"No." The word was barely a whisper. A broken plea that escaped on a breath. "No," she repeated, more firmly this time as she shook her head. Tears of fear and frustration blurred her vision. "You can't do this. Roan..." She choked. Evoking his name as a sort of shield sickened her, but what other choice did she have? She tried again. "Roan said—"

Sabin released her with a scoff. "That brat thinks he can reach the highest tree branch without trouble. Maybe I can't kill him, but he is a single Scion who has broken away from the gods and their favor. When I turn you in and point them in his direction, I'm sure they'll be more than willing to offer me some protection along with their coin."

What was he saying? Scions couldn't just walk away from the gods. They were... They were Scions! The very offspring of the gods and meant to desire all that was best for the world.

But wasn't this good? Didn't this mean the gods weren't part of whatever scheme Roan was enacting? Sabin said something about other humans like her, touched by magic that wasn't given by the gods, humans they wanted to hunt down, but surely she could get some leeway for being the twin of their Dreamwoven?

Except that, according to Roan, the curse afflicting her twin had triggered before he had any part. As much as she wished she didn't believe him, she did. He had been dishonest about so much, but in his twisted mind, what he'd done hadn't been wrong. There had been no regret in his eyes, no reason to lessen his blame for what had happened to Odella. The gods had even sent their Modika after her. Could Ash truly turn to them, to expect grace?

She didn't know. After the past few days, she felt like she didn't know anything at all.

A hand on her head jolted her from her panic. She jerked out from under it, which earned her a dark chuckle. "I see you are still alive there," Sabin said. He walked over to the door, gaze drinking her in the entire time. "I will check on you again this evening, young miss. Someone will be by with food in the mean time. Please, do behave yourself." With a final crooked grin, he disappeared from her room.

She stared at the door for a full ten seconds before the scream finally erupted from her.

People shouted outside, and the door opened half an inch. She didn't even react, barely registering the person on the other side grunting before closing it. As long as she wasn't in danger, they didn't seem to care.

Her screams petered out into quiet whimpers. Her eye stung, begging for tears to relieve the pain, but none came. All her fear and frustration sat deep in her gut. She wrapped her arms around herself to keep the pressure from splitting her apart.

Sitting there, doing nothing but feeling wouldn't do her any good, but she couldn't find a way to make it stop. She took a deep breath in and let it out, slow and steady, then repeated it. She counted a little more than fifty breaths before her heart rate felt normal again. By eighty, the pressure had lessened to a slight discomfort in her shoulders.

Twenty-five more passed, and she unfurled.

The empty room greeted her. It was much nicer than the cell. A wooden box held a mattress with a simple sheet and pillow thrown atop it. She stood, legs aching in protest, and approached the wall. She nudged a desk placed against it, but it didn't budge. The chair with it, however, did.

It was a plain chair, made of wood and straight-backed. She checked the drawers—void of pens, letter openers, or anything else sharp—before testing the chair's durability. Despite appearances, it gave little to the strain.

She nibbled on her lower lip. It would be so easy to sit there and do nothing. Await whatever came for her. If she thought about it, she was powerless. A single girl against an entire ship, many of whom were mercenaries.

But she was the only one who knew about Callum. The only one who knew about Odella. Could she just stop? Give in to the unlikeliness of the situation?

They wouldn't.

And the one time she thought Odella may have been trying to, Ash had been the reason she hadn't.

She needed to figure out something. Someone was meant to bring her food at some point. Too much noise would draw others to the room. She could always beat the trader with the chair, but the dense wood would make it awkward. No, awkward didn't matter. What mattered was that she had no plans for what to do even if she knocked whoever it was unconscious. Just wait for more to file in and repeat the same?

Another whispering thought nipped at her, reminding her of an issue she knew even less what to do about. She wasn't the only prisoner on the ship. Even if she could find a way to escape, how could she go through with it knowing she'd be leaving countless women behind to whatever fate this cursed trafficking ship had for them?

