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That last fight with her parents had been so bad. The memory of it was still dreadfully vivid in her mind. Some of the things she’d said...

And yeah, her parents had said some horrible things, too. Particularly her mother. And yeah, Gema certainly didn’t regret everything that she had said. There’d been several years’ worth of cathartic release from that conversation.

But there was one thing she felt guilty about above all the rest.

“I wish you were dead! I wish you and your bitch sister had been killed along with everyone else that day!”

It was painful even to think about. Strict as he might’ve been with her, Papa hadn’t deserved that. Nor had Aunt Joana.

The worst thing, though, was that Papa hadn’t even gotten mad.

He’d just looked hurt.

That expression on his face. She’d never seen it before.

In the moment, worked up as she was, she’d actually been happy about that reaction. She’d intentionally said the most hurtful thing that she could think of, after all. And she’d succeeded. Achieved her goal.

Then her mother immediately slapped the shit out of her and yelled at her to get out of the house.

It wasn’t until later, after she’d left and started to calm down, that she began to feel regret.

Now, all these years later, calling it regret would have been an understatement. That expression on her father’s face haunted her.

Especially lately.

News of the turmoil in Sair had done nothing to soothe her heart. And then the greater war, as well?

She’d actually managed to get reassigned to Sair after the war broke out, working as a scout, but that hadn’t lasted long. The call came down that Frederick was in need of agents with anti-psychic training, and so she answered.

There hadn’t been anything to see in Sair, anyway. She’d been too late. She visited the family estate in Aguarey, but there was no one there. Not even the staff had remained behind. Good thing, too, since the city had turned into a battlefield.

Now she didn’t even know if that house would still be there when she returned.

If she returned.

So she’d decided to throw herself into her work. Fully commit to the cause. Few were more just than this one, after all. This war needed fighting. And its warriors needed information, resources, and allies. She intended to do her part and then some.