VALORIA WILDEROSE
With Eros's help I'm able to confidently step back out into the hallway, ready to face them rather than run like a coward.
My heart still pounds, but it's a different kind of pounding now — less panic, more resolve. I can do this. I have to do this.
Luckily I do not need to walk too far.
Less than a minute of walking out in the open again, Calliope dashes into the path I'm taking, seeming frantic. Her hair is slightly disheveled, like she's been running through every corridor in the palace looking for me.
Her eyes widen and well up the second she finds me before she rushes forward with arms spread wide.
I'm engulfed in a tight hug before I realize what's going on.
"I've been looking for you everywhere." She pulls away, staring at me with guilt-ridden, tear-stained cheeks that make me feel awful for running away the way I did before.
"Yeah… I'm sorry for taking off like that."
