having it out

Ignita starts to cry, but Spider feels nothing as they watch the emotions wreaking havoc across her pale face. true, they don’t relish in her pain, either - they just feel cold, angry, hollow. her pleas wash over them, desperate and inconsequential. hadn’t meant it to happen? maybe it had been unexpected, maybe she hadn’t planned to seduce Bas all along to escape her songbird rank. it doesn’t matter much to Spider, doesn’t absolve her of any guilt. she’s still the reason Hazel left.

“you broke my family,” Spider accuses. maybe one day, they’ll come to understand what a gross oversimplification this is, that Ignita isn’t the one at fault. but in this moment, it feels achingly, terribly true. the source of all their pain stands before them, misery manifest. “i wish you hadn’t come here. because i-if you hadn’t, Hazel would still be here.”

"Speech"