The elder's hands shook violently. "That… that is a vile lie! How dare this creature accuse me of such things!"
The elder, Jorah, stooped but still broad-shouldered from his warrior years froze mid-breath. His eyes, cloudy with age but sharp with suspicion, flickered between Seren and the young girl who lounged with eerie composure beside her. A faint tremor seized his hands.
"What… what nonsense is this?" he croaked, forcing a rasp of authority into his voice. "I will not be toyed with by children."
But his words wavered, for the little girl hadn't blinked even once. She was smiling. Not the smile of innocence, nor the mischief of youth. No, it was the smile of someone peeling open the skin of his mind and staring at the rot beneath.
Seren tilted her head, her dark eyes glinting. She had seen Adiram do many strange things since their binding, but never had she watched an elder stripped so bare with nothing but words.
