Snippet #1649175

Ali couldn't sleep again. Not after everything that happened. Her mind was racing with everything that was happening and, she realized, she would be able to rest until Evin was back and she knew what exactly happened. "Bloody hell." She muttered. "I might as well have gone with them!" She exclaimed, standing up from her bed and moving to the wooden table where the chess board was set, she started to move the pieces around, trying to remember the last time she and Bastian played. It was about a month before he died, a rather cold night, a game that lasted almost the whole night. It was the longest she had managed to postpone her inevitable defeat. It was also a very long conversation.

Bastian had been the closest to a father figure she had, and that was one thing she and Jake always had in common although it was always left unsaid... They also had things in their past they'd rather erase forever. For those reasons and more, she wanted to believe him. The truth was, what he had told her made sense, but so did a hundred other theories and Sean... She didn't know him all that well, but he seemed just as outraged by Crys' death as anyone else, and even more than a few. So what if Jake was wrong? She couldn't do anything unless she was sure, and the way things were, she just wasn't sure of anything anymore. She finally stood up, shaking her head, and left her house, deciding she needed a walk. Halfway towards the memorial, she tripped over a log, which she didn't see since the campfire was now put out. Muttering curses under her breath and now with a shooting pain in her foot, she went on walking until she saw someone sitting at the memorial.
"You knew I was here, didn't you?" Sean asked, standing up.
"Yes, I did." She replied, walking past him and sitting down. "Sit. I need to talk to you." She said.
Sean sat on the spot he had been and followed Ali's gaze to the cross where he had carved Crystal's name, not long ago. It only had her name and nothing else, unlike the other leader's that had been honored there, there was no saying on Crystal's grave. There was really nothing to say. Sean simply sat there in silence until Ali decided to speak.
"Why does Jake think you did this?"
"I don't know."
"Yes, you do. He could have killed you on the spot, but he didn't. He told you exactly why he thinks you did it. So don't lie to me." She said frowning. "I'm not an idiot despite what you may think."
Sean sighed. "Fine. First, you need to understand... Jake and I never got along for reasons that, right now don't really matter, but he and Lionel were always good friends. After Theron was brought in, when Dani announced he was accepted into the clan as an instructor, Lionel had a rather ugly fight with our father about it. Later that night I caught him sneaking out of camp and I followed him, all the way to Newhaven. I waited for him outside the city gates, when I caught up to him he said Jake was going to take care of it." Sean nodded. "Lionel was angry, so was I. We hated the Wolf Hunters just as much as I'm sure you hate the White Knights. Crys has nothing to do with that, though."
"And then there's your father." She said.
"What about my father?" Sean asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The Black Knights killed him." She said.
"I still don't see how that involves Crys." Sean said, shrugging. "And Jake killed Dani, no one seems to be punishing him for that."
"That's not true, Sean." She muttered.
"No?" He laughed. "Come on... He could have been killed for that about twenty times. Not even Evin wants to kill him, it seems. It's like everyone is afraid to touch him just because Crys trusted him."
"I don't think that's what's stopping Evin, Sean. I don't think it would. Besides... This whole thing with Dani is just way too off."
"Off how?" Sean asked.
"She knew Jake did it. Why wouldn't she tell someone?" Ali asked.
"What makes you think she knew he did it? She trusted him. Maybe she just didn't believe it." He argued. "Jake is smart, and he's good enough of a liar to have fooled Crys at least once, probably more than that. What makes you think he couldn't be faking all this pain everyone thinks he's going through? What makes you think he couldn't have something to do with Crys' death? Can anyone know for sure he wasn't already with the Black Knights when Dani called him back?" He sighed. "Look, Dani was smart, but you and I know that Crys had a way of talking her in and out of things. Who knows how many times she covered for him?"
"You're twisting things." Ali stated, turning to look at him.
"Am I? Things are twisted on their own, Allison. I'm simply stating facts, the same way Jake did. So what exactly makes him any more believable than me?"

Ali nodded, resting her chin on her hands. "Nothing. The problem is, it doesn't make him any less believable either."
Sean nodded. "That's because he's not lying, he's just wrong. And he is going to end up killing someone for it, or getting himself killed. And if you're really his friend, you should try to stop him before that happens. Next time you see him, do that." He stated.
"Is that an order, sir?" She muttered.
"Yes. Yes, it is." Sean replied. "It's good that you question things, but we never get all the answers. Sometimes we just have to get things done and hope we didn'

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[Blackpond]

Lena kept watching Ella, leaned against the door. Silent until the girl said they were breaking out. "How are we doing that?" Lena asked calmly. "I've been out there, if you plan on living to see your mother, you better have a plan." She opened a smile. "They have no clue your life is worth something, and it'd be worse if they did. So it better be a good one too."

Then she sat back down, a slightly more gentle look in her eyes. "He knew who you were, your brother. Your mother managed to get a message to him, but I assume he didn't have the chance to tell you the truth." She made a pause in which she closed her eyes as she tried to suppress and unpleasant memory. When she opened her eyes again she nodded, looking away from Ella and staring at dim light that was slipping in underneath the door. "I'm sorry." She said, although she didn't really explain what she was sorry for or why she would be sorry in the first place. That was a little bit too much to disclose, at least at this point.