"Why bring her up now, Arinya?" he finally asked, his voice low and raspy. "You haven't asked about her in years. You... you stopped asking a long time ago, so why—?"
"Because Father mentioned her," I said, my voice steady, my eyes never leaving him. "He said she wanted to see me, but that I couldn't. He looked... broken," I briefly darted my eyes away and then brought them back to him. "Kaelor, I need to know why. What is going on?"
Kaelor's chest hitched. He lowered his gaze and didn't look up for a while. He just stood there, his shoulders hunched as if he were trying to make himself smaller.
And then he began to whisper to himself,
"Father shouldn't have said anything. He promised..."
"Promised what?" I pressed, stepping closer. I could feel Damar's protective heat behind me, but I kept my focus on my brother. "Kaelor, look at me and tell me what it is. Please."
