Disclaimer: Legend of Zelda is not mine. I'm learning to deal with it by repeatedly banging my head against a brick wall.

A.N: Warning. Sap. Too sappy for some people, but there is good reason for it (personally I think it's cute, but I'm slightly biased!). The person who is being sappy is being sappy so that they can boost someone's ego. And to the psyche five year old what can be more flattering than hearing your daddy talk about how much he loves you and looked forward to you being born? You'll understand more when you get there...

Chapter 2: Princess Amalia Marisa

The snow covered gardens of Hyrule Castle served as the perfect place for a snowball fight, and there was none so furious as the battle that raged in the still morning air the day following Orla's nightmare. Huddled up warm in a cloak and mittens, Orla ran through the snow with her hair streaming behind her, all the while being hotly pursued by her adversary.

"I'm gonna get you!"

A small Gerudo with white blonde hair threw a snowy missile at her friend, which struck her squarely on the arm with a resounding thud.

"Ow! Navali, that hurt..." Orla yelped.

"Really?"

Navali put down her second snowball and looked at her friend in concern. She hadn't meant to hurt her; it was just that she really didn't know her own strength...

"Nope, I was just saying that so you'd stand still!" Orla giggled, flinging a snowball back at her.

"Bombs away!" Ranny yelled, hitting both girls from behind with two snowballs.

Orla and Navali screamed in outrage and chased after him, hastily forming snowballs as they did.

Watching from a distance, Link smiled to himself as he rubbed Epona down after a thorough workout that morning.

"I still can't believe how much like you she is." A feminine voice commented.

Link shrugged as Nabooru joined him having dismounted her horse.

"She's a great kid, what can I say?" He grinned.

Nabooru smiled and pulled her cloak tighter to her.

"Gods I don't know how you Hylians can live like this, I really don't." She complained. "It's never this cold in the Valley."

Link laughed.

"Navali doesn't seem to have any trouble adjusting to it."

Nabooru's gaze diverted momentarily to her five year old daughter and caused a fond smile to cross the Gerudo woman's face.

"Yeah, that kid could fit in anywhere, so long as it isn't her home."

Link frowned as he led Epona into her stable.

"Still getting bullied?"

Nabooru nodded.

"She pretends it doesn't bother her, but I can see it does. It's not exactly bullying, it's just that the other girls won't give her the time of day."

Link cast a glance at the small girl who was currently sitting on his nephew's back while Orla rammed snowballs down his shirt.

"Can't see why not, she's the perfect Gerudo in my opinion."

Nabooru smiled.

"I'll tell her you said that, but I wish that the others would see it that way. I know they're talking about her behind my back, they're calling her bad blood."

"Bad blood?" Link asked.

Nabooru nodded.

"You know that in order to have children we Gerudo have to go... abroad to find a man."

Link nodded.

"Well, sometimes when the baby's born she may have inherited a trait from her father that isn't acceptable in Gerudo culture, and therefore she has to be given away so that the purity of our people isn't weakened. I know it's cruel," She said quickly upon seeing Link's horrified expression. "And it doesn't happen very often. But when it does, then the mother is often frozen out until she gets rid of the child or worse. It won't surprise you whose idea it was to put this into practice."

"Ganondorf." Link muttered. "The sick bastard."

Nabooru nodded.

"If anything I'd say he's bad blood, considering that he's a freakish coincidence that only ever happens once a century."

"I don't think I'd like to be a Gerudo." Link commented.

Nabooru looked at him wryly.

"Think about what you just said. You don't want to be the only male in a society full of women who would worship and adore you?"

Link shook his head.

"Married man Nabooru, that won't work on me anymore." He grinned. "Seriously though, can't you do anything to stop what they do to their kids? It's racist and..."

"Do you think I haven't tried?" Nabooru snapped. "I've seen women kill themselves after giving away their babies and what's worse I've seen the treatment of women who won't. Sometimes I wish to the Gods that I'd been born a Hylian so that I didn't have to put up with some of our traditions."

She sighed and looked at Navali again.

"There's never been anything written that says a Gerudo can't have hair any other colour than red, but then again there has never been a Gerudo born with blonde hair before so it's no wonder that Navali is regarded with distrust. The truth is that everyone announced that she was the purest Gerudo baby they'd ever seen but when her hair started to grow..."

She sighed again and looked at her feet.

