Page 67 of Scourged

The brush of the mare’s muzzle against her skin turned her smile just a bit more genuine. Made her forget the burning of the torn tulle on her skin. Grounded her on this earth, just a bit more.

She missed her buckskin gelding, Kodie. And for the first time in so long, she allowed herself to be excited to see him again.

“What’s her name?” she asked Matheo, voice quiet as she continued scratching the mare’s neck.

“This is Ruby.”

Mariah huffed a laugh—a faint, weak chuckle, but a laugh, nonetheless. “Ruby?” She turned to Matheo, finding himwearing a broad smile. “Couldn’t have come up with something a bit more creative?”

He shrugged. “I didn’t name her, but I think it fits. She certainly is a gem for me.”

“You’re lucky indeed to have earned the trust and affection of a red mare.” Mariah ran her hand lightly down Ruby’s face, over the wide white blaze, as her smile faltered. “I need—I need clothes.” She tripped over the request, and as heat flooded her cheeks, she knew she was flushed.

Gods, she hated that blush.

Matheo’s smile softened. “Of course.” He turned, reaching into one of the saddlebags tied to Ruby’s saddle. He pulled out a rolled-up pair of cotton leggings, underclothes, and a wool sweater.

So much—gratitude, joy, sadness, homesickness—welled up in Mariah as he handed them to her. Tears burned behind her cheeks, and her chest heaved and cracked.

She still waited for the dream to shatter, for the nightmare to claw back in.

With a heavy inhale, she clutched the clothes to her chest, and started for the trees and the stream they’d crossed the night before.

A rustling that followed her had her pausing. She glanced over her shoulder to see Matheo following.

“What are you doing?”

Matheo flushed. “Sebastian would kill me if I let you go wandering off alone.”

Mariah frowned. “I need to change. I’d like a moment of privacy to do so.”

“I know, but—” Matheo glanced over her shoulder. He snapped his mouth closed before giving her a tight-lipped smile and stepping back. “That’ll work. Thanks, Rylla.”

Mariah whirled to see the black cat again lurking in the shadows, hazel stare pinned on Matheo. As if in warning.

She couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled out of her. It was faint, and weak, but still … she laughed. She continued into the trees, whispering to Rylla as she passed.

“These boys mean well, but sometimes a girl needs some space.”

The panther’s tail brushed her legs as she walked to the stream.

The water was socold it burned.

Mariah had tossed her shredded, filthy pink rags on the bank before plunging in, desperate to wash even just a single layer of the hell she’d endured from her skin. Rylla lingered downstream, far enough to give her privacy, but close enough to be the watchful eyes that eased her Armature’s worries.

She lingered in the water as long as possible, scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing, sitting on the smooth pebbled bottom. It was only when her teeth chattered that she finally emerged from the stream, finding a small, folded travel towel placed beside her clothes. Mariah smiled at the disappearing wisp of black fur, before drying herself and slipping into her once familiar clothes.

The warmth that encompassed her was instant. And unfamiliar. The clothes hung loose on her thin frame, but they werehers.And the way it felt, having that much softness touching so much of her raw, damaged, tortured skin …

Her hand flew to her mouth as she sunk to her knees in the soft moss along the banks of that babbling, lively stream. A sob choked up her throat, anguish shredding delicate threads.

Mariah remained like that for what could have been a century. Trying to hold herself together, even as the fraying edges slipped and unraveled and burned, pain and despair rising around her.

Until she saw it.

The black butterfly hovered before her, dipping and swaying in the light breeze brushing through the canopy. It wove a delicate dance, and as Mariah’s eyes tracked its movement, her own soul lifted, taking flight. Dancing in the morning light with the onyx insect.

The butterfly shot up into the trees and disappeared from Mariah’s sight. She stood for a few more moments, staring at where it had disappeared, before she took a deep, steadying inhale and strode back up the hill towards the camp.

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