Sellene stiffened like a string pulled tight the moment she saw her father.
The Chairman walked calmly, finally stopping at the edge of the cracked ground. He was standing opposite Cail and Sellene. He opened his mouth... his voice was soft, but it reached everyone.
"Sellene."
Sellene flinched, but she didn't move. She hid deeper behind Cail.
"Come back. Now."
The moment she heard that, something inside her snapped. She looked at the Tyrant and the Chairman. She screamed, "I'M NOT GOING!"
The Chairman looked at her coldly. "Your state now. This is what you've become just an hour after leaving my protection. Your ability? Drained. Your manners? Gone. You even learned to talk back to your father like that."
Her hands trembled, but she didn't step away from Cail. Deep down, this was the first time she realized that she had been holding a grudge for a long time. Her mother's death, her brother going missing... everything came gushing out.
