Chapter 3: Backstory (3) The next morning was when Riven saw Lyra for the last time.
The cage door was thrown open without ceremony, and one by one the women were ordered out, their names unimportant, their worth measured only by age, beauty, obedience, and what each of them could be traded for, as the Ashfang men who had captured them lead them out and began sorting them in the open like livestock at market, pushing chins upward, checking teeth, turning faces toward the light, and discussing prices as if the women could no longer hear human speech.
Lyra was taken first.
Brakk studied her for a long moment before calling over another man whose back was bent slightly forward in the shape of a camel.
His name was ’Spider’, and even as a child, Riven remembered disliking him more than Brakk.
Brakk was filth made obvious.
However, Spider was worse.
Just looking into his eyes, one could tell he did not see people as human, because his gaze did not pull away from the sufferings of other humans the way it did for the other Ashfang warriors, as although the entire tribe was rotten, there was still a brief hesitation in some of them, a moment where they looked and then looked away.
However, there was none of that in Spider.
His eyes stayed where they landed, moving over Lyra slowly, stopping where they pleased, before returning again without pause, as he studied her not as a frightened child, but rather as a commodity that was to be weighed, priced, and used.
"Five silver taels, she’ll do," He said after studying her for a while, his voice thin and dry while his eyes moved over her features with a merchant’s cold appraisal. "Pretty enough already, and she’ll only grow into it."
He assessed, as Alira’s body stiffened immediately at those words.
Her arms tightened around Riven while Lyra instinctively reached for her, and for one brief second the girl’s small hand actually found her mother’s sleeve before Brakk yanked her backward hard enough to make her stumble.
"No," Alira said.
It came out cracked and weak from thirst and grief, but it was still a mother’s voice.
"No, please... not her... take me instead, she’s just a child."
Alira pleaded, as Spider glanced at her once and looked bored.
"She has the face for it," he said. "There are men beyond this tribe who pay very well for girls who can smile while listening, flatter while lying, and open doors other men cannot. However, I don’t deal in old women."
He gave a faint shrug.
"Ill take the young one.... If she survives the shaping, she might even thank me one day."
Alira lurched forward at that, but Kell’s hand struck her across the mouth before she could take more than half a step, as the blow sent her crashing back against the side of the cage while Riven nearly slipped from her grasp.
Lyra screamed then, the sound breaking out of her all at once as she twisted in Brakk’s grip.
"MOTHER!"
She cried, as Alira tried to get to her again.
"Lyra.... My baby...."
Alira muttered, as despite being hit hard across her face, she continued to crawl towards Lyra on her knees, one arm still wrapped around Riven while the other reached for her daughter with a desperation so raw it stripped away everything else....
For one fleeting moment the distance between them seemed close enough to overcome, until Spider’s men started to drag Lyra away before their hands could meet.
*Rattle*
*Pull*
Riven remembered seeing his sister twisting in their grip, her hair falling across her face while her feet kicked uselessly against the dirt.
"Mother, I’m scared, where are they taking me?"
Her voice shook as the words came out uneven, her breath breaking between them as she struggled against the hands holding her.
"Why are you doing this? What have I ever done to deserve this?
Mother, what’s going to happen to me?"
She muttered while trying to turn back toward Alira, her eyes wide, searching, desperate.
"Mother... will I see you again? Are you coming where they’re taking me?"
She asked, as Alira screamed with all her strength in response.
"Lyra! Listen to me!"
Her voice cracked as she tried to give her daughter some last ditch advice that might save her life.
"Don’t fight them, you’ll get hurt... just... just breathe—!"
Her words came fast, breaking apart as she tried to hold herself together.
"Be brave for me, do you hear me? Pray to Minerva, pray like I taught you, she will give you strength, she will watch over you!"
Lyra shook her head violently.
"Don’t let them take me, please! MOTHER!"
She begged as Alira’s voice faltered for a second before she forced it out again.
"I will find you, Lyra, I swear it, I will find you—!"
But the distance kept growing.
Lyra’s cries stretched thinner as she was dragged farther away, her voice rising and breaking all at once.
"Mother—!"
And Alira answered, even as her steps failed her.