CHAPTER 51: CHAPTER 51 - NO DAWN TO WAIT FOR

The air still hummed faintly in her bones long after Corin smothered the dust spiral back into stillness. Morena had motioned for Corin to go about his own thing so that she could think; she sat at the table, fingers brushing the wood as her mind moved.

Was the risk worth the reward? This was something she had to consider.

Helping the man more than she currently did would be setting her path in stone; it would be going against the church. If she were found out—no—when she was found out, it would mean having to abandon this Kingdom.

But this was a path that led to Wizards. Something she desired to understand, something she desired for power.

It wasn’t stories, nor tavern rumors. Not the ramblings of desperate men.

The proof had been right before her, faint and trembling though it was. A gust of wind weaker than a bellows, a scrap of parchment with symbols that bled change.

Yet it was enough.

Enough to make her heart pound, enough to make her wonder how far the path went if a half-starved fugitive could touch it.

But with that realization came the cost. She had no time, no space, no luxury of thought.

She forced her eyes shut, exhaled, and when she opened them again, the choice was already settled.

She would not wait until tomorrow; she couldn’t afford to waste time she didn’t have. The body she left cooling in the alley would be found, and the church would move without hesitation.

Even if she had moved the body, it would only send them into a panic to find the missing man; she had little room for choice.

They would know he had failed; they would know something went wrong. That Corin knew of their attempts, of how close they were.

When that news reached the chapel, the city would boil by morning.

"Corin."

Her voice rang through the silent room, echoing on its walls. The man’s head jerked up, sweat still cooling on his brow. He looked exhausted, wary, but the desperate spark in his eyes had not dimmed.

"You said you wanted my help."

She paused and stood up, turning to face the man.

"Then understand this—help cannot wait for dawn. The man with the knife is lying in an alley with foam on his lips. The church will not shrug at that when they find out. They’ll tear the quarter apart tonight, and if we linger, you’ll be the prize they find."

Corin’s grip tightened on his satchel, and his eyes widened.

He had expected that they would leave soon; he even wished for it. But he didn’t expect them to have to act so quickly, not even a day to settle matters in the city.

"You mean—tonight?"

"Tonight."

He swallowed, the sound loud in the dusty room. His eyes darted toward the granary door, as though expecting something.

"What about your men? And the... the clerk?"

Morena stood at the wooden door, but she didn’t open it just yet.

"The clerk will be useful. He claimed he reports daily to the chapel. Then tonight, he will deliver the report I chose."

Corin’s mouth pressed thin.

"And what if they don’t believe it?"

"They don’t have to believe. They only need to be distracted for a moment, either with him or with his lies."

Before exiting the door, she lowered herself to the ground and picked up a little bit of dirt and grime. Rolling the mixture together in her hand, she formed a small ball.

Then, she pushed open the door and walked out. The wounded clerk sat slumped where she’d left him, bandages dark, his eyes glassy with pain. Hark stood watch, arms folded, the picture of silent patience.

Morena stepped into the light, and the boy flinched. His body tensed like a rabbit that had already seen the wolf’s teeth.

"You."

Her tone left no room for refusal.

The clerk’s lips trembled.

"I—I did what you asked, I told you everything—"

"You said you report daily. I want you to go back and report exactly what I tell you to."

She reached into her cloak and pretended to pull out the small ball of dirt, tilting it in her fingers until the lantern caught its surface and the man could see it.

He couldn’t tell what it was from his angle, not with his mind clouded, but that was exactly why she did it.

"This is poison."

She said softly, so soft the words made his eyes widen more than if she had shouted. Before he could say anything in reply, she grabbed him by the jaw and forced the pill into his mouth.

He tried fighting her off, he thrashed and flailed even with his wound paining, but she held his mouth closed, forcing him to swallow the ’pill’ of poison that she had.

"Don’t worry, it’s a slow-acting poison, one used to keep people loyal and useful. There is an antidote to it that you need to take every day. If you obey, you’ll be allowed to take it. If you lie, if you do anything that I don’t like, if you try to run, then your organs will melt inside out."

The boy’s breath came fast and shallow; he kept gasping and gagging as if trying to get the pill out of his stomach, yet no matter how much he tried, it wouldn’t come.

