Chapter 35 - More of the Same

No one had been around when Ayra stepped through the doors to her house. One of two servants were within the estate grounds but avoided Ayra like the plague.

Hours passed with neither her father nor Lisbeth coming back and so she decided to simply go to bed. It was better than staying awake to be tormented by the dread of confronting the two. 

....

Ayra stirred from her sleep and the very next second, the sound of the door slamming against the wall jolted her awake. 

The warm cocoon of dreams shattered, leaving her blinking in confusion as the harsh light from the hallway poured into the room.

Ayra shot up in bed, her heart racing, disoriented by the sudden intrusion. She squinted in the dim light, trying to make sense of the figure standing in the doorway. It was Lisbeth.

"Ayra!" Lisbeth’s voice was sharp, cutting through the stillness like a whip.

Ayra blinked, still groggy from sleep, and rubbed her eyes, trying to shake the remnants of her dreams. She sat up slowly, feeling the cool air of the room brush against her skin. 

Ayra's pulse hammered in her chest, and a sense of dreadful anticipation began to sink in. 

"What’s going on?" Ayra asked, her voice hoarse from sleep.

"You selfish little brat!" Lisbeth spat. She stormed across the room, her heels clicking angrily against the floor. 

"You think you can just run away like this and there would be no consequence? You think it doesn’t matter to anyone else?"

Ayra glanced up at Lisbeth, vestiges of sleep still lingering in her eyes. "What?"

There was a loud smack and Ayra's head snapped to the side as Lisbeth's hand met her cheek. The sleep cleared from Ayra's eyes immediately and she turned to look at Lisbeth, her teeth grinding together.  

Lisbeth's expression was thunderous and her usually immaculate hair was slightly disheveled. It was a rare sight for someone so obsessed with appearances as she was.

"How dare you?" Lisbeth hissed, her words cracking like a whip. Her face was a storm of rage. Unsurprising. 

"Lisbeth." Ayra's voice was low and cold. Threatening. "Would you use your words?"

Lisbeth laughed. 

"Use my words," she says. Use my words. Do you have any idea what you've done?!" Lisbeth snapped, her voice laced with fury.

"What are you talking about?" Ayra asked. Though she had a pretty solid idea why Lisbeth was losing it. 

"Don't you dare pretend you don’t know!" Lisbeth interrupted, pointing a manicured finger at her. "Do you have any idea what kind of chaos you've caused with your selfish little stunt?"

Ayra swung her legs over the side of the bed, her heart tightening. "You woke me up for this?" she muttered, scoffing indifferently.

"Of course I woke you up! Because someone needs to knock some sense into you," Lisbeth spat, stepping closer. 

"Running off like that, humiliating this family, making us look like utter fools! And where in the world have you been these last three days?"

Ayra gazed up at her sister, irritation gnawing at her like a cancer. 

"Humiliate the family? Really? That’s what you’re concerned about?"

Lisbeth's eyes burned with anger and resentment. "Of course I’m concerned! Do you have any idea of the mess you’ve created? The questions I’ve had to answer? The embarrassment Dad and I have suffered because of your... your... your absolute stupidity?! Your immature selfishness?!"

Ayra stood, her hands curling into fists. "Selfishness? You think I ran away because I’m selfish? Oh, don't try to deny the truth, Lizzie. I ran because you and 'dad' were practically selling me off like cattle!"

Lisbeth scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Stop being so dramatic, Ayra. Do you think you’re the first person in this family to make sacrifices? We all do what we have to for the greater good."

"The greater good?" Ayra’s voice rose, trembling with emotion. "The greater good for who? Certainly not me! All you and Ferdinand care about is your power and your alliances. I’m just a useless pawn in your games!"

Lisbeth took a step closer, her voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "You are part of this family, Ayra. That means you have responsibilities, whether you like it or not. 

You think running away solves anything? All you’ve done is create chaos. You’re too naive to understand the consequences of your actions."

Ayra clenched her jaw, anger boiling inside her. "Naive? Don’t you dare call me naive! I know exactly what you and dad are doing—using me to secure your position, to strengthen your hold. 

Don’t pretend this is about the family. You just want more power for yourself while you get rid of me to some place where you would not have to see me."

"Don’t you dare play the victim with me," Lisbeth snapped, her voice dripping with contempt as more of her irritation bled through. 

"You’ve been nothing but a liability since the moment you decided to grow some stupid thing you call a backbone. Despite EVERYTHING I've sacrificed for you!"

"Sacrificed?" Ayra laughed bitterly. "You’ve sacrificed nothing. You just enjoy controlling everyone around you and calling it sacrifice."

Lisbeth’s composure cracked, and her voice rose to a near shout. "Do you think I want this? Do you think I enjoy cleaning up your messes while you run around pretending you’re some tragic heroine?"

"I didn’t ask for any of this!" Ayra yelled back with clenched fists. "I didn’t ask to be treated like some pawn in your stupid power games. I didn’t ask to be sold off like I’m nothing."

"Sold off?" Lisbeth scoffed derisively. "Would you quit being so dramatic? Do you even hear yourself? That marriage was the best thing that could have happened to you. 

But no, you just had to ruin it because it wasn’t exactly what you wanted. Poor Ayra didn’t get her fairytale ending. Boo hoo. Oh, get a grip!"

"Don’t you dare belittle me," Ayra said. Her voice trembled with barely suppressed fury. 

"You don’t know what it’s like to be me. You’ve always been the one in control, the perfect, untouchable Lisbeth. You don’t care about anyone but yourself."

A bit of her original thoughts were mixed in her little rant to be honest. Ayra had always been somewhat envious of Lisbeth. 

Her composure, the grace she radiated, the understated tinge of danger that lined her actions sometimes. Those were things Ayra could never hope to emulate. 

Lisbeth’s expression darkened. 

"You’re impossible," she spat impotently. "Always have been. Just like mother. Thinking you’re special. That the rules don’t apply to you."

The mention of their mother stung like a slap to the face. Ayra's breath hitched and for a moment the anger gave way to something deeper, more painful. 

"Do not bring Mom into this, Lisbeth," she said with a tremulous voice.

"And why not? Huh? She was just as reckless and selfish as you are. Always dreaming, always running away from reality. Ran away for fucking YEARS! And now look where it got her - six feet under and fucking forgotten."

Ayra froze, Lisbeth's words slicing through her, sharper than any blade. Her hands trembled, and suddenly tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. 

"How dare you," she whispered.

"Someone has to say it," she said with a shrug. "You need to wake up, Ayra. This world doesn’t cater to dreamers. It’s ruthless, and you either adapt or get crushed. Mother got crushed."

Ayra’s chest heaved, her breaths shallow and rapid. She stared at her sister, the woman who had once been her role model, and felt nothing but disgust. "Would you ever say that to her face?" she asked quietly.

"What?"

"You heard me," Ayra said, her voice rising. "Would you ever have the guts to say all of this to Mom? Or are you just taking it out on me because she’s not here?"

For a moment, Lisbeth didn’t respond. The room was heavy with tension, the silence punctuated only by the sound of Ayra’s ragged breathing. Then, Lisbeth let out a bitter laugh.

"Yes," she said, shaking her head. "But that hardly matters. Mother was weak and dumb Ayra. And you’re just like her."

Ayra’s fists clenched tightly and she began to feel the sting of her nails biting into her palms. "Get out," she said through gritted teeth.

Lisbeth raised an eyebrow and scoffed. 

"Excuse me?"

"I said, get out!" Ayra screamed. 

Lisbeth gave her a mocking look and then turned on her heel and marched out of the room, slamming the door behind her.