“I always feared you would become like your true mother,” Rawain said. “I stayed vigilant for what you might have inherited from Hanim. In my worst nightmares, I never thought you would take after Isra. As weak and – ” “Weak is not a mother who throws herself between a boy with none of her blood and the wrath of the man who made him.” Arin wiped the blood dripping onto his lashes. “Weak is a ruler who holds a match to the world and then blames it for burning.”
