Awkward family dinners

Nefretiri

Sitting on the porch alone while everyone was in the dining hall was strange. The food I'd made sat between us, and Penelope watched us from her high chair, holding her toy and waving it. This was the first family dinner where it was just the three of us, and it felt tainted by everything going on. I hated that. It wasn't fair that we had to put our happiness on hold because of everyone else. It was suffocating, and I didn't care that I was supposed to be bigger than this.

'So, what are you going to do about it?' Vali asked, lying on her side. 'Fair and unfair aren't unchangeable.'

She was right, but what did I do? We'd discussed Web but hadn't come up with any answers. We'd done little more than run around in circles on the subject. Too much tension had nothing to do with us, and we'd lashed out at each other. That wasn't good for us, and I regretted how I'd acted. I could feel that Ivan felt the same way through the bond.