Page 35 of A Blaze of Fire
Kazimir nodded. “I know, but that doesn’t mean she needs to stay blind to it all her life. She needs to get accustomed to our ways and fast, or she won’t last in the Unseelie Court, or anywhere in the Fae realm, for that matter.”
Kazimir was right. I was merely prolonging the inevitable.
Once the tables and everyone was set up, the lines started to form and tax collection began.
“What do you have to offer?” Kazimir asked the first villager who approached the table.
“Ten pounds,” the man answered meekly. He was one of the Low Fae, with glowing green eyes and pointed ears. Dirt coated his face and body, the result of many hours toiling in manual labor.
Kazimir jotted down his name and contribution and accepted the pouch that contained ten pounds, handing it to the Unseelie guard tasked with counting the money. Once the bag was counted, the man was dismissed and another approached, this one offering a pig. Then, another approached and offered his daughter. And on and on it went. I was glad Vi wasn’t here or she would have caused a scene.
We were a little over halfway through the line when it finally happened. The moment I’d been dreading.
“And what do you have to offer?” Kazimir asked the fae without deigning to look at him as he finished jotting down notes from the last Unseelie to have approached him.
The fae twisted his cap in his hand, his hands scarred and dirty. He cleared his throat. “Lord Kazimir, I have nothing to offer this season. I don’t even have money or food to feed my family,” he pleaded pitifully.
“Do you have a son or daughter?” Kazimir asked, keeping his eyes trained on the ledger in front of him.
“I have a daughter,” the fae stuttered. “But she’s barely twelve.”
“Bring her as payment,” Kazimir demanded coldly.
The fae began to tremble. “N-No, Lord Kazimir. I can’t. Not my daughter, she’s just a little girl!” he cried out.
Kazimir froze his writing and finally peered up at the man. “Did you say no?” he asked icily. Everyone gathered in the square stood quietly with bated breath.
The fae gulped. “Y-Yes.”
Kazimir watched him for a moment and nodded. “Very well. Cael?”
Cael walked over with the biggest grin on his face, as if this was his favorite part of the trip. It probably was. He grabbed the man and dragged him roughly. The fae started yelling and pleading for mercy, but his cries fell on deaf ears. Cael strapped him to a pole, his back facing the crowd, and ripped the shirt off his back. He turned to Kazimir and waited for instructions.
“Fifty lashings,” Kazimir ordered. “And if he continues to cry, burn him.”
Cael smirked. “With pleasure.” Tightening his grip on the whip, he cracked the tail against the fae’s back, eliciting a gurgling shriek. Cael’s eyes glimmered. I held in my wince and stared straight ahead at the crowd of frightened Unseelie who watched with a mixture of shock and horror.
Cael counted each lashing aloud as Kazimir continued receiving tax offerings from the next Unseelie in line as if nothing was happening right beside him. He was without a doubt the cruelest, vilest Unseelie in fae history.
I smelled her before I saw her, that mixture of sunshine and rain. I closed my eyes and took in her scent, then opened them wide as I caught the acrid whiff of fear.
“Stop!” she yelled and rushed toward Cael, jumping in front of the whip as he lashed out, earning a strike on the arm for her efforts.
I ran toward them and grabbed Cael’s wrist. “Watch it,” I growled, “unless you want to losethis.” I tightened my hold on his wrist, smiling when I heard a satisfying crunch.
“She jumped in front of me, what was I supposed to do?” he shouted.
“What are you doing?” she cried out.
Surprised mumbles erupted throughout the crowd. This wasn’t good. Not for them, and certainly not for her.
I turned to look and saw her trying to untie the Unseelie from the pole, slippery with blood.
“Violet, stop what you’re doing!” I called out.
“What?” she gasped. “We can’t just leave him here!”
I pushed Cael away and stormed toward her, snatching her by the arm. “Yes, we can. You have no business interfering,” I said between gritted teeth.
