It hadn't been the first time it had happened, but it was truly rare that it did. Raina rested her shoulder against one of the four bed posts of her father's king sized bed. Thick feather stuffed duvets were drawn back and rolled to the bottom of the bed while a thin blue cotton cover was drawn over her father just up to his neck. Beside her was her mother, Valory and Hail followed in front of them, Hail being right at their father's bedside in a wooden chair and their sister right beside him. She'd been worried earlier, but as Hera explained to the family Landon's current condition, her worry eased somewhat.
"He should be waking up here soon. I don't believe he has a concussion." Hera paused, feeling the back of her long time friend's head for any lumps; there were none. Looking around the room, she locked eyes with everyone for a split moment before continuing. "It's just like before."
"Before?" Valory asked testily. Her arms were crossed and she'd had a worried expression on her face since the moment she entered the room. "That was years ago."
"There's no expiration date on something like this, dear. It's too unpredictable." Hera spoke softly.
"What happened this time?" Valory asked, her eyes scanning her father's body. "He was just fine this morning and now..."
"I couldn't say." Hera spared a glance at Landon before continuing. "He was talking with our late night visiter and then he suddenly fainted." She had her brows scrunched together as she stared down at the bed sheets, deep in the replay of earlier that day. She had watched him drop, his body fall limp behind his sturdy oak desk just before it collapsed against the surface; his speech halt in his mouth as he went to use his words. She'd seen it with her own eyes yet there was no sign, not a single thing that tattled on his current state before it was to happen, till it happened.
"He just fainted? Nothing else? No words or signs? Anything?" Valory persisted.
"No."
"Are you sure?" Hail adjusted himself in the stiff wooden chair as he spoke. He sat back, exposing his plain button up shirt as the flaps of his suit jacket now receded to sag at his sides. For him to come forward during times like these, when the family would gather and share any space of words longer than trivial chat, was rare. He was usually a man who chose to have his thoughts remain his thoughts. But as his eyes settled over to the older woman opposite of him, everyone knew that today was different day.
"Yes, I'm sure." Hera responded, eyeing the two eldest children suspiciously. "Are you trying to imply something?"
The question seemed to cause a beat of pause. Everyone gathered their eyes and darted them about the room to follow the flow of answers they were internally seeking. It was almost as if it was a game, to find who could reveal the most in their expression and tell on themselves. Mary's curiosity had been peaked and she searched each face for understanding, holding her breath for the next words to flow. Valory, having started the array of questions that led them to this point, seemed more concerned with gauging the reactions of those around her. Hera, like Mary, held onto her breath as well, as she awaited for the next words to fall through the air, but for a very different reason. Raina watched, eyes darting the most frantically within the room to attempt to gain a handle on what exactly was unfolding before her. Hail was the only one who's eyes remained true, and as he stared straight ahead, he spoke with a quiet intent that stretched to every corner of the room.
"You were the last person to see him awake, as you are every time.. conveniently."
"Hail—" Mary started, but with no intention of saying anything more, counting on being cut off before she had to finish her next breath.
"Young man if your going to be making accusations I'd advise you to be clear about it, and use some common sense while your at it."
Mary watched on as Hera had instinctively fell into her no nonsense tone at being all but outright accused of being the cause of something terrible befalling her husband. Her children were seeming as if they were gearing up for a guilty verdict, Hail being the spearhead. Her youngest who had been silently watching the scene play out, stood by with a slight frown steady on her features. Mary could understand her children being worried and unsettled enough to throw around wild accusations, but to accuse a woman who'd been with them all their life, more expectedly that naught, seemed to interest her. There was fact in her son's words, even if it was slightest bit so. Hera did have a conveniency for being in Landon's presence during the moments his illness would surface, at every moment to be exact. Today just adding to the times.
Why couldn't she have something to do with it? Mary thought to herself and suppressed a laugh, the slightest shadow of a smirk appearing on her face. No one noticed.
In truth, she had never had a great care for the woman. The low class, homely dressed Hera had somehow worked her way up into her husbands good graces enough to where he trusted her in his home and raising their children. She'd had no choice in the matter, her husbands mind had been set on her, from what she could bring herself to remember. Of course she appreciated her assistance throughout the years, but if she'd leave tomorrow she wouldn't shed a tear or lose a lick of sleep behind it. Though she couldn't say the same for her Raina, knowing how close the girl was to her, so much so that she actually considered the woman to be like a second mother.
