Shady

She dipped her head. She didn’t want to let herself hope. You couldn’t be disappointed if you didn’t have your hopes up in the first place. But… it was hard ...

Ky smiled a little and turned back to Tomhas. “North of Tomorrow.”

“But… before he could hurt my friends?” She asked anxiously. “Or… hurt my township? I still care about everyone there very much…”

“That…” Ky subconsciously laid an arm over her abdomen. She wanted kids, but not now . She wasn’t anywhere near ready to be a mother. Especially not with a fifteen ...

Goddamn it. Why did she blunder into this a second time? She needed to make sure she didn’t breathe a word of this around Tomhas, lest half the Northern Realm ...

“Thank you,” she murmured, dipping her head to her, then looked back at Tomhas. “They told me how they met when we were talking. I didn’t know it before now. ...

“Oh.” Her eyes widened a little. “I… um… that’s very kind of you… but… um…” she said carefully. “That… I wouldn’t want for you to have to interfere, ma’am. That… ...

Ky sighed, looking between them bewilderedly. How did she always end up in the middle of things like this? “But I’m telling the truth…”

“Oh.” She hesitated, not sure what that meant. “And… you want… to reopen communication with him now?” Why?

“No,” she argued, with both of them at once. But looked at Tomhas first. “You believed me about Rönn and the trolls but you won’t believe me about this?” She ...

Ky glanced over at her. “… ma’am?”

“They’re right there ,” she insisted, gesturing at them. “Why would I imagine them, of all people, if I was just crazy?”

“Yes ma’am.” She nodded. “He took all of us that were eleven to fifteen… Talia was only eleven.” She cringed was well. And Ky had utterly failed to protect her, ...

“What?” She looked between them bewilderedly, before her gaze landed back on Tomhas. “You can’t see them?”

She smiled a little at that, amused at the irony of her asking permission to press for information. Seemed like an oxymoron. “It’s just…” she sobered. “We all got taken ...