<I'm fine,> Terenia lies, daring to look at him with her main eyes. She isn't prepared for the wall of emotion that hits her when she does so: guilt and betrayal mixed in with fear and longing. She finds herself faltering, searching desperately for words that will not come. She wants to apologize, for both the crimes he knows about and those that he hopefully never will.
<<I don't understand,>> she finds herself saying internally, so that only Efaen can hear, <<why do I care about hurting him so much?>>
<<Perhaps because you are not the cold-hearted warrior that you pretend to be,>> Efaen responds, not bothering to hide the smugness that Terenia can clearly read, <<Perhaps because, when you get down to what really matters, you are still just a lost, scared, confused human girl looking for someone to accept you.>>
<<Enough,>> Terenia says, breaking eye contact with Corliss as she does so, unable to bear the glaring truth of Efaen's commentary.
<Perfectly fine,> she repeats so that Corliss can hear.