The sound of her whispered words caused Rafe to tilt his head to the side slightly so he could hear them better. He had never heard her say much out loud before. It was comforting to him in a way to have her speak to him. He felt more at ease in her presence knowing that she at least trusted him enough to speak. He knew form experience that the women rarely spoke on their first night with the clan and usually wept, and sometimes it wasn't so softly.
"Please don't feel the need to lie to me." Rafe's mouth hardly moved as he spoke. He knew how dangerous it was speaking so much to her already. He was risking getting into quite a bit of trouble by having this conversation with her. Though he hardly cared as he had given up on obeying the rules years before.
Even if Rafe couldn't smell the fear on her he supposed that it was easy to tell. For one she was taken from her home and put into a very alien situation with a group of strange monsters she didn't know. Those facts alone made it easy to surmise her fear.
The gentle clatter of teeth caught Rafe's attention. He had wondered how warm her cloak was during their long walk to the clan but he had let the wisp of a thought melt from his consciousness. Rafe shrugged out of the thick sweater he had been wearing. At this point he turned and looked into the bars at where she was huddled on the ground close to the door.
"Please take this, you are cold." It wasn't a question and even though he had demanded her to take it, he had done so in a soothing and gentle voice while he passed the sweater and let it drop in front of her.
She spoke once more as if there was a need to fill the silence with words. Rafe had turned his back to her once more but had his body shifted slightly.
Sanna. That was her name. It was not what he had expected, but it was beautiful just the same.
"I do not. My mother died when I was not even five years of age." Rafe had long given up feeling tortured over his mother's brutal death. He had loved her but he had decided it wasn't worth his time to waste ill emotions.
Rafe had fallen silent when Sanna spoke of the forest. Never before had he heard one of the humans comment on the beauty. Rafe had always loved the tall trees that reached for heaven. The ancient feel that was wrapped around every rock and root left him in a feeling of wonderment. The forest had been his home and yet it felt like it was much more. Whenever the wind rustled through the forest he liked to think that it was the trees speaking in soft whispers to one another.
Did the forest mind having such a nightmare take refuge at its heart? Rafe had always felt guilty for living in such a timeless place while his clan practiced such barbarian methods to keep their blood alive.
Sanna's voice pulled him from his thoughts and he turned his head to see her form the corner of his eye. He could sense the terrible ache in her soul to know the truth of her fate. He didn't want to be the one to tell her even though he felt he must.
"Yes, but not for a long, long time. I will promise you that when the time does come, I will not let you suffer." It was all Rafe could offer her in ways of comfort. He didn't know what else he could say after that and so he stood quietly at attention. His mind rolled over the reality of the situation.
Rafe had apologized to her because he felt responsible. He had done his best to keep her from being offered up as the sacrifice and he had failed. He was out of ideas to make her safe and it caused him a great and terrible sadness in his soul. Rafe was helpless in watching his mother die, and now he would once more see someone he cared for be stripped of their living breath.