Fear

[Sorvae Sunfell]

Fireplace was lit with fire which gave the whole room a cozy dark environment. As it was the only light source in the room, it looked very mystical and frightening at the same time. Would there have been no people inside the room, one may have thought this place was from a horror film.

But there were people. To be exact, there were four of these.

Darrick was one of them, standing next to the fireplace and leaning onto the mantelpiece. A woman holding a wine glass moved around yet still managed not to leave the short radius from Darrick.

"I am afraid," Darrick muttered, his eyes attached to the fire in the fireplace. "I am afraid I may have failed."

None of the four people were sat on the few sofas and armchairs. Another woman was in the other side of the room -- thankfully it wasn't a large room -- and poured herself some wine. While another man stood in the middle of the room, leaning forward to take his glass from the low coffeetable.

"We all are," the wine-pouring woman replied. "And we have always been."

The woman who walked near Darrick moved her eyes to the woman who'd just spoken. Her eyes were attached to her as if she was staring into her.

The man in the middle of the room stood up straight with his glass in his right hand and momentarily raised his left eyebrow -- a motion which was then followed with a grin.

"Caterina, please... I don't fear anything," he said, his voice low and crumbly even though his tone hinted at him being slightly too self-obsessed and proud of himself.

The woman from next to Darrick hmmphed.

"Says the one who's Versateya's favourite..."

 

[Sorvae Sunfell]

"She could turn her back on anybody at any given moment... She doesn't have favourites," Caterina, the one who had poured herself a glass of wine, said. "Surviving as long as we have is already quite a remarkable achievement."

Darrick turned his eyes away from the fire and looked into the eyes of Mireya, the woman next to her. Both of their eyes spoke of fear and terror as if they were in deep panic inside.

All four of the people were like that inside. Even Rhaegan, even though he didn't want to admit that.

"Anyway, I and Lilith's daughter met a few weeks ago," Darrick decided to confess. "I presented myself to him to tell her a little bit about her mother. And no, I didn't give away more than I should have."

Rhaegan looked at him with a blank face.

"Yeah, but you're still dumb." He took a few steps towards him. "You could have ruined our whole project with that move. How did you even have enough courage to stand against the rules?"

Mireya moved in front of Darrick as if she was trying to defend him.

"Versateya doesn't know about Lilin's existence."

 

[Sorvae Sunfell]

Caterina stepped closer to the group, her face speaking of a mixture of emotions, including surprise, confusion, joy and sadness. Well, and then she had practically all the feelings in the middle of these portrayed on her face.

"How come she has no idea who the girl is?" Darrick was the one to ask. He'd always thought Versateya kept an eye on absolutely everybody in the family tree. All of the group's understandings of the woman seemed to crash that very moment.

"And why are you so sure she doesn't know about her existence?"

Mireya's eyes flicked from one person to another, as if she was trying to find the person she felt was the most comfortable to talk to.

"Versateya doesn't care about the family I and Darrick have started. She didn't care about Lilith, doesn't care about Jasmine. She doesn't even care about Randyl..." Mireya spoke.

Caterina became more and more interested in the whole topic as she took a seat on an armchair.

"She doesn't keep an eye on any of our children. Nor does she know they have their own families. That Imperieuse trash is but a nothing to her eyes -- he doesn't exist, at least to her. Neither do his offsprings."

She took a deep breath.

"Versateya's plans don't work like you think they do. Unlike any one of you, she talks to me about her plans."