107: Don’t give me a reason.

107: Don’t give me a reason.
Willow pov

I didn’t mean to be standing here. I meant to walk past, hear enough to know they were arguing, and keep going before anybody turned me into a problem again. That plan lasted until I heard the words ‘rogue’s invitation’ and after that, my feet stopped taking instructions.

Mom opened the door, walked straight into me and gasped while I just looked at her and heard my own voice come out weaker than I wanted to hear it. “I’m imprisoned now?”

Mom’s hands caught my arms like she thought I might fall over. “Willow, how long have you been out here?”

“Long enough.” I said and looked past her into the study. Grandfather was still in the chair, watching both of us like this was the exact ending he had been trying to avoid. “You can stop picking the safe options for me, I heard most of your conversation anyway, there’s no need to keep hiding everything from me.”

Mom closed her eyes for a second before she steered me inside and shut the door harder than she needed to.

“Sit down,” Grandfather said.

“No.” I said, letting my voice grow louder and remained standing. “I’ve sat in that seat and asked more questions than anyone should’ve. I’ve gotten half-answers from everybody in this house for too long and now, I want the information you were going to hide in a drawer.”

Mom shot him a look that said ‘this is your mess too’, but he ignored it. “You heard a conversation that wasn’t finished,” he said. “That doesn’t make you entitled to anything that was discussed in these walls while you stood by the door like some spy. You’re my granddaughter, Willow, not a traitor, so stop sneaking around like one.”

“I’m not acting like a traitor!” I snapped back and crossed my arms to hide how much my hands were shaking. “I’m literally forced to sneak around just to hear what you guys are trying to hide from me and now that I know a little bit, you’re trying to downplay everything. I didn’t imagine the words you said.”

Mom stepped between us without fully blocking him. “You weren’t supposed to hear it like that.”

“Then you should’ve shut the door.” I retorted, refusing to back down just because they wanted me to pretend I didn’t hear a thing. 

Grandfather looked like he was about to explode, but somehow, he managed to calm down and said one, tight word, “tone.” 

“I ran out of my polite tone in the hallway,” I told him and turned to look at mom. “Is dad following that rogue now?”

Mom didn’t deny my question right away and that was about all the answer I needed because if dad wouldn’t be following that rogue, mom would tell me right away. 

“Yes or no,” I asked, looking between them both, trying to appear as angry as I could to force them to speak. 

Mom glanced back at grandfather before she looked at me again, which made me feel like she was already planning to deceive me somehow. “Okay, fine, your father made a contract with a scout. The scout is a rogue and he claims he can take your father straight to Bastian. All we know is that he’s considering to follow him, nothing solid for now.”

It was rather odd how mom looked like she wanted to lie, but somehow, her voice remained truthful and honest. I didn’t fully trust her yet, but this was better than nothing. 

Grandfather leaned forward, a vein pulsating on his neck, “Aife.”

“She already heard enough to pull together the whole picture, dad. There’s no need to keep lying to her because now, we’re the ones who look like traitors, not Willow,” mom said and slowly turned to him, “I’m done standing here and pretending the floor isn’t about to open right under her feet any moment. We can’t keep doing this.” 

I listened to her words and closed my eyes, for once, enjoying a moment of someone other than grandpa Khan standing up for me and wanting me to hear the truth. The tension in the room grew thicker by the seconds, but I broke the silence only after I managed to gather my thoughts. “So the same forest talk wasn’t Khan being Khan. Dad is walking toward the same mess Ryker is already in and Bastian is the reason.”

“That’s what the reports imply so far,” grandfather said and looked away while his fingers nervously tapped the surface of the desk, “but it’s not a finished report. Nobody can confirm the trap is real, so nobody will panic before time. If anything, we all must keep our minds clear.

“So, my father, considering a rogue’s invitation while my mate is somewhere near, probably already moving to the towns to check for casualties and you’re just sitting here, telling me that reports imply something?” 

As soon as the words left me, I saw the flicker of dread in his eyes, which meant I had said too much and gotten too close to the truth.

Mom ran a hand through her hair and cursed under her breath before she grabbed both my hands in hers and squeezed them. “Willow, listen to what I have to say before you use this conversation to come up with a plan on how to escape the safety of the castle.”

“I haven’t said I’m leaving.” I told her, keeping my voice soft and calm. 

“You don’t have to,” Grandfather added with an arched eyebrow, “you don’t have to say a thing, we can see right through you, bug.” 

I let out a short, sharp laugh at his words. “So, now I can’t even stand in a room without being accused of trying to come up with escape plans, grandpa?”

“You can stand wherever you want inside these walls,” he growled and slammed a hand against the table so aggressively, the piles of documents jumped. “What you can’t do is take that note and turn it into a key for every door you have to use to get to them.”

“I didn’t ask for a key.” I pointed out and met his gaze, refusing to back down.

“Yet.” He snarled. 

Finally, mom turned to him again, “dad, stop treating Willow like she’s already halfway out the door. She said she’s not planning to leave, so just sit back and listen to her when she speaks. Please, don’t make this into something ugly between the family.”