"My perfect baby wasn't so perfect anymore."

Link patted her shoulder softly to comfort her.

"Don't worry Nabooru, Navali's going to be just fine."

Nabooru smiled weakly and then slipped her well-used mask of confidence and authority back on.

"OK Rookie, you got five more minutes and then we're going home."

Navali looked up and whined.

"Oh Mommy, do I have to?"

Nabooru nodded.

"You whine at me and it'll be three."

Link laughed softly.

"Geez, I'd hate to bump into you on a dark night."

Nabooru grinned.

"Unless it was to sleep with me."

"Oh for crying out loud, when are you and Ruto going to get it into your heads that..."

He was interrupted by Nabooru's laughter.

"Would you relax?" She grinned. "Sleeping with you would be like sleeping with a little brother. Besides, you know I only tease you because it gets such a great reaction."

Link shot her a withering look and then began to laugh too. He was still laughing when the pair were joined by Impa.

"What's so funny? Have you been corrupting his mind again Nabooru?"

"His mind was already corrupted long before I started." Nabooru assured her.

Link used his well-loved angelic expression and stopped when he saw that it didn't impress the Sheikah woman.

"What can I do for you Impa?" He offered.

Impa smiled and folded her arms across her chest.

"I just thought that you'd be interested in hearing that your wife has been in labour for the past ten minutes."

"Oh that's... She's WHAT?" Link spluttered.

"She started having contractions about ten minutes ago and is fairly certain that this isn't a false alarm."

"Shit!" Link cursed, uncertain about what to do. "I..."

"I think the words you're looking for are 'better get going before I'm a dead man.'" Nabooru offered.

Link nodded.

"Sorry to run but..."

"I know." Nabooru grinned. "Good luck!"

Both she and Impa laughed as he bolted back into the castle as fast as he could, tripping over and uneven cobblestone and cursing as he wobbled.

"He hasn't changed one bit has he?" Impa chuckled.

"Changed from what?"

"From the ten year old boy who used to trip over that exact same cobblestone. You'd think at twenty three he would have learnt by now..."

******

Babysitting was not something that Aidyn Ferras found himself doing all that often, and as he sat taking care of his two children and niece he couldn't quite see why. Ranny was armed with his small wooden sword and teaching his three year old brother Theoden how to use it. Theo was very much his mother's son with the same chocolate brown curls and violet eyes and adored his brother almost to the extent of worship. Aidyn smiled at his boys and then cast a slightly worried glance at his niece who was gazing out of the window at the snowy skies. She'd been very quiet all afternoon which to Aidyn was confusing, particularly when he remembered the three year old Ranlink had been practically bouncing off the walls when he'd been told that he was about to be a brother.

"Orla, are you alright?" He asked.

Orla looked over her shoulder at her uncle and nodded, wearing a pretty smile on her face.

"Uncle Aidyn, how big were you when my Daddy was born?" She asked.

Aidyn smiled.

"I was about your age and I had to wait for hours and hours for him to come. I don't think I went to sleep at all that night."

Orla smiled and wrapped her arms around her knees.

"When my little brother comes, I'm going to teach him everything." She said.

Aidyn nodded and ruffled Orla's messy blonde mop.

"I bet you are, and he's going to love you to pieces in return."

"Orla, pway wid us!" Theo demanded, tugging on his cousin's sleeve.

Orla laughed and did as she was told, knowing that Theo's wrath was better to be avoided.

The door opened quietly as Olaran entered the room with a smile on his face.

"Any progress?" Aidyn asked quietly upon seeing his father.

Olaran nodded.

"It was over ten minutes ago, I'd tell you more but Link's not saying anything until Orla's been introduced."

"Already? That was only..."

"Five hours." Olaran agreed. "Nothing to it, according to Zelda. Orla?"

Orla looked up at her grandfather.

"Yes?"

"Mama and Daddy have something to show you." He said, smiling happily.

Orla's eyes widened as she took her grandfather's hand and practically skipped through the passageways to her parents' room. She knew what had happened and was too excited to speak. As she came to the doorway she saw her other grandfather, her aunt and Impa all smiling and looking happy to confirm her suspicions. Then her father came out of the door with the biggest grin she had ever seen on his face and she knew then and there that she was a sister. She let go of her grandfather's hand and ran up to Link, laughing happily as he picked her up and tossed her in the air.

