Courage Comes From Lies

Chapter 33: Tara

Another day went by where Leo would sit with me during my food hours. But ever since our last talk, something is different. I can't put my finger on it but whenever he looks at me he seems.. lighter. As if he'd been carrying the weight of what he told me for decades. He walked into my cell with a smile, holding my plate of food.
"Hello Tara" he said to me as he unlocked and opened my crate.
"Hey Leo" I replied back to him, climbing out and embracing him in a light hug. "It's nice to see you." I felt his body relax as he held me.
"It's nice to see you too Tara." He let me go and sat across from my crate holding my food down to me. "Here's your lunch." I sat next to my crate and took my food.
"Thanks." I immediately began eating. "The food here is disgusting. It's edible at least but it tastes like garbage. My mom's cooking was much better." He watched me as I ate.
"It's normal for a mother's cooking to be the best in your life. For anyone, if they're used to their mother's cooking nothing else ever tastes the same."
I chuckled. "Amen to that. What was your mother like, Leo?"
"My mother?" He tilted his head then looked at the floor crossing his arms to think. "My mother's name was Candace. She was... headstrong. For as long as I'd known her, nothing could ever rattle her. She was stubborn as well. She'd never let anyone tell her how to run her household or raise her family." He smiled a bit looking at the floor. "Sometimes even my father referred to her as 'the man of the house'."
I smiled. "She sounded great. I'm amazed someone who was mainly raised by Yolaris' army was able to turn out so well. She would've been proud."
He chuckled a bit and looked at me. "Thank you Tara... How about your mother?"
"Mine?" He nodded to me.
"What was your mother like? How long did you know her?"
I looked at my plate going quiet. "My mother..." I noticed he tilted his head looking at me for a little before blinking.
"I.. I'm sorry Tara I didn't realize how insensitive that question was. I apologize." I shook my head and washed down the knot in my throat with my drink.
"It's okay. My family isn't a topic I can avoid forever. But it'll be worth it when I avenge them." I sighed softly, setting my plate in between myself and him, and sat back looking at the ceiling. He swallowed watching me. All at once I felt a strong growing tension in the room. "My mother's name was Brietta. I knew her up until half a year ago. When I was fourteen."
"Did your birthday pass recently?"
I nodded. "Devin and I celebrated it together on our trip."
"Happy belated then." He nodded to me.
I smiled a bit. "Thank you.. anyway. Growing up, the only way I could describe her was selfless. Brietta Rosette Koldem was.. the perfect mother, teacher, wife and member of our society. Not a day went by where she put herself over others. If someone needed help, even if she didn't know them, they had her support. For as long as I'd known my mother she always told me one thing: never let your fear or judgment cloud your gut feeling. And when my home was attacked, and I ran for my life.. that was the only thing I could think of. At the time I was MORE afraid of staying. Everything I'd ever known in my life was being destroyed right before my eyes. But I couldn't just run to mommy anymore. She was gone... The only thing I have left of her is this." My hand went to the silver locket that my mother gave me.
He looked at the detailed material of the heart shaped pendant then back at me. "It's beautiful." He said to me. "When did she give it to you?"
"When I was nine. It was my birthday gift from her. Around that time my sister was really sick. And with the fear she wouldn't make it, my mother had this custom made for me and set a family photo inside of it. So on the slight chance that that would've been my last time seeing my big sister, I'd always have her close to my heart." I carefully pulled it off and pressed a button on the side which opened it. I then handed it to him. "Take a look."
He blinked looking at it then looked at me a bit hesitant. "Are.. you sure? This means everything to you." I smiled a bit and just nodded. He swallowed and carefully picked it up out of my hand by its chain to hold it up and get a good look at the photo.
"My mother and father were celebrating my graduation from Grade D. And my mother had asked my friend Kendall's father to take a picture of us all. I remember that night I ate myself into a food coma with my sister." He looked at it silently for a bit before closing the locket and handing it back to me.
"Your mother was gorgeous Tara. I have no doubt she loved you with everything she was."
"Neither do I... It kind of sucks you know?"
He looked at me. "What does?"
"All of this. It's not fair that Devin is the only one that doesn't know what a good mother is like. Now that I know the queen is.. her mother, I could never imagine having to watch my mother kill my father and sister. She must've been so scared.. It's sick. I understand her vendetta against her mother." He nodded a bit looking at the floor. "Princess Amanda was one of the good ones.. She lived up until the age of seventeen. I heard she died trying to protect Princess Devin."
"That's what Devin told me.. I could never imagine that pain. No doubt she's doing this for her father as well. She told me he was the first to go. During a battle between her and her sister when she was five."
"Yeah I heard of that story about three years into my position here. Her father was against his daughters' treatment but sacrificed himself when the queen was about to off her eldest daughter. Wow.. when I say it out loud, it sounds like a mad story was just hyped up drama to further worsen the queen's reputation."
I sighed softly and picked my plate back up starting to eat again. "If only." The room was silent after this. The tension was slowly dying down but the silence didn't let it get too far. Then he broke the quiet.
"So... do you have a plan for when you face her?"
"Actually I do. I've been coming up with one ever since I got here." I finished eating then moved the plate to the side.
He looked at me a bit surprised. "Okay? Let's hear it." It took about roughly eight minutes to explain my plan before he bursted out at me. "Are you insane?"
I raised my brow looking at him. "Your point?"
"Where do I start? For one, you won't be able to get remotely CLOSE to the queen before she decides what she wants to do with and to you. Secondly, we've both seen what she can do. We've both seen she shows no remorse for her actions. You want to walk right into that??" I thought to myself then looked back at him.
"Yes. I do. If not for my family then for Devin. We were supposed to go up against the queen together. But I don't have her here with me. So if I'm gonna die, I'm gonna make sure it's while I was fighting for them."
He sighed softly and crossed his arms. "Women are crazy." I rolled my eyes and drank the rest of my beverage, my hand moving back to my locket. To do this, I can't afford to let my fear stop me from following my gut.