[1] 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐈𝐓 𝐅𝐀𝐓𝐄 , p. jackson

xi. reyna's sister has man slaves?

CHAPTER ELEVEN ───────────
✧₊˚｡({  REYNA'S SISTER HAS MAN SLAVES?  })

" unstoppable SIA "

{ ROMA }
JUNE 21ST, 2010
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ROMA FINDS HERSELF SITTING NEXT to Hazel on the boat. Maybe it's because she feels bad for throwing her being-dead problems in her face. Or maybe she just wants to annoy Frank who clearly has something to say to Hazel but can't because she's there. She'd prefer the latter, to be honest, but she knows that's not the case.

    The silence between them is deafening. It makes her shift around the bench uncomfortably, biting her bottom lip subconsciously.

    Finally, she gathers the courage to say something. "I . . . I'm sorry for throwing your being-dead problems in your face back there. You didn't mention anything to do with what Phineas said about me so it wasn't fair," she forces out, the word 'sorry' tasting weird on her tongue. Apologizing sucks like shit.

    Hazel looks at her in surprise. Clearly, no one thinks good enough of her when it comes to these kinds of things. Elora has told her countless of times, she just has this resting bitch face that says I'd rather kill your baby sister than apologize to you so . . . maybe that's why.

    The girl takes a second to register what she's said. "It's . . . it's fine. I should've told you guys before we even went on this quest," she replies after a while with a tight smile. Roma realizes the gold in her eyes matches the shining sunset plastered on the horizon.

          "No, I get it," Roma says, pulling the bun on her head tighter and closer to her scalp. "Everyone has secrets━bad ones. Yours just happened to be coming back to life . . ." she pauses, feeling like it's her move now. Her move to prove herself. Should she move the pawn; give Hazel a haphazard secret that many probably already know? Or should she take a gamble and move the queen out of her hiding spot behind the other pawns━the other fake secrets? Even if Hazel's queen was forced out of hiding it only feels . . . fair?

    Roma inwardly scowls. No. She's not going to do that. She doesn't care that Hazel's deepest darkest secret got leaked, she's not giving hers away willy-nilly.

    So when Hazel replies with a quiet thank you for being so understanding, she just nods before getting up and shuffling along to sit beside Ella━their newest and brightest self-proclaimed quester. They'd quickly built a mini nest out of old books and magazines from the library for her and she's currently chewing on some random jerky Iris had given Percy and mumbling lines from A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations.