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“Good,” I say, not giving her more.“Is there something you wanted?”

She folds her hands in front of her, her posture the epitome of serenity and innocence.“It’s time.I’m sending the humans home.”She faces Kian.“Your father and our advisors agreed it’s best if they don’t remember Zerra.”

“You want me to erase those memories,” Kian says.

Not deeming it necessary to confirm the statement, she addresses me.“It’s time for Elsie too.”

Time for Elsie to pay her adoptive parents a visit.

Without another word, she turns around and leaves through the portal she left open.

Tarix glances at a few small pieces of glass that remained forgotten on the floor when I repaired the windows I’d broken.His gaze flits between the shards and my face as he hurries after my mother.

When I look at Kian, he’s assessing me.

“What?”I snap.

“How much are you going to tell her parents?”

“You mean the people who raised her.”

“Yes.”He continues with the same monotonous intonation, “Her parents.”

“Just what they need to know.”

“That their daughter is a powerful Alit mated to a prince and now living on Zerra?”

I raise a brow.“And?”

“That’s more or less everything they were never supposed to know.”

“And?”I repeat.

“Are you sure in doing that you’re not signing their death sentence?”

I curl my fingers into fists.“If anyone touches them, they touch me.”

He pats my shoulder.“Just make sure everyone knows that.”He heads for the archway and pauses at the threshold.“You coming?I thought you’d be excited for a chance to see Earth.”

I throw him a crude sign, which only makes him chuckle.

When Kian walks into the hallway, I go after him.Like all Alit children, I’d been curious about Earth when I was younger.But after Elsie’s alleged death, my curiosity diminished.I lost interest in just about everything.It took all my energy to cling to sanity and be the ruler Zerra needs.Not a day went by that I didn’t fight the numbness that had been steadily twisting around my soul like a vine, choking off the emotions I had left.

But now I feel again, and I want to know everything, especially if it concerns Elsie.I want to see the home in which she grew up and meet her adoptive parents.And that’s exactly what I will do shortly.

I’m only a few stairs and a portal away from Earth, but before I go, there’s something I need to do.

Catching up with Kian, I order, “You’re going to give me the ability to speak English.”

Chapter19

Elsie

Eucabeth clings to me.“No.”Her whisper is frantic.“I don’t want my memory wiped.”

The king, the queen, Kian, Aruan, and the group of ex-slaves look on with expressions varying from concern to unease.The king’s narrow-eyed scrutiny worries me the most.Thankfully, Vitai hasn’t come to see the humans off.His presence would’ve only made the situation worse for Eucabeth.

I grip her shoulders and try to reason with her, keeping my voice down.“I know why you’re fighting so hard against the inevitable, but there’s no other way.”