Page 20 of Owned By the Fae
I shake my head a little. ‘Don't,’ I say.
‘I can't leave you like this. It’s against everything I was taught.’
‘I'm the Harbinger,’ I mutter. ‘Remember what I did to Varrik if your ethics are giving you a problem.’ I close my eyes. ‘Don't get into trouble for me. Besides, if you heal me now, they'll just come back and hurt me again sooner. At least if you leave me like this, they might give me some time.’
He nods slightly and draws something out of his bag. It's a waterskin. I glance at him and then at the guard, who's not looking at us. Jak pulls the cork out and hands it to me. I drink thirstily, keeping an eye out to make sure we aren’t seen.
‘Thank you,’ I whisper. ‘You’re saving my life, you know.’
He squeezes my hand gently. ‘I’m meant to come back in a couple of days. I'll bring you more.’
I clasp his hand back weakly, and he frowns. ‘Do you want me to tell anyone? I could?—’
I stop his words with a shake of my head.
‘There's no one to tell,’ I say quietly.
He looks concerned. ‘Not even the ones who brought you back?’ he whispers.
I clench my eyes shut. ‘They won’t care,’ I say, my voice breaking.
He stands up slowly and addresses the guard.
‘She’s alive for now, but I’ll need to return to make sure the wounds don’t begin to fester.’
The guard snorts, and the cell door opens and closes. I hear the great key turn in the lock with a finality that makes me want to cry, and they leave. I'm plunged back into darkness.
I'm not sure how much time passes, but the first figure returns at some point and conjures pain on me again. It hurts more this time because it makes my body go taut, and my healing burns stretch and crack. I’m sure I hear a laugh that I know, but I’m mostly insensible by the time the Harbinger takes over, and I sink into nothingness.
When the cell is opened next, I'm thirsty again. I'm pulled out, and my arms are tied above my head. I'm hauled upward so that my body is hanging. My toes only just reach the floor. The first crack of the whip shocks my body, and I let out a gasp that echoes through the room. I find I can’t make a sound louder than that now.
This time, the Harbinger is nowhere to be found, and I’m forced to endure the pain they inflict on my flesh. The whip is short and thin, and I count the lashes, trying to keep my mind off what I'm feeling. I get to twenty-four before I lose my tally, and oblivion thankfully takes me.
My last thought is that I really am going to die down here.
Dane
We've been back for at least a fortnight and my beloved Fiana has not returned. Frustration getting the better of me, I throw a conjure into the center of the room. It's powerful, creating an explosion unlike anything I've made before.
I've been in here training every moment I can. I haven't bothered to go to lessons since that first day. I've rarely spoken to anyone except Rikoth in passing. He told me Grith is dead, and I'm not surprised. When I heard that Grey was going on that mission with the other elites, I knew his card was marked and that Varrik’s second wouldn’t be making it back. I didn’t say anything, of course.
Good riddance to the cunt.
But, still, it was brazen of Grey to do it so soon. He’s put us at risk if anyone starts delving deeper or if any of the mind-gifted Skilled look into his head.
I hear someone clapping slowly behind me, and I turn to find Varrik himself. I clear my mind immediately just in case, hoping Varrik wasn’t prying ... if he in fact can. No one knows what the fae lord can actually do besides conjuring, after all.
I bow my head slightly at him, feeling a bit of awe that the fae lord himself is here and speaking to me.
‘You've gotten stronger,’ he says with a small smile.
I nod, glad he’s finally noticed. I haven’t been hiding my changes like Grey and Kal have.
‘How?’ he asks.
I shrug. ‘It happened recently, my lord. I'm not sure what the catalyst was. I was just more powerful one day. They told me when I was young that it might happen that way.’
Varrik nods sagely. ‘I suppose you heard about Grith?’
