Page 133 of Owned By the Fae
‘They'll be all right,’ she says quietly.
I give a small nod, hoping she’s right and they don’t underestimate the higher Skilled.
‘Come,’ she says. ‘I want to show you something.’
I walk with her from the camp and through the wards. She takes me along the village road, and I can’t help but notice how the fae have changed toward me. The news of what I am must have already traveled through the Underhill because all of its residents that we pass now look at me in barely restrained awe.
I glance at Isbeth. ‘I didn’t realize it would be like this,’ I murmur, gesturing to the males and females alike who openly watch me with a warmth I’m not used to. ‘I thought perhaps they wouldn't ... because I’m a human.’
She gives me a small smile. ‘I’m sorry that you’ve suffered so at Varrik’s hands and those of his people. And my apologies regarding how you were met earlier. You must remember that when our children and mothers were taken, humans in the Light Realm kept them locked away. They killed the mothers, and the faelings would have been killed as well had they not been found and brought back.’
‘Even though it was some of your own who betrayed you?’ I ask.
She smirks. ‘Some don't believe the details matter. They think that if not for the humans, nothing like that would have happened at all.’
‘Are no humans allowed here, then?’ I ask.
Isbeth winces. ‘I have tried countless times to change the law but, at the moment, only a select few are permitted to come here. I hardly need add that you will be included in that number, of course.’
We walk through the village and down toward the river I noticed from our apartments in the fortress. The landscape changes abruptly, becoming rocky, and the path meanders through a gorge with steep cliffs on either side.
We arrive at a waterfall.
‘Be careful’ it's slippery,’ the older fae female says over the roar of the water as she climbs some stone steps cut into the rockface. I follow and watch as she disappears behind the fall itself. I scramble up behind her, nowhere near as graceful, and find myself in a small, hidden cavern.
‘What is this place?’ I ask as she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.
‘A place of power.’ She lets out a chuckle. ‘And my cavern of solitude. When the stresses of my position become too much, I come here.’
She opens her eyes and looks around. She clicks her fingers, and a myriad of candles light up the walls, creating an ambient glow. I can see now that the walls are covered with intricate patterns carved into the grey stone.
‘It’s a shrine devoted to Gaila the First, our patron, the goddess who gifted us this fold and created the Harbingers. There are others dotted around the Underhill that are more often visited, which is why I prefer this one. It’s not secret, but it is usually forgotten.’
‘Why show it to me?’
‘You have withstood much, my child. I can see the wounds you carry inside, the ones inflicted by Varrik.’ She hesitates. ‘Your babe ... he ordered it, didn’t he? That was how he thought to obtain another Harbinger.’
I wince. ‘Yes.’
‘He’s my brother, you know.’
My eyes widen. ‘Your brother?’
‘Aye.’ She lets out a breath. ‘He always was a cunt.’
I bark a laugh. ‘Aye, a real cunt, that one.’
She takes my hands. ‘It’s still very early. If you wish ... not to have the babe, it’s up to you. The males you’re with cannotgainsay you here. There are laws that protect our females, that will protect you as well.’
‘Thank you,’ I say, ‘but regardless of the way it happened, I’m glad of it. I ... always wanted ...’
Isbeth smiles. ‘I’m happy for you then.’
‘How many Harbingers were there?’ I ask, a bit anxious to change the subject.
Isbeth catches on and leaves it at that. She turns away and walks deeper into the cavern. ‘Ten, so the old writings say.’
‘And none of the others have ever...?’
