Mara
“Have you been able to reach Martha?” Lucian asked quietly, his voice softer than usual, as though even saying her name might shatter the fragile balance in the room.
I shook my head. “No.”
The word came out heavier than it should have, and for a moment, the silence between us deepened. I hadn’t expected it to be easy.
Martha wasn’t the type to disappear by accident. If even Darian, her own son, determined and relentless, had failed to reach her, then it was clear she wasn’t simply hiding. She had severed her ties completely, withdrawn not just from Vander but from all of us.
Darian had gone to Goldenpeak two months ago, full of hope, convinced he’d find her at the foundation she had poured herself into.
But she hadn’t been there. He returned with empty hands and a hollow expre
