Chapter 110

Mara's POV

My mother arrived with Soren the following afternoon. She came through the refuge door carrying a satchel of books and the expression she wore when she had already decided the room was organized badly. She embraced me before criticizing the lamp placement, even though it was in the correct order.

For a few minutes I let myself be her daughter. Her arms felt real and warm and unconnected to any Founder text. Then she stepped back and saw the bruise on my cheek from the roof.

“You climbed in that wind?”

“I was careful.”

“That sentence has survived generations without once becoming evidence.”

I almost laughed. The mark was minor; the command Ronan had used wasn't. I told her what happened, including the part where I went onto the roof against h