MARIA
I'm not going to take it off, Maria. Forget it.
The words rang over and over in Maria's head even days after.
She couldn't stop thinking about it, that little part of her that had thought Bran had been truly changing, unable to come to terms with the fact that he'd actually been able to look her in the face and say those words.
He wasn't going to take the collar off. He was serious.
She'd known before that Bran was stubborn but with that conversation, he'd unlocked a whole new level of stubbornness entirely.
What person would consciously, in their right mind, pick dying over doing anything they could to help themselves?
Bran, apparently, because that was exactly what he was doing.
Maria had almost freaked out two days ago when the oracle had pointed at her a