Due to his bleeding and constant moving, he was already feeling the effects of blood loss, which was perfect for Morena. It meant the man couldn’t tell what was the pill and what wasn’t.

It meant he couldn’t tell it was fake.

"I-I’ll say it. I’ll do it. Whatever you want."

"Good."

Morena crouched so her eyes were level with his.

"You will tell them this: the knife-man made his move to try and get Corin, exposed himself, but you both underestimated Corin’s capabilities. Corin slipped away in the chaos after injuring you and has gone into hiding. The knife-man left to search for him alone, afraid of punishment, which is why he has not returned."

The clerk licked his lips.

"And if they press me? If they ask where, or how?"

"You say what a frightened boy would say. He wounded you using some strange thing you couldn’t understand, you panicked. He was there, then gone. If they demand more, you claim the knife-man was the one that rushed in. The best lie is one that admits ignorance."

He nodded again, sweat soaking his temple.

She straightened, her voice shifting to cut through the heavy air.

"Hark."

"My lady."

"Bring me parchment and wax. Then run to Adolf. Put this in his hands. No one else’s."

Hark inclined his head.

"At once."

She sat at the table again while he fetched what she asked. The sound of ink scratching filled the room soon after, her hand steady, her words precise. She folded the parchment, sealed it, pressed the edge of her dagger into the wax. Then she handed it over.

"Adolf will know what to do. Tell him I need it as soon as possible. Tonight."

Hark took the letter, tucked it into his belt, and left without another word.

The room fell back into silence. Morena glanced at Corin. The man’s face was pale, his shoulders drawn tight, but when she met his eyes, he didn’t look away.

"You think this will work?"

He asked, but it wasn’t just a question for her, but a doubt he held within himself. Fear that lingered in his mind.

Morena let her cloak fall over her arms.

"I know it has to."

Corin let out a hollow laugh, running a hand over his unshaven jaw.

"You make it sound so simple. But you don’t know them, what they’ll do. They’ll smell a lie in the clerk’s mouth and cut his tongue out for it."

"He’ll say enough to buy us the hours we need."

"And then?"

"By then, we’ll be gone. You will be out of the city, and I will be unrelated."

He exhaled slowly, still not convinced, but he didn’t argue. He knew he had no other choice.

Morena turned back to the clerk, whose eyes had never left her since before, a mixture of fear and rage behind his dull eyes. His face was pale, his lips bloodless, but when she stepped closer, he flinched and nodded again.

"You’ll go soon. The chapel waits for you. Say the words I gave you and nothing else. Then leave. You’ll not return here, not tonight. You’ll sleep somewhere else until I call for you again."

The boy’s head bobbed.

"Yes... yes, my lady."

"Good."

She finally let herself breathe, a tired sigh escaping her lips. The plan was fragile, but it was all she had.

She moved back into the side room, the door closing behind her. Corin followed shortly after. For a moment, he said nothing, only stared at her like a man who couldn’t quite decide if he had stumbled into salvation or into another kind of snare.

"I just can’t understand you."

He asked finally, his voice low.

"Why risk this? You could have walked away in that inn. You could have let me die in that alley. Now you risk your house, your men, yourself."

Morena studied him, then let her gaze drop to her hands. Her fingers curled.

"Like I said before, you have knowledge I want, need. You see, I’ve realized that to survive in this world, you need strength. Not just the strength from my house or position, but real power I can use."

The truth was, it was like that in any world, not just this one, but her previous one too. It was why Morena craved power so much, not just for the sake of power, but because she wanted to survive, to live.

Not as a pawn that can be used or stepped on as one pleases, but as a bird, soaring in the sky above, freely and unbothered by the woes of man.

"And you may just have that. Maybe you are lying to me, maybe you’re only telling me part of the information, but, by helping you I’m opening that chance. I’m threading that path."

He looked at her for a long time, then gave a slow, grim nod.

He understood her words; they were ones he too thought once. Even now he thought that too, but with age, he found that gaining that power wasn’t something just anyone could do.

Many sought power, many sought freedom, but the price one had to pay to achieve that wasn’t something many could afford.