"You ran."
The voice caused Aetherion's steps to grind to a halt. He exhaled a heavy breath, took another, and then exhaled an even heavier one. His little sister's voice was particularly grating to him right now, and of course, he knew it was her even before he looked over.
"Gather the men. We will set up a perimeter."
"No, thank you." Sadie's voice came from the shadows. Right now, it was hard for even Aetherion to pick her out exactly. There was a particular tone of subterfuge in her voice.
"Do you not understand what's at stake—?" Aetherion stopped himself before speaking out Sadie's real name as though it held some sort of power over him.
"You told me not to act, so I'm not acting. What? Are you going to try and punish me for that too?"
Aetherion closed his eyes, his temper almost writhing out of control. Luckily, he managed to reel it in. He had too much practice doing exactly that.
