What A Tangled Web We Weave

“Welcome to my humble bakery,” Florence looked up from behind the counter as the bell over the door chimed, greeting the person coming in with a smile. “I just finished a fresh batch of red velvet cupcakes, two for one special!”

“As good as those sound, do you happen to have anything made with berries?” Azra asked, “I have been craving strawberries like my entire pregnancy, but I think that this baby has finally broadened their horizons to any berry.”

she turned to face azra and the sight almost sold the breath from her chest, she was not afraid of her siblings but she was coming to realise how ruthless they could be. her fathers crimes had felt so far away from her but with each twist of events they were coming up on her. she had never really understood it all, naivety had been her best friend. she thought of lipstick, shoes and vacation photos for her instagram. she was no fire starter but there was a fire starting inside of her. 

“did you even care if somebody got hurt?” cecilya asked, her eyebrows raising. she was afraid she already knew the answer but she still had to ask.

“Why do you always think the worst of me?” Azra asked, trying her best not to roll her eyes at her younger sister, “Nobody got hurt, so that question isn’t even relevant. And besides, he brought all this on himself by stealing the body in the first place.”

it was not the best idea but she didn’t have to see that just yet. she wanted to see what had happened, what terrible thing had occurred because she was sure that it was her fault in the long run. whether she wanted to change it or not she would always be an arslan and something bad seemed to run in their veins from father to son, to daughter, generation of generation of cold and ruthless people who put their reputation before others. she stared at the ruins of neek silva’s house from behind police lines and how the walls and everything that was inside was contorted made her feel sick. her stomach turned looking at the way everything had turned into nothing in the space of one evening. that scared her.

It was the perfect plan. 

The fire would get rid of the evidence, get rid of the body, and make it so nobody would find it - or at least if they did, it would be hard to identify. And even harder to tell how he had died (Azra couldn’t imagine that the stab wounds would still be obvious - especially to this police department). Not to mention, should he be found, Neek had to explain why there was a dead body in his basement - which didn’t sound like it was going to be easy. Which gave him two options: explain that he stole it, which didn’t help his case much, or take the fall for her father’s death. And even if he did tell the truth, it was the Foundation that seemed to be the ones in possession of it, which still took the blame off the family. There wasn’t any evidence that could link back to them, and their current problem, now was solved. “Tragic, isn’t it?” Azra whispered to her sister, though really the word that she wanted to use was beautiful. There was something amazingly beautiful at how cleansing yet destructive fire was. 

“Security isn’t normally my thing, that falls on Christian or mother.” She laughed shortly, shaking her head at the very idea of anything being outside of her price range. “Funny. I have a feeling these ones were hired under the presumption they’d take a bullet but never thought they’d need to. Morons.” It really was frustrating. Everyone knew money could buy you anything and right now it didn’t seem to matter. “No offense, or offense if you so choose, but your siblings leave a little something to be desired.”

“I can assure you, no offense taken. I’ve always known that I’m the smartest of the three of us,” Azra admitted with a shrug, “And while they have some good qualities, I do find at times they’re both incredibly underwhelming. I’ve been hoping that Demir grows out of it, but considering how old he now is, I’m trying to focus more on Cecilya. I think she’s got the better chance.” It was a small lie, but in a way also true - if Cecily would stop pretending to be dumb for five seconds, Azra was sure her little sister could turn into a force to be reckoned with. 

Was doing nothing worse than arresting the wrong people? River wasn’t sure. There were plenty of innocent people locked away because of police officers who had done the same thing as they were doing here. Azra claimed she had nothing to hide so easily, it was natural to believe it but ever since the pageant, River had had her own thoughts on the woman - nothing she could prove and most likely grounded in nothing. “Plus, you’re pregnant. I think you could use that to get out even faster.” She’d never thought a pregnancy could be a positive before - probably because she was still so young herself, having a kid wouldn’t do her any favors.

“You’d think so, but if you look into it, there’s actually some pretty sad statistics on pregnant inmates. And it’s especially disproportionate for women of color, where they’re forced to have their child in jail and if they have no family to raise it, their kids end up in the foster system. It’s really quite tragic,” Azra shrugged, figuring that the topic would take the focus off of her, because even with her bringing it up it still was almost too close to the truth, “I’ve done research into it for some of my charity work to try to get them some more support.” Was the truth? Absolutely not. But as she couldn’t actually get into a place of power, philanthropist socialite was the role she was unfortunately forced to play. 

