Chapter 56

Josiah opened the door to the cell he'd been having Roger held in. Josiah had enlisted the two men that had been guarding the door as back up since Rossalyn had refused to enter the cell with Roger. The men stood on either side of Roger with their hands gripping his biceps tightly in case he made a stupid attempt to run away. Roger went white when he seen Rossalyn standing between Josiah and Sarah. Each of them wore an expression that promised pain on their faces and their body language was of three snakes ready to strike any moment. He stood there silently, too scared to say anything.

"I know you're wondering what is going to happen to you. I know you know that this line you crossed was one that cannot be uncrossed." Rossalyn said meeting her brother's eyes and the force of her presence forced him to keep eye contact. "You had me delivered to the hands of our enemy to be held prisoner until my baby was born. Then He was going to keep my baby from me. And you're the one that made that possible. Slithering through our home like the slimy snake you are in hopes of a shiny bobble in return."

"He threatened Sarah and the kids, Ross!" Roger began but Rossalyn held a hand out and stopped him from saying anything else.

"Even if I believed one thing out of your lying mouth, you're some kind of idiot to believe for one second that had you told me or Josiah what was going on that we couldn't make sure they were protected, just like we will be doing from now on. There is absolutely no excuse for what you did." Rossalyn snapped, her voice going even colder than it was to begin with.

"So, what is going to happen is this is going to be your new home. Sarah will be filing for divorce and you'll sign without contesting anything. There will also be a form drawn up that will sign your rights to the kids away. Their last names will be changed to a last name of Sarah's choice, but it can't be yours. These kids will never know or remember you. You'll not exist to them, just as Josiah and I wouldn't have existed to our child, should George have gotten his way." Rossalyn said firmly.

"Oh no you don't!" Josiah shouted when Roger moved to lunge toward Rossalyn in anger. He had drawn a weapon so quickly Sarah and Rossalyn hadn't had time to react to Roger's movements. He immediately settled back down, looking toward Josiah with a mixture of anger and fear.

"This cell will be outfitted with a two way glass so that you can see out but no one can see in. You'll get to see life go on here. You'll get to watch and listen to us live and love and raise our children. No one will ever do more than bring you food and basic living supplies that you'll need. You'll live like this until I get tired of you occupying our home and breathing our air. Then with no warning and no explanations, someone will put you down." Rossalyn said, at the last her voice shaking with anger.

Rossalyn turned and walked away from Roger when she'd finished speaking. Within a moment Sarah and Josiah fell into step with her and with a strange finality, she heard the door to the cell close behind them signalling Roger had been led back into the building. They walked back to the house together as what Rossalyn had just sentenced Roger to sunk in for all of them. She had sentenced him to the closest thing to hell that a person could endure on Earth. She expected to feel bad for him, but for the time being she felt nothing but anger toward him. She knew that it would be a long time before she was ready for his punishment to end. Everytime she thought about what life would have been like with George taking her baby from her she boiled with rage. Until that didn't make her want to wrap her hands around his throat, he'd endure the hell.

The next few days were filled with guests arriving to the mansion for the trial of George. Strangely, it was as if everyone was preparing for a grand ball of some sort. But there was an undercurrent of tension in the air that made up for some of the levity that was expressed by most in the crowd. Rossalyn understood the situation, though. George's crime couldn't just be punished by Josiah, not with his position. If Josiah were to take George out without approval from the other dons, it could set a precedence that there was no recourse and no safety for those that fought tooth and nail to achieve the status. There may not be many rules for those in the lifestyle, but what few rules there were, were expected to be followed to the letter.

With the building crowd in her home, Rossalyn found herself wanting to hide in their bedroom more frequently. Josiah wouldn't allow her to stay to their room all day, but she was allowed to go rest when she was feeling overwhelmed. Sarah would often join her out on their balcony to escape the crowd while the kids played. George's trial was set to begin the next day and within a couple days their home would start clearing out. She wasn't sure how everything would play out or what to expect the trial to be. It wasn't like they needed to prove he did what he did or call witnesses. Hopefully they could all have a conversation and they just recommend the punishment and call it good.

"Is it always going to be like this?" Sarah asked, glancing over at Rossalyn as they watched the lawn crawl with men in suits all talking in small groups.

"I hope not. I hope after all this it gets very boring. Hopefully everyone gets back to getting along. I hope that no one has any designs on one of our children and we can just raise them and let them become people without the weight of a marriage the moment they're of age to be married. I want my children to have the choice to marry whomever they want to marry rather than an arranged marriage." Rossalyn said then with Sarah's raised eyebrow laughed. "I know my marriage situation was far from typical but as a mother don't we always want more than we had for our children? I know the bar has been set incredibly low for my children's romantic possibilities."

"I'm just really glad that everything has worked out between you and Josiah. It could have easily been really bad for you." Sarah said softly.

"He pointed that out to me. He said we can have a great marriage or a really bad one. But his faith does not believe in divorce and honestly I never want to go through one. But it was up to me to work with him or against him. I decided I didn't want a miserable life with him." Rossalyn shrugged.

"Well, Roger and I married for love and look where that got us. Two people wanting to make something work might not be the worst thing for a marriage to be based off." Sarah said darkly.

"I'm sure Josiah and I could find you someone if you really wanted." Rossalyn half jokingly offered giving her a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not sure that would be a bad idea, honestly. Its been over for Roger and I for so long." Sarah said returning her cocked eyebrow look.

"Well, when everything processes through the courts we might see what we can do about that." Rossalyn said, though she was a little shocked Sarah was even considering an arrangement that Josiah and her had. "But this time I get to pick for you."

"Deal." Sarah said then laughed at the thought. Though there was a contemplative look on her face that convinced Rossalyn that Sarah was serious about being willing to have an arranged marriage.