Page 49 of Whispers of the Elderoak

Excited to give her a history lesson, Remy settled back against his cage and looked at her, speaking quietly so the guards didn’t hear.

“Eorhan is ruled by the High Fae. They are powerful magic wielders, and they rule over us all. Split into five kingdoms. Some wield ice, some lava, others can manipulate stone and rocks. Some have the power of the stars and others have powers of the earth. All creatures are ruled by them. All creatures great and small. Even hobgoblins.”

If she was truly from here, did that make her fae? Was that even possible? She had not felt any different since arriving and still didn’t have magical abilities. How would being born in the human world have affected her heritage? Her magic?

Deciding to keep this information to herself for the time being, she asked, “Are the fae nice?”

Remy looked at her mischievously. “It depends on what you think is nice. They are warriors. They can be ruthless. Some are benevolent and some crave power. Most have stood against Deidamia and her army, but others have allowed them into their kingdom, hoping they won’t be slaughtered. Better to be ruled by daemons than wiped out, they say.”

“Do you agree with that?” Ava asked.

“Oh no. No no no. I’d rather die,” he whispered harshly as he stared into her eyes.

As they spoke, a prisoner in another cage stirred, groaning and turning her head. She didn’t seem to be aware of what was going on around her and appeared as though she’d been brutally beaten and close to death. She opened her eyes and looked at Ava as she lay there, breath coming in short slow pants.

“What’s her name?” Ava asked Remy.

“I don’t know,” he answered. “She was here before I arrived, and she will not speak. I think she’s dying.”

“What did they do to her?”

“I don’t know.” He shook his head. “Sometimes they take the prisoners somewhere else.”

“For what?”

He shook his head again and shrugged.

Ava looked at the prisoner with compassion and fear for herself. She appeared mostly human aside from her pointed ears. Her hair was short and curly, but she was so caked in filth her skin tone or hair color were imperceptible, and her tattered clothing revealed gruesome bruises.

The flaps of the tent opened and a guard entered. He was tall, slim and muscular and had cunning green eyes, short black hair and a pock marked face. He stopped and stood in the center of the room, inspecting the prisoners with disgust, but the moment he noticed Ava, his eyes turned feral.

“What do we have here?” he said as he stalked toward her. “A new prisoner for me to play with, I presume.”

He reached the spot where Ava sat chained, crouched in front of her and stroked her face with his hand.

Fight back,Luna’s voice sounded.

“Get away from me,” she said before spitting in his face.

He calmly stood, wiped his face and then looked down at her with barely contained rage. “You’re going to regret that.”

He walked over to the cage with the prisoner and unlocked the door. The girl didn’t fight as she was dragged out by herhair, resigned to her fate. Remy covered his ears with his hands and backed into the corner of his cage, rocking with his eyes closed.

Ava looked at the guard. “Please don’t hurt her.”

He laughed as he dragged her to the ground in front of Ava and then set the fae woman down. She didn’t move, breathing ragged as she opened her eyes and looked straight at Ava. Her eyes bored into Ava’s as she conveyed a message. It was a silent plea; kill me.

The guard looked at Ava and knelt in front of the prisoner. “See how she’s run out of usefulness? This is what will happen to you if you don’t cooperate,” he said as he held the woman’s head between his hands.

Then the light went out of her eyes as the guard snapped her neck.

Ava screamed as nausea took over. Fighting against the bile working its way up her throat, she started to sob and tried to remind herself death was a blessing for this poor fae.

Death. So much death she had already witnessed in such a short amount of time. Eleanor and now this woman. How was she going to get out of here?

The guard kicked the body away from Ava and knelt back down in front of her. His eyes roved over her body filled with desire and the promise of pain. His hand gripped her hair and yanked her head back, baring her throat to him. He leaned forward and ran his nose along her neck, breathing in deeply.

“Your fear smells delicious,” he whispered.

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