Nepenthe • Something that can make you forget grief or suffering.
Never feeling like they belonged was a feeling that Lissa Dragomir lived with, even with her family and life long best friend, although they aided in that feeling not being so strong...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Saturday, 10th of January, 2015 was an important night, it was the night that Kate would tour the Elementary school area on campus with Kirova and Alec, and the night that Lissa would be going her first, very much needed and always avoided, therapy session.
The room was warm, softly lit, and smelled faintly of tea and cedarwood. Outside, snow pressed against the tall windows, muting the world into silence. Inside, Lissa Dragomir sat perched on the edge of a leather armchair, her hands folded neatly in her lap, every inch the perfect royal — except for the nervous twist of her fingers.
Across from her, Dr. Ivan Rasković sat with a notebook open but untouched. His voice, when he spoke, was calm, patient, the kind of steady tone meant to bridge walls rather than break them.
"You don't have to be here, Princess Dragomir," he said gently. "You chose to come. That's a good first step."
Lissa gave a faint, hollow laugh. "I didn't exactly choose it. Headmistress Kirova said it's mandatory." Her tone wasn't disrespectful, just tired — a soft, quiet resistance. "I've... done this before. Talking. It didn't end well."
Rasković tilted his head slightly. "You've spoken with another counselor before?"
Her fingers tightened. "Not exactly. She was a teacher. Professor Sonya Karp." Her voice wavered, then steadied. "I thought I could trust her."
The silence stretched for a heartbeat too long.
"She helped me at first," Lissa went on quietly. "I told her things I'd never told anyone — about the nightmares, the panic, the sense that I was being watched all the time. And then she—" Lissa's breath hitched. "She compelled me."
Rasković blinked, the faintest flicker of surprise crossing his otherwise composed face. "She compelled you?"
Lissa nodded once. "Told me to run. To leave the Academy and never come back. Said it was for my own safety. That the Dominion would come for me if they knew what I could do." Her voice turned brittle. "She didn't even give me the chance to decide for myself."
Rasković leaned back slightly, his tone still quiet but firmer now. "That must have felt like a terrible betrayal."
"It was." Her throat tightened. "I trusted her. I thought she understood. And then, when the compulsion wore off... I wasn't even sure which part of me was still mine."
She swallowed hard, blinking away the sting in her eyes. "So forgive me if I'm not thrilled to be sitting here again."
Rasković inclined his head, understanding threading through his calm demeanor. "You have every right to feel that way, Princess. What happened to you was not therapy. It was control. What we do here — it's not that. You speak, and I listen. Nothing more happens without your permission. Ever."
