Lucenna stood, swaying on her feet. “I need to leave Corron immediately.”
“Rest. You can’t go out now. The Azure Guard patrols increase at night.”
“I cannot be here. Please take me out of this city. I must leave tonight.”
He sighed. “Forgive me, lass. I cannot risk it. If I’m detained, who will care for my daughters?”
She glanced at his little girls quietly listening. A layer of freckles sprinkled their cheeks. Their unkempt blonde hair was tied back in braids, and they wore clothes too small.
“I work from sunup to sundown,” he said, exhaustion and sadness weighing on him. “I hardly have time to spend with them. I walk out that door with a prayer to the Gods to protect them for me while I’m gone, but I know better than to ferry the waters at night.”
“There’s no help for it then, I’ll find my own way out.” She had to risk using more magic. With an invisibility spell, she could sneak out the front gates. But how close was the nearest Enforcer? Lucien would know.
“There are your belongings,” the ferryman said, pointing by her feet. He had set her satchel against the bedpost. A sack laid on top of it.
“What is this?”
“Is it not yours? The man said it was.”
Lucenna grabbed the sack, hearing the jostle of coins inside. It was full of gold. Why would the commander give her gold?
She smacked a hand over her chest where the weight of the Luna Medallion once rested. It was gone.
“No!” she screamed, making the girls flinch. “Where is it! Where is my medallion!”
Rage and anguish surged her Essence forward in an aggressive wave. Its effervescent glow radiated out of her skin, casting a purple hue in the room. Electricity crackled around her, charging the air as an unnatural wind howled through the ferryman’s house, creating a violent vortex. His daughters screamed and cowered behind him as furniture crashed across the room. Essence spilled from her in a thick mist, crawling across the floor and up the walls.
“What medallion? I didn’t see one!” he shouted desperately, clinging to his children. “I swear it! Please don’t hurt my family!”
Lucenna quickly reined in her emotions, dissipating her magic in a puff of smoke. She slumped back on the bed, dropping her head. “Be at ease. I mean you no harm.”
Commander Von.
He must have stolen it. He paid her far more than the value of the medallion was worth, but not what it was worth to her. Lucenna scowled at the glittering coins scattered across the room. She didn’t want his filthy money.
Oh, but he will pay.
* * *
At dawn the next day, the residential street outside the ferryman’s house was quiet. A few people ambled about, heading to their daily business. The rosy sunlight gleamed on the rooftops at an angle, casting the homes in the shade. Lucenna breathed in the crisp air, preparing herself for the day.
“Are you sure about this, lass?” the ferryman asked from his doorway. He held the sack of gold unsurely.
“Yes, it is yours. Take it as a pardon and my thanks for your help. As well as your silence.” She held his gaze. “We never met.”
He nodded. “As you say.”
“You must leave this place.” She was sure the Enforcers would come, and they would track her to his home first. “Tell no one of your newfound wealth lest they try to rob you. There is enough gold there to live comfortably for the rest of your life.” She glanced past him at his sleeping daughters curled in the bed together. “Buy an estate. Hire housemaids to mind it, and a nursemaid to mind the needs of your children. Pay well for their education and teach them to be strong. In this world, women need to be.”
The man stared at the sack of coins. His weary eyes welled as he pictured the image she painted, and the things he might have dreamed of. He gave her a watery smile. “Aye, I think you’re right. Thank you, truly. Permit me to ferry you out of Corron so I don’t feel as though I have swindled you.”
“There’s no need. If the gold unsettles you so, accept it as payment for your boat.”
“You want my boat? But I was to ferry the man and his lot this morn.”
She gave him a dark smile. “I’ll see to it. He and I have a matter to settle.”
He chuckled nervously. “Ah, then, I suppose this is farewell?”
