Realisation by Observation

[Trillian]

Ridley remained at home as Mia worked.  While Mia went to work at Dagger\'s home and Ridley had nothing to do, instead of sleeping he ventured out to a local grocer (not fancying limping his way through the heavily-guarded markets - and there was a limp he was going to have likely for the rest of his life, though it was hard to notice now after a couple of months of healing) and purchased fruit and vegetables to go with the meat that was still hanging in the pantry.  A short visit to a baker had him a fresh loaf as well.  He used his savings, dipping into one of his hidden bags of coin (and he had a rather extensive collection), and made his purchases completely legal.  It was a change for him.

At home, he made a large quantity of stew in order to jar much of it for a quick warm-up meal.  He managed to time it just right so that he was finished pouring hot contents into glass containers and sealing them with cloth and string when Mia entered the house, back from work.  She was a little early in fact, for he hadn\'t finished dishing out onto plates what was supposed to be their meal.

Smiling warmly at her, he put the jar away and went to her for a welcoming embrace, kissing her temple as he always did.  He took her by the hand and sat her down, asking her how her day was and dishing out a quantity of their meals, giving her less out of habit for she ate like a bird (though he hadn\'t really been paying attention these last few months, he was actually remembering the first few weeks he\'d had her captive).

[pinkroses]

Mia felt like she had been working hours longer than usual, but in fact she had been permitted to leave early. Lewis had obviously seen how tired she was and everything was tidy so there was no point in her staying longer. She had actually left almost an hour early, but she walked the distance slowly, letting herself enjoy the walk for once. Usually she hurried back, keeping her eyes down, just wanting to get home and back to safety, but today she let herself rest, not wanting to get back with her face red and flustered and besides, her feet were sore and aching.

She had no idea why she had been feeling so tired these past few months, it wasn’t like she was doing anything differently (but she thanked the Goddess that the constant feeling of sickness had passed now). She had also been more hungry recently, but she guessed that was just because she was getting used to eating proper food instead of scraps and that would naturally lead to her putting on a little weight, right? She hadn’t told Ridley about the fact that her dresses were a little tighter nowadays, she had plans to let out the seams on one of them when she had a bit of free time, maybe after Ridley had gone out. She didn’t think there was anything wrong with this and so saw no need to tell him, not about putting on weight, the constant tiredness, any of it, not when he was still healing from the wound in his leg.

As she pushed open the door of their home, (glad to see it was unlocked, that meant Ridley was home) she pushed the shawl down from over her head to around her shoulders and a smile lit up her face as soon as she saw Ridley dishing out dinner. As soon as he kissed and hugged her Mia felt better, more at ease and relaxed. There was nothing else she needed to do today, she could just enjoy some food and rest. She followed his lead and sat down in her usual seat by the table, letting her shawl fall down to the back of the chair as she watched him move around.

“It was good, same as usual really,” Mia said, answering his questions in a tired but happy voice as he handed her a dish. She looked down at the stew and immediately spooned a few mouthful of the hot food into her mouth in quick succession, concentrating at first on getting rid of the gnawing hunger in the pit of her stomach. It looked like plenty for her, as much as she normally had, but she knew that in a couple of hours she would most likely be hungry again.

“This is delicious,” she said with a smile up at Ridley, and a quick glance towards the loaf of bread next to the jars of stew. “I, um, were you saving the bread for another time?” she asked; that would go well with the stew, and bulk up the meal a little, hopefully filling her up for a while longer.

[Trillian]

Ridley handed the bread over with a grin, expecting that she would only break off a small piece and nibble at it like a mouse.  He picked up on the fact that she was tired, and expected that was because she\'d been on her feet all day.  He couldn\'t think as to why a cook needed to slave in the kitchen all day for one man, but perhaps Dagger entertained friends every day or night, or both.  Mia would soon be grilled for the fellow\'s routine, but right now Ridley didn\'t want to bother with a future job, he just wanted to enjoy his time with her.

[pinkroses]

She accepted the bread with a grateful smile and carefully cut off a peice, larger than she usually would have. The few mouthfuls of stew had awakened her appetite and she lowered her eyes as her tore apart the thick slice and took a large mouthful, chewing quickly but careful before swallowing. She could feel his eyes on her and her cheeks coloured a little as she continued eating, dipping the bread in the gravy.

