Before I knew I’d intended to, I mumbled something polite.
I didn’t wait to hear what Black would say, to the Asian-looking seer or anyone else.
I didn’t wait to hear what he might say to me.
I really, honestly, don’t know exactly what happened after that.
I just know I walked away.
I fled, stepping further away from Black, then turning away from all of them. I found myself walking, aiming my feet for the front of the long house without really seeing anything around me.
Somewhere in that, I heard Black call my name.
I heard the puzzlement in his voice.
I heard and felt other things there, what might have been hurt, but I couldn’t process that, either. I headed for the exits without so much as looking behind me.