...Perhaps it is jealousy... Perhaps not.
She did notice the tang of salt gathering in her mouth whenever she'd see her husband in close quarters with the woman, accepting her council, heeding her words. Or when she'd catch her youngest and decidedly favorite child seeking her advice and hanging on her every word, thought she couldn't blame them completely. Begrudgingly, she could not pretend that the woman wasn't wise, that she was. Even during her own lowest hours the woman had some use to her, throwing her words of encouragement or help. Pity. But now it was more than a simple minded thought of jealousy that caused her to entertain her son's words. The woman had a penchant for playing a role out of her league, a role that wasn't hers to play. So this situation, in all its spontaneous dread, simply made sense. And as she cut her eyes in the lowly woman's direction and studied her discreetly from the other side of the bed, she wondered if her husband would wake in time to temper this storm.
The room was silent as it seemed everyone's eyes now refocused on the unconscious man, leaving behind the accusatory words for a moments peace. Landon laid still in his bed, the only sign that he was still a living being, being the steady rise and fall of his chest. It didn't seem to the silent family that mere hours ago he had been up and about, perfectly fine and able. Nor could anyone have seen the the clouds that were gathering just under the surface of their adversity, greying darker and darker until it blackened; festering and snapping at the chance to burst and unleash its fury on them all.
"Mom." It was Raina who dared to break the long silence, grabbing her mother's attention from her wayward thoughts. "Can I talk to you?" Mary nodded, sparing her husband a final glance and quickly casting a look in Hera's direction before looking towards her other two children.
"Your father will be fine. Hera has nursed us all back to good health at some point or another." She smiled sweetly and sickly so. They did not return it. Hail didn't spare her a glance and Valory seemed annoyed, but she didn't mind it.
Mary left her children to watch over their father, leading the way out into the hallway. Raina followed closely behind. They were halfway down the hall when Mary turned to the decoratively framed oval shaped mirror on the wall, assessing her image.
"What did you want to talk about, darling?"
"Well, we never talked about this but- you know how—"
"Honey, your fumbling. Just say it." She said absently as she began fixing the smudges in her makeup. Following the lines of her lips she carefully cleared the excess lipstick with her index finger, her lips forming an 'O' shape as she did.
"Okay, I—"
"Is this about your father? Because I think your brother may have had a point in there." That touched a nerve, she quickly came to realize.
"My father's biological clock is ticking and that has nothing to do with Hera."
Her own cattiness having made its appearance, Raina was feeling slightly annoyed that her mother was feeding into the nonsense her Hail and Valory had been spewing. She hadn't been sure what to make of their accusations only minutes before and she was still unsure of what to think of them, but to believe them now was not an option. Not until she had time and good reason.
"Okay then, sorry." Mary had a brow raised as she stared at her daughter in the mirror, unbeknownst to her. Deciding better than to continue with the topic, she wiped the corners of her mouth. Turning around, she rubbed her fingers together, a red stain coating them and spreading the more they rubbed. "What was it?"
"How do you feel about me leaving home?"
Mary was baffled, and her expression showed it. She looked her youngest over, studying her face to catch even the slightest glimpse of humor hiding just under the surface, but found none. That alarmed her. Stepping forward she placed the back of her hand on her forehead, leaving it there while she continued to stare at her.
Raina rolled her eyes skyward. "Mom, I don't have a fever." Mary grabbed her face and looked into her eyes, darting from one eye to the other. "What are you doi—"
"Are you on drugs?" With a huff of laughter, Raina pulled her mother's hands down from her face, leaving them resting on her shoulders. Both of their cattiness forgotten and smiles on their faces, the two women became just a normal mother and daughter discussing life. How rare that seemed to be for them.
Mary smiled slightly, letting out a nervous laugh. She hadn't been entirely joking with her question but she also had to admit that her daughter wouldn't even have a way to acquire drugs, let alone use them. Yet what she was suggesting seemed far more dangerous. She wasn't sure why. This was something she should have been prepared for. Obviously she couldn't keep her child captive, locked away to whither in the castle forever. But still, she was taken by surprise at the question and was unprepared to answer it. All she knew was that she had a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach and she now desperately wanted to bolt and bar every crevice of the house with an opening to it; and she wasn't sure why. Maybe, she assumed, she was just deftly afraid of letting go.
"Mom?"