"Did you have a good day? How is your leg now?" she asked after the edge was taken from her appetite and she was pausing longer between her bites. She knew his leg sometimes still hurt and she noticed the limp, although she never commented on it, not wanting to hurt his pride. She had watched him so closely ever since meeting him, it would have been hard for her not to notice and she worried about him. Mia knew she and Ridley were not married, no matter what they had told Dagger, but she couldn\'t help caring for him as though he was her spouse, despite how their relationship had started.

[Trillian]

"It\'s better," he told her, though he knew the leg was as good as it was going to get.  Because of his healing remedies and knowledge about to keep wounds clean, it didn\'t get infected, which could\'ve killed him in this day and age.  He had coinage, but he was no noble, the best doctors would not allow him into their surgeries no matter how much coin he threw their way - he knew, he\'d tried before.

He continued to watch her, thinking about how her skin was radiant and fresh, how she had more colour in her cheeks (disregarding the blush), how she looked healthier now that she had a bit of meat on her bones, and only vaguely noticed that she was still eating with a healthy appetite.

"How about you, feeling better too?"  It was a probing question, a leading question, one that he expected confusion from, because even though he didn\'t think she was pregnant (because he would\'ve known, he would\'ve woken when she was sick, she would\'ve told him) the niggling behind his brain was there.  He was the kind to follow his instincts, though he was positive she would deny ever being sick.

[pinkroses]

Mia looked up at him with a little surprise in her eyes, trying to remember if she had ever mentioned not feeling well to Ridley, or to anyone. She lowered her dark eyes again quickly, dipping another peice of bread into her stew, but not lifting it to her mouth. She swallowed hard, the fingers of her other hand finding the edge of the wooden table and lightly running along it,

"What are you talking about? I\'m fine," she said in a soft voice, not lifting her gaze to meet his as she tucked a stray peice of hair behind her ear. He had never mentioned her being ill when she had been feeling really rough and throwing up, why was he talking about it now, a month later? If that was even what he was talking about. She was weary, but she hadn\'t mentioned that either and it wasn\'t really feeling bad....just tired. It was unnerving how he seemed to know things without her even mentioning them.

[Trillian]

It was what he expected to hear, so he smiled at her and gave a little half shrug, though she did not see it.  She was merely plumping up a little because she\'d been skeletal when they\'d met from lack of a constant supply of food.  She was fooling him, though Ridley would not be fooled for much longer - though she would realise the trick was on her too.

"I\'ll put the leftovers away," he offered, though there was considerably less leftovers than usual, and his mind (ever ticking) made a mental note on that too, not that it was a conscious one, but simply something he noticed.

"Did you want to go for a walk?" he offered, knowing she liked being in the fresh air, though worried about the neighborhood they were in (and so she should, for the reason she was not attacked was because she\'d been seen with Ridley, and more than just a few of them didn\'t want any business with Ridley, not to mess with him or anyone he knew - the man had a reputation for being a bully, and for not having morals of any kind).

[pinkroses]

The young girl gave a small nod as he offered to clear up, relieved that she wouldn\'t have to stand up again just yet; she spend all day cooking and cleaning and it always gave her a nice warm feeling inside when Ridley offered to do it at home. It made her think that he really cared about her, the little things all added up in her mind.

She dropped the last small bit of bread back onto her plate, sitting back a little as he tidied up. The suggestion of a walk, was usually one she would jump at, both for the fresh air after being in a hot kitchen all day...and as an attempt to put off anything else he might want her to do. But tonight the walk back from Dagger\'s manor had been more than enough fresh air for her and she just wanted to rest, her feet were still sore and her back was aching a little.

"I, um, could we maybe just stay here tonight? I\'m a little tired," she said, twisting her fingers together in her lap. Maybe he had noticed her recent tiredness, perhaps that was what he had meant with his earlier comment. Mia was making no attempt to fool Ridley, she would have been far too terrified to try to hide anything from anyone (lying to Dagger had had her small body trembling).

The poor ignorant girl had no clue what was wrong with her. She had never been taught anything about her own body, about what happened to women when they grew up, how people became pregnant or any of the signs of it.

Due to stress and a very poor diet her moonflow had never been regular and it worried her more when she did have one than the fact that she hadn\'t for a long while...not since before met Ridley. When she had first had one she had thought it was because of her uncle\'s beatings and he did nothing to change her mind or explain. She wasn\'t even sure why she was trying to hide how bad she felt recently, she just didn\'t want him making a fuss about her, or that he would thinkg she was the one making a fuss over nothing. After all, it couldn\'t be some sort of degenerative disease or something like that because she was putting on weight, she had no idea how to explain it.

