Lavina did not tell her everything that night, contrary to what she had promised.

Instead she would randomly recount her memories whenever she felt like it and it took Samantha time to piece everything together in order to gather more information about the Gray Son.

Still, she couldn't simply take Lavina's word as the truth so she did some research on her own, crosschecking it with all the woman had told her in fragments. And through both her research as well as Lavina's fragmented memories, she found some answers to the questions she had regarding the Gray Son and his importance to the Court of Owls.

Apparently, he was supposed to be a Talon and his fate had been decided the day he was born. The Court had a history of choosing their Talons from confidential sources, one of it being Haley's Circus itself.

But the more she dug into that closed case, the more she found out that the Gray Son had presented an opposition to the Court since the very beginning. It was almost as if becoming a Talon was what he could never do even if it was the last option left for him.

First, his parents had objected to let their son get involved in the Court and the revelation led her to believe that the tragic demise of the Flying Graysons had in fact been preplanned. Getting his parents out of the way could only have been possible by killing them and she suspected that the Court had been behind the death of John and Mary Grayson.

Another thing that struck her as odd was him being detained in Gotham even though he was part of a traveling circus and a Romanian by birth. He should have been returned to his birthplace instead he was put in the juvenile hall due to the lack of vacancies in the orphanage. That decision too felt a lot like an attempt to keep him close and under the Court's constant watch. 

But then Richard had run away from the juvenile hall multiple times, eluding being captured by the Court again and again. According to Lavina, when he was nineteen she had found him but instead of informing the Court, she kept him safe and hidden from them for four long years.

In those years she had trained him herself, teaching him everything a Talon should know from the weapons to the battle tactics. In her own way, she had groomed Richard but to Samantha, it was clear that she had not done that to hand him over to the Court in the end.

By then she had enough reasons to believe that Lavina never wanted Richard to become a Talon. Everything the woman had carefully planned and executed so far proved her assumption. But there were still too many questions that had no answers because whenever she had asked from the elder woman, she would close the conversation by saying it was irrelevant to her.

At times she felt furious at Lavina for being so controlling and manipulative. But she knew she couldn't do anything just yet.

If there was one thing Lavina had taught her very well, that was patience.

So she knew she had to wait patiently for her time to strike, after all haste only ended up in losing an already won game. And she did not want to take that risk.

It had been the third meeting of the Court with Samantha as the Head. She knew by then that many members were not willing to have her lead them but couldn't object because Lavina herself had chosen her for that position. 

So far, Samatha was aware that she was treading on thin ice. Lavina was already not to be trusted and the rest of the Court did not want to follow her as a Head either. Therefore, she had to be twice more cautious in anything she did.

Lavina's voice shook her out of her thoughts, "you keep asking me questions so I think it's only fair if I ask you one too."

The rest of the members had left by then and only the two women were seated, Samantha on the Head's chair where Lincoln March had lost his life and Lavina on the chair to her right, where she always sat in the meetings.

She looked up, "what question?"

"Why are you so interested in the Gray Son?"

She didn't reply outright, taking her time to think of what to say to her. Lavina's dark irises were focused on her as she awaited the answer and though the owl mask concealed her features, Samantha could feel that sinister smile playing upon the woman's lips.

"I feel his case isn't as simple as you make it seem," she replied at last, "he could be a threat."

"Oh come on, dear, he wouldn't do anything unless he is provoked first," she remarked offhandedly.

"And you have already provoked him enough," her reply was sharp but it only ensued a light amused laugh from Lavina.

"That I have," she remarked, "but currently he has a lot to deal with on his own. The only time you should get wary of him is when he gets out of the mess he has gotten stuck in. Who knows, if he is clever enough to piece everything together regarding all I have intentionally let slip regarding his past, maybe he will retaliate."

"I don't trust you," Samantha spoke up, standing up from her seat, "you are playing a deadly game and I know you're risking all of us."

Lavina shook her head slightly, the amusement in her tone hadn't yet faltered, "am I? Weren't you the one who ascertained that two could play at this game I have devised? Then why are you backing off now, darling?"

She had to take in a deep breath to keep herself composed and not to let the wave of fury take control of her, "if you in any way put me in danger then I swear, Lavina, I will not go down on my own. I will take you with me."

She nodded, leaving her seat as well, "how endearing... I will wait for that day. Patiently, I swear."

The last sentence sent a chill down her spine as she watched her leave without even a single backward glance. The more she found out the answers to her questions, the more she realized how cleverly Lavina had woven her webs of deception both around her as well as Richard Grayson.

And that realization would always make her unnerved about what the future held in store for them all.

***