Seraphina:
Why should I take the word of this snake? I ask my mother, fuming inside. I’m struggling to control my breathing, though I look totally composed from the outside.
As usual my mother doesn’t answer right away, so Raphael and I are left in a paralyzed face-off. Why am I even considering this proposal?
Do you know something I don’t? I demand of my mother. I need answers, because every part of my being wants to kill this man where he stands.
Still no answer.
I heave an impatient sigh and decide to do the next best thing I can come up with. I rapidly draw a pentagram-like symbol on the ground beside me, then grab Raphael’s wrist and forcefully toss him into the center of it before he has time to react.
“Ah, clever girl,” he smirks as he regains his footing and adjusts his robe
