The Cinders of Dezu

7th: Firas (3)

Raina sat in her room on the bed with her hands folded like she was in trouble. The door opened to reveal Orion with a look on his face she couldn't quite read. He came around to the foot of the bed. He was followed quickly by Caddock who came up behind him with a chair. The king sat down, not taking his eyes off of the girl.  Caddock quietly left the room, leaving the door open. Orion's countenance softened as he could see the unease in the girl's eyes. She shifted uncomfortably and kept her eyes averted.

Orion spoke, "You don't have to be afraid of me. I'm not angry."

Raina looked down at her hands.

"Caddock told me something surprising," said the king.

He paused and waited for her. Raina kept looking at her hands.

"Hey," he said quietly.

He leaned forward. Raina looked up at him.

"It okay," he said softly, "Really. You don't have to worry. I just want to talk."

Raina looked into his eyes. They seemed more kind than she had seen them before. She relaxed a bit.

"So tell me about your new friend," he said, "You say he spoke to you?"

Raina rubbed her hands on her thighs. She spoke slowly and quietly, "Sort of..."

"Explain 'sort of' for me," he said.

Raina frowned.

"You... believe me?"

Orion looked vaguely surprised.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because no one ever believes me."

Orion's expression became blank. He said nothing. Raina had looked away and seemed to be thinking.

"I don't usually explain it to people. Except to Cairo. And dad. He believes me most of the time. He kinda has to. I just don't think he wants to believe I can talk to animals. He doesn't really like me to tell people. Or talk about it at all.... But with animals it's not like talking with words. They wouldn't be able to understand my words. But we just kinda know what we mean."

Orion's face changed. Raina couldn't decide what his expression meant. It seemed like concern.

"Can you describe that to me a bit more? What was it like?" he said as he leaned back staying attentive.

"I haven't really talked to that many rats before. But just like with most other animals I just knew, you know? All animals think differently. He thinks more in smells and little squeaks. Like he needed to smell to talk. Or in sounds that are kind of hard to make."

The kings brow lowered.

"You've always been like this? Even before you came to Dezu?"

She nodded her head and looked down at her lap again for a moment.

"That sounds dumb, huh? Everyone thinks I'm dumb when I talk like this."

The king leaned forward in his chair a bit.

"No darling, that's... not dumb at all."

He stood up very abruptly and cleared his throat.

"Thank you, we'll talk more later."

As he turned to leave, Raina thought she saw that his eyes were watery. He took a step outside of the room and stopped with two fingers on the side of the doorframe.

"Um... Don't worry about the door being locked. We'll keep it open. I'm sorry about that. Just let any of my people know if you need anything."

He looked at her for a moment. His knuckles grew white pressed hard against the frame. He tapped them twice quickly against the wood and then disappeared around the corner, leaving Raina staring at the open door to the dark hallway.

Raina sat, suddenly cold on her bed. She couldn't imagine why what she had just said must have bothered him so much. She warmed her arms with her hands as the draft came in from the hall. She got up and walked to the doorway to peak outside. No one was in sight. She decided she wanted it closed anyway for now. She went back into her room, shutting the door behind her.