A headache throbbed against her skull. She closed her eyes and massaged her temples with the heels of her palms. She just had to think. What would Odella do? Callum? Roa—

She clamped her teeth together as if the thought had been escaping as actual words. It didn't matter what Roan would do, and even if it did, she didn't know, because she had never truly known him. But the thought of him brought another factor to mind.

Her magic, as if summoned by the smallest thought of it, wiggled under her skin.

"Go away," she hissed.

It didn't listen, continuing to be a reminder of the mistakes she'd made and the friend who had been just as real as her glamours. There must have been something she could do with her magic to help her, but she would rather throw herself into the sea and try to swim to land. Using the magic felt no better than accepting help from Roan, and she couldn't do that.

Whatever must be done to save yourself and others, part of her reasoned.

Roan betrayed you, another part reminded her.

She didn't know how long she sat there, shifting through the murky waters within her mind, when the door creaked open. A burly man stepped in carrying a tray of food. He leered down at Ash, a cruel smile twisting his lips. She sunk deeper into the bed. No matter how much she wished for it to, it did not swallow her and steal her from his gaze.

"Looks like he was right. You are quite the cutie," he said. "Too bad Sabin has his eyes on you, or we could have some fun."

Ash's stomach churned, and if he hadn't set the food down on the desk and left with a dark chuckle, she was sure she would have vomited. She had a feeling they wouldn't both have found his plans "fun."

After a full minute of listening for any signs of return, she inched out of bed and took in the food. Brown, sloshing mush filled a bowl. Next to it sat a mug of water that wasn't entirely clear. Everything, including the provided spoon, was made of wood. They'd been sure not to give her anything as easily made into weapons.

The brown liquid continued to sway with the ship's movement, small chunks of something floating in its depths. Vegetables? Meats? She wrinkled her nose. The drugged woman flashed through her mind, and she recoiled, her disgust becoming something sharper. Sabin had given no indication of wanting to drug her, but she refused to take the chance.

Ignoring the impulse to fling the food across the floor, she walked over to the bed and curled into a tight ball. It was no good. No matter how hard she tried to vanish into herself, recent events and uncertainties continued to bombard her.

Ash needed a plan. Frayed strings waved in the mess of her thoughts, tempting her to grab them and form some workable idea, but steel weighed down her arms. Fatigue settled over her like a fog. Too much had happened, and as much as she hated it, the bed provided more comfort than she'd had in days.

Soon. She would piece together something soon. But for now, she just needed a few minutes to rest her eyes.

She didn't realize she'd drifted to sleep until a touch to her cheek jolted her awake. She jerked upright, and an amused chuckle sounded from her side.

"Jumpy, are we?" Sabin smiled down at her, one hand resting in his pocket, the other hovering only a few inches away from her.

Ash didn't know how to respond. Anger roiled within her at everything he represented, but fear kept back any edge that rage held. He had told the others not to harm their 'merchandise.' She wasn't that, though, and she couldn't shake the sense of danger from this man. The hunger that never left his gaze didn't help.

After a moment of her continued silence, he gestured to the desk. "Was the food not to your liking?"

She pressed her lips together and dropped her eyes.

He sighed. "Look... Hm, you know. I don't believe I ever caught your name."

Again, she gave him nothing, ignoring the unasked question.

The bed creaked as he sat down on the edge. Before she could scoot away, he placed a calloused hand on her wrist. "Your name, my dear."

Cold tendrils spread from where he touched her. She tried to pull her arm away, but he closed his fingers around her wrist and smiled pleasantly.

Then, he squeezed. It was a mere twinge of discomfort at first, but the longer she refused to speak, the tighter his grip became. She hadn't thought of Sabin as well-built, but she realized the loose clothing must have hidden a toned physique.

He twisted against the bone. She screamed.

"Your. Name," he demanded through his teeth.

"Ashlin." The traitorous gasp left her, desperate for the pain to cease. "My name is Ashlin."

"Now, was that so hard?" he asked, easing back to a gentle hold.

She whimpered, the terror slowly swallowing the rage but not yet snuffing it out.

