Read with BonusRead with Bonus

The Price of Freedom

Shaira's POV

I wasn’t convinced by the stranger’s words, and I thought he was just trying to deceive me, taking advantage of my ignorance of the laws and customs of the village I was in, not even sure if it was mine or if I was indeed an eteri because I couldn’t remember anything before meeting Angro and feeling as if his eyes pierced through me as if we were destined for each other.

“What do you say, beautiful? I can hear Chief Owan coming,” said the stranger, who, now that the effects of the alcohol had worn off, looked very different, even somewhat handsome. “Tell the chief you’re my wife and that you came to Zuwua to find me, just that. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“What will happen if I say I’m your wife? Will I end up enslaved to you as well?” I asked, hearing the voices from outside and the name of Chief Owan being greeted. The stranger wasn’t lying.

“Not at all, at least not until I dissolve the marriage, understand? Because if a woman claims to be the wife of an unmarried man and he doesn’t deny it, it’s as if we were married under opranchi law.”

Being a wife in name only to save my freedom and Angro’s life, but at what cost?

“And why should I trust you?” I asked, then quickly added, “Should I believe that you’d renounce our marriage afterward?”

The stranger nodded and placed his right hand on his chest, on the left side, just above his heart.

“I swear it, beautiful. You can trust me.”

“What’s driving you to do this? Why do you care about saving me?”

The stranger smiled with a hint of mischief.

“Would you believe me if I told you I don’t want anything bad to happen to such a lovely lady? That it’s just that?”

The sounds of Chief Owan’s imminent arrival were now upon the house of custody. I had to make a decision in the next fifteen seconds.

“If that’s true, why don’t you just tell me what to say? Why should I claim to be your wife and risk being claimed as such?”

The stranger approached me, but I noticed he did so not to threaten me but to cover my body from the chief’s view, who was already entering, allowing us to speak without being overheard, in whispers.

“Because we’d waste time we don’t have. Decide now. By the way, my name is Assu.”

The stranger turned and made an exaggerated bow to Chief Owan, who looked at him with some disdain before turning his attention to me, the real reason for his visit. I greeted him as Zania had taught me, bringing the palm of my open hand to my forehead.

“Let’s sit down, Shaira,” Chief Owan said with great kindness, gesturing to a chair in front of the dining table. “Please.”

Before sitting, I saw Angro’s face appear at the entrance. He looked paler than he had during my first interrogation. The stranger, for his part, had already stepped aside, but his gaze still lingered on me with curiosity.

After some cordial words and asking if I was being treated well, Chief Owan moved on to ask who I was and about my past.

I hesitated.

I could play the amnesia card and claim that I remembered nothing about myself, which was true, and that I had only awakened in the forest where Angro had found me. But I didn’t know at that moment if Angro or Zania had already said something that might compromise that story. Claiming memory loss could contradict what they might have already stated.

The safest course was to stick to the agreement with Zania and repeat the story we had planned together. If Zania or Angro had already spoken, my story would align with what they had said, but the stranger’s warning still weighed on my heart, making it race.

What was in that story that could condemn me?

I had no way of knowing.

I looked again at Angro, who stood next to Zania. They both looked equally pale. It was that detail that pushed me to make my decision.

“I came looking for my husband, great chief,” I replied, “And I have found him.” My finger pointed to the stranger. “Assu, my love, I’m so glad I found you here, safe and sound.”

Chief Owan’s eyes turned to look at the man he had just regarded with disdain a moment before.

“Assu is your husband?” the chief asked, completely incredulous.

“I am, great chief,” Assu quickly said, bowing again. “Isn’t my wife the most beautiful young woman your eyes have ever seen? Of course, after your lovely daughter, sir.”

Assu managed to divert all of Chief Owan’s attention to himself.

“And you traveled alone, Assu, without your wife accompanying you?” the chief asked, curious.

