I jump, spinning around, and find Mira standing in the doorway. She's dressed in her riding leathers, her chestnut curls wild around her face, and her honey-brown eyes are sharp with concern.
"Didn't mean to startle you." She steps inside, closing the door behind her. "Darian come home late again?"
I turn back to Ash, keep brushing. "Yeah."
"Drunk?"
"Yeah."
"Smelling like another woman?"
My hand stills for just a moment before I force it to keep moving. "Yeah."
Mira's quiet for a beat. Then, "You know you don't have to stay with him, right?"
The words hang in the air between us, dangerous and impossible.
"Mira—"
"I'm serious, Senna." She moves closer, her voice dropping low. "You could leave. Tonight. Right now. I'd help you. You know I would."
I want to laugh. Want to cry. Want to scream that of course I know, that I think about it every single day, that the only thing keeping me here is fear.
Fear of what Darian would do if he found me.
Fear of what my uncle would say—the man who sold me to Darian in the first place, who made it clear I was a burden he was glad to be rid of.
Fear of being alone in a world that doesn't give a damn about women like me and ending up in a worse situation.
But I don't say any of that.
Instead, I say, "Where would I go?"
"Anywhere. The city. Another village. Somewhere he can't find you."
The city.
New Solas.
Where Lorenth is.
That pain in my chest slams against my ribs so hard so hard I actually gasp, and Mira's hand lands on my shoulder.
"Senna? You okay?"
I nod, but it's a lie. I'm not okay. Haven't been okay since the moment I ran from that garden and left the best thing that ever happened to me behind.
"I can't," I whisper, and the words taste like ash. "I can't just leave. He'd come after me. You know he would."
"So what? Let him try. He's not that scary."
"Yes, he is."
Because I've seen what Darian does when he's angry. Seen the way his fists fly. Seen the bruises he leaves behind—careful to keep them where no one can see.
Mira's jaw tightens, and I know she wants to argue. Wants to tell me I'm stronger than I think, that I deserve better, that running is the only way out.
But she's also seen the bruises.
