Tamar’s strong hand tightened into a solid ball, her knuckles whitening with the intensity of her protective anger.
Without another mont’s hesitation, she swung her fist forward in a swift, powerful strike that connected directly with Sara’s cheek, the impact sending visible shockwaves rippling through the charged atmosphere of the vine-woven hall.
Sara gritted her teeth tightly together, the sharp sting blooming across her face as she glared back with fierce defiance burning in her eyes.
She raised her own hand almost instinctively, preparing to return the blow with equal force, but her gaze suddenly shifted sideways toward Elara.
There, the queen sat being gently comforted by Marina’s steady presence, her shoulders still trembling from the deep emotional pain of having lost their village’s one and only man—the precious Benjamin who ant so much to every sister in the Spire.
"What? Are you not going to strike back?" Tamar asked her directly, her voice carrying a challenging yet underlying note of shared understanding. "...We... all love Benjamin with the sa depth of passion, and even if what mother did was questionable in hindsight... it is sothing any one of us would have done too, had we stood in her place under similar circumstances."
Hearing those words spoken so plainly, Elara whispered Tamar’s na softly under her breath, fresh tears slipping down her cheeks in even greater abundance as the weight of familial loyalty washed over her.
Tamar raised her hand once more, forming another tight fist high in the air, fully prepared to deliver a second blow.
This ti, however, Sara relaxed her stance noticeably, bracing herself and making it clear she was ready to accept whatever ca without resistance.
And then...
TAP.
Tamar’s fist made contact, but only in the gentlest, softest touch imaginable against Sara’s already reddened cheek;
There was no real force behind it at all, rely a light brush that carried far more affection than aggression.
"Goodness, act like a responsible elder already," Tamar said, a light blush creeping across her dark cheeks as she quickly looked away, trying to hide her embarrassnt. "Stupid older sister..."
""...Eh?""
Elara and Sara muttered almost simultaneously, their heads tilting upward and their eyes widening in surprise as they both turned their full attention toward Tamar.
Then, almost in unison, their gazes swept across the other figures standing nearby—taking in the calm and knowing expressions of Heka, Martha, and little Lulu.
Heka smiled warmly, one elegant blonde eyebrow arching upward in mild amusent. "Did you honestly think we would not have discovered the truth long ago?"
Martha placed one hand confidently on her hip, her posture radiating playful confidence.
"We only played along with the secrecy because the two of you were being so silent and careful about it. Sara is our elder sister, after all... We have known the entire truth for so decades now."
"S... Sorry we refused to say sothing earlier," Lulu’s small, gentle voice entered the conversation softly, carrying a note of sincere apology. "However, we all are a family here in Verdant Spire. We should not fight like this among ourselves, please. It only brings more pain when we need unity the most."
Sara’s face held genuine surprise as she looked from one younger sister to the next, the realization sinking in deeply.
She then bent her head downward a little, her shoulders losing so of their earlier rigid tension.
"I... I am sorry for my outburst," she admitted openly, her voice carrying honest regret. "I could have addressed the entire matter much more calmly, but I was simply too enraged in that mont to think clearly. My Queen... I an, mother, please forgive for raising my voice against you like that in front of everyone."
Elara’s entire face brightened noticeably at the sound of Sara calling her "mother" once again after so long, a warm spark of joy flashing in her silver-grey eyes.
Yet almost imdiately, her expression twisted with overwhelming emotion, and she began to cry anew, tears flowing even more freely than before.
"What happened?" Sara asked, her voice filled with shock that mirrored the confusion spreading among the other Amazons present in the hall. "I have already apologized; why are you crying even more now?"
"Hahaha," Marina giggled softly from beside the queen, a light and affectionate sound that eased so of the lingering tension.
Elara, still seated, leaned forward and buried her crying face against Marina’s standing form in an attempt to hide her tears.
Marina continued, "When was the last ti you called her ’mother,’ Sara? She is completely overco with joy right now."
Hearing that gentle explanation, a sharp pang of sadness and realization struck Sara’s chest like an unexpected arrow.
Her mouth fell slightly agape as the weight of the mont settled over her.
It had been about a thousand years since she last addressed Elara with that tender familial title.
And though Sara had long carried issues with the way the Amazons of the Verdant Spire chose to remain largely isolated from the wider world of Elyndor, she had sohow forgotten in her anger that the core problem was not nearly as insurmountable as it once seed.
She had renounced her royal position long ago and chosen to live more like a devoted servant to the tribe, but in doing so, she had also made a quiet mistake:
She had thought to herself that she had renounced her own mother along with the royal title.
"Enough of the sentintal nonsense," Lotus’s calm yet slightly irked motherly voice joined the conversation, cutting through the emotional haze with practical clarity.
Her striking golden eyes stood in complete contrast to the warmth and reconciliation that had begun to bloom throughout the hall, radiating a focused intensity instead.
"Benjamin was stolen from us... We have to retrieve him imdiately, before it becos too late and the trail grows cold," she concluded firmly, her words bringing everyone’s attention back to the urgent crisis at hand.
Elara wiped away her remaining tears with the back of her hand and nodded resolutely, straightening her posture in her seat until the familiar aura of regal authority slowly returned, slithering back into her bearing like a comforting cloak.
"Of course, Lotus," Elara agreed without hesitation, her voice regaining its steady strength. "The earlier we begin, the better our chances will be."
"You say he was just removed from your imdiate area?" Lotus asked, casually throwing her single grey braided hair back over her shoulder with a quick motion.
"Indeed," Elara nodded in confirmation, eting Lotus’s gaze directly as Sara quietly moved to take her seat once more among the sisters. "We were talking together right after we had left Gihon, and he suddenly was no longer with ... suddenly vanished without any warning while we were still aboard Auralis on the journey ho."
"Please tell , how exactly did he vanish?" Lotus asked again, her voice steady and analytical as she sought precise details to piece together the puzzle. "Was there any shimring magic visible in the surrounding space at the mont of his disappearance? Did you happen to notice a particular color associated with the effect? Did you feel the air warp or distort in any noticeable way? All of this critical information will allow to narrow down the possible ans of his abduction with greater accuracy."
Elara’s silver-grey eyes began to dart nervously from one Amazon sister to another around the oval table and throughout the vine-woven hall, a cute and embarrassed flush rising to her cheeks as she found herself playing absentmindedly with her nails, twisting them gently between her fingers.
"I am truly sorry, Lotus—"
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