Luminous

43 - Agnes's Tale

The last choice wasn't always available for peasants, though. Rich merchants and noblemen often reserved slots in powerful monasteries for their crippled, unsightly, or Greeneye daughters.

Whenever Meya walked to Friar Tumney's church to donate Marin's gifts or play with Fartmouth, oftentimes there would be a disappointed peasant man or woman walking away from it, a newborn baby girl in their arms.

The old monk would stand guard at the gates, hands on hips, shaking his head, a melancholic look in his eyes when he spotted Meya. Crosset's nunnery wasn't a top destination for the rich to abandon their daughters. There were always vacancies, of course—the friar simply didn't play along with these lazy parents if he could help it.

"Old Mirram Hild has four daughters!" He'd holler after their backs, pointing at Meya, "And look what fine lasses he raised them up to be!" 

Meya didn't consider herself good material for persuading reluctant parents of girls. Nevertheless, she agreed with his observations, and her respect for the potbellied old monk skyrocketed whenever this happened.

"Six years ago, a few years after King Alden deposed the Wynns and ascended the throne, he called for a convening of the Royal Council to repeal the Mining Ban. And he was thwarted by Baron Hadrian."

Jason's voice floated into Meya's conscious at the mention of Coris's father.

"King Alden's been trying to lift the Ban since he became king, but the Anti-Miners on his Council have too much power—they say Baron Hadrian's lobbying behind them."

"Father was one of the few council members who voted in favor of lifting the Ban. Our demesne is abundant in iron. King Alden approached Father and struck a deal with him. He wanted The Axel, or at least information on what it is—why it made the Hadrians so feared by the Wynn kings before him. If it satisfied him, he would let me marry the Prince."

The Axel.

Meya straightened up. Beside her, she felt Gretella tense up. Arinel stared unblinking at Agnes. The air was heavy and silent except for bated breaths.

"After that, Father sent Persie and I to Hadrian to train under Baroness Sylvia. He suggested we befriend Coris and Zier. We assumed they were to be our future husbands. How foolish." Agnes spat, rebuking her naivety, 

"Father actually meant for us to spy on them. He gleaned information about them through our letters. Intimate secrets that couldn't be picked up by scouts. He used us to determine which brother would be the easier pawn to turn."

"Coris was actually Father's first target—but then I told him about Coris's secret. Coris confided in me that he felt his parents have never loved him, and he'd hoped to change that by dedicating himself to The Axel. Father probably realized then that Coris couldn't be swayed, and decided on Zier instead."

Agnes's fists trembled. So did Meya's. She felt sick to the stomach with disgust for the despicable Baron Graye. It was one thing for a grown woman to willingly spy for mercenaries in exchange for her own life. It was another for a little girl to be tricked by her own father into such a dangerous, twisted task, just for his political gain.

"Before the Heist, Father warned us to stay in our rooms. Out of the way. And never to send word to him first, no matter what happened."

"Once we heard what Coris did during the Heist, we knew then what Father had done. He didn't allow us to send word, nor did he send men to smuggle us home. All we could do was wait, and watch Baron Hadrian, dreading what he might suspect."

Shivers rattled Agnes's voice, as she remembered the fear and uncertainty her father had abandoned her and her sister in. Meya was left to fathom, and failing to, the depths this man would go to further his gains. Agnes squeezed her hands together and huddled her shoulders, glancing up at the ceiling to force back tears.