She stares at me as I sort through my thoughts. Yes, I remember a bright flash of red and then nothing. I remember hands touching me and shoving me. It’s finally clearing in the haze of my mind. Being rolled over grass and a sharp pain in my feet and legs. Being dragged over the earth. Lor screaming my name over and over.

But I can’t see any of it. It’s like impressions on the backs of my eyelids. Muted flashes that are more about feelings than actual memories. Did any of it happen?

“And then what?” I ask, barely able to summon the words over the clog in my throat.

Lor believes what my father said. She thinks I betrayed her. Surely she would know he was lying. After everything we’ve been through, how could she ever think I’d do anything to hurt her?

“Then she got up and walked away,” Zerra says.

“You’re lying.” I try to make it sound like a statement, but it comes out far too much like a question for my liking.

“Oh, all right,” Zerra says. “She cried a bit. Felt a little bad. But then she dusted off her pants and ran. She said she was planning to track down the Aurora King.”

I narrow my gaze, sure Zerra has to be lying. Lor wouldn’t have just left after killing me. No matter how angry she might have been, she would never have done that. And if she were free, she wouldn’t go after my father first. She would have turned right around and run for her brother and sister. I’m sure of it. I know her better than anyone, and the Lor I know would have sought out her family above all else.

“That still doesn’t explain how I ended up here,” I say.

I’m attempting to piece through the shattered fragments handed to me, and I need as much information as possible.

Zerra’s expression turns to annoyance. “I invited you to dine with me, not suffer through an interrogation.” She plants her elbows on the table and gestures with her chin towards the seat next to her. “Sit down.”

I hesitate, and her eyes flash. The last thing I want is to dine with this woman, but I understand I’m backed into a corner right now. I survey my surroundings, searching for exits, but windows surround us on all sides. However, a window can be used as an exit just as much as a door. There is the issue of us hovering in the middle of nothing and the fact my magic seems to be blocked, but I just need to bide my time.

My gaze then snags on a surprising sight: three pedestals stand at the far end of the room, with three dark objects hovering above each one.

The arks.