Chapter 37. You Can't Hurt Me

They had walked in silence for the entire trek to a different quarter from the one Nezetta had been put in originally.

Naomi was the one who finally broke the suffocating quietness.

"Do you have to do this? Why can't your father see reason?"

Daegal turned to her briefly. "He does not want to. As she said, he is a coward."

With a mumble that Naomi couldn't hear, he said, "Maybe I am, as well."

Smiling ruefully, he ushered both women into the room.

"The rest is up to you, Lolo Nerina. I'll see to all the guests to assure them that all is well even though it is not."

With that, he turned and left the room with his cloak flowing behind him.

Silence.

Grief. Loss. Abandonment.

Nezetta broke the awkward silence.

"Why do you look at me as if you do not know who you're speaking to anymore?"

"Because." Naomi shrugged.

"You know why, Nezetta. Do me a favor and don't lie to me right now. Why did you do all of that?"

"I