The Tiger Within

"Lovely, what do you need my Forest Flower?" Crystalsa heard her own voice inquiring, despite how much she wished she had not . Fantasy knelt down at Crystalsa"s feet, tears in her eyes as she grabbed both her hands, her golden eyes begging to be understood . So much pain, and devastation in her heart .

"I want to go home . The Forest Knights won"t cause trouble I promise . I just want to go home, where I am safe and loved . " Fantasy replies her voice quivering as she begs . "Please . "

"Fantasy, I… This is your home . You are home . " Crystalsa wished she have slapped herself for saying such things . She should have realized, even back then what was going on, what was going to happen .
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"I have no place here . I am little more than a maid . That woman controls my every motion, my entire life . I have to serve her despite that I was his wife first . He doesn"t want me anymore, he won"t want us . Please let me go . " Fantasy begged pulling on her hands gently . The tormented young woman had laid her lips to the matriarch"s hands . She felt the tender touch of lips to her hands . Crystalsa could feel that touch on her hands, that warm ghost of a touch on her skin . That tingling sensation that broke her heart now .

"Fantasy, I can arrange a visit my dear . That isn"t a issue at all . " Crystalsa tried to calm her .

"Mother I need to go home . Please I don"t belong here anymore . I love you, and I have always seen you as my mother . I am begging you to let me go . If you ever considered me a daughter, give me this one request . " Fantasy begged on her knees . Her head fell forward as tears fell from her eyes . Hair covering her face .

"Fantasy, what do you mean? You are my Daughter in law, my daughter . I will not lose you . Not like this . " The way she had spoken then was like that of a true mother . She had loved Fantasy with all her heart .

"Mother, take pity on us…" Fantasy whispered through the tears .

"Us?" The voice didn"t even sound like her own, yet Crystalsa knew it was because she desperately didn"t want to hear the next line .

"I am pregnant . The baby… isn"t… my poor child isn"t his . " Fantasy admitted the secret The matriarch kept hidden . The truth of Akira"s birth .

"Who… who does the child belong to?" Crystalsa asked, finding it difficult to be angry . Cast aside, ignored, and treated as a slave she could hardly blame Fantasy for seeking comforting in another"s arms .

"I love him… I never would have laid with him if I didn"t . It was . . " Fantasy"s words changed, as did that tearful tone . "Mom, Mom, are you okay?" Fantasy, no wait it couldn"t be Fantasy . That wasn"t how she that conversation had gone . Crystalsa looked up, her eyes refocusing on the frightened face in front of her eyes . Suddenly, she realized there were wet tear trails down her cheeks .

"Fantasy . " The matriarch mother whispered but Kyera"s expression was suddenly lost in confusion . Her Grandest Mother had never called her that before, had never confused her for another .

"Mom?" She whispered softly again, before letting go and taking a step back . Crystalsa couldn"t help but frown, shaking her head slowly to clear the cobwebs of yesteryear .

"Perhaps Mother should go lay down . Obviously her health is failing . Fantasy has been dead for so long . " Reever Replied waving his hand dismissively while Kyera knelt at her grandmother"s side . He barely had time to finish that thought before a fist clashed with his face . A sickening crack sound warned of the blood that then dripped down his nose . He could taste it .

While Reever tried to figure out why he was laying on the floor, the rest of the room was staring at Clovis, who was ma.s.saging his left hand with his right . No one quite sure what to say, but most of them fairly sure they wanted to shake his hand .