"Lumiel!"
As I strode briskly down the corridors, with Regina following silently in my wake, my mother's sharp voice echoed behind me.
I had scarcely turned around when a resounding, perfectly aimed slap struck my cheek.
"Ouch," I muttered, my gaze settling calmly upon my visibly enraged mother.
Behind me, Regina flinched, paralyzed and unsure of how to react to what happened.
"How could you do such a thing?!" She asked her voice trembling with anger.
"Do what, Mother? I had expected you to praise me for my victory against Morgana, yet here you are slapping me?" I replied, feigning a mixture of confusion and hurt.
"Praise you?! For what? For crushing that poor girl's hand?!" She cried out. "You have known her since you were both children, Lumiel! I have known her since she was but a babe! I knew her mother—"
"I have known her to beat me under the convenient guise of 'training.' Yet, I do not recall seeing you march onto the grounds to slap her for it back then?" I shrugged.
