Chapter Thirty-One: Adara

Lantac Golgor—such a charming man!

I slipped around the side of the house to the back door. Because I’d seen a guest in the living room, my strategy was to enter through the back door, call my mother into the little breakfast nook off the kitchen, and there tell her about Fawna.

I knew she was likely to become upset, and I didn’t want to cause the ruckus that was bound to result from her hysterics. I especially didn’t want that kind of disruption to happen in front of a guest.

As soon as I closed the door behind me, I heard my mother’s voice ringing through the house. “Adara? Fawna? Is that you?”

I hesitated, then answered. “Yes. Mother, can you come here a moment, please?”

“What on earth for, you silly goose? You come here. Come into the living room. We have a visitor whom I’d like you two to meet.”

“Of course. But first, I need to talk to you.”

&ldqu