My next visitor was a tall woman. I peered closely before recognizing Viviette Tom half hidden in the hood she wore.
My voice faltered "You havent left Raven Hollow? I heard you resigned."
She shrugged "How could you be so careless"
I said quietly "It couldn't be helped"
She snapped "Yes it could." Typical. I laughed despite myself. She walked closer. Her hand gripped the bars. "You have been careful for months"
I said bitterly "I guess we couldn't help it after Frodo's death. We couldn't continue to live in fear."
Viviette said hurriedly "Don't be stupid, Carter. The council will execute you without a whim."
I held her gaze.
"They executed Frodo too."
Something flickered across her face.
Pain.
Guilt.
Perhaps both.
"No," she said quietly. "Frodo died because his body finally surrendered."
"His body surrendered because the world gave him nowhere to live."
Silence.
Her fingers tightened around the iron bars.
"I came here to save you."
"Can you?"
She didn't answer immediately.
"Perhaps."
"How?"
Viviette glanced toward the guards. They remained several paces away, pretending not to listen.
She lowered her voice.
"The Council doesn't care about love."
"I gathered that."
"They care about order.. You are a foreigner, Night. "
"That's worse."
"Which means," she continued, ignoring my interruption, "they will look for the smallest excuse to convince themselves this was coercion instead of consent."
My stomach tightened.
"No."
She looked at me sharply.
"Listen to me first."
"No."
"Night..."
"I won't accuse Jordan of something he didn't do."
Viviette closed her eyes.
"You think I don't know what love demands?"
I stared at her.
"I buried the man I loved four days ago," she whispered. "Do not mistake my grief for ignorance."
Her voice steadied.
"Sometimes surviving is not betrayal."
"Sometimes it is."
Our eyes locked through the bars.
For the first time since entering the cell, Professor Viviette Tom looked impossibly tired.
She shook her head "I have just forty five minutes. The hearing begins then. There are books, Night. Old books of lore. I will save you. Even if I couldn't save myself"
She was gone as swiftly as she had come. I stood resignedly. Viviette Tom was wrong. I couldn't be saved. There was only death beyond this walls.
Moira Files came next. She looked at me pitifully. She had come with bread cakes in a basket.
"These men will rip you off with questions. You have to put something in your stomach."
I shook my head "I am not hungry".
She said firmly through her tears "Don't make this harder than it is, Night. Please". I opened my mouth , she crammed a cake into it .
I said between mouthfuls "Viviette Tom said there are books that could save us".
Moira said quietly "Viviette Tom is a professor. I am only the deputy sheriff. I know nothing of books."
My next visitor was a tall woman. I peered closely before recognizing Viviette Tom half hidden in the hood she wore.
My voice faltered "You havent left Raven Hollow? I heard you resigned."
She shrugged "How could you be so careless"
I said quietly "It couldn't be helped"
She snapped "Yes it could." Typical. I laughed despite myself. She walked closer. Her hand gripped the bars. "You have been careful for months"
I said bitterly "I guess we couldn't help it after Frodo's death. We couldn't continue to live in fear."
Viviette said hurriedly "Don't be stupid, Carter. The council will execute you without a whim."
I held her gaze.
"They executed Frodo too."
Something flickered across her face.
Pain.
Guilt.
Perhaps both.
"No," she said quietly. "Frodo died because his body finally surrendered."
"His body surrendered because the world gave him nowhere to live."
Silence.
Her fingers tightened around the iron bars.
"I came here to save you."
"Can you?"
She didn't answer immediately.
"Perhaps."
"How?"
Viviette glanced toward the guards. They remained several paces away, pretending not to listen.
She lowered her voice.
"The Council doesn't care about love."
"I gathered that."
"They care about order.. You are a foreigner, Night. "
"That's worse."
"Which means," she continued, ignoring my interruption, "they will look for the smallest excuse to convince themselves this was coercion instead of consent."
My stomach tightened.
"No."
She looked at me sharply.
"Listen to me first."
"No."
"Night..."
"I won't accuse Jordan of something he didn't do."
Viviette closed her eyes.
"You think I don't know what love demands?"
I stared at her.
"I buried the man I loved four days ago," she whispered. "Do not mistake my grief for ignorance."
Her voice steadied.
"Sometimes surviving is not betrayal."
"Sometimes it is."
Our eyes locked through the bars.
For the first time since entering the cell, Professor Viviette Tom looked impossibly tired.
She shook her head "I have just forty five minutes. The hearing begins then. There are books, Night. Old books of lore. I will save you. Even if I couldn't save myself"
She was gone as swiftly as she had come. I stood resignedly. Viviette Tom was wrong. I couldn't be saved. There was only death beyond this walls.
Moira Files came next. She looked at me pitifully. She had come with bread cakes in a basket.
"These men will rip you off with questions. You have to put something in your stomach."
I shook my head "I am not hungry".
