Senara Murray's Arc

Chapter 14 of 1

Kell could not ride. Edric would not leave him. So Senara chose the only path left. She would carry the gold to Reilly herself. She packed the coin into a sturdy bag and slung it over her shoulder before either man could stop her. Edric argued. She held up a hand. "You guard the man who nearly died for this," she said. "I can walk into a room and out again. That is what I do best." She left before her nerve failed. Reilly kept his court aboard a dark galleon at the docks. A snarling face was carved into its bow. Senara climbed the plank alone. Reilly waited on deck, a squat man with rings on every finger. He did not rise. "The Murray girl," he said. "Not the father. Not the brother." He watched her with flat eyes. "You brought it?" She set the bag at his feet. He nodded once, and two men dragged Rhydian up from below. Her brother was thin, his coat torn, his wrists chained. He met her eyes and looked away, ashamed. "You came," he said. He tried to make it light. He could not. "Count it," Senara said. Reilly did. Five thousand and more, salt-bright in the sun. He grunted, satisfied. "Take him," he said. "He rides back with my men. You walk." It was a last small cruelty, splitting them. Senara did not argue. She only wanted them both gone from that ship. Rhydian was hauled toward a wagon. She turned for the castle on foot, the debt paid, her shoulders lighter. One of Reilly's men followed her off the docks. He was young, wild-haired, a knife at his belt. She had felt his stare on the deck and marked it. Yestin Voss. He said nothing at first. He only closed the distance where the road ran empty. "Pretty," he said. "Watched you the whole time." She quickened her pace. He caught her arm and dragged her off the path. She fought. She was noble, and he was nothing, and none of it mattered. He was stronger. He struck her when she screamed. He pinned her down among the trees. It went on. He took his time, and he was smiling when it ended. "That's all," he said, flat, as if he had finished a chore. He stood, buckled his belt, and walked away pleased. Senara lay in the dirt. Her lip was split. Her dress was torn, her arms scraped raw, one eye already swelling shut. She stared at the branches until the shaking slowed. Then she rose. Her leg buckled. She caught a trunk and stood again. She walked. Every step hurt. She reached the castle at dusk and spoke to no one. She climbed to her room, shut the door, and dropped the bar across it. Then she slid to the floor with her back against the wood. Rhydian was free. The debt was gone. She had paid it with more than gold.