"Hm?" Mary had been staring, lost in another world it seemed. "Sorry. Um, leaving? What brought this on?" She turned back to the mirror to tease her blonde curls, looking for an escape to gather her thoughts discreetly.
"I—" As Raina opened her mouth to share her thoughts, Hera walked up to them.
"Sorry to interrupt." The older woman's face seemed stressed and defeated, and Raina couldn't help but to feel sorry for her. "Mary, do you have a moment? It's regarding the next steps in getting Landon back up on his feet."
"Um, sure. Raina, darling, continue this another time?" Mary sauntered off before she could get a response.
"Sure.."
Within moments Raina was left in the hallway alone, just a few feet from the upstairs library she noticed. She walked over to the door, opening it slowly as if she expected to find a monster behind it, and stepped into the room. It was small and intimate with red paint and gold carvings on every wall. She'd referred to it as 'The Red Library' since she was a child. Bookshelves lined the walls, stretching from the floors to the ceiling tops on all sides except one where there stood a hearth in the center between two shelves. Every shelf was filled with all sorts of books of different shapes and sizes and genres. While it wasn't large in space, the room still managed to accommodate two opposite facing velvet red cushioned sofa chairs with gold linings in the trim over a low white and velvet rug in the shape of an oval; a simple low-cut wooden coffee table in the center to finish the furniture. In the far left corner of the room sat a giant double window that overlooked the garden and had the perfect view of one of the house's empty bedroom windows.
Raina took a seat on one of the chairs, letting the cushions swallow her as she hadn't in so long before finding her feet again. She reflected on how she often frequented the library as a child, and as she stood in the center of the room looking around, she began to reminisce on her younger years. How much more innocent her life was, how much less she knew and understood of her family. The way she'd sit in the window and stare out at the garden, daydreaming for hours with a forgotten book between her fingers. How her sister would scare her from the abandoned bedroom window, causing her to believe it was haunted; though at that time she didn't find it very funny. Or when Hera would dangle her neglected duties in the window to beacon to her; books for study, paper for her writing, records for dancing, even food forgotten. Things were easier, happier. Ignorance truly was a bliss. But unfortunately, time waited for no one and she, sooner rather than later, realized that the fairytale life she'd thought she had was just an illusion.
*
*
*
It was mid-afternoon and Landon was still unconscious. An early dinner of baked chicken, mashed potatoes and sweet corn was prepared for the evening and the family were much obliged. Mary had eaten a quick meal before returning with Hera back to her husband's side to await his awakening. With their father the subject of incident for the evening, the three estranged siblings were left to share a meal at the dinner table together. Though there wasn't much eating going on.
Raina brought a forkful of checkered mashed potatoes to her mouth as she stared straight ahead into an empty space. The dinner table was not very wide but adequately long with an equally as long sheet stretched across it, sturdy polished brown legs carrying the weight of their meal. After her mother's quick exit, she was left at her end of the table alone. But Raina didn't mind. She preferred to eat alone, it allowed her her peace to let her mind wander as she ate Hera's delicious cooking. All who'd eaten at their home could swear the woman was gifted with the seasoning skills of the worlds finest. Many ate quietly upon devouring her food, finding joy in their closed mouths rather than their open ones. But with the constant hushed whispers filling the room on the opposite side of the table, she found it hard to do anything other than become increasingly annoyed.
"Why wait?" She heard in earnest, her sister's voice exasperated as she bursted out of the pair's heated discussion before being directed to lower her voice
Not having much of a relationship with her didn't stop her siblings from heavily favoring each other. The two had always enjoyed each other's company more since they were children and nothing but age and differing responsibilities changed that now. It didn't matter that they were not related by blood, one look at them during times like these and it was hard to say they had anything less than a bond not meant to be broken. Raina admired that. But after years of failed attempts at fitting in to the duo, she finally accepted her place on the outskirts of their tightly knit dynamic. Yet the obvious exclusion from the very intense debate happening just a few feet away, which only seemed to grow more and more fervent by the second, was too distracting not to ignore.
Dropping her fork to cling down onto her plate, she spoke, "If your going for subtlety you might want to try actually whispering."
Two heads popped up from their conversation simultaneously, locking eyes with their little sister for only a moment before dismissing her and submerging themselves back into their discussion once again. Closing her eyes for a brief moment, Raina took a breath to calm her rising need to flick her abandoned fork across the room before speaking up once again.
"Care to share?"
