But the geopolitical mystery of the Nacht family drama would have to wait.
Right now, her father was suffocating.
Duke Kaelus von Nacht was standing behind his desk. The terrifying Reaper of the North looked as though he had been struck by lightning.
His face was drained of color, his violet eyes wide, haunted, and completely paralyzed by the ghosts of his past. He wasn't looking at the Uncle.
He was staring at Elara and Caspian, his chest rising and falling in shallow, frantic breaths, trapped in the emotional ice of fifteen years ago.
He was drowning.
Seraphina didn't care about the siblings' secret sorrow right now.
She didn't care about the Uncle's greed.
Her primary directive was the emotional preservation of her grumpy hedgehog.
She had to maintain her swag, break the tension, and remind Kaelus exactly who he was, and more importantly, who she was.
***
Seraphina ignored the gaping, sputtering Uncle.
She ignored the flinching siblings.
