Zaeryn sat with that for a moment. So, Athea had actually made this happen?
He was angry at her, and had been for a long time, and the anger came with its own gravity. It pulled everything she did toward the worst possible reading.
Whatever Athea decided about him, he was always going to suspect the motive. Always going to assume the strategist before the mother. It was easier that way. It meant he never had to be surprised by her, and never had to soften toward her, and never had to ask himself whether the distance between them was as fair as he'd decided it was.
But this. This was something he could not bend toward a worse reading no matter how he turned it.
He needed this. He needed it badly.
When his mind came back to the room, Lysara was still watching him, and he had the sense she had given him the moment on purpose.
"Who are they," he asked.
"The instructors," Lysara said.
"Yes."
