Malvoria exhaled slowly, already feeling the familiar headache forming the longer she stood in her mother's presence.
She knew.
She knew the moment she walked in and saw that wicked gleam in her mother's eyes that this was going to be a disaster.
And judging by the way Elysia looked ready to bolt, Malvoria had walked in exactly at the wrong moment.
"Don't listen to her," Malvoria said immediately, her voice gruff as she stepped forward, arms still firmly crossed. "She likes to say weird things."
Her mother sighed dramatically, placing a hand over her chest as if she had been deeply wounded. "Weird things?" she echoed, tilting her head in mock offense. Then, she smirked. "Just like your heart, hmm?"
Malvoria's jaw tightened.
Elysia's face flushed.
Malvoria's stupid traitorous heart slammed against her ribs in an act of pure betrayal.
"Mother."
"Yes, dear?"
Malvoria's fingers twitched. "Do not—"
