Richard hadn't gotten enough sleep after patrol as his mind was occupied. His eyes were glued to the Talon dagger in his hand.

He had returned one of the daggers to Samantha last night but kept the other one as it felt awfully familiar. Since the woman had been injured and rather anxious due to the unexpected owl attack, she hadn't noticed that she had dropped two daggers instead of one.

The remaining of the night, he had examined the dagger closely, hoping that he would find some reassurance that it wasn't a Talon dagger. But any form of reassurance he could have had was thwarted as it matched with the dagger he already had in his possession.

That dagger was given to him by the Talon who had helped him escape that night when he was taken by the Court. He had used that dagger to slice open his bounds and thrust it in Richard's hands, the words "leave before they come back" resonating as vividly in his memory as if it was just yesterday that he had heard him. 

Both the daggers were similar in design with an owl at the hilt and both the blades had a very similar sharpness as he traced his finger on its edge, a thin line of red tainting the blades one by one. The only difference was that the cut from the dagger he had acquired last night stung worse, indicating that it had some sort of poison to it.

And as he had found the dagger in Samantha's possession, there was no doubt that she was a Talon too, and by the slight difference he judged in the two cuts, he felt as if either she was a high-ranking Talon or the Head herself.

He knew there had to be some fixed hierarchy within the Court and even if all the Talons were on a similar level in terms of armory and weapons, there had to be some distinguishing trait to the weapons and armor used by the Head of the Court.

He went to the bathroom and washed the blood off his finger, covering it with a bandage after applying the ointment Helena had given to him for using on poisonous cuts. The stinging subsided eventually but his thoughts were still fixated on the daggers.

Samantha Vanaver had to have a strong link to the Court for her to be in possession of a Talon dagger and that too a poisonous one. But from all he recalled about her, he found it difficult to accept that.

His eyes were red from lack of sleep though he knew it would be hard to fall asleep with so much on his mind. Still, he put the daggers away safely in his drawer and collapsed on the bed, evidently exhausted.

He closed his eyes but was unable to go to sleep as thoughts regarding the Court and Samantha invaded his rare moments of peace.

How could a woman like Samantha be a Talon? And why were Lavina's owls so bent on hurting her?

From all he had seen of her, he felt as if she was a delicate person with a sensitive heart. She had told him about Tim's visit to Lavina and they had briefly talked about Lavina as well back when she had requested him to join her for dinner.

Throughout the discussion, all Richard could judge was that she was under the same spell that Lavina could very easily put on her admirers. To him, Samantha seemed easily impressionable and very sensitive to other people's emotions.

How could a woman, who got so troubled over Tim's suicide that she sought out his close friend to tell her that Lavina could possibly be behind it and at the same time tell him that she didn't want him to get into any trouble nor did she want Lavina to be trialed without proof, be a Talon?

Something was off about the entire ordeal.

However, his thoughts were interrupted by Jason's familiar voice and he reluctantly peeled open his eyes to see the boy standing by the door. "Dickie, wake up, I've made breakfast."

He sat up, head throbbing with exhaustion and bewilderment upon all that he was trying to piece together. He subconsciously noticed that Jason had gotten even taller that he almost touched the edge of the architrave.

"Dickiebird, breakfast," Jay repeated, feeling as if he hadn't heard him the first time, "get up now."

His eyes eyes flickered towards the clock and he groaned, "why so early?"

"Barbara called," he replied, "she said you had to go to the Commissioner and talk to him about your job."

"Oh shit... I forgot..." He hastily got up and rushed to the bathroom.

Jason had seen how tired he looked and noticed that his eyes were bloodshot too. It made him worried but he didn't point it out just yet as he remarked, "don't leave without having breakfast. I'm waiting for you in the kitchen."

***

Bruce looked down at the sleeping but not peaceful features of the woman he had once loved very dearly. Lavina Vikander was no longer the same person, not just in personality but she even looked a lot different.

Her beautiful complexion had paled to a deathly white, there were dark rings around her eyes from fatigue or lack of sleep and she looked terribly weakened.

The main reason he had brought her to the Manor was that he was scared she would end up killing herself if she was left alone in her mansion. And he couldn't bear to see her in pain, even after all she had done to him.

Martha had welcomed Lavina graciously but the woman had broken down to tears, apologizing to Martha profusely for all the wrong she had done to them. Of course, the elder woman didn't understand why Lavina was behaving as such but later Bruce explained to her that Lavina was not well and needed to be looked after.

Ever since then, Martha had paid special attention to Lavina and as she still envisioned her as a daughter-in-law, she made sure to do all in her power to take care of her and help her recover.

Right then, Bruce was in the guest room with Lavina, having come there as he had heard a shrill scream and gotten worried. It turned out that she had had a nightmare again so he promised to stay with her until she fell asleep.

And though she had drifted off to sleep long ago, he couldn't bring himself to leave her side.

On his persuasion, Lavina had agreed to meet their family psychiatrist, Lauren Hoult, who came to visit her at the Manor once every two or three days. Lauren had told him that Lavina had insisted on keeping the sessions strictly between the two, hence she couldn't tell Bruce anything that Lavina shared with her.

Therefore, Bruce still hadn't found out what had happened to her that had made her deteriorate as such but he felt as if it was connected to the people she cared for. And the only people he knew she really cared for were his own family, Samantha Vanaver and Richard Grayson.

He had heard Lavina mention to him that her friendship with Grayson had gotten strained and he knew she was upset about it. So there was a higher chance that her current weakening state state could be improved if her relationship with Grayson was mended.

He knew she was very fond of him and the way she talked about him often hinted that he was really important to her. She had also mentioned how he was the only person other than Alan who she had considered as a family member.

As he looked down at her tired features, he decided to approach Grayson himself and see if anything could be done to mend their friendship. Perhaps that was all she needed to get better.

And even if it wasn't the reason for her declining health, still it would make her feel much better to regain a friend she had cherished so much. It could definitely speed up her recovery and Bruce was willing to do all in his power to make sure that she recovered from the mess she had fallen into.

***