Chapter 116: Demons ;The Enclave

"I...I don’t know." He told her truthfully.

"You know what I think?" She asked him.

She didn’t give Orion the chance to even ask her what she thought. She continued.

"Even if they had helped, they would have likely looked for a way to destroy your people. It may have been even more brutal because from what I gathered, the enclave is trash and their leader is even more trashy."

Sophia reached out, one hand touching the coarse edge of his sleeve. Her fingers were warm. The gesture was small and shockingly her, and it tilted something inside him.

"If blame is to be cast," she said, "do not throw it at a boy who searched for a way to save his mother and family. Do not Throw it at a child who was so fucking brave that he put himslef in danger too. Throw it at men and women who would watch children die because they deemed it convenient. If anyone’s guilty of cruelty, let it be them. Not you. Not Ronan. Not Brynhild. Not the children who stole herbs. Not your people and again, not you just because you brought the suggestion."

The air seemed to thin, and Orion felt the wind as if it had a weight. He opened his mouth and closed it again. Her words dug into places he’d kept tamped down with self-loathing and anger. He had worn guilt like armor and then, absurdly, like a chain. She was telling him he could take that weight off, that the chain belonged to someone else.

"You called them demons," he said finally, a whisper. "Do you really think that?"

Her eyes hardened to steel. "Yes," she said simply. "Anyone, man or woman who closes the gate on a crying father is a demon. A body that allows cruelty to be legislated is worse. They hid behind parchment and signatures. But their hands were the same hands that burned and cut and took. They are not gods. They are cowards. I always wanted to know if demons existed and now I do, the enclave are demons."

He stared at her and for the first time that night she saw the barest flicker of something like relief cross his face. Not the relief of absolution, but the relief of a man whose burden had been named by someone else.

"You know, you remind me of what Ronan told me some years ago." He told her softly.

"What?" She asked, leaning in.

"He said I shouldn’t put the blame on myself. He insisted that if the blame was to be pushed that way, then he took was at fault because he didn’t try to stop me." Orion said with a small smile.

"Apart from the fact that Ronan tricked me with the grape juice, he isn’t so bad. And that’s what I want you to see. When Ronan talked about how his mother and brother died, he didn’t blame you. He didn’t tell me anything about how it was your fault that the enclave attacked. Instead he blamed the enclave and I support him, honestly." She told him.

"Like I said, the enclave is made of demons Orion. Demons who wanted to destroy what you guys had but they failed." She said with a smile. "And besides, imagine that attack had not happened then you never would have met my fabulous self."

"Fabulous?" Orion asked with a scoff.

Sophia smiled as she noticed he was getting back to his usual self. She hated that he was filled with so much crushing weight. Weight he wasn’t even responsible for. Weight he never should have been carrying in the first place.

"Yes, fabulous. I am fabulous you just don’t want to see it." She smiled.

Orion chuckled lightly. He looked a bit relaxed now.

"You know, I’m pretty sure no one in your pack blames you for what happened that day. And it’s time you stopped carrying the blame and weight with you."

What she said was the truth but the fact that no one blamed Orion was what made him blame himself more. Why did no one curse at him? Why did no one lash out? They all told him it wasn’t his fault. Even Daniel had sat him down and told him if he were given another opportunity, then he would do exactly what he did that day all over again. And he was glad that he saved his son’s best friend so even without a blood brother, Ronan still had a brother.

Those words had been meant to relive him but it reminded him all over again about how he had been so fucking reckless and how if he hadn’t done anything at all...he shook his head as he remembered Sophia’s words.

Even if the enclave didn’t attack them then, they would have looked for another time to attack. And if he thought back, he realized that perhaps they had waited for the opportunity. Victoria first made sure Orion’s father was removed from his position as a member of the Enclave. Then after the attack, they branded his father and his pack as thieves.

There was more to the story. More about what they suffered. How a young Orion had become the leader of his pack in just one night. He had help, yes, especially from Daniel and the elders but he was still a young boy.

"Let’s make a deal." Sophia said to Orion snapping him out if his thoughts.

"A deal?" He asked with a frown etched in his face.

"Yes. And one we both have to stand by." She told him.

"Okay?"

"From today, you start involving yourself in the festival. Go around, play with the children and I don’t mean in the mornings when the stalls are just being set up, I mean during the festival proper. Involve yourself and really see for yourself if anyone holds you responsible. Look past your guilt, don’t look with guilt covered eyes, look clearly and see honestly how your people see you. If you do that, I’ll do everything to make sure I recover my memories."