Lariette's breath hitched the moment she registered the words Ruediger had just spoken to her. Her heart thumped quickly within the confines of her chest.
'...the last time she was alive.'
Swallowing, Lariette put one palm on Ruediger's back, feeling cold sweat breaking on his skin. She kept her gaze on him and nodded.
Instead of telling him to stop when he barely began, she gave him silent encouragement. Her intention was evident to him.
Ruediger blinked slowly, then stared at the window far behind Lariette's shoulder for a moment, trying to collect himself. It was hard to loosen a part of him that had long been sealed shut.
Then, he resumed, his voice ever so quiet.
"It was winter when I was ten. I followed my mom... to a village far from the city. We only had the members of her foundation with us, no bodyguard at all. My... brother also didn't join us."
