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She half-turned, and once again she found her space invaded by the large ogre. His hand reached out, pulling the little latch in the corner of the gate, opening the door for her. This time she avoided his gaze unsure of what she would find there. Knowing that whatever she found there, wouldn’t lead to anything.
It didn’t help that ever since that weird moment in the hallway, she couldn’t relax when he was around.
“Thanks,” she whispered as she turned away from him and together they began walking. After a few minutes, she looked around, “Aren’t we taking a car?”
“No, everything is in walking distance in case you had to be left here for a longer time.”
“You guys thought of everything, before you kidnapped me huh.” She mused aloud.
She heard a coughing sound, looking up at him she found nothing but his stoic gaze that remained forward. “If kidnapping correlates with protecting you, then I would agree that, yes. We did prepare much, but this location has often been used by the Council as place for hiding witnesses.”
Hearing this she nodded, in thought. “Well, at least it’s pretty. I thought I’d end up in the bowels or something,” she said as she lifted a hand to block the bright sunlight from her eyes.
“Not many can return from such a place,” Raijin said, a certain note in his voice had her returning her eyes to him. This time he met her gaze, “The likely hood of an innocent like you surviving there is little to none.”
Surprised at his words, she stopped abruptly before they reached the end of the road. “Who’s innocent?” She asked sounding confused.
He paused, “You.”
She laughed, it was loud and cheerful. She bent forward, shaking her head before she suddenly straightened looking at him sourly. “You really have a way of labeling people. What makes you think I’m innocent?” she asked, snarky. “Why do men always label women in such a way?”
Seeming confused by her laughter, and her sudden mood change. His brow creased in thought, “You don’t have blood on your hands, and you’re a mother.”
She snorted, shaking her head she started walking again. “You have weird standard for being ‘innocent’ but then again, you’re only comparing me to yourself right.”
Raijin
Rajin didn’t answer at first, instead he walked along beside her thinking over what she’d said. After some thought he spoke, “Most women I’ve met, have either been so in love with the men they’d tied themselves to that they’d been willing to do anything, most of the time that meant even killing someone. But at the end they were willing to do anything to protect themselves when it came down to the wire. No one in the world I work in is innocent or willing to do the right thing for others.”
He’d captured and killed his fair share of criminals the Council couldn’t handle. And those who’d been ‘in-love’ had quickly abandoned the other for a chance at freedom.
“I’m sure that if it were you, you wouldn’t back down and sacrifice for others.”
Raijin felt that Sabina would have continued to protect the other she claimed to love. She seemed to think the best of others; he could feel it even in how she acted now.
She could have avoided him, and gone out of her way to never see him. Instead for the past two days, he’d seen her talking with the Hag who took care of the house along with her half-human son. She’d explored the garden outside, asking questions about this and that.
At night, she’d even join him in the living room with a book.
“I mean isn’t protecting your family the natural thing to do. Then again now that I’m a mother, I’m not that interested in sacrificing myself and more interested in fighting instead.” Sabina said thoughtfully.
“That’s why you’re not aware, because you can’t see yourself,” Raijin argued. “Both fighting and sacrificing for anyone other than yourself demands kindness, and hope in the other person.”
He inwardly cursed; he hadn’t been intending on saying anything. But as the silence had stretched, and he’d thought about her he found himself answering her last rhetorical question.
She stopped before entering the store, but instead of denying it she only said. “Maybe you’re right.”
Pushing the door open, they entered. Raijin immediately putting their conversation on the back burner, as he focused on ensuring that she remained protected. The human world wasn’t a hundred percent safe, and with the large crowd of shoppers he’d have to be completely focused.
Sabina seemed to notice his change immediately. As she quickly grabbed a cart and headed into the rough of the market without another word.
Sabina
“Is that all?”
Raijin asked her as they left the store, with only three bags. She wondered if he was being sarcastic, while she’d intended to be quick about shopping. She couldn’t help lingering over things like her daughters’ favorite snacks and candies.
She’d found herself reaching out to them, only to remember that Kahlia wasn’t with her. And when she went to put them back, he’d stopped her.
