Page 2 of Joy Guardian

Such was the great injustice of this world—the weak, mortal humans, void of magic, turned out to be capable of feeling joy when the shadow fae could not.

The Source at the temple held the joy collected from the fae of the Above over the past centuries. But that world was closed to us now. The sky fae fought our shadow tunnels with their light magic and closed our portals, banishing us for good. The human realm remained the only place where we could still visit through our shadow tunnel magic, but the access to it came with limitations.

By the queen’s order and with the help of an ancient spell, we’d opened a shadow tunnel to the River of Mists that took us to the human realm. Through it, the queen’s guards were able tobring in twenty-four human Joy Vessels for the personalsaraiof Queen Abeille. In addition to the limited and highly regulated access to the Joy Source in our temple, the queen’s royal court now had the human joy to use whenever and however they pleased.

“Come closer,” Master Arter implored the human woman who lingered at the entrance to the royal chapel as the six of us waited inside. “We won’t hurt you.”

We wouldn’t hurt her, but it didn’t mean that fitting the harness was going to be painless for her. As the harness embedded itself into the human’s flesh and soul, it would take her through the entire range of emotions, including pain, grief, and sorrow.

The woman hesitated, flanked by her escort of two newly appointed Joy Vessel Keepers and several royal guards. Turned sideways to us and staring blankly at the wall, she didn’t even appear to understand what the Master Guardian asked her to do.

Language barrier couldn’t be a problem for her. When crossing from the human world into the Alveari Kingdom, humans gained the ability to speak our language the moment they first heard it. In this world, speaking it was more natural to them than their mother tongue. Yet the human woman’s expression remained vacant, as if she didn’t understand a word and didn’t even try to understand it.

Unlike shadow fae, who were all of a similar build and height, humans came in many shapes and in a range of hues. This one’s skin was dark brown. Her long, pink hair was braided into thin plaits that reached almost down to her waist. Dressed in only a beige, ankle-length skirt, like all Joy Vessels, she had her braids draped over her bare breasts, as if attempting to conceal them from view.

From what I could see, her body looked harmoniously flawless, with not a line or a curve out of place, which proved soothing for my eyes.

“We won’t hurt you,” Oria echoed Master Arter’s words, taking a step toward the human.

The woman cautiously retreated until her shoulder hit the doorframe. The impact seemed to jolt her awareness. She lifted her head. Her gaze crossed with mine, and my breath hitched at the sight of her golden-brown eyes. Dark eye color was rare among my people who normally had yellow, orange, blue, or more commonly green eyes, like mine. I’d never even seen brown eyes before, and hers mesmerized me. The golden flames of the candles in the pyramid holders reflected in the darkness of her irises, making them look like wild honey.

“This one is a bit skittish,” Sefri, one of the Joy Vessel Keepers, explained. “She hasn’t said a word since she came here. We fear she may have defective hearing, limited mental abilities, or a speech impediment, or possibly, some combination of them all. Either way, she doesn’t look like she’s capable of a wide range of emotions, which may make her unusable as a Joy Vessel. The Royal Council selected her for the first fitting as a test. This way, if something goes wrong, we won’t lose anyone more valuable.”

At those words, the Joy Vessel glared at Sefri, which made me doubt there was anything wrong with her hearing or comprehension.

“Well.” The Master Guardian unfurled his tendrils and placed a hand on the golden altar where the fitting was to take place. “Since she refuses to move on her own, we have no choice but to bring her to the altar by force.”

The woman pivoted toward him, narrowing her eyes. The light from the flames fell on the side of her face that had been in the shade until now, and all her symmetrical perfection crumbled. A large, dark bruise bloomed under her right eye, grotesquely swelling her cheek. Her bottom lip was split open with blood crusted over the cut. Looking closely, I spotted more bruises on her arms and shoulders.

Damage to the coal-black skin of shadow fae would mostly manifest as a rougher texture and loss of shimmer. But the human’s shade was lighter than ours, allowing for her bruises to show as dark patches on her otherwise smooth brown skin.

“She’s been hurt,” I blurted out, struck by her appearance all over again, only now for very different reasons.

“Not due to our doing.” Sefri shook her head in a vehement denial. “The royal guards swore they didn’t harm her either. She sustained her injuries back in her world before the guards took her.”

“How? Why?” The very idea of someone hurting a woman disturbed me. But there was a special air of vulnerability about this one that awoke in me the unexpected urge to protect her.

“That we don’t know,” Sefri replied. “But because of that, we’re hoping she’ll see us as her liberators from whatever she endured in her world, rather than as her abductors, like many of the humans are currently calling us.”

“She is a human. And as such is a threat,”I mentally reminded myself, trumping down the unwelcome and very inconvenient compassion that could be detrimental to the success of my mission.

Holding theleilathaharness, the Master Guardian approached the Joy Vessel.

“It has to be done, Sweet One.” He reached for her with his tendrils. “We’ll have to put the harness on you.”

She darted her gaze around, then did the unexpected. She spoke.

“I’ll do it,” she said in a slightly raspy voice, then cleared her throat, eyeing Arter suspiciously. “I’ll do it myself. As long as you don’t touch me.”

I waited for her to scream, to try to run, or at least to fight us. She was the first one to go through the fitting. There hadn’t been anyone who had survived it already to ease her mind. Yet she took the harness from Master Arter, looking relatively calm.

“How…” She fumbled with the loops of the ribbons. “How am I supposed to wear it?” She smiled.

Shesmiled?

I couldn’t believe my eyes. In the course of my studies, I’d learned that humans smiled when they felt happy. But I didn’tbelieve she was feeling that. How could she, considering the circumstances? Did humans not fear the uncertainty? Did she not realize the loss of her freedom? Did she not know that she would never return home?

“Let me help you.” I stepped forward, unable to watch her struggle with the harness. “Here, thread your right arm through these two loops.”

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