Page 17 of Alan

That was the reason why I’d jumped to the conclusion of their involvement.

Why I distrusted them so intensely.

Why I questioned whether they’d had anything to do with our being invaded.

No matter, though, because a leader did not allow those he led to walk headlong into danger without doing everything he could to ensure things did not take a turn for the worst.

I didn’t agree that we ought to look for either Emelie or Keira, but I didn’t believe they ought to go without me.

They were waiting in the common room for me, all of the fun of the day having long since been crushed into silence. The television was no longer on, no more games. Nothing more than a group of people seated around the place, everyone looking either forlorn or frustrated.

Tamhas’s head snapped up the moment I entered.

“All right,” I shrugged. “We had better get started on a plan.”

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