I planned to make one last trip to the Commission's stronghold and drag Aldric down with me, even if it killed us both.
But the night before I meant to leave, my master brought me a beggar's chicken. It wasn't particularly good.
He had no idea I was planning to go. He just scratched the back of his head, embarrassed, and said, "Nara, you haven't been eating well lately. You're getting too thin. I went all the way across town to learn this recipe from a famous cook on Mulberry Street."
"Go on, try it. If it's no good, I'll go back and learn again."
"And if you like it, I'll make it for you every single day."
I blinked, caught off guard. Suspicion crept in before I could stop it. "Why are you so good to me?"
My master stroked his chin and smiled. "Because I think of you as my own daughter."
"If my little girl starved, what kind of father would I be? I'd be heartbroken."
"I'm already old. I don't want to spend whatever years I have left crying my eyes out."
In that moment, looking at the white hairs that had grown in from worrying over me, I felt the walls around my heart crack for the first time in years.
So there was someone in this world who loved me after all.