Chapter 13 A Forbidden Request

• I sit at the dining room table, my eyes fixed on the bowl of oatmeal and fruit before me. The placement mat beneath it feels foreign, a reminder that this isn't my home. I'm trying to be patient, waiting for Efrem to join me—as he always does at meal time—but this time, when I walked into the dining room just a few moments ago, he wasn't here.
• It's odd. He's usually here before I am.
• “He won't be joining you this morning,” Tavin says after a minute, my eyes snapping up to look at him. He has been standing in the corner of the room since he escorted me from my bedroom to here. “He's… preoccupied…” his voice trails off.