"There you are midget!" He chuckled, perching her on his shoulders. "There's someone that your mother and I want you to meet."

He carried her into the bedroom and set her down carefully, putting his fingers to his lips to demand silence, not that Orla would have spoken anyway; she was too fixated in what was on the bed.

Zelda was propped upright against the pillows, smiling at her daughter with rosy cheeks and slightly messed up hair but at the same time looking very happy which Orla put down to what was wrapped up in the white blankets that were in her arms. Link had already joined his wife and had kissed her cheek, looking adoringly at the new baby and then back at his eldest child. All of a sudden Orla couldn't move, she wanted to stay looking at them forever but was prompted by her mother's voice calling her over to the bedside. She did as she was told, only climbing up onto the bed and sitting upright on her haunches at the pillows beside her mother to get a peek at the new arrival.

"Orla this is your new sister Amalia." Zelda said softly as her daughter stared at the tiny person in the blankets. "Princess Amalia Marisa."

Orla looked confused.

"I thought you said I was going to have a baby brother." She told her father.

Link laughed softly.

"Maybe next time squirt."

Zelda sighed happily and kissed her daughter's cheek.

"Do you want to hold her?"

Orla nodded and held out her arms to receive the bundle and had her carefully positioned in her arms by her mother. She stared intently at the face of her newborn sister, analysing each feature with heavy scrutiny until she smiled.

"She looks like you Mama." She announced, looking up at her parents.

Link smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Aren't I a lucky guy?" He asked, getting matching confused looks from mother and daughter. "Here I am, sitting in a room with the three most beautiful women in Hyrule. I could die a happy man right here and now."

Zelda shot him a withering look while Orla looked slightly alarmed.

"Oh no you don't, you're not going anywhere until the baby sleeps through the night." Zelda warned.

"Yeah, and you promised that you'd teach me how to ride!" Orla protested.

Link laughed softly and sat beside Orla, looking at her and her new sister.

"Girls, I'm only teasing." He reassured them. "Besides, how else am I expected to give Orla and Amalia a baby brother?"

Orla's face lit up just as Amalia's tiny face began to screw itself up into a disgruntled expression. She very slowly opened her mouth and before Orla realised it her sister was bawling her heart out, her face changing colour from rosy pink to angry raspberry. Zelda had tensed and gently relieved her elder daughter of the wailing baby, cooing softly and rocking her in her arms. Orla's face fell and she looked at her feet.

"I guess she doesn't like me very much."

Link lifted her off the bed and hugged her against his chest.

"She just doesn't know what's happening yet. Give it a few days and she'll adore you."

******

The traditional naming ceremony followed a week after Amalia's birth when visitors from all over the kingdom and neighbouring royalty would arrive to pay their respects to the newborn princess. The morning of the ceremony dawned crisp and bright with a thin powdering of snow from the night before bringing an aspect of seasonal cheer to the large group of people waiting outside the Temple of Time for the proceedings to begin. Olaran, Aidyn and Link stood on the steps with the purpose of greeting the guests while the others were inside in the warm with Zelda and the baby. All that is except Orla, who was intent on greeting the guests at her father's side, her small hand clutching his right hand as he shook hands with those that he greeted. She was dressed in a bright green dress with a scarlet cape around her shoulders, looking the epitome of a well-behaved young princess.

Link cast his eyes downwards as he felt his cloak shift and found it wrapped around Orla's body. The end of her nose had gone pink from cold but her cheeks were rosy and enhanced the smile on the girl's face.

"You're not too cold are you squirt?" He asked, squeezing her hand.

Orla shook her head.

"No, I'm fine." She replied, smiling cheerfully. "Were there this lots of people when I was a baby?"

Link smiled at her jumbled sentence and nodded.

"Yeah, if not more."

Orla's face lit up.

"Really?"

Aidyn and Olaran laughed at Orla's enthusiasm.

"Why do you want to know?" Olaran asked.

Orla shrugged.

"Just 'cause I want to Grampa."

"Good enough reason." Olaran agreed.

A few more guests introduced themselves before a tall woman wearing a deep purple cloak appeared. She curtsied before the men and paused, her eyes fixated on Orla who squirmed uncomfortably under her gaze. Link sensed his daughter's discomfort and put a protective hand on her shoulder.

"Welcome." He said pointedly, his tone demanding that an introduction was in order.

