“Sit down dear,” Hilda gestured after leading Sandy into her small living room. It turned out that Sandy’s words did a thing on her, for if it were for any other reason, Hilda would have never been willing to reveal anything.
“I may not have much in my house that’s befitting for royalty like yourself, but perhaps… can I offer you something, coffee maybe?”
Sandy shook her head politely, not because she didn’t like the offer, but because she was more eager to begin the conversation. “Thank you, Hilda, but to be sincere, the best thing you could offer me at this moment is the truth I came here for. Time is far spent and I don’t want my brother to begin to search for me.”
Hilda nodded, sitting in front of her, “I understand perfectly dear. I’ll start telling you right away. First, I want to say that I’m sorry for the way I behaved earlier…”
“No, it’s okay… I understand that you were put in a difficult position, the same position that Conor was in before he died; it made him so scared to speak the truth.”
Sighs, “yes, Conor did his best to protect me, and it hurts so much that I couldn’t do anything as his mother to save his life…”
Seeing her mood, Sandy went over to reach for her hand, “it’s not your fault, Hilda. If anyone is to blame, its those bastards that ended his life so heartlessly, just like that…”
“When you first walked up to me in the cemetery, mentioning him… I thought you were one of them.”
“Excuse me?”
“The ones who killed my Conor, before I got released, they gave me a stringent warning, threatening my life the way they did before. They said that if I dared to so much as utter a word about what happened to anyone, they would come for me again.”
“That’s terrible…”
“It wasn’t just terrible, but the worst experience of my life. They threatened that they might send someone different to test me, to see if I would forget the warning I received. If I dared to tell this person the truth… they would…” the words were too painful for Hilda to continue, but Sandy already understood.
“I’m sorry… that’s why you were so reluctant to say anything at first, you found it so hard to trust me…”
“I was scared to death… I was almost about to say the truth, until I remembered those frightening words… but then, what made me trust you when you just spoke at the door. I don’t know… it wasn’t because of what you said honestly, but at that moment, I felt or rather heard the voice of my Conor saying, “this is not the enemy.” I know it sounds crazy, but then it could have been the same way he revealed himself to you in the dream.”
“Conor wants us to fight for him, he wants justice for his death, it’s the only thing we can do for him now…. the last thing we can ever do to honor his soul.”
“My Conor was innocent, even if I never saw the truth for myself… I would have never believed those made up lies about him.”
“What is the truth, Hilda? Please… tell me, tell me everything that happened. You said he gave his life to save you… you also said you got threatened before being released… what happened? Did you get kidnapped or something?”
Hilda nodded her head… “not just kidnapped. It was brutal. I was right in this house the day it happened. Some strange men forced their way in and hit me on the head, the next thing I knew… I fell into a daze…”
Sandy nudged her head forward for Hilda to continue, “please… go on… you have to find the strength to speak… for Conor…”
Sighs, “I… I woke up and discovered they’d taken me to their hideout… It was a cave, and there were about a few men there… and…”
“And???”
“What surprised me the most, was that some of these men wore uniforms that carried the night shadow seal. I don’t know anyone who lives in the pack house, so what could these men be needing me for? I thought…”
Sandy’s pupils dilated. “You said these men where night shadow guards? This means that the one who kidnapped you must have been a high-ranking officer in the pack… this person had the ability to control guards for their own selfish desires!”
“I may not know much about that, but that right there was another reason for me not to trust you, princess… I thought that you might have been working with the people who…. who did those horrible things to me and my son. If it wasn’t for the voice of Conor… I would have never said a word to you.”
“I know… thank you, Hilda… for trusting me…”
Hilda saw that Sandy was eager for her to continue speaking, and so she did.
“It was the worst day of my life, when they told me that Conor was in the prison for a crime he was to confess to. They told me that it would either be me or him. If Conor didn’t plead guilty to those crimes, he would be released by the night shadow alpha, and I would be killed.”
“So, you were the reason? You were the reason why Conor chose to remain silent and confess to a crime he was innocent of. That’s why you said he gave his life to protect you…”
“Yes, I didn’t have a problem with this what they’d said initially… I wanted to be the one to die instead… I told them to kill me and release my Conor, but… these people…. They were so bent on putting the blame on my son… They were so bent on painting him black in front of the alpha… because they wanted their secrets to remain hidden… they didn’t mind sacrificing him…”
“I’m sorry, Hilda…” Sandy said, wiping the tears off her face. “I understand everything now, because I was there when it happened. Conor was accused of killing someone who was about to be interrogated by the alpha. That person knew the truth they wanted to hide, but I’m sure that Conor didn’t even have a clue as to what was going on… he was just a victim of circumstance who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time…”
“And he paid a hefty price for it.”
“I want to know who this person is, Hilda… that is all I need to know right now. I need to know who it was that kidnapped and threatened you.”
Hilda shrinked into the couch with fear… “do you… do you want to go and face this person head on? This person is dangerous, princess… I don’t think you should involve yourself more than you already have.”
“I am going to get to the bottom of this, no matter what. I promised Conor I would. I might not face this person directly, but I will find a way to learn what it was they were hiding, and I will expose it for the whole world to see.”
“I’m sorry dear… I do not want to tell you what I am not sure of… because I was beaten, drugged and blindfolded for most of the time I was there… those people really messed up my senses pretty bad.”
“Just tell me what you know… there has to have been something you must have heard or seen… or even sensed while you were there, something that can unmask the face of their leader. Even if it’s just a name I can start with, anything…. Even if it’s just a name.”
Hilda remembered something then, “For the time I was there… though most of the time, I may have heard it in my sleep, but I am certain that it may have been one of the masterminds that had a hand in my kidnap… I was always hearing a name. I still remember because it gave me so much terrors.”
Sandy sounded desperate, “tell me. What’s the name you heard?”
Hilda let out a sigh, as she knew she was done for if the enemy ever found out what she’d done, but she didn’t care about her life anymore. It would be pointless if she wasn’t able to help Conor get the justice he deserved.
“Samara.”