"Well, you see, Ashlin..." Keeping one hand around her wrist, Sabin brought the other to brush the back of his fingers along her cheek. When she started to flinch away, he squeezed her arm until she stilled. "I really am trying to be gentle with you, but you're not making it easy."

He pinched Ash's chin between his thumb and forefinger, tilting her head up so that her eyes met his own. The hunger shone there once more, but worse was the cruel gleam accompanying it.

"I like it when young ladies listen. Do you understand?"

"Get away from me." Her words came out as little more than a squeak. They didn't seem to do anything more than amuse her captor.

He tsked and leaned closer, his eyes drinking her in. She had yet to use the blankets, but even if she wrapped them around herself now, it wouldn't stop how exposed his closeness made her feel.

"That," he said, accentuating the word with a squeeze of her arm and dragging her forward slightly by her chin, "doesn't sound like listening to me. I have no reason to break you before giving you to the Scions, but if you wish to continue to tempt me..."

"Get away from me," she repeated.

An increasingly familiar pressure built beneath her skin. With every rapid beat of her heart, it seemed to grow stronger, feeding on her fear. Just like it had the other times her magic had come without her call. But she couldn't stop the funnel from which it feasted.

Not when she saw flashes of that smug man dragging the drugged woman behind him.

Not when Sabin loomed over her, relishing his power, his hungry—no, lustful gaze searing into her.

This wouldn't happen. She couldn't allow it. She would... She would...

With every scattered, panicked thought, the pressure built until it felt like her skin held back a second body.

"Ashlin," Sabin whispered. The bed shifted. He was moving, and his breath fanned over her face, though her vision had blurred to the point she couldn't even see where he was. Still, she reflexively tried to move back. The fingers at her chin and wrist both dug in.

"Get away!" Ash cried, and the pressure finally released.

The magic burst from her, swirling blue particles forming a shield between her and Sabin. He shouted and fell back, slamming onto the wooden floor below.

Ash screamed as well. The particles hurt, stinging like a hundred bees from where they escaped her. In her terror, she had forgotten this part about her out-of-control magic. The way it seemed to turn on her, draw its power from the pain it caused her.

"Back! Back, you blasted belly crawlers!" Sabin ordered, kicking at the magic particles that drifted his way. Images flickered in the light. Green, scaled creatures. Serpents?

She couldn't make them out for sure before she squeezed her eyes shut against the pain. Groaning, she wrapped her arms around herself. Fingernails dug into her arms in an attempt to focus her mind. The magic's sting swallowed the bite of her nails.

Focus.

Roan's instructions from a quarter-lune ago slipped out from the recesses of Ash's mind, his gentle voice almost as painful as the magic.

You are extending your very being to touch the energy around you. It is becoming an extension of who you are, and all you must do is will it to listen.

It was easier said than done with the state she was in. Focus required a clear mind, and hers may as well have been mud.

"Captain Sabin, the Scion has—" a new voice began, but he cut off with a surprised shout.

Someone else huffed. "Well, at the very least, I now know that you have spoken the truth." A woman this time, also new.

Soft steps creaked across the floor, stopping once they reached the bed. Ash pried her eyes open enough to squint. Something orange flashed in front of her.

A shock of pain jolted down her spine, and then the pressure vanished, bringing the relief of taking a deep breath after being submerged in water for too long. Ash gasped. Her arms were red but thankfully void of the million pinpricks she'd felt.

"So uncontrolled," the female voice sniffed. "To think my brethren believe it wise to hand out these gifts to your kind."

Ash lifted her head and barely stifled her gasp. Violet strands like vines fell across the woman's face, stemming first from the circle at the center of her forehead. They parted around her orange eyes like a curtain before curling along her cheekbones back toward her full lips. An orange rose had been fashioned into a band that wrapped around her thick brown hair to hold it in its ponytail. Her clothing looked preternaturally soft to the touch, as if someone had somehow crafted it from petals themselves. The violet material of her shirt flowed around her, though her shoulders were left open to expose more of her vine-like markings. Small flower petals decorated the edges of her clothing, glowing just enough they may have been gems catching the light but not enough to be distracting.

