That evening, Ravea called Rima. "I need you to do me a favor", She said.

"What is it?" Rima asked.

"I need you to go feed Jerome this night", Ravea replied.

Rima was dumbfounded for a while. "Are you insane?" She asked, completely serious.

"Believe me, I know it's stupid but if you don't do it he'll go hungry this night." Ravea sat up on the bed.

"That's the point of his punishment."

"Punishment for a crime he did not commit." She bent her head. "Punishment for a crime I framed him for."

"Did it ever occur to you that maybe he actually planned on raping you? Seeing as how things unfolded, maybe he got scared and ended up confessing the crime himself. He must've thought you were a mystical being or something. Because he's the son of an Elder doesn't mean the gods are on his side." She got up and was about leaving.

"He isn't that sort of person, at least that's what I think", Rave replied in defense of Jerome.

"How long have you known him? There's no way you can tell." She opened the door.

Realizing that using sympathy to compel her sister wasn't working, Ravea decided to try another approach, "I'll give you 50% of my next month's allowance."

Rima paused. "90", She replied.

"What?! No, 60."

"90."

"70."

"90.

"You're supposed to lower your price!" Ravea said frustrated.

"Alright, 80. I'm not going any lower than that."

"Then it's not even a negotiation."

"Yes, because I don't plan on negotiating." She sighed, "But nevermind, you can keep your allowance."

"Really?" Ravea was shocked.

"Yes, how else do you plan on paying for all the food that you keep giving to him. I know you've already exhausted your allowance for this month doing that."

She rubbed her arm, "He eats a lot."

"Tch."

Mr. Semira came back gloomy that night. He sat at a corner in the bar of the inn. Rima attended to him like a customer but he said he didn't want anything. Worried about her father, she told her mother who then came to talk to him.

"Mr. Dernewt called off the deal", he said after much persuasion from his wife and daughter. "I spent the rest of the day looking for someone who might be willing to sell me a land, but everyone seems to have harvested on theirs in preparation for the festival."

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"So what are we going to do?" Mrs. Semira asked.

"I'm thinking of something, don't worry", he replied.

But all she could do was worry. Rima on the other hand, was angry.

Jerome tried his best to stay awake for Ravea's arrival. He had some unsettling news for her. Just as the sun disappeared from the horizon, He noticed Ravea coming from her usual route, so he wasted no time to speak. "It turns out you didn't have to wash me yesterday", He started but stuttered a bit when he tried saying 'wash.'

"The sanctuary sent some people to come wash and feed me very early in the morning. A couple minutes after you left actually." Ravea said nothing, she just kept walking towards him. "So uh, I just wanted to apologize for what you di- No that's not right, but you understand where I'm going with this right?" He asked, but she didn't say anything.

He looked closely at her and noticed she wasn't carrying a basket. "Were you aware that they came to feed me?" She still didn't reply. "Hey don't tell me you're still angry about yesterday. I hated it just as much as yo-", he stopped when she was really close to him. Just then, she set her right leg slightly behind her, faced her left shoulder towards him, then tilted back a little; a stance he was all too familiar with. Like a spring trap, she exploded, launching her right fist forward into his abdomen.

The force and speed of her movements sent her cloak flowing in the opposite direction.

While barely conscious, "Dark hair, full lips beautiful eyes." He managed to identify her. "Rima", he wheezed then vomited.

She said nothing.

"W-Why? You're supposed to be gentle", he struggled to speak.

She turned and left.

EIGHTH DAY

Mr. Dernewt was about leaving for the sanctuary as usual, while Mrs. Dernewt was just about done preparing their breakfast.

"I told you, you don't have to wake up so early." She carefully dropped a silver plate filled with freshly cooked meat and vegetables on their well polished wooden table. The reflection of the plate on the table suggested that it might've been a tad over polished.

"I have a job to do", he replied. He looked at the side of the plate to check if their was a fork. There wasn't.

"Oh dear, I'm sorry", noticing his movements, she apologized and went into the kitchen to get one for him. "What's the point if you don't like it?" She came back out a couple seconds later with a silver spoon that matched the nuances of the plate. "Here", she said then handed it to him.

"Thank you." He dug into the food. Mrs. Dernewt sat beside him and watched him eat. He stopped and looked at her, "Hmmph, I don't have to like it, I need it. That's enough reason." He continued eating.

"We have more money than we'd ever need for the rest of our lives." She held his hand.

"It's not about the money", he said then continued eating.

"Really? Then what? Because that's the only good thing that seem to have come out of your being in that position." She let go off his hand.

"Hilma, I don't want to talk about this, you know I don't have a choice."

"You keep saying that but you do have a choice. You had a choice then and you have a choice now." She held his hand again. "Just this once, live for your family and if not for us, then live for yourself."

He stopped eating, "I AM living for myself. And if I didn't do what I do we'd all have to face the wrath of the gods." He dropped the fork and picked up his jacket from their chair. A bright red cloth hand woven by the best weaver in the village.

"You mean the same gods that asked for our child?" Hilma said, her eyes were red and watery, like she was forcing her eyeballs to hold back a dam full of tears. "Those gods?"

"Hilma", he dropped the jacket and went over and stood by her side. "We agreed not to talk about this again."

"And you agreed to be a better father. A better husband." The dam was slowly cracking, "Harvey we waited 10 years. 10 good years to have that child and when we finally did you gave it away. Did you not love it? Did you not love me?" The dam broke, but the flood seeped out slowly.

"Hilma I love both you and the baby but we didn't have any choice, the gods asked for it."

"Stop telling me that we didn't have a choice, we had one and I was willing to choose the one that benefited our family the most."

"Hilma that has been the tradition for years. We couldn't, out of selfishness, decide not to follow it." He held her hand but she immediately shoved it off. "Besides they gave us Jerome in return."

"The same Jerome that you've refused to visit since he was tried and punished? The same Jerome that you barely notice? You barely even talk to him. Harvey fight for your family." She stood up and left.