So, she turned to her brother.
"I'd be a hypocrite if I said that I'd have acted any differently from Solus under those circumstances. Her life was at risk, and without you, she had no other choice but to preserve her life and mories.
"You, instead, shoved those people inside the Bleed in cold blood!" Tista pointed her finger at Lith. "You knew exactly what it was and what it would have done to those Awakened, yet you didn't think twice about using the Bleed.
"You've seen the horrors that Forbidden Magic has unleashed on Mogar and the suffering it brings, yet you used it yourself."
"Hi, I'm Lith Verhen, and I'm a murderer." The only thing Tista saw in his eyes was mild annoyance, like soone who has to explain common sense to a little child. "I've killed ever since I was six years old, Tista.
"I started by killing the n sent by Baronet Trahan to force to give up on my apprenticeship with Nana after they threatened to kill our family. After that day, I systematically eliminated anyone who so much as plotted against any of you.
"Did you really expect not to do the sa for Solus?" He asked, yet didn't wait for an answer. "Also, those I put inside the Bleed weren't people. They lost that title when they tried to kidnap Mom and blackmail .
"What do you think they were going to do with her? Even if they let her go after they got what they wanted, what do you think would have happened? Everyone would have treated the magicless mbers of our family as bargaining chips.
"Aran, Mom, and Rena would have spent the rest of their lives in fear, prisoners of their own hos. Would you still ask these questions and advocate for those Awakened's lives if they just returned Mom's corpse, afraid that she might tell us sothing that could identify them?
"Or would you do anything, even use Forbidden Magic, to kill those bastards and have Mom back?"
Tista took a step back, the words hitting her like a slap to the face. The shock and fear Elina had endured during the kidnapping attempt were still vivid in her mind. The Guardians' intervention had scared Elina out of her wits, but it hadn't touched a hair on her head.
'The Awakened would have done much worse than scaring Mom. Even if they didn't, had they gotten their ransom, it was just a matter of ti until another kidnapper hurt her or worse.' Tista couldn't stop hearing Elina's cries and seeing her trembling in fear for weeks after the failed kidnapping attempt.
Once again, she said nothing and turned toward the person she hadn't expected to find there, and who was supposed to be as outraged as her.
"Did you know about this, Kami?" Tista asked. "Did you know what Lith did?"
"Yes." Kamila nodded. "After we married, Lith promised there would be no more secrets between us. He upheld his word and told about the Bleed after rescuing Solus. I knew what would happen to those Awakened long before he sacrificed them to the Bleed.
"And you're okay with that?" Tista was flabbergasted.
"I'm not going to lie, I would have probably reacted like you if I didn't have Elysia already." Kamila replied.
"What does she have to do with this?"
"She has everything to do with this." Kamila said. "By then, I was already a mother, and I know exactly how Ripha felt. How she feels right now. Elysia has yet to turn one, but she beca one of the most important people in my life right after I found out I was pregnant.
"Lith and I gave her a na, we talked to her every day, and spent countless hours imagining what she would look like and what kind of person she would grow into. We worried about how she would fare at the academy and how to have the talk with her before she ca into this world.
"Elysia is still a baby, but she is already a young woman and the mother of my grandchildren to . She is my baby! Blood of my blood, and if anyone touches her, there's nothing that I wouldn't do to save her!
"I'd use Forbidden Magic, a cursed object, or even sell my soul to a mad Guardian if there was one chance in a million it worked!" Kamila's voice rose into a snarl as silvery flas wreathed her.
"Ask that sa question to any parent on Mogar. Ask Raaz and Elina if you want. I'm willing to bet everything I have that if faced with the choice between losing one of their children and using Forbidden Magic on the bastards who hurt them, your parents wouldn't hesitate for one second."
Tista didn't need to ask. She already knew the answer.
Before she Awakened, back when she was still Nana's apprentice, Raaz and Elina had always protected her, even though Tista had magic powers and they did not.
In those rare occasions when words weren't enough, and things got physical, Raaz showed no rcy. Elina took the first deadly weapon she found and used it with extre prejudice.
Nobody had died in the past, but only because either Nana intervened or the people of Lutia stepped in.
Yet she still couldn't understand why she seed to be the only person in the room to have morals. How the value of human life and all the noble things Tista had always believed in seed to be irrelevant to the others.
Kamila noticed Tista's distress and Warped Surin to the tower, putting the baby girl in Tista's arms. Surin wasn't smart enough to understand what they were saying and was unfazed by the sudden change in scenery.
She just cooed and smiled at Tista the mont she recognized her.
"Now, please imagine soone hurt your little sister." Kamila said. "Imagine her body getting colder, and regular magic can't save her. It doesn't matter why her attackers did what they did, only that Surin is dying because of them.
"What would you do?"
As the baby girl played with Tista's hair and babbled words that made no sense to her, reality blurred in front of Tista's eyes.
Yet instead of Surin, she rembered how she had felt after seeing her father's mangled figure after Orpal had tortured him in the Hogum Mansion. Tista had almost forgotten about the fury she had experienced that day, but the fury was still there.
She clenched her teeth in anger, wishing to have her criminal brother in her hands to make him pay. Then, Raaz's image was replaced by a dying Surin, and fury turned into hatred and desperation.
Even though it was all in her head, Tista felt the love she had for her little sister pushing her to do the unthinkable. She could now see Surin's smile again, she could feel her little fingers pulling at her hair, and Tista knew there was nothing she wouldn't do to protect her.
Tista said nothing, but her expression spoke volus. It was a mix of sorrow and cold determination. In her mind, she had already killed many people, and more died by the second.
"Dida?" Surin asked, confused by the tears streaking down her sister's face.
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