Souls of Aredyrah 3 - The Taking of the Dawn by Tracy A. Akers

woman by the pool was Falyn, and the shameless young man who
stood naked before her was none other than Sheireadan.
     
    Back to ToC

Chapter 6: Sins of the Father
     
    D ayn felt as though
he had been kicked in the gut. The image of Falyn standing in front
of her brother like that, the boy’s nakedness flaunted before her,
was more than Dayn could stomach. A part of him wanted to purge it
into the bushes. The other part wanted to beat Sheireadan into a
bloody pulp. And yet, from the look of things, someone had already
beaten him to the punch.
    Dayn eased his gaze back over the wall.
Sheireadan was working his way into the water, his battered body
turned in Dayn’s direction. Dayn kept his focus on Sheireadan’s
face, ordering his own eyes to roam no further. From the pain in
Sheireadan’s expression, and the angry bruise painted across his
cheek, his abuser had done a thorough job.
    Sheireadan lost his balance for a moment, and
Falyn plunged into the water to assist him. Her skirt ballooned on
the surface as she grabbed his elbow to right him. “This is far
enough,” she said, her voice amplified across the water.
    “What are you doing!” Sheireadan snapped.
“Father will know for sure now.”
    Falyn looked distressed, then set her face
with resolution. “I’ll just shove my wet clothes under the laundry
pile before he has a chance to see them.”
    “What about the smell of the water? How are
you going to disguise that ? I swear, Falyn. What was the
point in me stripping down to nothing if you’re going to plunge
into the water like a fool.”
    “Enough. It’s done,” Falyn said crossly.
    “Well you’re going to freeze before we even
get home. Did you think about that?”
    “I’ll wear your cloak,” she replied. Then she
grinned. “Did you think about that ?”
    “ Fine ,” Sheireadan grumbled. He turned
away from her and took a step. “I need to go deeper.”
    “No need,” Falyn said. She cupped the water
in her hands and trickled it over his shoulders and back. “There,
see?”
    Sheireadan winced.
    “You really did it this time,” Falyn said.
“Will you never learn?”
    “I’d say I’ve learned more than my share,”
Sheireadan replied. Then he mumbled something that Dayn could not
hear.
    Dayn watched them cautiously as he inched
along the wall. He ducked behind the nearest pillar, then peeked
around to see if he was in Falyn’s and Sheireadan’s line of vision.
Confident that he was not, he leaned around the column, far enough
to spy on them without being detected, yet close enough to hear
their conversation.
    “Fool,” he heard Falyn say. “Would you have
him kill you next time?”
    “Better me than you,” Sheireadan replied.
    Falyn smirked. “He wouldn’t dare. I wouldn’t
be worth much to him dead, now would I?”
    “Maybe not. But after he’s handed you over
and gotten what he wants, what then? Will Zared treat you any
better?”
    “I’ll not go with Zared.”
    “Then you will be dead, sister, and
all the blows I’ve taken for you will have been for nothing.”
    Dayn sucked in a breath. Sheireadan had
received the injuries in defense of his sister? For a moment a hint
of admiration threatened to weaken Dayn’s distain of the boy, but
then he remembered the hundreds of blows he had received from
Sheireadan, and all thoughts of charity dissipated.
    But what did Zared have to do with anything?
Zared was a deacon of the Vestry. He was an elderly man, with
narrow, beady eyes that leered whenever the girls were around. Dayn
had heard the gossip, but just like everyone else, would never bear
false witness against someone he knew little more about than that.
Besides, Zared was not just any member of the Vestry; he was a man
whose wealth gave him more power than most. His wrath could make
anyone’s life miserable, and Dayn’s life had been miserable
enough.
    Falyn cupped more water into her hand,
spilling it over Sheireadan’s purpled shoulders. “No sense worrying
about it