Even with her growing mistrust toward the Scions, perhaps even the gods, it was hard for Ash not to bow her head.

"It's an honor to have you aboard my ship." Sabin stood once more, giving the Scion a strained smile. Sweat dotted his face, and despite the magic no longer pulsing from Ash, his eyes darted to the floor where the illusion had been.

The Scion looked Ash up and down one more time before turning to the ship's captain. "Thank you for informing us of your discovery, trader. Now, I will be taking the girl with me back to Lusabrim."

Ash's stomach dropped. Lusabrim was a land of legend. The very dwelling of the Scions and the gods. Partially of the sea, but also partially floating within the sky. One could reach the part of the kingdom resting in the sea within a day on a ship from Eloina. The proximity to Eloina, as well as Sternos, was part of why the two kingdoms were said to be the favorites of the gods. Most Dreamwoven came from those kingdoms, and the two worshipped the gods most closely.

But despite the small distance, humans did not go to the land of the gods. They did not belong there.

What reason would this Scion have to take her there? Some fragment of hope tried to convince her that they knew who she was. They wished to protect the twin of the gods' Dreamwoven, to set everything back to the way it should be.

But if that were true, the Scion wouldn't be sneering down her nose at Ash, wouldn't speak about her with so much contempt. This wasn't a woman who saw Ash as a victim or a person who would help them in a task. No, she was one who wanted to be done with anything to do with her.

"Yes, of course," Sabin said, the world continuing although Ash's was crumbling around her. "Before you go, though, I was hoping we could speak about the compensation for my report."

The woman's dark eyes flashed. "Not reporting your disgusting activities should be all the payment you require," she said. When the color drained from Sabin's face, her lips curled back into a pleased smirk. "However, we do wish to encourage reporting these unchosen magic users, so here."

The Scion plucked a sack from a bag attached to her hip and tossed it to the trader. He caught it with eyes gleaming as bright as polished coins. His tongue darted out, wetting his lips, but he didn't dig into the reward despite how much it looked like he wanted to. Instead, he flicked his attention back to the Scion.

"I do hate to say it, but I have one other request." He flinched under the scowl this earned him but hurriedly pressed on. "You see, I obtained this girl from one of your own. This Scion named Roan—"

"Roan?"

The anger wasn't directed at Ash, but she still flinched away from the Scion, whose eyes now swirled with bright orange energy.

"You have seen that..." She paused, contempt twisting her expression. "That Scion?"

Sabin audibly gulped. Sweat dampened his face considerably now. "Well, uh, yes. He contacted me to get this young miss home, and I happened to find out she had magic. But, you see, I need help. Protection, really. He threatened to—"

"Where did you see him?" the woman snapped. "Do you know where he was headed?"

He licked his lips once more, now from nerves rather than greed, and glanced at Ash. "I do not," he said.

The woman followed his gaze. She frowned at Ash, and Ash shrank deeper into the bed. She opened her mouth, but either fear or anger kept her words back. Not that she knew anything, but helping this Scion gained her nothing, not when she likely already planned to kill her.

"If you know something, girl, spit it out," the woman said.

When Ash sealed her lips and set her jaw, the Scion scowled. Before she could do anything, heavy footsteps thundered outside of the room. The door crashed open, and one of the crewmen stood there, face reddened and hair windswept.

"Captain, we need you on deck.

Faced with an underling, some of Sabin's swagger returned, but his face still lacked color. "I'm quite busy at the moment, as I'm sure you can see."

The man's wide eyes swept over the room before settling back on Sabin. "I'm sorry, Captain, but it's an emergency. We've spotted another ship."

*****

A bit of a long one here, but we had all the things happening!  Also, who wants to murder Sabin? :D There is an approaching ship, so maybe Roan is coming to do that job?  But now there's another Scion in the picture... I'm sure everything will be fine though!

Let me know your thoughts on the chapter down below, and if you enjoyed it, don't forget to vote and comment! I also have a discord open to anyone who wants to join, and we have a section there to discuss the book :D Let me know if you want to join!