Chapter 154 There Was Never Cruelty

• [XENA]
• Aria pauses at the threshold, her hand tightening briefly against the doorframe. Her gaze flicks to me—quick, guilt evident in it—before she turns away from it, composing herself just enough to speak. “Seraphel,” she says, voice strained. Then she leaves, her steps quicker than before, the sound of them fading down the corridor, carrying the weight of tears she didn’t let fall in front of me.
• I straighten instinctively, my hands folding together in front of me as I brace myself. This is it. This is where it comes. The dismissal. The reminder of what I am. What I’m not. Get out. Stay away from him. Remember your place. You don’t belong here. You’re not worth the dirt beneath—