Chapter 5 Indebted

Rhea’s POV

“My lady, please, don’t do this to yourself.” Liema set a cold plate on the bedside.

“She’s not waking up.” The words ripped free. Tears fell. I had prayed until my throat was raw and fasted three days—penance and promise—refusing food until Freye opened her eyes. Still she lay pale and heavy as stone.

Liema smoothed my hair. “It might be better for her this way,” she said softly. “Unconsciousness can be a mercy. She does not feel the pain. Think of it as rest for a wound.”

For a moment that idea sounded like shelter. Then the fear returned: how to keep my child safe when I had nothing left to trade?

It’s been three days already, and I had avoided Theon like a sickness.

I stroked Freye’s hair and told brighter stories. I had imagined slipping away under moonlight with her, but the truth was brutal: the medication that kept her breathing came through Theon. He paid suppliers and the Healer. In small, suffocating ways he controlled our survival, and that is why I can't walk out of this marriage no matter what.

Liema urged me to eat. I let her feed me and wash my face. When sleep blurred the edges, I crawled into Freye’s bed and whispered into her hair, “I promise I’ll cure you. Trust Mummy. I swear on the moon goddess. Hold on.”

*****

The knock at eleven was not polite. It hit like thunder.

I woke, checked the clock, and felt my heart turn to a drum. The voices in the hall were clipped, as I crept downstairs. Five faces waited, their expressions were serious. Worse than their faces was their crest: two eagles crossed by a sword. The Duskmoor Hollow pack.

They were bad news. Their Alpha’s hand reached into every pack’s politics; his envoys were not a casual visitation. They belonged to the ruling court that oversaw all Alphas under his dominion, including our own Alpha Lepal. Their presence here meant consequence.

“Theon? What are they doing here?” My voice shook as I descended. Theon watched the men with his head down, a man to whom this scene seemed to belong and yet who would not meet my eyes.

A large man with a white scar that yawned from eyebrow to jaw took a slow lap around me, his stare like a blade. “Interesting,” he said, amusement smelling through his words. He stopped and faced Theon. “You have something of value here, something that will please our Alpha.”

“No! Stay away from my wife—” Theon’s first protest was sudden, but his tone was not the one I knew when he protected his own. It had fear in it.

The scarred man’s smile was a cruel thing. “You should have thought of that before you owed our house,” he said.

My stomach clamped. “Owe? Theon, tell me. What are they saying?” The words came out small.

The scar-faced envoy stepped closer, hand resting on the pommel of his sword as if it were a gesture of etiquette. “Theon of Shadowclaw,” the scar-faced envoy intoned, “your leatherworks supply our Alpha’s armory. You took payment in full, yet two months have passed with no delivery and no refund. Our Alpha is not forgiving.”

The rest spilled out cold . Theon had collected coin and failed to honor it. To default against armory was no small matter. Exile waited for an anyone who defrauded an alliance pack, and ruin for any house that sheltered him. My stomach clenched.

“We are not here for your husband’s politics,” the envoy replied. “We require payment in one week. If he fails, your family will furnish the restitution. So instead, we are taking you to serve as a collateral.”

Theon’s voice cracked then, angry and helpless both. “I will pay. I will clear this, just give me a week.” l

The scar-faced man hissed. “You do not have the coin. You will give up a sacrifice or you will be stripped bare.”

Pins prickled beneath my skin. The guards around us shifted, eyes flicking to the leader as if waiting for command. Fear rolled through me like a wave.

They seized me. “You will come with us,” the envoy said. “A week. If not—” His words left a darkness I could not finish.

Theon’s voice broke as he promised to pay. “I will make sure to pay, just… don’t touch her,” he said, and the promise sounded hollow. That was it? He was giving up on me like that?

Rage and grief braided until I could only spit it out. “You swore you would protect me.” He shrugged and murmured he did what he had to.

They grabbed me then, their hands rough. I clawed, trying to resist until a sharp slap landed across my cheek that seared like a brand and brought the world into a single, hot focus. “You will come with us,” the envoy said. “We will leave her whole and in one piece if the terms are met. A week. If not, I bet the witches would appreciate buying her body parts—”

“You can’t,” I sobbed. “You can’t take me. My child—Freye— I can’t leave her alone.”

“Your child’s safety depends on his payment,”

“I will make sure she is protected, Rhea. I promise you that.” Theon whispered but his Promises fell like ash. His eyes were small and tired. He spoke the words of a man convincing himself as much as me. “I’ll take care of her. I swear it.”

I spat, fury sweeping through the raw bone of my grief. “You swore you would protect me,” I said, and the sentence came out more like an accusation. “You swore you would never let anything hurt me.”

“Do you know what you are doing?” I cried. “You are giving me away like a thing. Like a bargain.” Rage and shame braided until I could not tell them apart. “I hate you,” I said, voice ragged and insane. “I hate you, Theon. I hate you for every promise you broke.”