She stood up and pushed the chairs back in under the table, glancing hesitantly towards Ridley\'s back as he put the food away then when he was almost done she moved towards him and lightly wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek against his back.

"I\'m very tired," she said quietly, shutting her eyes. She didn\'t want him to think his suggestion had been a bad one, but that was as much as she really wanted to say about how she felt right now. She didn\'t want to go into how various parts of her body ached, she just wanted to sit quietly in his arms and relax. Of course, if he wanted to go off for a walk alone she wouldn\'t complain, she never did, but she much preferred having him here to being in the room alone. She knew she had nothing to fear, but the looks people on the street made her worry.

[Trillian]

His mind was nagging at him when she declined, but he shut it down.  He was a conman, a trained observer of others, he knew what type of people his victims were by one look at their body language - which was why he knew in the church, he could have Mia, the way she\'d scurried about like a mouse, the polite refusal, the frightened yet obediant gaze she\'d given him.  She hadn\'t ended up being used and discarded like he did for the rest of the public, for he\'d found himself connecting with her, wanting her, whether she\'d liked it or not, and now she was his, she belonged to him.  He was close to her, which was possibly why he couldn\'t read what her body was telling her, and him.  He was too close to look at her objectively, and he couldn\'t see a secret in her eyes because she had none - the secret was being kept from both of them.

He smiled and twisted in her embrace so that he could hold her back, a hand lifting to caress a finger down her cheek, stroking across her lips when he reached them, and kissing her, first a little peck, then more deeply.

"Too tired to walk, but not too tired to be loved," he said softly after pulling back from the kiss momentarily.  His hand around her rubbed her back, the other held against the side of her face as he kissed her some more, pushing his hips against her in a way she would understand.  He didn\'t think of her acceptance of his advances as a chore or a frightening experience to be a chore anymore, not when they\'d been together for so long and he was so generous (masterful) in bed.

[pinkroses]

Mia tilted her chin upwards as he kissed her, willing to accept his tender kiss and enjoying the way he lightly touched her cheek and rubbed her aching back. However her body stiffened a little in his arms at his words and the way his pressed his crotch against her. She knew exactly what that meant and despite what he thought, she still didn\'t enjoy that and it still scared her. She only accepted what he did to her because she was afraid he might chuck her out, or hurt her if she didn\'t.

She turned her face away from his kiss and if his arms hadn\'t been around her, holding her in place she would have stepped back. Her hands moved away from him and dropped to her sides as she bit her lower lip. Maybe if she had said yes to a walk then he wouldn\'t want this...but that would most likely have just been putting off the enevitable.

"Ridley, please, not tonight," she said, quietly, looking up at him, knowing that in all likelyhood he would ignore her request. He always got whatever he wanted from her, sooner or later. He said that it showed his love for her and she wanted to believe him, to think that he just wanted the best for her, but she still couldn\'t help thinking that if he truely loved her he wouldn\'t make her do those things. But if she didn\'t...he wouldn\'t love her. It seemed like a never ending circle.

[Trillian]

Disappointment thrummed through him, and Ridley didn\'t disallow it from showing in his face.  His shoulders slumped, his hand dropped from Mia\'s face, and sought the counter behind him, holding onto that instead.  Moving her head from him and then refusing him with words was not something he\'d expected from her - she\'d always permitted him to do as he wished with her.

Pouting, as a child would when denied a toy, Ridley lowered his gaze to not look at her face and let her go, moving sideways to get past her and then grumbling that he would be going for a walk without her.  He moved to get his coat, and shouldered it on, giving her one last look to see if she would change her mind and stop him, not wanting him to leave in a huff.  Yes, it was childish, and pathetic that he was hoping for her to give in to him due to this display, but Ridley was no longer at a stage that he would demand it off her.  The thought didn\'t even enter his mind.

[pinkroses]

Mia took in a quiet breath as he turned away from her and she quickly turned to watch him with a hurt look in her eyes. She\'d never seen him back down before, if she\'d ever shown any unwillingness before he had simply pressed her and she had given in. She stood still, watching him for a few seconds before walking hastily towards him.

