The question slammed into the room violently.
Adele froze completely.
Shock crossed her face first, then horror, and then humiliation. Her entire body stiffened instantly afterward.
Torak regretted asking the moment he saw her expression.
Gods.
He should not have ruined this moment but once he saw the mark, the thought had poisoned everything else.
Adele pulled fully away from him now. "How dare you."
Torak immediately shook his head. "It wasn't—"
"How dare you think such of my father?" Her voice cracked sharply across the chamber.
Torak stepped toward her carefully. "Adele, I only meant…."
"No." She cut him off instantly. The shame inside her eyes hurt worse than tears would have. "It seems I give you entirely too much right."
Torak's chest tightened painfully.
She scoffed, as if the mere thought of her father hitting her was ridiculous. "Why would you even ask me something like that?"
Adele's breathing had become uneven now.