“I’m treating her exactly as who she is - yours and Bane’s daughter,” he snapped back, rising to his feet. “Being who she is means she’ll try to help. That impulse in both of your blood is admirable, but it’s also how people get added to the body count. My granddaughter won’t risk her life for this!”

I rolled my eyes and sat down in the seat across from him. It was clear this conversation was going to last some time, so standing around was pointless anyway.

“Okay, now all of us can drop the bullshit and you can tell me everything. I want the details, even the unclear and ugly ones. What do you know about the scout and where exactly Ryker is? Also, I’d love to know why you think that locking a piece of paper in a drawer is the same thing as protecting me.” 

Mom didn’t say a word, but she did pull another chair closer to sit down. 

Grandfather looked between us and groaned, “women in this bloodline, you’ll be the death of me.” 

Mom laughed and waved him off. “There’s no need to overreact, dad. You love us, so suck this up.” Once grandfather grumbled something under his breath, she turned to me. “The message arrived after dinner and the delivery was stalled for an hour. Your father made contact - the scout says the rogues around Bastian want out of whatever their agreement is. They want to live more than they want his fantasies fulfilled and your father is considering using that against him.”

“And you weren’t going to tell me?” I asked, but kept my voice calm so it didn’t sound like an accusation, simply an observation.

“I wanted to tell you something,” mom said. “And yes, I didn’t want to tell you every detail of what we know, but I wanted you to know at least the important things and that’s what we were arguing about when you stopped on the other side of that door.”

Grandfather tapped the desk to get our attention. “And I said no because usually telling anyone even just something turns into a missing person report if we’re not careful. I want to protect you, Willow, and I will even if I have to lock you away from the world. For as long as Bastian is alive, it’s not safe for you to leave the castle walls.”

I looked between them. “You keep talking about what I’ll do, but nobody bothers to ask what I actually need.”

Mom’s eyes met mine and her hands found mine again, “tell us what you need, baby.”

“What I need is your honesty. I’m so tired of finding out the truth in pieces long after I’ve already been made to feel stupid for asking.” I told them both sternly. “I can stay here and sit with Khan through his ridiculous rituals and I can let the guards do their job, I never said I can’t do those things. What I really can’t do is smile and nod like a fool while everyone in this place thinks I’m too fragile to live my own life. This past week alone you’ve been more unfair to me than I’ve been to you my entire life.”

Grandfather looked at me for a long time before he spoke again, “if I agree to share more information, I need to add a condition.”

“Of course you do.” I grumbled.

“You stay in the castle,” he announced.  “No requests to Zion and messages sent through people who are so weak to your charm they’ll break the rule. You are not allowed to use Khan to your advantage. You want updates, you come to me or your mother, no one else.”

Mom looked at me like she was trying to force the right answer into my mouth while I hated that his condition made sense.

“I’ll stay,” I said, adding more sharpness to my tone to make sure they understood I wasn’t playing around anymore or lying.

Grandfather’s shoulders dropped with relief almost instantly, but before he could relax fully, I kept talking. “Don’t celebrate too early, I’m not finished. If dad misses a check-in, you tell me too and if Ryker sends a report, I get to see it. If anything about that scout turns ugly and he’s walking them to a disaster, I want to hear it from one of you the moment you find it out.” 

“That sounds more than fair,” mom agreed immediately.

Grandfather didn’t agree as fast as she did. Instead, he kept watching me as if he was trying to read my mind before he gave up with a huff. “You’ll get the fresh updates that are confirmed to be true, not assumptions. I won’t feed you every rumor and watch you spiral just because you think it’s important. You get only the truth. Do you understand the difference, Willow?”

“I understand everything perfectly,” I said and held his gaze. “But I’m also asking you to choose to view me as an adult and a part of this family, not a misbehaving child. Please, grandpa, for once see me, not the little girl you watched growing up.”

Mom squeezed my hand and whispered, “nobody is going to imprison you and your grandfather will learn how to see you as an adult you are eventually.” She turned to grandpa, “am I right, dad?’

Grandpa looked like mom was forcing him to swallow coal and lemons at the same time and this old guy hated lemons more than anything.

But, eventually, he unlocked the drawer, took the paper out, and kept it on his side of the desk. He didn’t hand it over, but he didn’t try to hide it anymore either. “This is what we have, you already know what’s written there. I need you to remember that as long as there isn’t a message about threat, we don’t build a war out of one page.”

I stared at the paper I still wasn’t allowed to hold. “Where is Ryker? Somewhere near dad or did he already reach one of the towns that were attacked?’

Mom and grandpa looked at each other before mom was the one to speak, “our best guess is that he’s already in the first town. We’re waiting for his report.” 

I nodded once and swallowed around the lump that grew in my throat. “Okay, got it. Don’t worry, I’m staying and not planning to run off like you two fear I will.”

Grandfather leaned back in his seat and flashed me a tight smile, “I’m glad to hear that.” 

I released a breath, stood up and headed for the door. As soon as my hand touched the door handle, I turned to look at them over my shoulder and told grandpa, “if you put more guards at my door after I agreed to your terms, I’ll take it as you, breaking the deal first.” 

A real, genuine smile spread across his lips. “Don’t give me a reason to double the guard.”