"Please, don\'t go," she said, her voice breaking as she reached out to grab one of his hands with both of her own. She didn\'t want him angry at her and at that moment was praying he wouldn\'t turn and smack her into a corner (although she tried to remind herself that he had never done that). If he left now he might be even more angry with her when he returned. Whenever her uncle had left her annoyed he would always come back blind drunk, cursing and swearing and ready to beat her until she stopped moving.

"I\'m sorry, I am, I didn\'t mean to upset you," she said in a pleading tone, looking up at him with worried eyes. She didn\'t want him to coninue his advances, but it would be better than him being angry at her or making her leave, wouldn\'t it?

[Trillian]

When she spoke up, not letting him leave, he was pleased with her, and once again his hand found her face in caress, also stroking wayward red strands of hair behind her ear, tucking them away from her eyes and lips.  Warmth was in his gaze, he knew he\'d been churlish with her, but gradually that had gone and she truly was his - enough so that she desperately wanted to be his, not knowing how to be on her own.

"I won\'t leave you," he promised, but neither would he force himself on her, for once respecting her wishes and setting a precedent for another time (perhaps).  "We\'re both tired," he told her, sure that his behaviour wasn\'t normal for one who was fully aware and awake.  "Let\'s go to bed and sleep."

Sleep was what he told her, though his mind would turn to questions already answered, probing comments already denied, and think about his future with Mia.

[pinkroses]

Mia\'s eyes were still wide and full of fear as her turned to her, but the look on her face slowly faded into a smile as he gently pushed her hair back. He wasn\'t going to leave her, he was going to stay, that was what mattered, nothing else, no matter what he made her do, he was going to stay with her.

"Thank you," she murmured quietly, lifting her hands to lightly rest on his chest, then looked up at him with some surprise in her gaze at his mext words. After that he wasn\'t even going to make her have sex (\'make love\', she reminded herself) with him? She knew he cared about her, but for her this just seemed to prove it. Maybe that was why he had become so angry in the first place, he was upset that she hadn\'t wanted to be physically close to him, but as much as she wanted to please him she just couldn\'t willingly do that.

"I\'d like that," she said in a soft voice, standing up on tiptoes a little and lightly kissing him, "I\'m sorry I made you angry," she repeated, dropping back down to her normal level and slipping her hand into his again and starting to move towards the bed.

Feeling a little self conscious Mia untied the fastening on her usually tight dress and slipped it off, leaving her only in her underdress, which she usually wore to bed unless Ridley made her take it off. She didn\'t like seeing the scars on her body, or letting him see the larger whip marks on her back and now she didn\'t like the way her body was changing. She didn\'t understand why it was just her stomach growing, and her breasts a little, surely if she was just putting on weight then it would be spread out all over her body, but her legs and arms were still as thin as ever. She lightly ran a hand over her tired eyes before climbing into the bed, taking her place by the wall where she usually slept.

She stayed sitting while she waited for Ridley to join her, carefully plaiting her long hair so that it wouldn\'t be too messy the next morning. She watched him with a small smile, trying to focus on Ridley, rather than worrying about what might be wrong with her. She was sure it was nothing, it would go away by itself soon enough. It felt nice to be able to sit on the comfy bed and be at ease, she couldn\'t wait to be able to fall asleep in his arms and relax all her aching muscles.

[Trillian]

~*~

He woke up first, as he always did, with darkness filling the room because the candles had been snuffed and he hadn\'t lit the oil burner.  In the darkness, he gently caressed Mia\'s body, along her arm, over her stomach, and with his hand upon the light curve of her tummy, his mind picked up from where it had left off last night.

He\'d suspected, but she\'d managed to squash his concerns, but he\'d asked the wrong question - he\'d asked if she\'d felt better, but if her stomach was beginning to show a roundness and her appetite was growing and she was looking a great deal more tired and haggard at the end of a long day at work... it was all adding up to being what he\'d thought.  He had to confront her, but he wouldn\'t wake her to do it.

Crawling out of bed whilst not distrubing her as much as possible, he lit the oil burner after feeling around for it and kept it half shaded so the light would be weak and not disturb her.  He made a point to keep himself active and checked on his latest dried flower arrangements (where he\'d been teaching her how he\'d made them, and how to design them), until finally he sat at the table where they had their meals (and did everything) and waited for her to wake up.

