"My poor baby… how much of this have you been carrying all by yourself?"
Her voice was soft. Unbearably sad. He didn't understand. He'd anticipated many reactions. Anger. Disbelief. He'd even expected some of them to look at him with horror.
Yet Anastasia and Grace also stepped forward, silently joining the embrace.
Attimax and Avalon had both turned away, fists clenched and jaws tight. Aurora and Caldor couldn't meet his eyes. Ember simply stared at him, tears flowing freely down her face. So did his grandmother, Freya. Holding her close, Magnus looked at Atticus with an indescribably complicated expression.
His sister Freya wasn't sure how to react, only staring at him in silence. Ozeroth's eyes were dark, yet he never looked away. Even Whisker watched him with a wry smile.
Even Anorah, who had been avoiding his gaze all this while, now had tears streaming down her face.
All of them. His family. They all looked at him with the same emotion.
Sadness.
