CHAPTER NINE: THE RHYTHM OF THE PACK
778 Words
The morning came without a knock.
Aria woke to cold. The hearth had died in the night. Her breath hung in front of her face, thin and white, before vanishing. She flexed her fingers under the blanket. The cracks from the laundry water had begun to close. Her body was learning.
She knelt before the hearth. The flint slipped twice. On the third strike, a flame licked up through the kindling. She sat back on her heels and let the heat press against her cheeks.
The knock came as she was lacing her boots. She went to open the door.
Lina stood in the corridor with a cloth bundle and a smile already in place. "I missed you at breakfast. I brought bread."
She settled onto the edge of the mattress without being asked. "The servants were talking again. Selene dined with Kael last night, in his private quarters. They're calling her Luna already. Don’t you think it’s too early?”
Aria took the bread. She didn't sit.
"How do you know all this?"
Lina's fingers stopped smoothing the blanket. "What do you mean?"
"Everything, the ceremonies, the dinners. You've been here for just three days Lina."
"I listen."
"You listen very well."
A beat of silence. Lina's eyes moved toward the door and back again. "I'm trying to help you, Ria. Someone has to keep you informed."
Aria set the bread on the cracked chair. "I should get to work. Marta doesn't like it when I'm late."
Lina rose smoothly. "I'll find you later."
She left. Aria stood alone in the warm glow of the hearth. A spark popped and died on the stone.
The morning tasks were the same. From laundry, Floors and mending. Her shoulders burned and her knuckles bled into the water. But there was something in the rhythm of it that quieted her mind.
Marta found her scrubbing the kitchen floor. "Leave that. Take these water skins to the training yard. Drop the crate and come straight back. Don't stop to talk."
Aria wiped her hands on her skirt. The fabric left red smears.
The training yard was a wide mouth of packed earth ringed by stone walls. The wind cut through her cloak and bit into her skin. Warriors moved in formation at the far end. A massive black wolf circled the perimeter and paused to watch her pass.
Aria set the crate down near the equipment rack.
"Aria."
Beta Ethan stood a few feet away, with sweats dripping down his chin. His tunic was also damp with sweat.
"You're delivering supplies now?"
"Marta sent me."
He nodded. His eyes moved over her face, her hands. "How are you finding the east wing?"
"Cold."
"It's always cold." He paused. "Have you heard anything at night?"
She thought of the stairwell. The damp air rising from below. "No."
Ethan glanced toward the fortress. "The prisoners have been quiet in fact too quiet. The guards rotate every six hours. The cells are checked twice a day. But quiet prisoners make everyone uneasy. If that changes, come to me directly.“
"Why?"
"Because nobody watches the nobody. And people who aren't watched see things others miss."
Before she could answer, a scarred warrior approached. "Beta. The patrol reports are ready."
Ethan's posture shifted. His face smoothed into something cold and formal. "I'll be there shortly." The warrior walked away. Ethan turned back to her, his voice dropping. " keep me updated."
He was gone before she could answer.
That evening, Marta handed her a cloth bundle and a leather flask.
"Here."
Aria drank standing there, water spilling down her chin. Marta watched her with a face like stone.
"Refill it from the well before you go up."
Aria nodded. "Thank you."
"I don’t want any conversations, and that includes gratitude."
Aria's mouth twitched. She turned away before Marta could see.
She ate in her room. The bread was hard and the cheese it was harder. She chewed slowly and watched the fire eat through the last of her kindling.
She thought about her father. She wondered if he had ever stood in a cold room and felt the weight of his own choices pressing down. She doubted it.
She thought about Lina's finding and information still stayed in her mind. Her eyes moved toward the door.
She thought about what Ethan had said to keep him updated.
She set the empty cloth aside. She lay down and pulled the blanket over her body.
The fire died. The shadows stretched across the ceiling like fingers.
Sleep came slowly. It dragged her under inch by inch, and when it finally took her, it was dreamless and thin.
- Writer
