[This chapter is a whole 1000 words from the normal ones cuz I wanted immersion. Enjoy.]
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""Three."
Aric bit down hard on his lip as the final lash landed across his back. The sting burned like fire spreading beneath his skin. Blood seeped slowly from the torn flesh, tracing thin crimson lines down his side.
He refused to cry out.
The guards stepped forward, cutting the ropes binding his wrists. Aric flexed his hands weakly, staring down at them as sensation slowly returned.
"I'm surprised."
Aric lifted his head.
Chief Nuask was watching him, his expression as blank and unreadable as carved stone.
"You didn't scream," the old man continued calmly. "Not once. Not for any of the three lashes."
Aric's chest rose and fell heavily as he tried to steady his breathing.
"And with the way you speak," Nuask added, studying him carefully, "I find it difficult to believe you are merely a child."
For a moment, the courtyard remained silent except for Aric's ragged breaths.
Then—
A crooked grin slowly spread across his face.
"Tell me something, Chief," Aric rasped.
Nuask waited.
"You punished him first… right in front of me." Aric tilted his head slightly, eyes gleaming with a strange clarity. "So that he would feel even more ashamed of himself."
The old man closed his eyes briefly, a slow exhale escaping him.
"I suppose," he said quietly, "you are still a child after all."
Aric wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and pushed himself upright. His legs trembled violently beneath him.
Still, he stood.
"Old man…" Aric muttered, voice hoarse.
Nuask paused mid-step.
"What did my mother do?"
The chief's back stiffened.
When he turned around again, his expression had hardened into a deep frown. "Leave," Nuask said coldly. "Unless you want more lashes."
He began walking away across the courtyard.
But just before disappearing beyond the archway, he stopped and glanced back one last time.
"And one more thing," he added. "Don't call Lilia your mother."
Aric's eyes narrowed as Nuask stared, "Your ears suggest that you are clearly not her offspring."
Aric felt his ear grow heavy.
"If you insist on calling her that, then you might as well place yourself in the same social category as them."
Then he turned.
And left.
The courtyard fell silent.
Aric stood there alone, staring at the place where the old man had been.
His jaw tightened.
"Who the hell," he muttered under his breath, "…are you to tell me who I should call mother?"
**
Step. step.
He had barely crossed the gate when Nessa and Tristan rushed toward him.
"Aric!" Tristan blurted out immediately. "What happened?! I heard shouting!"
Aric didn't answer.
Instead, his gaze shifted to Nessa.
"How long?"
His voice was low.
Nessa flinched, looking around as Aric came closer, leading her to take a step back. ""Nessa," he said quietly, the restraint in his voice almost trembling. "I asked how long. It's a simple question."
She backed into the stone wall behind her.
There was nowhere else to go.
For a moment she tried to hold his gaze.
Then she looked down.
"…Seven months."
The words barely left her mouth before her composure broke.
"He comes every day," she said between shaking breaths. "Sometimes he says his shoes are dirty. Sometimes he just… makes them dirty again."
Her voice cracked.
"He makes me clean them over and over, and when he's done he either spits on me… or kicks dirt all over them again."
A vein pulsed violently along Aric's temple.
His hands slowly curled into fists.
"And…" he asked, voice rough now, "why didn't you tell me?"
Nessa lifted her head.
Her hand reached out, brushing gently across the bruises on Aric's face.
He instinctively grabbed her wrist, but she didn't pull away. Instead, she forced him to look straight at her.
Tears streamed freely down her cheeks.
"Because I didn't want you to fight him," she said softly.
Aric froze.
Seeing her cry like that made something inside his chest twist painfully.
What was wrong with him?
He'd always been calm.
So why was he so angry now?
Nessa's gaze drifted over the dark swelling around his eye, the blood dried along his lip.
"This is all because of me," she whispered.
"I shouldn't have let you fight."
She quickly rummaged through the small bundle tied at her waist, pulling out a small wooden container filled with a thick green paste.
Carefully scooping some onto her fingers, she began applying it to the bruises on Aric's face.
The paste was cool against his skin.
"I hope it doesn't hurt too much," she murmured.
Aric shook his head slightly—though the movement made him wince.
Nessa giggled weakly through her tears.
"I hope it doesn't sting," she corrected.
Aric didn't respond.
He simply stared at her.
For a moment Nessa paused, pulling her hand away as she gave him a small, warm smile.
"Thanks," she said quietly.
A few steps away, Tristan watched the two of them with a soft grin.
Then suddenly his expression changed.
His eyes widened.
"WAIT!"
He jumped excitedly.
"Nessa! I've got an idea!"
Aric raised an eyebrow, turning toward him, "What is it Tris–"
"Aric!" A voice resounded behind him. Aric shivered for a second, turning back to see Lilia running at him.
