Seeing Fiona's eyes darting rapidly, Agu knew she was wavering.
He let out a breath of relief and carefully moved away from the dark arc in front of him.
"I still remember all the little things that happened over those ten years. If you don't believe me, you can ask me about them. We parted when you were fifteen. It's been so long—I couldn't possibly have suddenly searched your father's soul, could I?"
Fiona really did ask him several questions. Some of them had already grown hazy in her memory, but Agu recalled every one of them quickly, as if he often replayed those memories in his mind.
"Then why did you leave when I was fifteen?"
"I borrowed your father's identity because I was fleeing people who were trying to kill me. I left because they discovered the identity I'd borrowed. If I hadn't left, my enemies would have killed you too."
Fiona frowned as she listened. She looked at Agu, whose face was completely unfamiliar, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't reconcile him with the father in her memories. "Who was hunting you?"
Agu lowered his eyes and gave a bitter smile. "Would you believe me if I said I don't know myself?"
"Ridiculous!" Fiona shouted at once.
"Nana." Agu looked at Fiona's no-longer-young face. "I'm sorry, Dad couldn't protect you."
The distrust that had begun to surface in Fiona froze when she heard Agu apologize.
Many, many years had passed since her father left. Fiona was no longer the helpless fifteen-year-old girl she had been. After becoming an Official Wizard and joining the Star Gate Council, she had almost forgotten even the sorrow she'd felt back then.
The only thing she hadn't forgotten was her hatred of the Faceless Ones.
The person who had