Aria nodded absently, her gaze still fixed on the door as if she could will her brother to return and explain himself. Her tears had frozen on her cheeks, leaving tracks of ice that would probably leave marks.
"Damn it all!" Trevor adjusted his glasses with shaking hands, the simple gesture betraying the depth of his terror.
"Had I known... This changes everything. There's a reason he's here—it's tied to Kaelric's bid for Emperor. Interfere with that, and we're not just crossing a line, we're signing our own death warrants with golden ink."
Aria shot to her feet with such violence that her chair toppled backward, hitting the floor with a crash that seemed to echo through the frozen room. "He cares more for that street rat than his own sister!"
