Chapter 6 - Journey to the Low Field

The council was stunned into silence. Mard was dragged away in chains, his conspiracy laid completely bare. With the immediate threat neutralized, Senna demanded something the council feared most: a journey to the Low Field, so the Alpha King could witness firsthand the conditions under which her people lived.
The journey took two days on horseback. As they rode past the grand black gates and into the dusty, barren plains of the southern territory, the contrast was staggering. Here, stone huts replaced towering keeps; dusty winds replaced clean mountain air.
Yet, as the villagers caught sight of the massive black stallion bearing the Alpha King, they didn't cower. They watched with cautious, hardened eyes.
Senna dismounted near a small, weather-beaten well. A young girl with matted hair and a patched tunic approached her, handing her a wooden cup of water.
"Is he going to tax us more, Senna?" the girl whispered, casting a fearful glance at Aldric.
Senna knelt, smiling softly—a gentle expression she had never shown inside the castle walls. "No, little one. He is here to fix what was broken."
Aldric dismounted and walked up beside her. He looked out over the sprawling, impoverished village, feeling the collective weight of generations of neglect pressing down on his chest. He turned to Senna, seeing her world not as a statistic, but as a home that had forged an unbreakable spirit.
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"I am sorry," Aldric murmured softly, loud enough only for her to hear. "I didn't know."
"Now you do," Senna said, standing up and meeting his gaze. "And knowing is where everything changes."