This wasn't what Kazelia had wanted. She wanted to make peace with Adila, she thought the dragon was mad at her for failing. She wanted to apologize, to do better. Now she looked panicked. Anything but this. Anything but being left behind doing nothing.

"No! I, no! I want to help." Calm breath, if she started freaking out, they'd just think even more that something was wrong with her. Just be calm. Do not, under any circumstances start crying

"I want to make amends for what my family has done. I couldn't bear to just watch while my father tries to destroy everything beautiful in this world. I couldn't bear it!" Kazelia, do not start crying, Riders do not cry, this is completely unacceptable. But her traitorous body was not listening to the little voice in her head at all, so instead she looked away from everyone and put an arm over her eyes and tried to pretend that everything was fine even as she sobbed and her arm grew wet.

After a moment, it was clear to her that trying to wait for the crying to stop didn't work at all, so she spoke through those tears instead, quietly, but urgently, words spilling out of her as she tried to say everything she wanted to say all at once even as lines streaked her face from her dark and starry eyes. "Please, my sisters are all under his spell, they can't hear the Singers anymore. I need to help them and show the whole world that father is nothing but a lying old man. I have to, I'm the only one that can hear them, can really hear the old songs because of what Father has done. I need your help. I need...I need to be someone that can help you, I need to learn how to do that! Because if I sit by and watch father destroy anything else now...now when I finally know what he really is I...I couldn't it would tear me apart."

She can't bear to meet the eyes of the others, what she hopes are her friends. She can't bear the thought that they wouldn't let her come with them now. Instead, she takes out the little wooden box she carries, places it on the table and opens it. It has no gears or springs, no metal hinges, just wood and a small slip of paper within. But from it, a song drifts gently outward, the dolorous song, the song that set Kazelia free, that she knew in her heart even her father could not withstand. And she listens and waits and hopes.