Liora froze.
His words hit like a slap, louder than all her screams combined.
"You speak of her like you've earned the right to call her yours," Zeir said, each word laced with venom. "Tell me, Liora, where was your maternal instinct when you sealed her fate before she was even old enough to walk? When you decided she would marry for power… did she feel like your child then?"
She flinched from his words, they were sharper than a two-edged sword.
"Don't act like you suddenly care now that she's slipped through your fingers."
"I did what I had to!" Liora shouted, stepping forward, her voice rising again. "I did what any mother in my shoes would have done." She sounded like she was trying to convince herself.
Zeir scoffed, he turned around and walked back to his throne, but he stopped midway when he heard her speak.
"I just don't want her to end up like Princess Anastasia." Liora's words were barely a whisper but they echoed through the wall.
