Serix walked with Cassie to the dining hall in silence. He had to make a mental effort not to drag his feet. After everything that had happened, he was reluctant to see any of the humans again, but he knew that if he wanted to win their trust back, he would have to prove that he forgave them for their biased accusations. He and Cassie needed to find refuge in their caves if they wanted to survive the Lunairan invasion, and to do that, making amends with the humans was their only option.

The task was much easier said than done.

When they reached the dining hall, all of the humans stopped what they were doing and stared at them. Serix immediately averted his gaze to avoid meeting their eyes. He stayed close to Cassie as they approached the table where the food was set out and filled his plate as quickly as he could so they could go back to their room. As soon as they were in the same cavern as the humans, he lost all willpower to confront them. Admittedly, it would be a while before he was ready to make an earnest effort to move on, so for now just showing his face in the dining hall would have to suffice.

Serix rested one hand on Cassie’s back to subtly usher her along as they walked back to their room. The sooner they were away from the humans, the better. But unfortunately they didn’t seem to share his opinion. From the corner of his eye, he could see Emily moving to approach them with Connor at her side. He ducked his head slightly and hastened his pace, but the two took no notice of his warning gesture.

“Wait,” Emily stepped around to stop them before they could leave the cavern and offered a tentative smile. “I just wanted to say on behalf of most of us here: We’re glad you’re [i]both[/i] out of the hold.” Her smile faded as she met Serix’s gaze. “And… we’re sorry about… what happened.”

Serix softened a bit at the sincere tone of her voice. Again, he was reminded that not all of the humans held on to their grudge against his people. He returned her smile and nodded, “Don’t worry, I’m fine. And you shouldn’t feel the need to apologize. You had nothing to do with it.”

“No,” Emily shook her head. “Like everyone else, I didn’t do anything to stop it. Even if it was only for a little while, I still thought you were a spy, and that’s why I’m apologizing.”

“Really, it’s okay,” Serix said. “The fact that you don’t think I’m a spy anymore is enough.”

Emily nodded reluctantly and moved aside so they could pass, “Okay. I just wanted to make sure you both knew that not everyone here is worried you’re a traitor.”

“Thank you,” Serix said. He walked back to the tunnel that led to their room and intertwined his fingers with Cassie’s. “Well, that wasn’t as terrible as I expected.”