[pinkroses]

Mia didn\'t stir as he ran his hand over her body and she only shifted a little when she felt him leave her side, but she didn\'t wake, she simply moved a little, her body using the extra space in the bed he made and gave a small sigh in her sleep. He had been sat at the table for about ten minutes when she finally began to wake up; her eyes screwed shut a little tighter against the dim light and her fingers curled around the pillow beside her head, registering that he wasn\'t next to her. It was usually her who got up first, although that had been changing recently while he hadn\'t been going out at night to work.

Her dark eyes finally opened and cast around the room as she stayed lying down, looking for him. The young girl gave a smile when she finally saw him sitting at the table, not bothering to wonder why he was sitting there staring at her for a couple of moments. She was just glad that she wasn\'t tired any more and the aches in her body had faded overnight.

"Are you alright?" she murmured after a moment, sitting up where she was. He was normally busy doing something, not just...sitting and watching her. And they way he was looking at her reminded her a little uncomfortabley of the intense way he had looked at her when they first met.

[Trillian]

She asked him if he was okay, though he felt a little like the wind had been taken out of him upon the dawning realisation of what the two of them were up against.  Why had she kept this from him?  Had she intended to abort in some dirty back alley?  She didn\'t seem the type - he would\'ve been extremely surprised if she\'d tried anything to harm herself or her baby.

Your baby, too.

Ugh, it wasn\'t just hers, it was theirs, and here was when he saw fit to answer her question, right when he\'d felt he\'d been kicked in the balls.  It was where he\'d been kicked, essentially, though figuratively speaking, but it didn\'t take away from the fact his voice carried no strength, and it actually wavered.

"You\'re pregnant."

[pinkroses]

If Mia had ever played poker, she would have been awful at it. The breath caught in her throat as she blinked at him in shock. Pregnant?

"You mean... a baby?" she said, lowering her eyes to the bed in front of her as she tried to think this through, shaking her head slightly. No, this coudn\'t be right, she couldn\'t be pregnant, she was too young, not married, why would Adora make her pregnant now? This wasn\'t the right time at all. She just wasn\'t ready. Mia was still a child herself, she had experience with looking after her brother when he was younger, but...a baby?

His voice had wavered, it made her worry even more. She was used to him being strong, but that voice wasn\'t the one she was familiar with. If he wasn\'t ready for this how was she supposed to be? She was ignorant about everything like this and simply didn\'t understand how this had happened. In her mind pregnancy was somthing to married families and whores, although she wasn\'t quite sure why or how those women lurking in dark alleyways would become pregnant. Some cruel trick of Talon surely. But what had she done to deserve it?

"No, no, I can\'t be," she said, still shaking her head and lifting her hand to lightly touch the pendant on her necklace. Adora wouldn\'t do this to her. It just wasn\'t right, none of it was. How had this happened? Mia didn\'t understand and so was simply telling herself that it wasn\'t true. She had done nothing wrong, had she?

[Trillian]

He was annoyed at her.  Was this how she kept it from him?  By keeping it from herself... was it denial?  It was certainly denial now.

For a moment, he pictured their happy family, of a playing/laughing toddler wrapped in her arms, blowing kisses with a chubby hand, a curly-haired cherubic angel who would call him Daddy.  Then that moment changed to one of a squalling baby who shat in its nappies and a mother who had no idea what to do.

"Can\'t it?" he snapped, frowning.  "Why can\'t it?"  And as surely as he was a con-artist, a bully and an aspiring dreamer, he saw a way out.  "Who did you sleep with?  Who did you let touch you?  Dagger?"  he hissed, halfway to believing his own incriminating tone.  It wasn\'t like she didn\'t have the opportunity, and the man was a known womaniser, and she was beautiful enough.  Why else would Dagger give her a job, if not to lure her into his bed?  Or for her to lure him?

[pinkroses]

Mia visibly flinched when he snapped at her, her fingers tightening on the sheets beneath her. Her stomach twisted with his accusation, she couldn\'t believe he was really saying this. Why was he suddenly talking about sleeping with other people? With Dagger?

"Ridley, no, please, I never, I love you," she said, forgetting about the baby for a moment and simply hearing him being angry at her. That was so much worse than the worried voice he\'d been using earlier. And she didn\'t understand why he had suddenly started talking about sleeping with people when just a second before they had been talking about the baby he thought she was having.

She lifted her hands and lightly rubbed her temples, still shaking her head, her face was crumpled but she wasn\'t crying, not yet.

