“You want to know what Ryzek is holding over me?” I laughed again, this time through tears. I tugged the last strap of my chest armor loose, yanked it over my head, and hurled it at the wall with both hands. When it collided with the metal, the sound was deafening in the small anteroom. The armor dropped to the floor, unharmed. It hadn’t even lost its shape. “My mother. My beloved, revered mother was taken from him, from Shotet,” I spat at him. Loud, my voice was loud. “I took her. I took her from myself.” It would have been easier if he had looked at me with loathing or disgust. He didn’t. He
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