CHAPTER 144

MOUNTAIN CITY

"Hello Papa!" Tarifa spoke softly, looking at her father lying in the bed looking up at her.

Tareif looked at his daughter and found her could not contain the tears that washed down his face. He held his arms open and Tarifa fell into them as easily as she would have as a small child. Palina stood next to Cantel and another Dragoon officer watching, tears rolling down her face as well.

"My daughter… I… I have wronged you so!" Tareif cried. "I wish… I wish to take my own life after what I have done to you child."

Tarifa leaned back quickly, "Never speak like that again Papa, ever!" She gasped. "Papa you were not yourself! They were controlling you." She said, grasping his face in her hands, seeing the tears streaming down his face, "Controlling us! The drugs they used made them able to plant suggestions within your mind. You could not refuse their directions, no matter how much you knew it was wrong."