Liria didn't answer. Didn't blink. Didn't flinch.
She just watched.
And the silence hurt more than the spear.
Enara stared at her former friend, frozen for a heartbeat that stretched into an eternity. Liria's two-colored eyes one amber, one piercing green reflected nothing, as if everything between them had been erased, a slate wiped clean by shadow and betrayal. There was no familiar glint of mischief, no flash of defiance, none of the warmth that had once defined their friendship. Instead, Enara saw only emptiness, like looking into a mirror and seeing no reflection staring back.
The pain radiating from her shoulder was forgotten, a trivial thing next to the ache that clawed at her chest. Enara clenched her fists so tightly that her nails bit into her palms, barely registering the sting. She had anticipated hatred from Liria, even rage, but not this hollow indifference.
