Paradoxically, the hope that fluttered back to life in Niraya almost made things worse. She was so tired of it all right now. The despair, the moments of hope, the return of despair...now so much worse because of that brief time when it seemed like it might be all right. One or the other could be lived with. Swinging to and fro would drive her mad.
She got to her feet, slowly and heavily, as if wearing much more than the furs and jerkin she had on.
"Then you'd just suffer the same fate as me," Niraya said to Seerah wearily. "There's only one way to make sure we all stay safe, and that's if none of us tell anyone what happened here. I won't change again, and if no one tells anyone, then..."
Niraya trailed off uncertainly. It'd mean a return to a miserable status quo; one filled with uncertainty and fear...where anyone and everyone was a potential threat if she did even one little thing out of line. But it was what she knew, and it seemed the only way forward.
"...then it'll be all right," she concluded lamely.