Shady

Jerica glanced over at him, then away again, surprised that he hadn’t argued back at her. Hadn’t gotten defensive. She wasn’t sure where to go from here. She buried her ...

“Well you’re an emotional grown man,” she said, looking over at him. She’d been trying to be nice. It was his own fault that he explicitly asked her to be ...

She stared at him for a moment, then looked away, contemplating. “Depends. Are you gonna cry about it and get me in trouble with Derik for ‘being mean’ or whatever?”

She gave him the side-eye. “What?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “Just don’t be a dick about it is all.”

Jerica nodded thoughtfully, considering it for a moment. “Well… I dunno. I’m not gonna tell you how to parent or whatever. I just know if Ky thinks you thinks she’s ...

“Mm.” Jerica was quiet for a moment. “…Look, I don’t think either of us blame you for trusting your brother over us. You’ve had like four decades together or whatever ...

“But not Ash?” Jerica challenged, raising an eyebrow. “Ky must prove she’s telling the truth but you trust your brother implicitly? … you see my point?”

“I just think you need to be honest with yourself and with her.” She shrugged. “Like, genuinely. If Ky said she spoke to Haelar in a dream, and you send ...

“I don’t believe you won’t, to be honest,” Jerica said, glancing at him again. “And I don’t think she does, either. No.”

“There it is.” Jerica rolled her eyes.

Jerica glanced over at him, not sure how to respond. “I mean… yeah. Of course. But no one in that Keep seems to think so.”

Sulking. She barely stopped herself from correcting him. Instead she hummed for a moment then glanced away. “I doubt she’d be honest with you about that part, what with him ...

“Cause he was being all annoying about it.” She shrugged. “I dunno. Ky wouldn’t really tell me what was up but you didn’t notice how cold she was to him ...

“Yeah, I guess.” Jerica shrugged. “I dunno. Ky told me not to talk to him about it so I didn’t… much.”