Tristan winced. "He's going to get scolded a lot," he muttered under his breath, stepping beside Nessa.
Nessa wiped the last of her tears quickly and nodded, though her eyes still looked red.
Lilia reached Aric in seconds.
Before he could say anything, her hands were already moving—checking his arms, his face while mumbling strings of words.
"Are you okay?"
"Does it hurt?"
"The entire thorp has been talking about it!"
"Those ghouls hit you so hard!"
"My god, did they lash you?!"
Aric stared at her for a moment, stunned by the torrent of questions. Finally, he gently grabbed her shoulders.
"Mom."
Lilia froze. The word seemed to pull her out of the storm of her thoughts.
"I'm fine," Aric said softly.
Lilia's legs suddenly gave out. She crouched slightly, still gripping his shoulders as she took a long, shaking breath.
"Thank god…" She exhaled slowly, relief flooding her face. "I was so worried."
Everyone stayed silent for a moment, then, Aric finally asked, "Are you not mad?" "Mad?" she repeated, frowning. "Why would I be mad?"
The three siblings exchanged confused glances.
Aric looked back at her.
"I… picked a fight with the chief's grandson."
"So?" She looked genuinely offended. "Didn't you do it to protect your sister's pride?"
Her ink-black eyes hardened.
"What's wrong with that?"
Aric opened his mouth, then closed it again.
Aric didn't speak before Lilia finally got up. Turning to Nessa, Lilia looked at her. "Why didn't you confront him earlier?" Lilia didn't ask if Krod had been harassing her before.She knew her daughter. Nessa simply looked at her, "I wanted to avoid unnecessary conflict."
Lilia bit her lip, "You say this is unnecessary?" She looked straight at Nessa, "Do you really think dragging your self-respect through the dirt every day just to avoid 'conflict' is acceptable?"
Nessa's head snapped up.
Tears filled her eyes again.
"And what about your self-respect?" she shot back, her voice cracking.
"Do you just shove it into a corner every time that bastard comes hom—"
–PHAT!
The sound rang through the air.
Everything froze.
Lilia's chest rose and fell rapidly as she stared at her own hand.
Her eyes widened slowly, as if she couldn't believe what she had just done.
Nessa stood motionless.
Her hand slowly rose to her cheek.
She looked at Lilia in stunned silence.
Lilia's face collapsed into horror.
"Ness, I'm so sorr—"
"You're such a hypocrite!" Nessa shouted.
She turned and ran.
Dust scattered beneath her feet as she disappeared down the path.
Lilia stood frozen for a moment.
Then she looked at Aric and Tristan.
Her hesitation lasted only a heartbeat before resolve hardened her expression.
"Boys," she said firmly, "I trust you'll get back home safely. If you can't, go to the Maiws' house tonight."
She looked at Nessa running off in the night.
"I need to go after her."
Tristan, who had only just begun to process what had happened, stepped forward quickly.
"Mom, we can come too!"
Lilia shook her head.
"No." Her gaze shifted briefly to Aric's injuries. "Aric is hurt. I'm not letting him walk alone."
Tristan clenched his jaw, clearly unhappy with the decision.
But before he could argue again—
Lilia had already turned and begun running after Nessa.
"As if you would have let me come even if Aric wasn't injured." Tristan grumbled. Aric placed his hand on his shoulder. "What do you mean now?"
Tristan looked at Aric for a second, his face stiff before he shrugged it off, "I just… don't think it's fair," he said quietly. "We're only one year apart, but everyone treats me like I'm some helpless kid compared to you."
Aric studied him.
Well… it wasn't like he could tell Tristan the truth. For his age, Tristan was an extremely mature person, more than Nessa if Aric had to pick.
Aric smiled, ruffling Tristan's hair as he brought him closer. "You heard what Mom said at the end didn't you?" a gleeful grin swept across his face, "We can stay with the Mai-!"
"Oh, oh… My Lady. That was quite a fight wasn't it?"
Both of them turned.
A frail old woman slowly stepped out from the chief's courtyard, leaning heavily on a wooden staff that tapped rhythmically against the cobblestone path.
"Oh! How long it has been since I have seen the two of you!" she exclaimed.
"Excuse me old lady, but have we met before?" Aric asked, confused.
"Oh yes," she said warmly. "Though it was very brief. I doubt you would remember… especially at your age."
Tristan suddenly stiffened. Then his eyes widened.
"WAIT—!" he blurted out. "You're that old lady from the temple!"
Aric's eyes widened for a second as he remembered the particles of light that once drowned his face.
His eyes narrowed slowly as he studied the woman again.
"You're…" he said quietly. "The Matriarch."
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[A/N: How was this chapter? Also don't worry, things will pick up pace now.]