Page 37 of Owned By the Fae
I wake with a start, looking at my hands and breathing a sigh of relief when I see they aren't claws. It's been happening more and more. The beast wants out. I grit my teeth.
No, that's not quite right. The beast wants to get to Lia. I glance at myself in the mirror.
‘Keep it together,’ I snarl at my reflection, noting that my eyes have gone just a tad violet.
‘I know you can hear me,’ I snarl.
He doesn’t answer.
I run a hand through my hair roughly, pulling at the strands viciously while I stare at my reflection and hope he feels it.
‘We could go out for a run later,’ I say, changing tack and trying to compromise so he’ll behave, though I know it's for naught.
The beast will not be contained for any real span of time now, and there is no point in negotiating. There's a reason those whose Skills are to shift are allowed to run through Varrik’s forest as much as we wish, just as there's a reason we're not all housed together. We’d rip each other to shreds in such close quarters with so many competing drives.
But, like Kallum, I don’t want Varrik to know what I can do yet, so any running around the fold as the beast needs to be done very carefully.
I throw on some clothes and head down to the main road, where the village is bustling in the morning. Not for the first time. I am agog at the sheer numbers the fold now holds. There are so many domiciles and other buildings.
I hear the ringing of the Smithy’s hammer on the anvil as I walk by and I pay for a sweet bun covered in rock-like sugar from the baker, stuffing it in my mouth as I go. I've noticed the beast has a bit of a sweet tooth, and I'm hoping this will allay the need I feel to storm the keep like a white knight for my princess.
I scoff at the thought as I continue with my walk until I get to the edge of the village. Then I continue for a while longer, hoping the fold is still large enough for a long run like this, as I’ve overheard talk that it’s smaller than it once was.
Once I'm sure there’s no one to see me, I don't hesitate any longer. I let the Beast go. It explodes out of me, and I feel myself receding to the back of his mind. Smells and scents and sounds assail me, taking precedence over all else as we run. We follow the tracks of a hare and then a deer, but only to play. We aren’t hungry enough to hunt them seriously. We trot along the river, and when we get to our favorite spot, we jump in and swim. That's more my idea than the beast’s because I'm trying to tire him out.
We dive around for fish, lunging at any that get too close until our bones are weary, and we climb out, shaking droplets of water everywhere. We lay in the sun to dry and soon the beast is slumbering. I take my chance to transform back without a fuss, and I walk back through the forest slowly, grabbing some clothes I left in a bundle in a hollowed-out tree the other day. I get dressed again well before the village, but as I walk back through the streets to the house, I get a prickling sensation. I frown.
I can feel someone’s eyes on me. I glance around and see a young fae sitting at one of the huge barrels with a pint outside the pub. When he sees that I’ve noticed him watching me, he quickly looks away and stands up. He downs his drink quickly and darts away between the buildings. My eyes narrow. Does he know where I just was? Did he see me? Is he going to tell someone?
I shake my head at myself. I’m being paranoid.
I continue on, keeping my eyes open, and I see the same boy a few buildings down, still watching me. I remember him vaguely from years ago. I’m sure of it, though he couldn’t have been more than a small child when we left for the Wilds.
I see him twice more between houses as I walk. He’s definitely following me on the path around the back of the buildings that runs parallel to the road.
I pretend that I haven’t seen him as I slip quickly up the nearest alleyway and go around the back. I find him on the path as predicted, peeking around the corner of the baker’s and trying to find where I’ve gone.
I sneak up behind him and put my head close to his, looking where he is and waiting for him to realize he’s no longer alone. His eyes flick to me, and he startles, his brown eyes widening when he recognizes me. His mouth opens and closes, but no sound emerges.
I snarl at him and grab him by his cloak, noting the blue healers’ robes beneath it. He doesn’t look as afraid as I’d like, though, and I half wonder if this is Kal’s doing. Is he playing some game with me? I almost hope he is. He hasn’t been his usual diverting self since we got back. He’s hardly spoken to me and there have been none of his typical jokes, no banter, no laughter. I let out a breath as I think about my friend and turn my attention back to the quivering youngster in front of me.
‘Why are you following me? Watching me?’ I growl, using the beast’s gravelly voice for effect. ‘Did Kallum put you up to this?’
‘Who?’ He cringes back, looking like he might piss himself in terror, but the reaction is practiced.
He’s clearly used to dealing with the fragile egos of the higher Skilled and the elites. They probably lap up his feigned fear and deference, and it allows him to perform his tasks more easily in their presences. To me, it’s just annoying, but I’ll have to play along for now, as we don’t know each other.
He stutters so hard that I can’t understand what he’s saying, and I let out a frustrated sigh, stepping back. ‘Catch your breath, boy,’ I murmur, pretending I don’t see through him. ‘I'm not going to kill you.’
He nods jerkily and visibly tries to get his fear under control.
I wait, casually wondering if I’ll get into trouble if I rip out his throat for making me stand here and wait for him because Idon’t have the patience right now. They’ll probably realize I can shift if I do that, I muse, so I just stare him down until he speaks.
‘I w-wanted to talk to you.’
‘Why?’ I snarl.
He hesitates, and I grit my teeth, reminding myself to be calm and making the beast recede.
