A Perfect Utopia?

Chapter 15

Vesper was leaning against the wall that was parallel to Aliyah’s desk. Even after being in Aliyah’s company for so long, she still did not want to risk sitting down. She would not know what the chair would do if she did sit down. Vesper still had not let her guard down.

When she had called Domini into the room, Vesper was not surprised when Domini chose to lean against the wall next to her as opposed to sitting down. Domini had been with the government for far longer than Vesper had. As a result, she was far more wary than Vesper was. It was not hard for anybody to notice that- and easier still for Vesper because she had known Domini so well before.

But not as well as Celastrus had.

That was true. Domini had been closer to Celastrus than Vesper, even though she had been assured many times before that that was not the case. They might have been best friends, but Celastrus and Domini had been friends before Vesper had come into the picture. Besides, Celastrus and Domini had had more in common than Vesper had. Maybe not very much, but it was enough to make a difference.

Vesper was not focusing one bit on the conversation that Aliyah and Domini were having. She did not want to participate, lest she gave away things that Domini was not supposed to know at the moment. Sometimes Vesper wished that she did not have to keep so many secrets, especially from Domini. There were many things that Domini deserved to know, but more than half those things were top-secret. It had taken Vesper awhile to convince Aliyah to tell her those things.

And Domini had even more a right than Vesper did.

The only thing that Vesper really wanted to do right now was talk to Lavinia. She wanted to make sure that Lavinia was not going to do anything rash, especially over Domini or her past. Knowing Lavinia, Vesper was highly unlikely to be able to stop her from doing whatever she wanted to. Vesper did not even know if it was worth trying.

But Aliyah wanted Vesper to try before she had to intervene. That was probably a smart move on Aliyah’s part, but Vesper hated the mere thought of trying to stop Lavinia from something that she wished for so dearly. Admittedly, Vesper knew that the situation would be a lot worse if Aliyah stepped in first. This way, at least Vesper could calm her down a bit- if that was even possible.

According to Aliyah, it was worth a shot though.

According to Vesper, it was not.

Vesper did not- could not, do anything to ever jeopardize the friendship that she and Lavinia had. Without that, Vesper would be very last. Vesper would never, ever forget what Lavinia did for her.

When Vesper arrived here, she had been entirely distraught and nearly out of her mind. She had just been fresh from losing Celastrus and being unable to see her parents for a quiet long time. It had been Lavinia, not Aliyah who had kept her from losing her mind. It had been Lavinia, not Aliyah who comforted her in the long nights when she had woken up screaming from her latest nightmares. Lavinia had been the one to stay with her day and night until she got used to it here, not Aliyah.

And yet, Aliyah was the one that she was helping.