BEHIND CLOSED DOORS | D.M

041 | the safe house

"Kallista, may I talk to you for a minute?"

Turning around from the steaming teapot, she smiles softly when Narcissa shuts the kitchen's door behind her. Dressed in nighttime attire, her blonde and brown hair are tied in an elegant chignon at the nape of her neck, her features soft and serene.

"Of course," she replies, setting down the mug she was previously holding onto. "Is everything okay?"

The woman's lips curve into a small beam as she nods shortly. She takes a seat on a stool at the central island, wrapping her robe around her body. "I should be the one asking you this."

A small line appears in between Kallista's brows as turmoil seeps through her veins. "What do you mean?"

As soft as velvet, her voice ricochets with tenderness. "Sit, honey."

With reluctance, she takes a seat on the stool next to Narcissa, surprise drawing itself on her face when the latter grabs her hand in between both of hers.

Narcissa's blue eyes hold her stare—tenderly, gently whilst her soft voice echoes like saccharine honey, its purpose to soothe the confusion coursing through Kallista's being. "Draco told me."

Kallista blinks before letting her face contort into a frown. "Told you what, exactly?"

"About the chocolates," Narcissa clarifies quietly as though afraid to speak about that matter. "About you being poisoned."

"Oh."

She isn't even remotely angry at Draco for having told his mother. But she somehow feels self-deceit because she sees herself as a fool. A fool for letting all those insane things happen to her and not being able to do anything.

Narcissa's grip is firm around her hand, but not patronising in any way. "You are safe here, Kallista. No one will harm you. You don't have to be afraid to make yourself coffee or have a snack during the day. You don't have to check every ingredient you put in your lunch."

"Poppy told you?" Her words are strangled in her throat, her voice brittle.

The woman nods. "You're safe," she repeats softly.

Kallista swallows the lump constricting her throat and puts her free hand above Narcissa's. "Thank you."

For a few silent seconds, Narcissa only smiles kindly, observing the younger witch's features. "I see the way my son is with you—gentle and careful and so, so loving—" Kallista can't help but raise her brows when the last word is uttered confidently. "—He would go to the end of the world for you."

Her stare drops to their entwined hands, a frown plastering her face. Molten fury starts to build in the pit of her stomach, her captured hand ever so slightly shaking with a blooming colère. "He treats me like a delicate flower. I am not fragile. I won't let myself be conquered by fear. I do not yield."

"He knows that," Narcissa assures fiercely, sternly. "And that's what he admires most about you." She releases a small breath, quietly chuckling, which makes Kallista look back up into her sapphire eyes. "My son will always stand beside you and watch you wield that power you possess. That power that draws him to you. I am aware there was a time where you'd both have done anything to corrupt each other, but now I know he wants nothing but to see your strength blossom into something bigger."

Not being able to utter a single word, she merely listens to Narcissa speaking. She is stunned. Silent. Only stares with knitted brows and alert eyes.

"I don't know where you two stand, but—" She pauses to sigh softly. Her eyes start to glimmer with some emotion Kallista can't quite decipher in this very moment, but the sight sends a wave of comfort through her chest. "I know this is all a faux scheme, a mere and foolish contract just for the sake of gaining a high reputation in our society. But I see it—this is beyond a lie. You're married, tied to the Vow, the most powerful and magical bond of love to ever exist."