"Not really." Valory replied, pressing her lips together in a sarcastic smile, turning back to her conversation.
"Didn't someone teach you it's rude to whisper at the dinner table?"
"Oh, then is breakfast okay?" The women shot daggers at each other, the table now a battle field, as they geared up for a long annual slew of insults.
"Val." Seeing where the situation was headed, Hail chose that moment to step in. He waited until she forfeited her stare down and looked at him. "I think this is more important." He raised his eyebrows slightly daring her to challenge him with something better. When it seemed she'd given in he went to continue their conversation. But just as he did, he was interrupted once more.
"And just what is it that's so important?" He suffered a moments hesitation before responding.
"It's about our Father."
"Sorry, I thought he had three children."
"Just mind your business." Valory responded, a bit of sourness to her tone.
"Sure, soon as you get a bib."
"Wh—" Raina's eyes fell to her shirt, before looking back up to meet her sisters stare. A glob of mashed potatoes had found its way on her shirt, grey moisture spreading outward from the spill to make it largely visible against its white background from across the room. "Oh." Rather jerkily, Valory plucked the napkin from under her plate, rubbing at her shirt.
Raina had been about to say something further but settled for satisfied smirk. A glance in Hail's direction, with his cool grey eyes and solid unwavering expression, brought her back to topic of discussion.
"So?"
"You know." Her brother said, keeping his stare.
"This is about the thing with Hera?" The siblings remained quiet, seeming as if they were content with her believing whatever she wanted their truths to be. "Fine." Standing, Raina gathered her silverware on top of her plate, discarding her napkin that had been stuffed down her blouse with a flick of her wrist as she stood, turning to make her way towards the kitchen.
"You don't find it strange?" Slowly, she turned back around, raising an eyebrow. "Dad's stress condition."
"Hail—" Valory attempted to stop him from saying anything further. She knew her sister, she saw a hopeless battle before it even began, but her brother persisted.
"We won't lose anything by talking about it." Raina looked between the two, watching as they silently communicated until they seemed to come to an understanding. Hail turned back to her then, picking up where he'd left off.
"Dad's had this problem all his life and because Hera said so, we never questioned it much."
"What was there to question? Dad has issues. It's the stress." Valory rolled her eyes and pressed her lips together, looking in her brothers direction once more, but he ignored her.
"We only believe it's stress because she told us so, and how do you explain his incidents always conveniently happening when he has a visitor?"
"What are you talking about? Dad doesn't faint every time he has guests."
"But every time he faints, he has guests, and who's always there before anyone else even knows? Hera." Valory cut in, having grown tired of Hail's attempt at baby stepping their little sister into their world.
Raina went to deny it, and fervently so, but came up blank. Instead, she thought back, as far as she could, to the first known incident of her father's that she knew of. From there she worked her way up to the most recent and realized her siblings were right. Every time her father had fainted in the past he'd just gotten through entertaining one of his many guests. Usually the ones that he'd stay locked up with for hours in his study. The only other person having had access to him during those times, who was always present before anyone else being... Shaking her head, she refused to come to that traitorous conclusion.
"That doesn't mean anything. Of course she is, she sits in on most of his meetings. He trusts her."
"Which means she has the easiest access." Hail spoke calmly.
"To what? Kill him?" Raina scoffed. She was beginning to wish she'd never been curious enough to ask what was being discussed. She couldn't begin to understand why anyone would think the blame would lie with Hera, especially two people who were products of everything good about her. It didn't seem likely that she could even be capable of something like that, let alone actually do it.
"No..." Hail paused into a deep sigh, looking to his sister at his side, preparing himself for what he was about to say next. "Not kill him, con him."
"Con?"
"That's not all either." He quickly interjected. "She also lies about when he faints."
"She lies abo-" Laughing now, Raina crossed her arms, regarding the two people before her in amusement. "How has she lied?"
"Once, a year or so ago, I went to see our Father in his study. I found Hera by our father's desk standing over him and she told me he had passed out from exhaustion, that he was just resting. But he was slumped over. He looked lifeless and limp. I had never seen him sleep like that before. Then there was something about her that seemed.. off. Like I had seen something I wasn't meant to see."
"I think everyone looks off to you. You ever stop to think that maybe that was just how he slept that day? And maybe you scared her?"
"She also told me to keep it quiet and let him sleep, not to touch him or I'd disturb him." Hail studied her expression with his eyes, gauging his sisters reaction.
