“Of course not,” Adam replied, giving the question no thought. He wanted the fighting to stop, the negative feelings to go away, but he didn’t want her to go. However, at the same time, he didn’t feel the usual urge to reach out and break the distance between them. Perhaps because there was still so much negativity between them.

The boy was silent for a long moment afterward, his gaze distractedly shifting in the direction of the castle. Suddenly he felt tired, tempted to pull another ‘we’ll talk tomorrow’ just to avoid talking now. But, unless he purposely wished to ruin things beyond repair with Allegra, that was obviously not an option.

“It’s not that I want you to go, it’s—look, I’m sorry I didn’t believe you, alright?” the apology struggled awkwardly from his lips, unhappy but not insincere. “Can we just stop fighting for a minute?”