"Because... because what you are suggesting is wrong," I said, my voice shaking. "She deserves... you are going too far."
Alaric leaned back in his chair, a mocking smile playing at his lips. "Am I? Or am I just speaking a truth you did not want to hear?"
"This isn't about me," I muttered quickly. "This is about her. About what is right."
"Is it? Because from where I sit, this seems very much about you."
I stared at him, my jaw clenched tight.
At that moment, it hit me that he knew.
He had known all along.
Since the beginning. Since we were children. Since the day I first saw Ravena running through the palace gardens, laughing with her mother.
I had been fifteen years old, and she had been nine. And in that second, something inside me had changed.
I had made a promise to her mothe