"Hardly a con."
"She did the same thing with me." Valory spoke up now, leaning forward to press her folded arms against the tablecloth. "Dad was asleep on the couch in his study. His breaths were so shallow, it almost seemed like he wasn't breathing. When I got close Hera appeared from no where. She had this look, as if she didn't expect me to be there or I wasn't suppose to be, I don't know. But she practically kicked me out and sent me upstairs so that I wouldn't disturb his rest. That was a few years ago.
"Okay—"
"She said, "let's keep this between us. He'll be waking up soon and he wouldn't want to worry the family." Very similar to what she said to Hail. See a pattern?"
Raina was listening to her siblings, but most of their talking she felt more comfortable disregarding than to truly take serious. There were many holes in their logic, many guesses and assumptions that could make the real truth a mile apart from the truth they were trying to feed her, and she knew that. All she seemed to be able to see was Hera's face every time something they said made even the slightest bit of sense, which made listening that much more difficult.
Hail noticed how confused his younger sister looked hearing them. It wouldn't have surprised him if she chose not to believe a single thing they were saying. That's how he knew her to be, and exactly what he'd been counting on; catty and skeptical by nature. Surely, with what they were saying, she'd have enough reason to at least question things, or people. Each one of them knew how engrained Hera had been in their family since their youth. But somewhere along the way the mid-40 year old woman bonded with the family's youngest child the way she hadn't with the other two. Hail, like his sister, were suspicious that their little sister wouldn't be able to see past her love for the surrogate mother to entertain that she may be behind something bigger than the role she played for them all their lives.
"The only thing I see is the two of you, losing it. I'm leaving now." Raina turned to leave but Valory continued speaking.
"Are we really? I mean think about it, Dad never goes and sees a doctor, only her. He takes longer and longer to wake up every time he goes out like this."
"Maybe because she's licensed? She is the doctor."
"She's just a jack of all trades, huh?" Her sister challenged her, a determined look on her face.
"Look, your wrong about her. I'm not going to be apart of you two sharing a brain cell to blame Hera. It's not happening." Raina turned to leave but just as quickly turned back around. "Also, wouldn't you think our mother would've seen this sooner? Since Hera's so guilty?" She received a very telling look from both of her siblings at her question and she chose to allow that to die where it stood.
"It's too much for her." Valory declared while looking at Hail as he subsequently dismissed her blatant expression that clearly read 'I told you so'.
"How about this, if your so sure why don't we go ask her and clear this up?" Raina suggested as she turned away from the table, heading in the direction of the front room.
"No." Hail stalked towards her, taking her arm and spinning her around holding her in place.
"Let me go!"
"We need to gather enough evidence to be sure. We can't have her knowing anything more than she already does or we'll never get a thing."
"We?"
"You wanted in this conversation so badly, so yes. We." Raina laughed incredulously, rolling her eyes as she did so. Hail released his grip on her arm and took a step back.
"I'm not playing investigator, especially not when it involves Hera as the suspect. Plus, isn't there a key piece in all of this you guys are skipping over?"
"That is?"
"His business partners."
"There's been too many random instances to only blame the business partners." Valory joined Hail at his side now, looking slightly down at Raina. They weren't too far apart in height, but the youngest did live up to her title in age and inches. "We've already considered that route, it's the least likely."
"But the man from earlier? The one who went on a screaming tirade, banging on our door and barging into our home in the middle of the night. He doesn't strike you as very odd in all this?" It made perfect sense to her, but her siblings weren't having any of it.
"Yes, he does. But that man is one of many. There were many before him and could be many after, if we don't stop it." Hail replied.
"Stop Hera, you mean." When she received no response, she continued. "So let me see if I'm understanding this correctly, your saying someone who has 24 hour access to a man only tries to hurt him when specific business partners come by the house. Which are usually years apart, give or take, all of them being different people?"
"Exactly."
With Valory sounding so sure of herself, Raina had decided that that was the last straw. She didn't care to entertain the nonsense any longer than she already had been. It was time to disassociate with her delusional siblings once again. At least then she'd have some peace of mind knowing she wasn't gearing up to frame a woman who'd done nothing to be blamed as the practitioner in her father's illness.
"Okay. Next time I ask to be included, spare me." She hadn't gotten two feet before her brother's voice rang out from behind her.