@azra–arslan​

although harley had been quite distracted ( and, in turn, quite focused ! a little counterintuitive, but it worked ! ), there was a moment, however temporary, that belva and chandler’s arrests were muted ever-so slightly. when she caught sight of azra arslan, she was all that went through her mind. should there not have been some form of resentment ? should there not have been some form of dull, at the very least, dislike ? there should have been, right ? and yet, when she saw azra, she saw a woman who carried great power. and it was not in relation to her name, not in relation to the arslan business. it was in knowing that the woman, the other ‘other woman,’ was courageous enough to keep the child. willing to raise it with no one else in the picture – not directly, at least. perhaps her other family members would be there as support, perhaps friends would be there as support ( … did the arslans have friends ? ), but she was, ultimately, doing it all on her own. 

yes, maybe she should’ve held some form of resentment towards the woman – one that stemmed from a place of internalized misogyny, sure, but a common effect, nonetheless – and yet… she held admiration for her. perhaps it would be strange, but harley felt compelled to finally speak to the other. and she felt compelled to acknowledge the strength – not in any direct ‘oh my god, you’re so brave for being a single mom in today’s climate!’ way, but… in a way. so, during those few moments that it was just azra in her mind, she approached her and bridged the gap she wasn’t sure if azra even knew existed. “ hey – y’know, i just wanted to, like… say congratulations. ” … or did she ? was that the right thing to say when the father had died ? completely disregarding that she’d seen azra’s dead father, in addition ! should she… add something ? she didn’t know azra personally, so she couldn’t say she was sure she’d make a great mom ! “ it’s, like… real strong. ” … didn’t she just say she was not going to say anything so direct ? the curse of the impulsive and ill-prepared !

“Thank you,” Azra nodded, taking the congratulations with a smile - though it was masking the internal eye-roll that she had at the rest of Harley’s words.  “And I guess it is,” she shrugged, sounding modest, “But at the same time if you look at history, you see so much of the women being in charge of the children, while men did nothing but take a passing fancy. And even now, you see people congratulating men for doing the bare minimum with their children, while women are constantly scrutinized for how they mother. So I like to think of it more as I’m doing what generations of women before me did without really having the annoyances.  Or that’s what I’ve been trying to tell myself, because I never actually got the chance to tell Vidal, and part of me wishes I had because I want to know if he’d actually to be involved. Because I like to think that maybe he wouldn’t have been the disappointment most men are.” She sounded soft, like she was still holding back some grief, that she had been trying to comfort herself by telling herself she was following in the footsteps of great women. And while it was an act, it at least was consistent with her performance at the pageant, which was probably the most important part of keeping up the lie. 

protect your sisters. azra had proved that she didn’t need protection, but her words sprang to life a reminder of why demir still believed cecilya did. her heart was soft. it remained untainted by their father. azra and himself, however, could not say the same. his heart had grown increasingly cold. he sometimes wondered if azra had any heart left. but as the heart was stripped away, was broken into frozen pieces, the mind sharpened.

“ you may have heard of the break-in at the athanas foundation the other night, ” he began, usually not one for preface but figuring this required one. “ the group found aydin’s body. neek silva, an employee and man who holds his righteous beliefs in high regard, stole it. he’s keeping it in his basement. ” leaning against the wall, he continued, “ i assume your dna can be found on the body. while i’m sure our contacts on the inside can protect you from possible arrest, neek is a bell ringer and is, as of right now, more respected by the general public than the police. ”

.

It took a lot for Azra to be caught by surprise, but this definitely did. She thought back to the night - how she had finally had enough, how she had just plunged the knife into him repeatedly, how she had been covered by his blood in the end, and how she felt powerful. The exact opposite of what the man had always wanted her to feel. 

And she was not going to let the body of a dead man take that away from her. Not after she had spent so much of her life trying to gain it. 

“Well then, I guess our next step is to make sure that we take care of Neek Silva, isn’t it?” Azra asked, the wheels in her head turning as she started to think of a plan, “And preferably in a way that would discredit him. Because, my dear brother, don’t forget you’re as much at risk as I am, because if I go down you’re going with me. I will make sure of that.”