"Greetings nephew." The woman said, doffing her hood to reveal a head full of long silver hair and large grey eyes. "I am your wife's aunt, Petranella Aquala."

Link, Olaran and Aidyn were too astounded to speak, so Petranella took the time to address her great niece.

"Hello, you must be Orla."

Orla nodded, keeping a tight grip on her father's hand and going uncharacteristically quiet.

"My goodness aren't you a big girl?" Petranella asked, trying to make friends with the child by smiling warmly at her. "You're five aren't you?"

"Uh huh." Orla replied.

"Almost a grown up! I'll bet you have lots of adventures in the castle don't you?"

Orla nodded, breaking into a smile that totally took the priestess by surprise at its warmth and sincerity. She smiled back and stood up to address Link.

"I am aware that you are probably uncomfortable with my presence here." She began.

"Moderately." He replied.

"I come with no malice, I merely wish to visit my niece. It has been a while since I last saw her and I am very keen to meet your daughters."

"Especially Orla." Link commented dryly.

Petranella smiled at the little girl and then looked back at her father.

"As I said, I bear no malice. Despite what you may think of me I have no hidden agenda, unlike my sister."

Beside Aidyn, Olaran tensed. His eyes had not left Petranella since the moment she had arrived.

"You have no need to eye me with distrust Prince Ranlink. I hope that I may be given the chance to acquaint myself better with you after the ceremony."

With that she curtsied again and went into the temple. The gazes of the three men followed her right through the door and then went immediately back to each other.

"Aidyn, would you mind taking Orla inside?" Link asked his brother.

"Oh but Daddy..." Orla protested.

"It's OK sweetheart I'll follow you in a moment." He assured her, kneeling down in front of her. "I just want to talk to Grampa on my own for a bit."

"Are you going to talk about the nice lady?" She asked.

Link was momentarily taken aback by his daughter's perceptiveness.

"No, I'm not." He lied.

"Come on Orla, I think Ranny's going to have a fit if you don't make an appearance soon." Aidyn said, taking his niece's hand and saving the day.

He led Orla into the Temple of Time having received a thankful nod from his brother. Link turned to his father with a frown on his face.

"Petranella. Can we trust her?"

Olaran nodded.

"As she said, she's nothing like Cordelia." He replied. "But we can guarantee that she'll be reporting back to her mother."

Link nodded.

"I thought so. So what should I do?"

Olaran put a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Go inside, enjoy the ceremony and forget all about it."

"Hunh? Dad that has got to be the screwiest advice you've ever given me!" Link laughed.

Olaran shook his head.

"You forget about it for the service but talk to Zelda afterwards. Tell her that Petranella's here and let her sort it out. You're forgetting that she appears to have more sense than both of us put together when it comes to stuff like this."

Link nodded.

"I guess you're right."

"I'm your father, I'm always right." Olaran grinned.

******

Princess Amalia Marisa had inherited from her mother the ability to draw people to her whatever their age, race or gender. However, after many hours of being peeked at in her cradle and praised by well-wishing guests, she was currently occupied with an afternoon meal in private with her mother and father locked in heavy conversation.

"What do you mean I should be on my guard?" Zelda asked in a slightly raised voice. "And why is that whenever you say 'don't worry but' I always do?"

Link shrugged.

"Acute paranoia?"

Zelda shot him a withering look and turned her attention to the baby.

"So, are you going to tell me what I should be on guard about or am I going to be kidnapped by yet another one of Ganondorf's faithful minions?"

"OK, OK. Sheesh, what side of the bed did you get out of this morning?"

Zelda glared at him, at which point he decided to make amends by kissing her cheek.

"Zelly, I'm only winding you up. You look so cute when you're mad."

Her face softened and she sighed.

"I'm sorry, I guess I'm just wound up what with the baby and Orla's nightmare..."

"That's kinda what we've got to talk about." Link interrupted. "Your aunt Petranella is here."

Zelda froze, which caused Amalia to whimper softly.

"Did she say why?" Zelda asked.

"No, she only said that she wasn't bearing any malice."

"That's reassuring."

"And you believe her?"

She nodded.

"She sat with me while I was in the Sisterhood, and although she was unaware that I was conscious I was able to get a pretty good understanding of her character."

"By Farore I had no idea I'd married such a devious woman." Link laughed.

