Chapter 232: Read Me a Story

Edrick

I watched as Moana’s head of red hair slowly faded into the distance. She seemed to stop and look over her shoulder before stepping into the treeline, with Kat following secretly at a distance.

From where I was standing, I could still see her as she began to wander around the entrance to the forest.

Just one day ago, I wouldn’t have let her go out like that. But I had a constant patrol keeping watch around the entire perimeter of the property where anyone could feasibly get in, I had patrolled the whole property myself just last night, and I sent Kat along with Moana to keep an eye on her.

If my father was going to try to get at Moana, it would certainly be near impossible for him to accomplish. And besides… keeping Moana cooped up would only make her more likely to be in danger.

“Daddy?”

I was suddenly snapped out of my deep thought by the sound of Ella’s voice. I didn’t realize it, but I must have been staring out the window for quite some time while I was stuck in my deep train of thought.

“Yes, Princess?” I asked, turning to face her. She had a book in her hands, and she held it out to me. Her hair was messed up and she was a bit out of breath, like she had just run inside after playing out on the lawn.

“Will you read me a story?”

the book out of her hands. The cover was old and worn, with no text or design on it; I honestly had no recollection of ever seeing a book like it before and wondered where she found it, but I figured that children often had mysterious ways of exploring shelves and finding random things, so maybe

time I finished reading to

the armchair by the window. I sat down and let her crawl up into my lap, then wrapped my arm around her and cracked the old book

as

you sure you want this one, Ella?” I asked, making a face at

“I want this one,” she insisted, pushing her lower

book. I flipped to the next page, where the story immediately

arguing about and that I could make something up if the story got strange, “there was an old man who

a kids’ book, I thought to

married, and he never had children of his own. In fact, the children in the little village that he lived in were afraid of him, as they saw his worn-out

her head. “Keep reading,

he was visited one night by a guardian spirit who told him that he had to make

read the story, I felt my hands start to shake and my eyes widened. I nearly dropped the book

knife was the knife that Moana had dreamed of… The knife that would kill the

up at me with her big eyes. “Why did you stop

my head to snap out of it. It was just a story, and it was a somewhat common one. It

worked hard every day to make the knife. He didn’t know why he was tasked with making it or

had a thought. “Ella?” I asked. “Where did you

a moment, then tilted her head back again and looked up at

it,”

you mean?” I asked. “You didn’t find it

shook her

Surely this had to be a game that she was

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