"He took you away from me."
The emperor's voice was filled with quiet fury. The kind that results from seething endlessly over a single event, like a festering wound.
But Dash wasn't the one at fault.
There were a lot of things that were his fault--a lot of things that no apology could ever be enough for--but at that time, all he had done was extended his hand. Kel was the one who chose to accept it.
"Dash was just trying to protect me," Kel insisted firmly, her own fiery gaze burning against the emperor's.
"Yeah?" the emperor lowered his voice. "Is that why he hid you away in some obscure village, making himself the only person you could rely on?"
"He only did that so you couldn't find me!" Kel retorted, instinctively repeating the same explanation she'd heard from Dash over and over again.
