Ashwalk Pilgrim Read Online Free
its station. Once you give birth, I’ll have it sent to the noble palaces in Sollan. Nobles pay good coin for well-fed infants. Raising them as servants from birth allows them to properly train them in the fine art of knee-bending and chin-dipping.”
“A servant? I—I never thought…” Mara’s gaze drifted to her belly.
Olessa cackled, her chortle twisting into Mara’s heart like witch’s nails. “What did you think this world would hold for your child, Mara? Did you think it would be some kind of mighty warrior, leading battalions to slay titans? Maybe a famed acolyte of the Six, performing their wonders throughout Urum to adoring crowds even as magic fades from our world with each passing generation? Or maybe you just want it to be happy, to live on a little farm outside Sollan and watch its kids grow old and have children of their own?”
Mara bit her lip. A tear slid down her cheek and splashed onto her knuckles. “I did not think, Madame Olessa.”
“Of course you didn’t. None of those things can ever be for that child, Mara. You are young and still bathe in your hopes and dreams, but one day, you will see that nothing can wash away the reek of our lot in life. Your child will be born a bastard to a faceless father and a moon maiden mother.
“Like you, it will not have a last name because it does not deserve one. Sending it to a noble to serve is a kindness children of the docks would gladly slit a throat for given half a chance. Pray you never see what that life is truly like.”
“Thank you, Madame Olessa, for showing me and my child such a blessing.”
Mara fought down the urge to leap into the sea and drown in salty sorrows. Friends were rare in the pleasure barge, and at times, she even hesitated before telling Gia something close to her heart. Having a child with her would have been different. She would love her son or daughter, and they would love her.
She could whisper secrets to them until the rising sun cast pale gold over the horizon and snuffed out all but the brightest stars. They would laugh at jokes no one knew but them, not caring how the other girls would roll their eyes and turn their backs. They would have each other, and nothing could ever break that bond between them. Nothing except the razor tongue and hard truths of Madame Olessa.
“Tell me,” Olessa said in a flat, cold voice, “that when the time comes, you will willingly give me the child.”
Mara lifted her chin. Olessa considered her with hard eyes.
“You want me to promise this now?”
Olessa nodded. She tucked a curl behind an ear weighed by gold and smiled coolly. “I’d rather not be forced to have this conversation again. If we come to an understanding now, that will make what happens after the birth so much easier on us both, don’t you think?”
“I…I don’t know…”
Olessa sucked in a breath, her anger lifting her brow. “Mara. Promise me now, you’ll give the child to me. Do not fight me on this. You are no prisoner here, but if you do not agree to this, I will not let you stay. I’ll have a strong boy drop you at the docks before sunrise, and then you’ll see what happens to a moon maiden when she’s plucked from the sky and buried in the sewage of that city.”
“No, no,” Mara pleaded, “I can’t survive there.”
The very thought of being marooned in the vast, teeming maze of streets and towers sent her heart clawing up her throat. Sollan was danger. Sollan was darkness. Olessa kept her safe on the barge. Mara knew that world, and if she stayed in it, Olessa would keep her from the wicked children of the docks and their long knives.
“Well?” Her madame arched a brow. “You know what you must do if you wish to stay.”
Mara placed her hands gently on her belly. She felt the life inside her, the ball of warmth and hopes and dreams, a child who would grow that she would never know.
You have my heart , she told her child. I will love you until the end of my
“A servant? I—I never thought…” Mara’s gaze drifted to her belly.
Olessa cackled, her chortle twisting into Mara’s heart like witch’s nails. “What did you think this world would hold for your child, Mara? Did you think it would be some kind of mighty warrior, leading battalions to slay titans? Maybe a famed acolyte of the Six, performing their wonders throughout Urum to adoring crowds even as magic fades from our world with each passing generation? Or maybe you just want it to be happy, to live on a little farm outside Sollan and watch its kids grow old and have children of their own?”
Mara bit her lip. A tear slid down her cheek and splashed onto her knuckles. “I did not think, Madame Olessa.”
“Of course you didn’t. None of those things can ever be for that child, Mara. You are young and still bathe in your hopes and dreams, but one day, you will see that nothing can wash away the reek of our lot in life. Your child will be born a bastard to a faceless father and a moon maiden mother.
“Like you, it will not have a last name because it does not deserve one. Sending it to a noble to serve is a kindness children of the docks would gladly slit a throat for given half a chance. Pray you never see what that life is truly like.”
“Thank you, Madame Olessa, for showing me and my child such a blessing.”
Mara fought down the urge to leap into the sea and drown in salty sorrows. Friends were rare in the pleasure barge, and at times, she even hesitated before telling Gia something close to her heart. Having a child with her would have been different. She would love her son or daughter, and they would love her.
She could whisper secrets to them until the rising sun cast pale gold over the horizon and snuffed out all but the brightest stars. They would laugh at jokes no one knew but them, not caring how the other girls would roll their eyes and turn their backs. They would have each other, and nothing could ever break that bond between them. Nothing except the razor tongue and hard truths of Madame Olessa.
“Tell me,” Olessa said in a flat, cold voice, “that when the time comes, you will willingly give me the child.”
Mara lifted her chin. Olessa considered her with hard eyes.
“You want me to promise this now?”
Olessa nodded. She tucked a curl behind an ear weighed by gold and smiled coolly. “I’d rather not be forced to have this conversation again. If we come to an understanding now, that will make what happens after the birth so much easier on us both, don’t you think?”
“I…I don’t know…”
Olessa sucked in a breath, her anger lifting her brow. “Mara. Promise me now, you’ll give the child to me. Do not fight me on this. You are no prisoner here, but if you do not agree to this, I will not let you stay. I’ll have a strong boy drop you at the docks before sunrise, and then you’ll see what happens to a moon maiden when she’s plucked from the sky and buried in the sewage of that city.”
“No, no,” Mara pleaded, “I can’t survive there.”
The very thought of being marooned in the vast, teeming maze of streets and towers sent her heart clawing up her throat. Sollan was danger. Sollan was darkness. Olessa kept her safe on the barge. Mara knew that world, and if she stayed in it, Olessa would keep her from the wicked children of the docks and their long knives.
“Well?” Her madame arched a brow. “You know what you must do if you wish to stay.”
Mara placed her hands gently on her belly. She felt the life inside her, the ball of warmth and hopes and dreams, a child who would grow that she would never know.
You have my heart , she told her child. I will love you until the end of my