Don't Ask

Walk | Talk | Think
 
Callisto was honestly taken aback by Kassander's distrust, his refusal to take her words at face value as she offered them. She blinked in surprise, her brows knitting further as he proceeded to question her absence and how it was that he viewed it all from his clueless side of the situation. Of course she had not given thought to what he might think. She saw no reason herself why she should possibly be denied, why there should have been any issue with her return, and so had expected everyone else to fall into suit. The fact Max had jumped on board with the plan right away had only solidified those thoughts, and now she found herself growing irked at having her trustworthiness, her loyalty to the pack, questioned.

Her lips pursed but she made no attempt to speak up, giving him room to speak his piece while her own thoughts roiled below the surface. She nearly snapped, felt the anger flare up at the mention of the brats abandoned in the north, felt the guilt that she tried so hard to keep at bay rear its head, and was surprised for a second time when Maximous spoke up, somehow keeping an even tone when hers would easily have been venom-laced. He tried to divert the conversation, to keep the obvious question of her previous condition far from her, but even she knew it was no use. If she was going to get to stay here, she was going to need to be brutally honest. No matter how much that honesty killed her to think about.

"The brats weren't mine," she spat with clear bitterness, a coldness that was directed at the monster who had changed her life irreparably, "they never were. I was only allowed to leave when..." Her voice tapered off, the memory of the day bringing with it too many unwanted, pointless emotions for her to know how to process them. She did not want the demon spawn, not even a little. And yet she worried, wondered, and wished... Hardening herself again, she lifted her head and stared across at Kassander with a gaze both steely and haunted, and heard the slight wobble in her voice. "If you're going to send me away, just do it already."