"Why? Why are you saying all this? What did I do wrong?" she said quietly, not looking up at Ridley. She had never wanted to do anything like that with Dagger, or Ridley for that matter. She was happy here and her life seemed to be crashing down around her. If she was pregnant then everything would change and she didn\'t want to have to leave work, she didn\'t want to lose Ridley.

[Trillian]

To hear such wonderful words during a time like this caused their impact to be lost.  He didn\'t want a pregnant woman to love him.  He\'d wanted his beautiful, obediant and sexy woman to declare her love for him.  She looked like the latter now, because her belly wasn\'t yet round, but it would be, and he instantly lost interest in her.

"You had to go and get yourself pregnant," he said.  That was what she\'d done wrong.  He\'d liked the dynamic they\'d had, they could\'ve been the way they were forever, but she\'d had to go and change it.  He was angry about losing her, his best trophy, but she was no longer a good prize if she was going to pop out a screaming, demanding child.  He was sneering at her, for causing this rift between them, an uncrossable, unfixable rift.  "Collect your things together," he told her, "and get out."

[pinkroses]

Her eyes pricked with tears at his accusing words, how was this her fault? She didn\'t even know how she had become pregnant and he was speaking as though this was her choice. She swallowed hard against the pain in her throat, but it didn\'t make the tears go away and when he told her to leave they finally overflowed and she looked at him with blurred vision.

"Ridley, no, please, how can I make this right?" she pleaded, quickly slipping out of bed and standing up. She moved towards him and fell to her knees beside his chair, her cheeks wet with tears, but she didn\'t dare reach out to touch him. She had heard about women getting rid of babies, she wasn\'t sure how, but right now she wasn\'t thinking about that. She couldn\'t leave, this was where she was safe, secure, it was where he was. At the moment she wanted nothing to do with a baby, maybe if she had given it more thought she wouldn\'t have offered so quickly, but she wasn\'t thinking now. She didn\'t want things to change any more than he did.

"Please, you\'re all I have, I need you." Her voice was choked with tears and her whole body shook as she looked up at him, her usually pretty face marred by the fear and sorrow in her expression.

[Trillian]

He was hardening his heart to her, even as she collapsed at his side and sobbed, lamenting the outcome, wanting to appease him.  There would be no forgiveness, no mercy, no shame and no regret as he blocked off any emotion he might\'ve once had for her.  She\'d ruined it.

"You should\'ve thought of that before you slept with someone else," he said coldly.  Deep down he didn\'t really believe it of her, he knew the thing inside her was part of him, but it was easier just to think she\'d been seduced by the womaniser he\'d paired her up with (but that had been for him to steal from the bastard, not for the two of them to make one together!) and simply drive her out of his home.  Problem solved.  "It\'s your mess, so you\'ll deal with it.  Get out."

And if she spoke again, he would yell over the top of her: "I don\'t want to hear it!  Leave!"

[pinkroses]

She took in a shuddering breath as she ran her hand over her face, still shaking her head although she realised he wasn\'t going to change his mind. He wasn\'t going to listen. She had ruined it somehow without even realising she was doing it.

"I didn\'t..." she began, but he shouted her down before she could further attempt protest her innocence. She pushed herself to her feet, twisting her fingers together and quickly turned away, not daring to meet his eyes. She didn\'t want to go, but it didn\'t look like she had a choice.

She quickly pulled on her dress, struggling with her fastenings as she had done the first time her told her to undress, her fingers trembling almost uncontrollably. She quickly grabbed the small bag she had brought her things here with and bagan to shove items in, moving around the room quickly, always avoiding looking at him. Tears were still streaming down her face and she felt hot, her hair was a mess but she couldn\'t stay here any longer. Maybe if she gave him some time he would calm down, he would let her come back. They loved each other, he wouldn\'t leave her homeless, would he?

Mia\'s fingers hesitated over the small flower arrangement he had given her, maybe a stronger person would have taken it out and thrown it back at him, but Mia wasn\'t strong. She pushed the small peice of wood further into her bag so that it wouldn\'t fall out and tied the fastening. The young girl headed for the door, glancing back towards Ridley as she put her hand on the heavy wooden door.

"I didn\'t, I swear to you, I didn\'t," she whispered, before giving another weak sob and hurrying out into the dawn light, her arms folded across her stomach and her bag slung over her shoulder. She didn\'t know what she was going to do, but right now she was heading to the only other place she felt at all comfortable in this city, Dagger\'s kitchen.