Page 18 of A Legacy of Poison and Lies

The male who’d spoken before hid his hesitation better than his companions as they shared a glance, sheathing their arrows. “That we’d be watching you for hours unnoticed,” he said with a smirk. “Come. More Fae are a welcome sight.”

Another pulse of Holt’s power hummed in the air.

“Was that the Fae equivalent of a dick swing?” Zylah murmured, one eyebrow raised at Holt.

She caught his smirk as he urged his horse onwards to follow the others.

The males made their introductions, and Zylah listened in silence as Finn, the only one of them who’d spoken and made the introductions, told her and Holt about their small community. They made their distaste for Marcus known early on, quelling some of the anxiety that had unsettled Zylah’s stomach.

A few times she noted nastura leaves but didn’t think she could manage to dismount more than once in front of a crowd, so she told herself she’d go back for them later.

Her knowledge of plants had kept her alive in Kerthen, and though she’d read extensively back in Dalstead, it was her father she’d learnt from. Hours and days and weeks spent in his apothecary as a child had ignited her love for plants. But he was gone now, too.Becauseof her.

In the beginning, she hadn’t known how to grieve for them both; her father and Raif. Their deaths had been days apart. But in the dark nights of the Kerthen forest, it hadn’t mattered. She’d let the grief swallow her whole.

Sprites tracked them as their horses pushed on, but Zylah paid them no heed. The sound of rushing water drew her attention instead.

The falls.

“You must bathe before you can enter,” Finn said as they neared the waterfall, a clear blue pool at the base.

Zylah discreetly sniffed at her cloak, not for the first time since she’d met the Fae.

“The water is spelled,” Holt murmured beside her.

Finn grinned. “He misses nothing, this one.” One of his companions handed him two bundles. “Wear these.”

“You just carry these around the forest, waiting for visitors?” Zylah asked as he handed her a robe. The air was damp with spray, but the water was fresh.

“We were notified of your arrival.” Finn waved a hand as Kopi flew down from the canopy, landing on a rock beside the pool. “Your friend will show you the way when you’re ready. We’ll take your horses.”

Holt dismounted without argument, but Zylah wasn’t convinced, regardless of whether Kopi had led the three Fae to them. “You’re okay with this wholego take a bath whilst we steal your horsessituation?”

“These are traditional robes, Zylah. This is a welcome, not a warning.” Holt waved the bundle of fabric at her, before handing the reins to Finn.

Allies, Zylah reminded herself. All too aware of the four pairs of eyes waiting for her to dismount, she took a moment to prepare herself for the pain, hoping they’d mistake it for hesitation over their offer.

She took a deep breath, just as Holt clapped a hand to Finn’s back. “Tell me, my friend, how is it that the townsfolk know of these falls?”

The other two stepped closer to Holt and Finn, arms folded as Finn offered up his explanation, their attention no longer on Zylah. She slid off the horse on the side farthest from the males, clenching her teeth as her feet hit the ground, but she didn’t falter.

Holt caught her gaze as she handed the reins to Finn, and she hoped he could see the silent thank you she offered him.

“See you on the other side,” Finn said a little too brightly for Zylah’s liking.

They walked through a gap between water and rock, disappearing behind the spray within moments.

Zylah cast her gaze across the pool, steam rising from the water and swirling in the cold air. “This feels weird,” she said as Holt stepped up beside her.

“Weirder than keeping plants in your pockets?”

“I do that with good reason.”

“And cake?”

“Also with good reason.” She held out the robe. It was for someone far taller than her. Which would have been most people, Zylah supposed.

Holt had shrugged out of his coat, folding his things in a neat pile beside the pool. He didn’t carry a weapon, though she knew he could summon one to him should he need it, not that he required the assistance of a weapon to aid his fighting.

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