Page 51 of A Fate of Ice and Lies
I felt her huff of amusement behind me.
Uncle Hudson strode to the center of the square, where a fae held a young boy of fifteen or sixteen years of age. When my uncle called me over, I went.
My stomach dropped as the murmurs started up again.
“I know you do not agree with the punishments the Elders have ordered.”Nalari’s tone was tender, affectionate even.“Your uncle is far better at obeying than you’ll ever be, but you, Elias, are better at caring. You’ll find a way to make this right. And I promise you, I’ll help you in coming up with a plan that we can execute.”
With my throat raw and dry, I swallowed hard.“Thank you, Nalari.”
It seemed those were the only two words I uttered to my friends and Guardian these days.
“Straighten your shoulders and look like the heir that you are,”she told me.“These people need someone they can count on, and they will neither trust nor follow someone who cowers.”
She was right. Guardians help me, she was right.
I forced my shoulders back and tipped my head up. While every part of me wanted to search out Teddy again, she was a weakness I couldn’t allow myself, so I kept my focus on the boy.
The boy's pallor was ashen beneath the dirt that caked his face, a contrast to the brown color of his skin. His whole body quaked on his knees as the fae warrior held him upright.
From the front of the crowd, Donnie rushed forward with an outstretched hand. “Elias!”
Before he made it to us, I ran toward him and grabbed him by the collar, letting my canines lengthen. The townspeople gasped but otherwise remained quiet while I dragged him back into the crowd.
“Stay quiet,” I hissed into his ear. “Or you’ll be next to meet the commander’s wrath.”
I tugged on his collar twice before straightening the wrinkles on his shirt.
“The boy,” he argued weakly, his widened eyes roaming over my face in confusion and fear.
“The boy”—I thundered—“is under trial.” I turned to face the fae holding him. “What are his crimes?”
My uncle nodded at me as I strode toward them.
“Stealing,” the fae replied. “He was given his rations but doubled back to take more.”
By the look of his sunken cheeks and frail frame, whatever rations he’d been given weren’t enough. Neither were the tattered clothes he wore that were too large and thin to ward him from the cold.
Another fae stepped forward with a whip.
Although our bond was broken, I still felt the sudden fear and revulsion that overtook Teddy. Knowing it would break me, I couldn’t chance a look in her direction.
“Everly’s taking care of her,”Nalari said.“She’s talking to her and keeping her still. Do you want me to subdue her?”
I did. More than anything, I wanted Nalari to subdue Teddy so she wouldn’t warrant Uncle Hudson’s attention, but he had to see I could maintain control in my region.
“No,”I gritted out.
Ignoring the whip, I knelt in front of the boy and tipped his chin up so that he could look at me. Scared brown eyesclung to me. He lifted his right hand to grip his left arm, as if that would keep his scrawny arms from shaking.
“What’s your name?” I asked him, just above a whisper.
His bottom lip quivered, and he dropped his gaze to the snow-covered ground he knelt on. “Javier.”
“The punishment for stealing is a lash for each item you stole,” I told him, tipping his angular chin up again.
His eyes reddened as tears silently streamed down his dirty cheeks.
“What did you steal, Javier?”
