Page 126 of Owned By the Fae
‘What is it?’ Dane asks Grey. ‘You’ve been looking like you’ve seen a specter since we arrived here.’
He shakes his head, not tearing his eyes from the painting. ‘I could swear to you that I’d seen those towers before and those fae we met in the forest. They knew my name.’ He turns to us. ‘How do they know me? I’ve been here before. I know it.’
‘Why do the fae here look different from us?’ I murmur.
‘I don’t know,’ Dane says.
‘It’s because of what Varrik did to you,’ Isbeth answers as she enters the room. ‘Please, sit.’
Another fae brings water and fruit, setting it out on the table. Isbeth and Brakil sit down, and we follow suit.
The door closes, leaving us alone with the two fae councilors.
‘I thought Varrik was dead,’ Isbeth begins.
Brakil snorts. ‘We all hoped.’
Silence pervades the space, no one knowing exactly where to start. Isbeth’s eyes keep finding their way to Lia, who’s sitting next to me, and I draw closer to her, eyeing the fae with suspicion. When she notices, she looks vaguely amused.
‘So ... this place is called The Underhill,’ Dane begins.
‘Yes,’ Brakil says. ‘It’s the home of the fae, the safe haven gifted to us by the patron goddess Gaila the First.’
‘You’ve never heard of it, have you?’ Isbeth says sadly. ‘He kept us from you.’
She glances at Grey. ‘I recognize you now,’ she says to him, and his eyes widen.
‘You know me?’
Isbeth sits back, regarding him thoughtfully. ‘I do. I know your aunt and your cousins well. You have your mother’s eyes.’
‘I don’t understand. How do I know this place? How do you know me?’
‘Years ago, the Underhill fell. It was a smaller place then, it’s power almost completely depleted. We used it only for our faelings and their mothers to keep them safe. At the time, the Dark Realms and the Light were a threat to us. Our numbers were dwindling, our birthrates very low.’
‘What does this have to do with Grey?’ Dane growls.
‘Everything,’ Isbeth sighs. ‘You see, we were betrayed. Our children and their mothers were taken and held prisoner in the Light Realm. When we got them back, some were missing. It was presumed that they had died. There was a problem with the wards in the city they were held in. No one could remember what had happened. Some of the fae children who returned didn’t recall this place.’ She looks pointedly at Grey. ‘It took them time to remember us.’
‘And you believe I’m one of these children?’
‘As I said, Grenele, I know it. Your aunt is one of my closest friends and the family likeness is ... I’d know you anywhere, boy.’
Brakil’s eyes narrow as he looks at Lia. ‘So Varrik continued his experiments after he was exiled, did he?’ he interrupts.
Lia nods. ‘He found faelings in the Dark Realms and brought them to his fold. He changed them, gave them skills of the Dark Realm.’
‘Hisfold?’ the male spits and looks at his cohort. ‘Gods.’
The fae counselors glance at each other.
‘How many fae are there in this fold of his?’ Isbeth asks.
‘Over three hundred now,’ I say.
They both gape at me. ‘Threehundred?’
Another look passes between the two older fae.
