With Voren standing right there in front of her, Athaliah figured it had to be Sera who'd shown up this time. But then Bryan and Esperanza came into view, and every bit of the fury and crushing disappointment she'd been carrying around just melted away on the spot.
"Bryan, Espe!" She rushed straight over and pulled both of them into her arms at once.
"Aunt Liah, we missed you," Bryan and Espe chorused together, their little voices full of pure relief.
Warmth flooded through Athaliah's chest as she scooped them both up and held them tight. Her eyes drifted past them a second later and landed on the red-haired woman standing off to the side.
"Jasmine."
She barely got the name out before the one person she'd been aching to see pushed his way through everyone standing between them.
Athaliah's eyes lit up the second she spotted him. "Corvine!"
