Harm and Harmony

-Chapter 60-

Day: 44

Days Left: 5436

Lives Saved: 0

"Is this it!" An exasperated Rhea slammed the piece of paper down on the kitchen table. "This is half of what we donated last time!" She directed her anger-filled rant at whoever was nearby, who, unfortunately for him, was Jonathan.

"I'm sorry, Rhea," the young man apologised to his great-grand-aunt. "I could only manage to afford three packets."

"Oh, no, no, my dear." Rhea stroked Jonathan's cheek, her rage dwindling. "I didn't mean to take it all out on you. I'm very grateful for that. I'm just-" She let out a long breath of air to calm herself down. "Half of this family is doing nothing to help!" 

Rhea looked down at the list of donations the Warren-Earl-Best family had put forward towards food packets for The Eternal Abyss. Her eyes scanned each name, her nose scrunching as she noticed that Corinna's parents were, yet again, not there. "We still have an hour until the deadline!" Rhea stood up from her seat. "Where are Elena and Richard?"

"I think grandma is in the green lounge," answered Jonathan.

"Right!" Rhea stormed off. "Time for her to start acting like a mother for once!"

The walk to the green lounge was long as it was on the other side of the housing complex, yet Rhea's boiling rage remained ever vigilant, only increasing with every stomping step. However, it was still unstable, likely to be set free with any interaction. Rhea had almost made it to the door of the lounge when her brother Albert exited the room, blocking her path.

"I know what you're trying to do, sister," he said, folding his arms. "But they don't want to see you."

"They will see me whether they like it or not!" Rhea shoved her brother out of the way and flung the door open. Her eyes settled upon Elena, who was sat on the sofa reading a magazine. "You..." Rhea towered over the woman, pushing the piece of paper in front of Elena's face. "Why isn't your name on it?"

For a long moment, Elena ignored the old woman, continuing to read her magazine before finally settling it down on the sofa, and then stood up to meet Rhea's eyes.

"Mother, please..." Nathaniel rushed over and attempted to diffuse the situation but was brushed aside by Rhea. "If we need more donations I'll buy them."

"You've already bought enough," said Rhea. "Too much, in fact." Her attention returned back to Elena. "This is your daughter's safety we're talking about. One or two more food packets could be the difference in her living or dying. Your daughter, Elena!"

"No daughter of mine would betray The Crown," Elena replied, her face blank and vacant of any emotion. Despite the clear venom in her words, her voice remained flat and robotic. "This is all your fault. You brainwashed my child and made her a traitor. Richard and I were caught in your mess because we were trying to save Corinna from your influence, and we were almost executed just for being near you."

Rhea held back, noticing that there were young children present in the room. She didn't want to seem like the villain to them, so she kept calm, releasing her anger by scrunching up her toes.

"We were lucky to stop Bess earlier on; otherwise, she too would have her life on the line, waiting until Corinna dies, and we are all executed." A slight smile appeared on Elena's face, her cold eyes glancing down at Rhea's quivering hands. "If you are so opposed to what Her Majesty has grown up to be, perhaps you should have been a better nanny."

"And perhaps if you are so opposed to how Corinna has grown up to be, you should have raised her yourself!" Rhea snapped back. Her retort, however, did not feel like a victory as the words that Elena had spoken still continued to sting. It never felt like a victory with Elena. Her face would always remain passive and indifferent to even the most cutting of words. Nothing could break her.

"Please, Elena..." Nathaniel once again attempted to intervene. "It is just as you say. If Corinna dies, then everyone else at the protest will die too. You will die. The more food we-"

"Ah! That's the reason!" Albert exclaimed, gaining the attention of the entire room. After taking a sip from his tea, he sauntered over to Nathaniel. "All those food packets you've bought..." Albert glanced at the piece of paper in Rhea's hands, seeing that Nathaniel had contributed the most. "It's not guilt," he continued. "It's self-preservation once again. Keep Corinna alive, and you'll stay alive. Just like how you didn't volunteer to be in The Eternal Abyss."

Nathaniel froze, unable to think of an equally devastating return. How could he? Somewhere inside of him, he knew what Albert had said to be true. He recalled back to the throne room, where he saw Corinna stand up and volunteer, sacrificing herself to save everyone else. And he did nothing to stop it. No one else did either, apart from Rhea. And that prevented the guilt inside from swallowing Nathaniel whole.

"How dare you talk to my son like that!" Rhea barged straight in between Nathaniel and her brother, letting out all the fury that she had kept inside.

"You can't keep spending this much money," said Elena, her voice, as always, stoical. "Corinna is in there for fifteen years. We will be bankrupt if we spend this much each time. You already have plenty of food on that list. All you are doing now is feeding the monsters and murderers."

Rhea looked around at everyone else in the room. She saw some of the children hiding behind the adults upon witnessing her anger. The adults themselves avoided her gaze. It was clear that they all agreed with Elena, as usual. But there was still one person in the room whom Rhea knew would help. "Henry?"

Henry Best had been sitting in the corner for the entire conversation, hoping to stay hidden and uninvolved. Not wanting to hear another word of the argument, he had attempted to sneak out of the room but paused when his great aunt called out his name. Henry turned around. "I'm sorry, Rhea," he said, staring down at the floor. "It's in my contract. I'm not allowed to send food packets. I have to be impartial." And with that, he exited the lounge.

Staring down at the list of donations, Rhea calculated how much it would cost each month. The more food that they sent, the more likely Corinna would be fed, and she still believed that. After writing herself down for an additional ten packets, Rhea apologised to everyone for the commotion, then left the room.

-----------------------------------

We are now roughly half-way through the book!

(It's taken quite some time but I'm getting there...)

Thank you to everyone who has continued reading this far!