryn was the head advisor who hurt her. Evaline had no context to who these people were, but she filed that information in ...

"So... family?" Evaline asked for confirmation.

Evaline was quiet for a moment. "Who is he to you?" she asked.

Evaline slightly turned her head to look at her out of the corner of her eye. "And are you? Are you used to it?" she asked.

Evaline took a heavy deep breath, forcing down the negativity and the anxiety since she didn't want to lash out to Jerica. By the time Jerica was about to pass ...

Evaline kept briskly walking ahead, but when she glanced back and saw that Jerica was trailing behind and losing distance, she abruptly stopped and whirled around, oozing out the pent-up ...

"Okay, whatever, " Evaline said with her voice at the edges of annoyance, walking a little faster. Just a minute ago she was trying to convince Jerica not to stab ...

"The trivialities aren't important," Evaline said, walking forward to continue their pace, glancing back to make sure Jerica was following. "We don't know where they even came from. Like I ...

"Not necessarily," Evaline said quickly. "We don't know that. We don't know anything."