Perspectives

Chapter 30

At first came the initial panic that came from hearing that there were people searching for her, then came the confusion. If memory served Piper right, Rothgard was the head of the council, the man that he had called about her. So why would Rothgard order a search for her after having her dropped in the middle of the park? 

"He's not going public with it, is he?" Devon asked seriously.

Celia shook her head, "No of course not, imagine if it got out that a human had escaped into the world." Piper's confusion only increased at Celia's use of the word 'escaped'. Why did Devon and Celia seem to be under the impression that she had escaped? Were they for some reason being left out of the loop of the rest of the council? "For now they're only searching within the Monith District, they don't expect that a human would have gotten so far on their own." Celia added.

"How in the world did you manage to make it all the way from Monith to Caris by the way?" Piper glanced up to see Devon looking down at her, curiosity in his eyes. 

Piper folded her arms across her chest, brow furrowed. "What do you mean...?" She asked, unsure what 'Monith' or 'Caris' even meant. 

"We're wondering how you managed to escape." Celia clarified in her usual soft and polite manner. "We were told that you were being held in the Stenton Estate." Piper could only assume 'Stenton Estate' was the name of the place she had woken up a few days ago. Regardless, it was definite that the Bradfords were under the impression that she had somehow escaped on her own. 

"I didn't escape, he--Kalen left me at that park." Piper forced herself to say his name, and it felt like acid on her tongue. She hated how much emotion just saying his name brought up in her. Anger, betrayal and misery welled up in her all at once in one big storm. She shoved it all down as best she could manage. 

Devon's eyebrows shot up his head in surprise. "Kalen took you there? But why, he's the one who brought you to Rothgard's attention in the first place." 

Celia appeared as equally perplexed. "He went directly against the council's decision." She murmured thoughtfully.

Everyone in the room was in a state of confusion, Piper especially. What was this about Kalen going against the council's decision? It didn't make any sense. He was following the council's orders when he left her in that park, wasn't he? "What are you guys talking about, it was the council who told him to leave me there." She told the two giants, a level of uncertainty present in her voice.

Celia shook her head. "No, the council would never order a human to be set loose in Amasis." She stated. "The council's decision was to have you collected from Stenton Estate and taken into government custody." Piper's eyes widened. That was certainly no better than what she had thought, but it did mean there was something weird going on. 

"How well did you know Kalen?" Devon inquired. That was a subject Piper didn't want to touch with a ten foot pole. She hated to even think about him now, let alone reflect back on the period of time they'd spent together.

Piper gave a small shrug. "I don't know, we talked some but we were far from friends." She reluctantly divulged. 

There was a knowing look in Celia's eyes, what exactly it was that she had picked up on, Piper wasn't sure. "To me it seems as though perhaps Kalen's actions were in an effort to prevent you from being taken." She suggested lightly. 

Piper's denial of the idea was instant. She shook her head vehemently. She'd seen the cold apathetic expression on his face, the dispassionate way he said his farewell. Maybe he had gone against the council's decision, but that didn't mean he had done it in some effort to protect her or whatever, he had made it pretty clear that he didn't give a damn about what happened to her.

Celia continued to look at Piper with concern, she seemed to want to say something to her, but before she could Devon spoke up. "I can't imagine they would come looking in this district any time soon, but I think it would be wise to still remain cautious." 

Massaging the corners of her eyes with her fingers, Piper released a low sigh. Now she had people avidly searching for her, likely to take her off to some kind of government facility. The thought was terrifying. Such a fate was maybe worse than her previous situation, at least before she had her own freedom. Images of steel bars surrounding her flashed in her mind and she let out a soft whimper inaudible to giant ears. 

"We won't allow them to find you." Piper was pulled away from the haunting thoughts in her head by Celia's gentle voice. Piper gave a weak nod in response, not entirely convinced, but unwilling to voice her doubts. Celia wore an encouraging smile on her face, "For now, let's get you something to eat." 

Piper ate until she was absolutely stuffed. The meal consisted of stew with the contents finely chopped to fit her size, a buttery piece of a roll, and a cup of cold milk, all served on size appropriate dishes that Celia had procured from an old doll set she had. It felt good to be eating off of a plate again, she felt much less like an animal. Not to mention Celia's cooking was certainly something worthy of praise. 

While Piper had been eating, Celia had gone off to dismiss the remaining workers in the house for the day to prevent the possibility of any of them stumbling onto their human guest. By the time she had returned, Devon had excused himself to take a call.

Piper sat in the center of the counter with her legs crossed under herself as Celia carefully washed the tiny doll's dishes by hand. "I hope this isn't an intrusion Piper, but I wondered about your age." Celia said without looking up from her work. "You look fairly young." She added.

Caught slightly off guard by the question, Piper looked up from the hangnail she had been picking at absentmindedly. "Oh um, I'm sixteen." She divulged, she didn't see much danger in revealing her age. 

Celia gave a light gasp, turning away from the sink so that she was now facing Piper, tiny bowl still in hand. "You're only sixteen?!" She exclaimed. "Why you're not even fully grown yet!" Piper's eyebrows lifted up, she hadn't expected that kind of a response. 

"Well no I'm not an adult yet, but my doctor told me I'm probably done growing, so I think technically I am fully grown--" Piper's rambling was cut short.

"Perhaps if the council knew you were underage..." Celia wondered aloud, to which Piper instantly sprang up to her feet, head shaking violently.

"You can't tell them where I am." Piper warned, taking a step closer to the giantess. "They'll lock me up or something!" Even if Devon and Celia had proven to be trustworthy thus far, that didn't change the fact that the council had still decided against sending her back home. As far as Piper was concerned, they definitely could not be trusted. 

Gently, Celia placed the bowl she had been washing aside and slowly approached the counter on which Piper stood. "But I don't think any of us assumed you to be as young as you are, if the other council members knew, they might change their minds." She argued, a note of hopefulness in her voice. 

Of course Piper wanted to believe that the council would change their mind, it would mean the end of this ongoing nightmare she had been living. However if Celia did tell them and they still wanted to take her in, she would be fated to what could possibly be a lifetime in captivity. So far the council as a whole had given her no reason to believe that they would give two shits that they were trying to keep a sixteen year old as a prisoner. 

Piper tightly crossed her arms over her chest. "I can't take the risk that they won't." She told Celia quietly. 

Celia gave a small nod of understanding, she seemed to have expected Piper's response and agreed with it. Then her face fell, and a mournful expression cast itself across her features. "Without the council's approval, I don't know if we can ever get you back to Earth." She murmured. 

There was a part of Piper that had already expected as much, but that didn't stop the words from hurting any less.