Honor-Bound [ Lore of Penrua: Book III ]

8

A short distance to the side of the road stood a large wooden building, old and scary. Part of the roof was broken, and the little things that made up the roof, for which Uarria did not yet have a name, were sticking up in places and gone in others. It did not look like a nice place, especially to a girl who had lived all of her years in the Imperial Palace of Penrua. It was dark outside, too; the pale fingers of dawn had just touched the sky far into the distance, and the world was in shadow, a nightmare place full of danger and things to be frightened of.

"Bring the girl," said one of the men who had accompanied them, the dark-haired man Ealin had called Neshar. He had taken out the stones again.

Tears sprang suddenly into Uarria's eyes. "I want to go home," she said.

"Shh," said Ealin. She had risen to her feet, and now she stooped, scooping Uarria up into her arms.

Uarria shook her head, resisting. "I want to go home!"

"Shh."

Ealin was a small woman, slenderer than Uarria's mother and not very strong; she was unequal to the burden of a flailing child. With one furious buck of her spine, Uarria tore herself from Ealin's arms. She landed painfully on the dirt, skinning her knee. That's when the tears began in earnest.

Uarria's piercing cries split the shadowy pre-dawn hour. At last, emotion came into Ealin's face: agitation. Uarria perceived that she had upset the woman, but she was not of a mind to make amends. She wanted to go home. She wanted her parents.

"Uarria, be quiet," Ealin hissed. She dropped to a crouch beside the girl and seized her by her shoulders, giving her a shake.

"Shut her up!" Neshar snapped.

Uarria screamed. "No! You are not my mother, and I want to go home!"

The sound came first. It was the sound that stopped Uarria's tears more than the pain. The hurt blossomed after the crack had faded, unfurling with tingling, hot fingers over Uarria's cheek.

She lifted one hand to touch her swollen face and looked up at Ealin. Her tantrum-tears, born of fear and rage, spilled over her cheeks—and tears of betrayal came next.

Ealin looked calmly down at Uarria. The agitation that had marred her beautiful features was gone, replaced with a look of perfect detachment. "That is not going to happen again."

Uarria's breath hitched in a sob, the residual effects of her outburst. She put her other hand over her mouth, afraid that the hiccup would make Ealin hit her again.

No one in Uarria's life had ever so much as raised a hand to her. Once in a while, her father or her mother would shout, but it was only when Uarria's games were dangerous. Quickly on the heels of such reprimands always came lessons. Gazing up at Ealin, Uarria waited for the lesson...but Ealin did not say anything.

Instead, she closed her fingers around the princess's throat.

"What are you doing?" asked Telai, the man who had opened the gates for them back at the palace. There was a note of unease in his voice.

Ealin did not answer. Standing there with her legs trembling, Uarria drew in another shaking breath. She did not like the feel of Ealin's cold hand on her neck, which was hot and clammy. Ealin had closed her eyes. Her lips moved with silent words, and from where she had touched Uarria's neck came a golden glow. A prickly, tight feeling passed through Uarria's neck and chest, a feeling she did not like at all.

Ealin took her hand away. She knit her brow, giving Uarria a look of close scrutiny. "What is your name?"

Confusion flared in Uarria's heart, followed quickly by a strange feeling, a feeling she had seldom experienced: defiance. She opened her mouth and said, Uarria, but although her lips and tongue moved to shape the most familiar word she knew, no sound passed her lips.

Relief replaced the studious look on Ealin's face. She rose to her feet. "Good. Keep your peace, child. We are in danger. If anyone suspects who you truly are, they will kill us all."

Staring up, up, up at Ealin, Uarria heard those words and clenched her hands over her stomach. The confusion and fear at being unable to speak her own name was surpassed by the woman's foreboding words.

Even as her tears began again, Uarria could not make a sound. 

Thank you so much for reading! Despite how hard this year has been, y'all are inspiring me to keep going and to do justice to the characters in this story.

What do you think of Ealin and the choices she's made? Do you have any insight into what might be motivating her?

Have a wonderful week, friends!