She said firmly through her tears "Don't make this harder than it is, Night. Please". I opened my mouth , she crammed a cake into it .
I said between mouthfuls "Viviette Tom said there are books that could save us".
Moira said quietly "Viviette Tom is a professor. I am only the deputy sheriff. I know nothing of books."My next visitor was a tall woman. I peered closely before recognizing Viviette Tom half hidden in the hood she wore.
My voice faltered "You havent left Raven Hollow? I heard you resigned."
She shrugged "How could you be so careless"
I said quietly "It couldn't be helped"
She snapped "Yes it could." Typical. I laughed despite myself. She walked closer. Her hand gripped the bars. "You have been careful for months"
I said bitterly "I guess we couldn't help it after Frodo's death. We couldn't continue to live in fear."
Viviette said hurriedly "Don't be stupid, Carter. The council will execute you without a whim."
I held her gaze.
"They executed Frodo too."
Something flickered across her face.
Pain.
Guilt.
Perhaps both.
"No," she said quietly. "Frodo died because his body finally surrendered."
"His body surrendered because the world gave him nowhere to live."
Silence.
Her fingers tightened around the iron bars.
"I came here to save you."
"Can you?"
She didn't answer immediately.
"Perhaps."
"How?"
Viviette glanced toward the guards. They remained several paces away, pretending not to listen.
She lowered her voice.
"The Council doesn't care about love."
"I gathered that."
"They care about order.. You are a foreigner, Night. "
"That's worse."
"Which means," she continued, ignoring my interruption, "they will look for the smallest excuse to convince themselves this was coercion instead of consent."
My stomach tightened.
"No."
She looked at me sharply.
"Listen to me first."
"No."
"Night..."
"I won't accuse Jordan of something he didn't do."
Viviette closed her eyes.
"You think I don't know what love demands?"
I stared at her.
"I buried the man I loved four days ago," she whispered. "Do not mistake my grief for ignorance."
Her voice steadied.
"Sometimes surviving is not betrayal."
"Sometimes it is."
Our eyes locked through the bars.
For the first time since entering the cell, Professor Viviette Tom looked impossibly tired.
She shook her head "I have just forty five minutes. The hearing begins then. There are books, Night. Old books of lore. I will save you. Even if I couldn't save myself"
She was gone as swiftly as she had come. I stood resignedly. Viviette Tom was wrong. I couldn't be saved. There was only death beyond this walls.
Moira Files came next. She looked at me pitifully. She had come with bread cakes in a basket.
"These men will rip you off with questions. You have to put something in your stomach."
I shook my head "I am not hungry".
She said firmly through her tears "Don't make this harder than it is, Night. Please". I opened my mouth , she crammed a cake into it .
I said between mouthfuls "Viviette Tom said there are books that could save us".
Moira said quietly "Viviette Tom is a professor. I am only the deputy sheriff. I know nothing of books."
She reached into the basket again and offered me another bread cake.
I accepted it this time.
Not because I was hungry.
Because refusing suddenly seemed cruel.
Moira watched until I swallowed.
"Good."
Neither of us spoke for a while.
The silence between us was strangely maternal.
Heavy.
Gentle.
Finally she sighed.
"Jordan hasn't eaten either."
My head snapped up.
"Is he... alright?"
A faint smile tugged at her lips.
"He's arguing with the guards."
I snorted "About what?"
"About you."
I couldn't help smiling.
Moira shook her head with weary affection.
"He demanded to know whether you'd been given blankets, whether the cell was damp. He asked if your fever had gone down."
Her smile disappeared.
"Then he demanded to see you."
"And?"
"They refused."
I looked down at the cuffs round my wrists "He's an idiot."
"He gets that from his father."
I laughed softly.
"His father was like him?"
Moira's eyes drifted somewhere far beyond the cell.
"Stubborn. Reckless. Impossible to reason with when love was involved."
She fell silent.
Then, almost to herself,
"It was one of the reasons I married him."
The confession surprised even her.
She cleared her throat and straightened.
"Night..."
I looked up.
"When this hearing begins, they will ask you the same question in ten different ways."
I frowned.
"They aren't searching for the truth."
"Then what are they searching for?"
"A contradiction."
She leaned closer to the bars.
"If you hesitate, they'll notice. If you cry, they'll notice.If Jordan interrupts you, they'll notice. Every breath you take today will be weighed."
My fingers tightened. "What would you do?"
Moira didn't answer immediately.
At last she whispered,
"I'm ashamed to admit it.....but if you were my daughter, I'd beg you to lie."
Tears gathered in her eyes.
"Not because Jordan deserves it. Because mothers are selfish. We'd rather our children hate us than bury them."
My own eyes stung.
"I'm sorry."
She reached through the bars and brushed a strand of red hair from my face, exactly the way Jordan had only a couple of hours earlier.
"No," she said "I'm sorry."