The Snap
The meeting with her father and Eira was tense from the moment Isla entered the room. The firelight cast flickering shadows across the walls, amplifying the tension in the air. Her father stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his expression composed and infuriatingly calm. Eira sat beside him, her demeanor serene but watchful.
“You’re blinded by grief, Isla,” her father said, his voice measured and even. “You’re grasping at shadows because you can’t accept the truth. There’s nothing more we can do.”
Eira’s soft, patronizing smile only stoked the flames of Isla’s anger. “Your desperation clouds your judgment,” she said, her tone laced with condescension. “We’re the only ones who can help you now. You should trust us.”
The words ignited a fire in Isla’s chest. Her hand moved instinctively to her belt, her fingers curling around the hilt of a dagger. She didn’t think—she acted. In one swift motion, she hurled the blade toward her father, the firelight gleaming off the steel as it sliced through the air.
The reaction was immediate. Eira’s hand shot up, her mark glowing with faint, dark light. The dagger vanished mid-flight, swallowed by a burst of energy that warped the air around it. The space where it had been shimmered for a moment before returning to normal, as though the attack had never happened.
Isla’s chest heaved as she stared at Eira, her voice trembling with fury. “What did you just do?”
Eira stood slowly, her serene mask cracking to reveal something colder and far more dangerous. “What I’ve always done,” she said, her voice low and sharp. “Protect the family legacy.”
Her father stepped forward, his golden eyes hard as steel. “You’ll never understand, Isla,” he said, his voice cutting through the tension like a blade. “You’re weak—blinded by sentiment and morality. At least your children will grow up right.”
The words hit Isla like a physical blow. Her mind reeled as the realization sank in, her voice breaking as she whispered, “You took them.”
Eira’s sneer deepened, her silver eyes glinting with malice. “We’re saving them,” she said coldly. “From you.”
Isla’s legs trembled, rage and grief warring within her. In that moment, the threads of trust she had clung to snapped completely. Her silver eyes burned with fury as she vowed, “You’ll regret this. Both of you.”