"Yes you did, you told me that I was devious the night I pretended to be ill so that we could get out of that boring seminar when we were trying for Orla." She smirked.

"Oh Gods I remember that. You should really get ill more often..."

"Give me another five weeks and I will, but right now we've got more important things to worry about."

Link nodded.

"Should I ask Petranella to join us?"

Amalia had finished feeding and Zelda had the baby at her shoulder while she adjusted her dress.

"Yes. And be nice."

Link looked affronted.

"When am I not nice?"

"When you see a monster and have a sword in your hands. Oh, and when you find out that I've eaten all of your chocolate. And when..."

"OK, OK, I get it. I'm a horrible, horrible person."

"Not when you're being naughty."

"Zelda! Stop teasing me, it's not fair!"

Zelda laughed and got up to kiss him tenderly.

"I wouldn't care if you were a horrible, horrible person." She said softly. "I'd still love you. No matter what, no matter how, no matter where."

Link eagerly returned her kiss, and was still doing so when the door opened.

"I'm sorry, I'm interrupting you. I'll leave."

It was Petranella.

"Please don't." Zelda said, halting the elder woman in her tracks. "We'd like to speak with you."

Petranella paused.

"Have you come with news about Orla?" Her niece asked, cutting right to the chase.

Petranella nodded and turned to look at both of them, her face anxious. Her eyes rested upon Amalia who was now being held by her father.

"I've come because I felt there was something you needed to be warned about. It involves both of the little ones."

Link looked at her in surprise.

"What does Amalia have to do with endeffera?" He asked, subconsciously holding the baby a little tighter.

"My mother believes that the power that Orla harbours may very well begin to surface at the motivation of a powerful emotion, emotions like love, hate, fear..."

Her eyes wandered to Amalia again, a gesture caught by Zelda who finished what her aunt was trying to say as the majority of the colour drained from her face.

"Jealousy."

Petranella nodded.

"When the news reached us that you were expecting, my mother was instantly concerned. I didn't know it then, but she voiced her fears to me on the day of the tournament..."

"What have I done?" Zelda asked in a shaking voice. "How could I possibly have been so stupid not to think about it in the first place? Of course she's going to be jealous of Amalia, how could I not see that?!"

Link put his hand on Zelda's shoulder.

"Listen Petranella, I know that Griselda's fears are probably justifiable but she doesn't know Orla. She couldn't be jealous of anything..."

"You were brought up in the Forest weren't you?" Petranella asked, catching Link off guard.

"I... well yeah but what does that have to do with anything?" He replied.

"And you never felt jealousy?"

Link was silent as memories of days past flooded back to him, days when the entire Kokiri Village sat at a great midsummer feast in the Deku Tree's Meadow, talking happily amongst each other and getting their fairies to do tricks while a small boy watched from the far end of the table, fairy less.

"You see Link, you do not strike me as a jealous person yet you have felt jealousy. We have all felt jealousy, it is like a parasite that if not treated can embitter and destroy. It was jealousy that ruined my sister."

Zelda and Link had been staring intently at their baby, sleeping soundly in her father's arms. Eventually Zelda's eyes left the child and met with her aunt's.

"So what is it that Link and I are supposed to do?"

Petranella sighed.

"You cannot do anything. If this is destiny, if it is due to jealousy that Orla's powers begin to develop then no matter how hard you try, you will not be able to stop it."

******

One month later

Orla settled herself down beneath her blankets as her mother came and sat beside her carrying Orla's favourite book in her hands.

"Alright then, where did we leave it last time?" Zelda asked, skimming through the pages until she found the bookmark.

"The part where the prince had to fight the dragon!" Orla said excitedly, squirming about so that she could see the pictures and then smiling as she saw an image of a snarling reptile with fiery breath attacking a small man clad in armour on a grey horse.

Zelda smiled and began to read aloud, aware that she had her daughter's full and undivided attention.

"Draco's breath was burning as Prince Valiant unsheathed his sword. The great beast snarled maliciously as it circled the brave prince, its eyes on fire and burning like hot coals..."

Her voice trailed off as an all too familiar sound gradually got louder and louder. Orla recognised it immediately and narrowed her eyes as her father appeared in her room with a bawling Amalia against his shoulder.

"I don't know what to do Zel, she's not stopped crying since you put her down."

Zelda sighed wearily and got up, casting a worried glance at Orla.

"Sweetheart, do you mind if Daddy reads to you for a while? I'll be back in a minute..."

