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“What were you thinking?” He asked. “What were you thinking, going off like that?”

“I wanted to go with Keir,” I replied.

“And he is dead now I suppose?”

I nodded, and bit my lip. “He fell in Grixos. I held him as he died.”

“I’m so sorry, Elara.” My father hugged me to him again. “I know you loved him deeply.”

“I did.”

He looked at me earnestly. “Are you alright?”

“Of course I’m not alright,” I replied in a harsher tone than I intended. “I’m a prisoner here, and Theron has me entering a death pit to try and earn back our kingdom.”

“Your mother?” He asked, clutching my hands. “You saved her?”

“Yes, I saved her. But Esther…” I trailed off as I remembered that terrible day.

“Oh Gods.” My father shook his head. “May Mokosh guide her safely to Nav.”

I swallowed hard, blinking. “What happened in Peyrus?” I glanced up at him when he didn’t answer immediately. “Is it all gone?”

My father sighed heavily, looking thoughtfully down at my hands. “The forces moved so quickly. We had no time to put up shields, nothing.” He patted one of my hands firmly, as though to comfort himself as much as to comfort me. “It was terrible. And quick.” His eyes were mournful as they met mine again. “It is all gone, sweetheart.”

My home was gone. My chest felt tight, and I fought the tight bodice of my dress to draw in a deep breath. “So, where has Mama been sent to?”

“I don’t know,” my father replied, and I was shocked to see tears in his eyes. “Theron won’t tell me.”

I laughed bitterly. “Yes, that is Theron’s specialty. Being ominous and cryptic.”

“Surely he isn’t going to send you back into that arena?”

“I don’t think there’s any telling what he’s going to do,” I said with a sigh. “But if it truly is all gone, and he’s still not letting me go, he has a plan, and I don’t think it’s one that will end favorably for me.”

My father clutched my shoulders. “Have no fear, sweetheart. I will negotiate your release. I’ve done it once before, and I will do it again.”

“Before?” I asked, meeting his gaze. “When you left Isambard to be destroyed?”

My father released my shoulders and took a half a step back. “Norahi has been at you already, hasn’t he?”

“I don’t need anyone to have beenat meto know what happened at the end of the Uprising, Father.”

He scoffed. “No, but I can tell a skewed version of events when I see one.”

“I wouldn’t know a skewed version of events at all since this is the first version I’ve ever even been privy to.”

My father pointed a finger in my face. “I protected you.”

“Youshelteredme!” I took a deep breath, steadying myself. “I am your heir. I was not prepared, in any way, for life as a queen. How could you do this to me?”

My father crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t know what that demon has told you-”

“The truth, it would appear, and he is the first one to have deemed me worthy of it.”

My father hissed through gritted teeth. “I did what I had to do to protect you, to secure your freedom.”

“My freedom?” I gestured around the room. “What freedom is that, father? What did your betrayal of Isambard win you? Veles still declared war on you, and you still lost your kingdom, and your daughter still ended up Theron’s captive.”