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“You look like you just got hit with a pie in the face,” she said, her cheeks bright, her eyes alight with mirth.
“I feel like I’m dreaming,” he admitted, looking around again before focusing back on her. “What’s happening? I don’t understand…”
“Oh, yeah. Guess I should explain. Want to sit down first? Er… Well, the bed is all we have left and that’s pretty low…”
“No, I’m okay standing,” he assured her. He’d been strapped down to a bed for the last few days. The last thing he wanted to do right now was lay back down. “But what happened? I don’t get… What did you do to my mother?”
Sandy chuckled, hiding her cute little smile while she did so. “I told you. Your mother doesn’t scare me. I was raised by Lexie Tollman. If there’s one thing grandma instilled into me, it’s that you can make anything happen if you put your mind to it.
“But that doesn’t really explain all… this…” He swept his hand around, trying to think. The last time he saw her, Orza had been locking her in this room. So how…
“People think that kicking up a fuss is a great way to get things done,” she said, smiling. “And I can understand why, on the surface. It seems like the loud ones always get placated. But real power is built with patience.”
“What?”
“Did you really think I was just sitting here, letting her do whatever she wanted, without forming any kind of plan?”
“Well,” he frowned, moving the broken feather from his face. “I suppose I did. Wasn’t that why you were doing mild chaos and general mayhem?”
“No, that was because I was bored, and I had what I needed.”
“Which was?”
“A voice to speak out.” She smiled. “When you act docile, people begin to think that you are docile, so they become much less careful around you. I met Lisra.”
“Yes, I know. But what does that…”
“Apparently, she’d been pestering your mother to meet me, and by being non-confrontational and obedient, your mother got this false sense of security and let her come by. I felt her out. Very quickly realized that she had nothing to do with this, and in fact that she has no idea what’s going on here.”
The last was said in an accusatory tone. Aimed at him. He grimaced, looking away. Not needing her to elaborate on why exactly she was mad.
“I couldn’t tell them,” he said, shame burning in his belly. “They already had this idea of me planted in their heads by my mother. What could I even say?”
“The truth, for starters.”
“They wouldn’t believe me.”
“So?” She scoffed, rolling her eyes. “If you let out a cry for help and no one responds, they’re the ones in the wrong, not you. Even if they didn’t believe you, planting the seed in their heads is sometimes all you need to do.”
Rane clenched his teeth. Hating that she was right but knowing he still couldn’t talk. How was he supposed to explain… everything. And even if he did, what would it change? He would still be trapped by his mother.
Sandy sighed, relenting. “I get it though. Sometimes, it hurts to try to ask for help, right? To admit that you need it. And to be afraid that, even if you ask for it, you won’t get it. I understand, Rane. I do. But you needed help.”
“Is that what you did? Tell the team what happened?”
“No,” she laughed. “I told Drevor to get me another meeting with Lisra. And when she came around again, I made up my own little narrative.”
“What did you tell her?”
She grinned. “I told her that I was worried about my life here. I was scared. Not that hard to get her to believe since that’s the story your mother has been telling everyone. I told her that I was just convinced someone was coming after me.”
Rane blinked at her, stunned. “Did you say it in that tone of voice?”
“No. I went for a more restrained, quivering fear kind of thing,” she shrugged, smirking. “Like, I’m so scared, but I’m trying to hold it together? She went for it, of course. I made her promise, absolutely swear, that if she didn’t hear from me at least once a day, that she had to contact the domini embassy and tell them that I was being held captive.”
Rane just stared at her. Surprised, because that had been his plan. One he hadn’t actually managed to go through with.
Because he hadn’t tried to ask his team for help. He hadn’t reached out to them. Even when he asked Zell for the location of the embassy, he hadn’t asked him to get the message out. Because he didn’t think they would believe the truth. Because he didn’t trust them.