“Feel free,” Estelle sighed, not quite realizing it was Azra she was speaking to until she had slipped her phone back into her bag. “I’m sure your bodyguards are well-trained. These ones are apparently afraid someone will be coming back to finish the job and my dear mother, though I love her, is not taking the extra security detail well.” She smiled just slightly, it was a bit of a relief to talk to someone who understood. “I have plenty of other insults or threats if you need them.”

.

“Sounds like you’re in need of a better bodyguard. Are ones that don’t fear death out of your price range?” Azra asked, knowing it sounded insensitive, but it truly was a legitimate question, “Though I’ll gladly take them. I can always use more things to throw at my siblings when they’re being especially stupid.” 

@azra–arslan​

for as useless as cecilya believed demir and azra thought her to be, never had she been so crucial. although demir and belva had formed a strange, unspoken bond the day he saw her – the day he demanded further answers over maximus – they were not what one may call ‘friends.’ he was not someone she would text offhand at five in the morning, inform that they had found his father’s dead body as he feigned grief. cecilya’s casual connections proved to be just as important as every official connection demir carried.

and, although she was not important in the same way, azra was an essential connection. never had a conversation been more imperative. so there he wait, strawberries in a bowl on the table beside him ( they were nearby, there would be no use in not getting them ) as he waited exactly thirty minutes for her to return. punctuality was key. 

he wasted no time on niceties when she entered, no time on greetings or ‘did you find what you were looking for’s. “ did you receive cecilya’s text ? ”

Azra hated that the only thing that fit her was a flowy top (that on a good day made her look fat, and now made her look like an elephant) and one pair of yoga pants. And while she did like the clothes that she got, it still wasn’t ideal, she’d already put more weight on than she had wanted, but at least she had something that was relatively more attractive. She waltzed into the room at exactly the time that her brother had set, wondering what caused his urgency. 

“You mean that actually was about something important?” Azra asked, mildly surprised as she sat down on the chair, and popped a strawberry into her mouth, “When she didn’t text me back I assumed she broke a heel. Or saw a kicked puppy. Or whatever else she calls an emergency.” 

demir: Alright. Meet me in the study in 30?

Azra: Fine.

AWWWWWW THANK YOU

Azra is the character that I honestly worry about writing her sometimes because I put a lot of myself into Cassia, while Azra is a completely different being.  But I love how different she is between her siblings and the Athanas kids too, and I have plans for Baby Athanas (coming early December 2019) too.  Because have I been on baby name websites.......YES, I HAVE. 

Honestly, Azra, when she finds out, is just going to be like: 

demir: Azra, we need to talk. Are you at the house?

Vertmoor was buzzing and, for once, River didn’t know why. She wasn’t sure if she preferred that or not. Then the news. Belva had been arrested and not long afterward, Chandler. If anything, she got the impression that the police were floundering. Not much of a stretch considering how little she assumed they had to go on. “What’s their plan, arrest everyone until something sticks?” River mused, looking up from her phone after reading another headline about it. “That’s a good use of their time.” As long as it meant they were distracted and not near the creek, River would take it.

“It’s not a bad plan,” Azra pointed out, with a shrug, “It at least is better than the police’s last plan of doing absolutely nothing. And as I have nothing to hide,” Azra lied, though it was a lie that fell so easily from her lips from her constantly repeating it, “I know I wouldn’t be there long.”

To say her world was on the verge of collapse, would have been a bit of an understatement. Ever since the break in, Estelle had been home. If she wasn’t in the room with her mother, she was pacing around the hallway outside of it. Eventually Virginia had convinced her daughter to go out into Vertmoor, not make it so obvious she was at home all the time ( also to save her sanity ). Estelle wasn’t thrilled. “No, I don’t care what she’s saying. There’s to be two people at the door at all times - no, I - just do your job until I return and then you can go home to your wife who is clearly cheating on you and your kids who wish her friend Jeff was their real father.” Hanging up her phone, Estelle raised a hand to massage her temple, wondering why it was so hard for someone to do what they were told.

“You know, I might need to borrow that one,” Azra said as Estelle hung up the phone, “I’ve needed something that would work if my bodyguards don’t do their jobs, and I think that will definitely do the trick.”

cecilya: we have a problem.