“We had to separate along the way, great chief,” Assu responded with a calculated confidence that sent a shiver down my spine. “An avalanche blocked our path, separating us, so we promised to meet here, and as you can see, great chief,” Assu gave me a charming smile, “my wife is a very strong woman. I knew she would make it on her own.”

Owan asked a few more questions, which Assu deftly answered with subtlety and cold calculation until he convinced the chief of the truth of our version.

Accompanied by his guards, Chief Owan left the house of custody and announced his decision to everyone.

“Now I understand everything,” said the chief in conclusion. “I see no need to inquire further into the origin of this young woman who has been recognized as the wife of an opranchi. Therefore, I dismiss Omawit’s claims over her, as being one of our own and a free woman, she cannot be claimed as a war prize.”

Upon hearing the chief’s words, I felt the weight that had been crushing me since Omawit tied my wrists with a vine lift from my shoulders.

I was free.

I had chosen well and saved myself from slavery.

But I wasn’t the only one satisfied. Those who heard the chief’s words also seemed relieved by the news. My eyes scanned the crowd gathered at the entrance to the Tahuri. Their joy was palpable. I didn’t understand why they were so happy for me. I was a stranger to them, just as they were to me. There were the three girls who had treated me so kindly, overjoyed by my liberation.

Why?

What was I to them?

Hadn’t they considered me an eteri, a star traveler, an enemy of their people?

My eyes continued to scan the crowd, and it didn’t take long to spot the one person who wasn’t celebrating the chief’s decision: Omawit. I saw how his face was contorted, his muscles tense, his gaze transformed into two burning black coals. He spat and shoved those around him to make his way out of there. His resentment was palpable, and I feared the consequences, what such a vile creature might do to get revenge, but my worries were quickly calmed when my eyes met Angro’s, who was watching me from near the entrance. I couldn’t tear my gaze from his, even if I wanted to. He had pierced through me, and it was so deeply embedded within me that I almost wanted to run to him and throw myself into his arms, so he could protect me from the wounded beast I had just seen licking its wounds while swearing revenge.

“It’s done, beautiful,” I heard Assu say beside me, pulling me back to reality. “Now we must travel together to my village, Sagoria. Once there, I will fulfill my promise, renounce you, and you will no longer be my wife.”

I turned to face him.

“You didn’t say anything about traveling. Why can’t you do it here? Why does it have to be in Sagoria?”

Assu took me by the arm, leading me back inside the house. As he did, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Angro clenched his fists.

“It must be there because it was in Sagoria that we supposedly got married, so the marital bond can only be broken there, as dictated by law.”

I saw Angro enter the house in the time it took Assu to explain this to me.

“You’re free now, Shaira,” Angro said, his gaze never leaving Assu, who still held my arm. “You can go wherever you please.”

“I’m afraid that’s not the case,” Assu replied, holding firm under Angro’s fierce gaze. I felt his grip tighten, but not enough to hurt me. “She is my wife under opranchi law.”

Angro’s stern gaze turned to me. His eyes were pleading, determined, and questioning all at once.

I could only manage to nod my head in response.

“We will travel to Sagoria,” Assu said, breaking the tense silence that had settled over us and squeezing my heart as I saw the disappointment etched on Angro’s face. “Once there, she will truly be free.”

Angro turned and left without another word.

I pulled free from Assu’s grip and rushed after Angro. I wanted to explain, to tell him what had happened. It was the least I could do at that moment for the man who had risked his life to save me, but Assu’s hand grabbed me again, this time with force.

“Wait, what are you doing? You’re going to ruin everything,” he said sternly. “You must act like a wife, like a woman who traveled alone to find her beloved husband.”

I knew, as much as it pained me, that he was right. I freed myself again, but my feet remained rooted to the spot.

“We will stay here tonight. Early tomorrow, we’ll begin the journey,” Assu said before returning to the corner where he had slept off his drunkenness.

Previous Chapter
Next Chapter