"Yes, I've seen Thalia and Gregor. Brother Arkai said it was too late to save them when he arrived," Anton recounted with a hollow voice, full of grief, deepening his frailty. He looked between his wife and son, genuinely bewildered. "But why were we even that far from home…? In the middle of the night, in the snow…"
Arzhen's face remained stoic. Carefully concerned. He didn't react much. Elara, beside him, did the same, her beautiful features helplessly sorrowful. They exchanged a glance briefly and sighed in unison.
"We… we aren't sure, my love," Elara whispered in distress. "One moment you were resting in your chamber, and the next… you were gone, deep into the night. We searched everywhere. The grounds, the forests… we couldn't…"