Orla tried to hide her disappointment and nodded.

As she left with the baby, Zelda shot Link a concerned look which he reciprocated.

Don't worry.

It's the third time this week though...

Zelda paused as a brainwave hit her and she turned around.

"Orla, do you want to help me put Amalia to bed?"

Orla shook her head.

"I'd like to hear my story."

Zelda's face fell minutely.

"Oh, OK. I'll be back in a minute."

She took the screaming baby back to her room while Orla's attention had fixated itself upon the open book. She could feel her cheeks burning and her heart pounding angrily against her chest until her father's hand found itself on her back.

"If only all babies could be like you were." He said fondly.

Orla looked up in surprise.

"What do you mean?"

Link smiled and brushed Orla's bangs away from her eyes.

"You were the most perfect baby, and you were so beautiful that I didn't want to let you go for a moment, even when I had to. I still feel like that sometimes."

Orla smiled a little and accepted her father's invitation to climb onto his lap. She curled up tightly into a little ball, sucking her thumb while Link brushed his fingers through her hair.

"The day your mother told me that she was having a baby was one of the happiest days of my life." He continued, watching his daughter's face intently. "That night I didn't get any sleep, I just lay awake and looked at her all night, wondering what you were going to be like and how me of all people could have done something so wonderful that it meant a new person was growing. I'll never forget the day when you first started kicking. It was a horrible, rainy day and Mama and I were sitting in my treehouse in the Forest because we'd had to run in there when the rain had started. We were having a picnic. It seemed that things were terrible until she laughed and grabbed my hand. She put it on her tummy and I could feel you kicking, right here."

He showed her the very middle of his right palm, pointing to it with his fingertips.

"What happened next?" Orla asked, far more interested in her father's memories than Prince Valiant and Draco.

"Well, we had to wait a few months for you to arrive, but I can remember one night lying awake and talking to Mama about what we were going to call you. I pretended to ask you what you wanted to be called and put my ear on Mama's stomach, trying to hear an answer. What I heard was your heart beating, and I was absolutely quiet for a few minutes until your mother said 'Why don't we name the baby after your father? Olaran for a boy and Orla for a girl.' And I couldn't think of anything I wanted to call you more than that. I went out for a ride the next morning on Epona and kept saying the names over and over again. We both thought that you'd be a girl, and I never told anyone but I wanted you to be a girl so badly that I even prayed for you to be a girl. So I kept saying Orla."

Orla's eyelids were beginning to get heavy as her father's constant soothing voice and touch on her head began to make her feel sleepy. Just before she fell asleep, she vaguely heard him say something that would stick in her mind for a very long time.

"No matter what happens, no matter how hard things get, remember that you'll always be my baby girl and that I'll always love you."

******

This has to be stopped.

How can we stop it?

There's no way it can be stopped, it's too powerful!

We're helpless!

"No..."

We can't stop it!

"We can, we can..."

It's too late, it's already here!

"No! No, I won't let it get us!"

What are you doing?

Come back!

ENDEFFERA DON'T!

"I'm Orla!"

Something is destroying your home. Something is ruining your life. Something.

If you want to you can destroy it.

"How?"

Let it go. Let your power go. Then it will be gone, things can get back to normal. Just let your power out Endeffera.

"My name's not Endeffera. I'm Orla."

Endeffera.

ENDEFFERA.

ENDEFFERA.

"Orla! I'm ORLA!"

******

"I'm Orla!"

Orla sat bolt upright, coming out of her dream suddenly and panting in confusion.

"My name is Orla Ariala Ferras." She said quietly to reassure herself.

She stared at her hands, practically hearing the same chilling voices flying around in her head. She shook her head violently, trying to blot out the memory. Maybe she should go and see her mother, she knew that her name was Orla...

That all too familiar cry could be heard in the distance, piercing the silence like a dagger. Amalia was awake. Amalia was getting all their parents' attention. Amalia was being comforted.

"Amalia's just a stupid baby!" Orla hissed, slamming her small fists into the pillows.

The pillow lay back and allowed itself to be hit, not responding, not judging. Orla cried out and continued to hit it, hot tears streaming down her cheeks until she eventually fell back against the pillows, curled up tightly in a ball.

Something is destroying your home. Something is ruining your life. Something.

"Not something," Orla said quietly. "Amalia."