"If you won't help us and you really believe she's innocent, prove it. Otherwise your just as much to blame-" She looked back, cutting her eyes at him. "-and I'm not stopping till she's outed." With that, her brother resumed his daily life of ignoring her existence and turned away from her, finding his way in the direction of the living area; their sister hot in his trails.
. . .
Raina went to her room to ponder what she'd just discussed downstairs... Hera, a thief? She was the woman who made sure she washed her hands and face every time she turned up a sticky mess from ice-cream spills. The person who bandaged every scrape she'd gotten from playing in the garden, who brushed and braided her hair every night as a child. Even once upon a time changed her diapers, just as she'd told her she'd done for Valory and Hail. No. She'd known her all her life and knew there was just no way; and she refused to betray her by even feeding into a lie like that anymore than she already had.
Putting the entire thing out of her mind and plucking her book from the bedside table drawer, Raina laid on her back before flipping through the pages to find her place. 'Tales of A Bandit Lover' was her current favorite read, having found it in the deepest corners of the red library where she was sure no one not looking for it would've found it. But that day she'd decided to turn over every book on every shelf, tossing whichever books caught her interest on the floor as she went along. By time she was done she'd personalized the bookcase closest to the window seal she liked to sit in with all her pickings and had her current favorite resting on her lap, prepared to be read.
The book fed her desire to escape from home, much like the protagonist.. The story told of a girl, not much younger than herself, named Alyana. Yana for short. She lived in a poor market village and sold sea seeds at her stall everyday as apart of her families business. One day a boy stole a sack of these seeds and she chased him into the forest, only to be captured by a dangerous group who were known as the Travel Men. These were bandits from all over the world who traveled together, stealing and killing. From that point on Yana and the bandit leader, Guy, started their odd love story.
Raina felt she and Yana's lives were very much alike. Both had sheltered lives and yearned after the prospect of adventure. Though one was more-so forced through kidnapping and unpleasantries, the narrative was still the same. She couldn't help but picture herself in the young woman's shoes.
"But mother, father will need all the help he can get with those barrels. If I could just travel with—"
"No Alyana, and I'll hear no more of it. Your place is here, with me and the sea seeds."
The more Raina read the further she compared herself to the fictional character until she could barely separate the two. She hated that she felt ungrateful for the life she had received yet couldn't help but to imagine a different kind of life. One with big adventures, loyal friendships and passionate love. Not that she knew anything about passion... or adventure... or friends. Suddenly she remembered Don's suggestive words to her earlier that day that had turned her into a fidgety mess and she blushed from ear to ear.
How could someone be so bold? she thought. To think a woman would willingly fall for his darkly seductive charms without a hitch. He was a man with a lot of gall and not nearly enough humility, making passes as her; and in front of her father's home at that. Even with their rocky relationship, had he of overheard him he just might have...
Raina's thoughts trailed off and her brows scrunched together, unable to keep her mind from slipping back into the way from which it had just came. Her siblings believed Hera to be a criminal and ruled out his business associates working alone, but she had not. Say this Don person was working alone, he'd of had all the time in the world to have done something to her father before Hera even stepped foot in the room. Possibly. He was with him all night. He was also the one who informed her that her father subsequently 'passed out' conveniently as he was leaving. As she thought more about it, things started making far more sense than the alternative.
But why would he waste time speaking and flirting with her if he did indeed have a hand in her father's current state? And why would he tell her how to find him? Did he believe no one would be suspicious of him and spoke with her to not seem suspicious? Did he pretend to offer her his company knowing she wouldn't agree to have it? Had he manipulated her to slide under the radar? What of the stories from her siblings against Hera? And where did all the other business associates fit into this?
Raina didn't know the answers to any of her own questions, but she did know she'd believe just about anything to keep from making Hera the villain. Her siblings, on the other hand, seemed determined to do so. And with the way her brother left their final words, she knew he meant it. But how to stop it, she was at a loss.
"If you won't help us and you really believe she's innocent, prove it."
She pondered over the heavy challenge, wanting nothing more than to do just that, knowing she'd be the only one among them willing. Unfortunately that meant walking directly into the lion's den and she wasn't sure she was prepared to do that, nor did she know how. It was a better chance she'd get bitten and eaten alive than to come out in one piece with all her questions answered. Then she'd be worse off than she started. Sighing in frustration Raina crossed her arms and remained in silence, her book forgotten as she stared up at the ceiling. That night, worse than her last, she found her sleep restless once more.
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