70 Deadly Dilemma
70 – Deadly Dilemma
Ione.
She blinked at me as if I had accused her of cold–blooded murder. Then her expression morphed into pure rage. “Don’t you fucking dare!” she spat. “Stop with your lies.”
I looked at her as if she had grown a second head. “I am–”
She moved menacingly closer to me, her chest heaving, her face red. She regarded me like she wanted nothing more than to plunge a sword into my chest. “You treacherous child. You accuse your own brother of such a heinous act?”
I was utterly speechless as I looked up at her, anger rolling off her in waves.
“You have finally gone mad, it would seem. You touch a maggot, and now you are seeing utterly unfounded rubbish, and you expect me to believe that it is true and that I should feel guilty for partaking in something that did not happen? You are not only a mistake but a manipulator too,” she gritted her teeth. “All for what? Because you want to protect a maggot that is sinking its bloodthirsty fangs into your own brother?”
“I know what I saw–” yet my voice had become small and lacked any conviction.
She cut me off, pointing at herself. “I might not be a seer, but I know how these things work. You cannot touch a person and see into another person entirely, much less see something so outlandish and utterly impossible.” Her eyes were blazing as she spoke. It was like a dragon burning down all that stood in its path.
Despite everything that I knew my mother to be, she was not lying. That was not how seeing worked. How could I attempt to see into Iris and instead see into myself, my past? It suddenly made absolutely no logical sense.
“Now get that rubbish out of your little head. It could not be further from the truth. And I think I know what is going on,” her tone turned smug.
“What?” I asked.
There was accusation written in her eyes as she looked at me. “You are trying to clear the name of that maggot, aren’t you?”
What was she talking about? I was stunned, my blood turning to ice in my veins. “I would never–”
“Yet, you accuse your own brother because you cannot bear to face the fact that the man you loved was nothing but a killer. It still haunts you to this
day. But it does not haunt you for the reasons that it should.”
“Mother!”
“Don’t fucking pretend with me!” she countered, moving even closer. “You have just shown your true colors. You cannot expect this stunt of yours
not to arouse suspicions.”
“I would never–”
“Don’t bother trying to convince me. You lost that privilege the moment you accused not only your brother but your mother because you were
trying to protect maggots.”
I bit my lip to prevent myself from exploding. What she was accusing me of was horrible. But once she made up her mind, there was no turning
back.
“You said you saw nothing?” she asked, out of the blue.
“Yes, mother,” I answered tentatively, hope rising. Maybe she believed me after all.
“Um…” She mused a bit. “You will have to try again.”
I froze, my eyes widening, probably taking up half of my entire face. My stomach dropped so low, I could have heard a splash as it entered the deep ocean. I could say nothing and only stared at her, hoping that she would just burst out laughing and tell me that she was joking.
“It is obvious that it is because it had been a while since you attempted to use your powers; that was why it backfired so badly. But now that you have
tried it once, it should work out now.”
My ears were ringing, painfully loud. I was not sure why, but maybe it was because my body was trying to tune her out. She was still talking as I was
actively spiraling.
“I cannot do it,” I said quietly. It was more of a whisper than anything else, One would argue that I was speaking more to myself than I was talking to my mother.
But she heard all the same and froze. “Repeat that,” her voice was soft, almost motherly, like she was lulling a baby to sleep, but the amount of venom in her eyes at my refusal said something completely different.
I pursed my lips, not daring to make a sound.
“Repeat that,” she said again.
I gulped.
“Are you deaf?” she demanded.
“I cannot do it,” I finally succumbed.
“Oh really?” she asked, looking like a coiled angry cobra, ready to strike at any moment. “You can’t?”
“I can’t. I almost didn’t come back,” I said, desperately trying to make her see reason. “I was so close to dying. I could have died.”
Setting
21:06
70 Deadly Dilemma
She came right up to me, until our faces were almost touching. “You shund have died, the wingerd “Yin dund have beg
I felt multiple red hot blades find their mark in my heart. Her words hat me like a physiod Wow, Moedang, me qigher for breath. The warning of her hatred was palpable, and for a moment, I wasn’t even terrified that she would hit me. There was sering dice chat de urdh vaj, shteg és csé ever say that would gut me like what she had just said. I stood there, frozen, as her eyeshore into mine with and “You think you can just walk away from this?” Her voice was low, faced with commeme, “You think you can pa ding you’re scared?” she leaned in even closer, her breath hot on my face, her eyes glinting with a dangerous life. “You thank you that your fear makes you special? You’re wrong,”
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Her words cut deeper than any physical wound ever could. I felt my chest constrict, my heart pounding party Moder, Jouksistapuk voice trembling. “I don’t want to disappoint you, I just… I can’t do it. The risk is too ligh
Her lips curled into a sneer. “Risk? You talk to me about risk? She shook her head in disbeliet “You’re nothing for a comms Weg Pach You think your little brush with death makes you exempt from your duties? No, it just proves how weak you are?
I felt tears welling up, but I blinked them back, refusing to act even weaker than i already was. ‘I’m worry, I cooked on “I’m sorry for everything: can’t control these things. They’re unpredictable. I don’t know why it happened that way, but I can’t fick is wher
She straightened, looking down at me with a mixture of disdain and disappointment. “You’re a disgrace; the vel colity,” fallore, You can’t even do the one thing you’re supposed to. You’re not fit to be part of this family,”
Her words were like knives, each one stabbing deeper into my soul, I felt the weight of her condemnation pressing down on me, endised, the Tele remaining spirit I had left. “L… I understand,” I murmured, barely audible.
“Do you?” she snapped, her voice rising. “Do you really? Because if you did, you wouldn’t be standing, here, wasting my time with your diete excuses. You’d be doing everything in your power to fix this. But you’re not. You’re just wallowing in self pay, frickey, kon how hard it is for your
“Mother–”
“Stop calling me that. Children like you don’t have mothers. Girls like you are orphans. You have no choice. It is either you die or you do alay Suddenly she was smiling. “You think because Cassian has softened towards you despite what your mayya lover did, you can do as you please. Wa care won’t last, especially not after what you accused Rolan and me of He will wash his hands clean of you. You will be exiled. Then you will only be one with that maggot whore that you care for so much.”
My eyes widened at her threat, and a cold shiver ran down my spine. The gravity of her words settled heavily on me, the implications chilling, Being exiled would mean losing everything–my home, my family, even the fragile support Cassian had shown me. The thought of being can out, alone and powerless, was terrifying.
“Mother, please,” I pleaded, my voice barely holding steady. “I can’t control what happened. I’m not trying to defy you or protect anyone at the expense of the family. But I can’t just make the visions work on command. You have to believe me.”
She shook her head slowly, a cold, pitiless smile playing on her lips. “I don’t have to do anything, You have no place here, no right to make demands or excuses. You have one chance left, Ione. One chance to prove you’re not a complete waste. Fail me again, and you’ll see just how little you
matter.”
Her words were a final, crushing blow. I felt my last vestiges of hope crumble under the weight of her disdain. She had no love left for me, if she’d ever had any at all. I was nothing to her but a tool, one that had outlived its usefulness. The realization was like a dagger to the heart.
Death was better than this. It was so ironic that I could have smiled. Death was far more merciful than my own mother. I would never try to see into Iris. I had made a promise to her. And even if I did see into Iris and did not find what she wanted, only the goddess knew what else she would have me do. There was no winning.
“Yes, mother,” I replied numbly, whatever was left of my heart withering.
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