Page 129 of Owned By the Fae
I nod at his words. ‘Dane’s right. I can’t travel the Breach,’ I say, ‘but I can open it.’
Brakil opens his mouth, but Isbeth clears her throat delicately.
‘Brakil, sort the arrangements. You have an hour at most before we will begin. We’re about to have three hundred new fae making their homes in the Underhill.’
He bows his head slightly. ‘It will be done, Isbeth.’
He leaves the room quickly, and we hear him barking orders in the hallway outside.
‘You will be housed here as guests of the Underhill, of course. I will let you know when the Council members have all convened, and we will decide what to do about Varrik if he did survive.’
She stands and leaves the room, and we stare at each other. None of us speak. None of us knows quite what to say.
A young fae woman enters a moment later. ‘Please allow me to show you to your rooms,’ she says. Her eyes find Grey, and she smiles up at him. ‘Grenele. I’m Enala, one of your cousins. A friend of mine said he found you while he was fishing and brought you here. My mother is very excited. We know you only just came back to us, but she says that as soon as your memories return, she’d love to see you. We live by the well in town. The house with the green door.’
‘Thank you.’ Grey looks bewildered as she walks ahead and shakes his head. ‘I don’t understand any of this,’ he mutters. ‘I remember when my mother was killed. I cowered behind her. I was alone, and Varrik came and took me to his fold. I remember my worst shame in vivid detail. How could I forget where I came from and where I was?’
I put my hand in his, and he looks surprised. ‘You were only a child,’ I say. ‘Isbeth said many couldn’t remember the Underhill when they returned because of the wards where they were held.’
‘I havefamily,’ he says, looking awed. ‘Blood kin.’
I smile at him. ‘I’m glad you’ve found them again.’
He squeezes my hand in response, and we follow Enala as she leads us up a wide staircase and through the bright corridors to an intricately carved oak door.
‘These will be your apartments while you’re with us,’ Enala says. ‘Please help yourself to whatever you like and come and go as you wish. The Council will meet in the main hall soon if you’d like to be part of the discussions.’
She opens the door and gives Grey a final, wide smile before she disappears back down the hall.
Kallum goes in first, and we follow. There are four well-appointed rooms around a living area. There’s food and drink and clothes we can wear. There’s even a balcony that looks out over the hillside.
I go into the first bed-chamber alone, and I close the door quietly, needing to be alone for a moment. I sink to the floor, tears flowing down my cheeks. We escaped. The sudden relief after so many weeks has me sobbing into my hand, and I vaguely hear the door.
I’m drawn into strong arms, and I grip whichever one of them it is tightly, burrowing my face into his shirt. When I look up, I see it’s Dane, and I stiffen slightly. His eyes close, and his expression turns anguished.
‘I’m so sorry, Lia. I will make this up to you. However long it takes. I promise you. I will never let you be harmed again. I should never have trusted Varrik or Fiana …’ he shakes his head, ‘I’m sorry that I allowed her and the others to hurt you.’ He cups my face. ‘I'm sorry for everything that happened, for the way I treated you.’ He puts his forehead against mine. ‘And I'm sorry that I did what Varrik told me to do.’
His arms around me tighten for a moment as if he can't bear to let me go because he’s afraid that I'll never want him to touch me again.
‘I understand,’ he says. ‘If you’d rather ... I promise you that I will be the person that you need me to be; if that be a friend, then so be it. I will help protect you even if you don't need it now.’ He gives me a small smile. ‘I'm glad you were able to break through the binding, and thank you for helping us leave that place. My mind has been in shadow for so long. I can't blame Varrik for all of it. I was a fool, and you didn't deserve any of it.’
He looks into my eyes. ‘You didn't deserve any of it,’ he tells me again. ‘And, I want you to know that, although I wish it hadn’t happened the way it did, I’m glad you’re having my babe. I ... always wanted a family.’
All at once, I feel like crying again. ‘Me too,’ I whisper.
‘Come,’ he says. ‘No more tears. Come into the main room with us. Sit with us. We need to talk about what we do next before the Council meets and tries to tell us our business.’
I nod and attempt to get off his lap. His hands around me tighten for a moment, and then he lets me go.
‘I will make everything up to you even if it takes the rest of my life. I am yours, Lia.’
I wince. ‘I don't want you to be mine,’ I say quietly. ‘There's been enough owning, but ... I don’t blame you for all of it, Dane. You were under a conjure for years. You thought what you felt was real, and Fiana was very good at what she did. Anyone would have succumbed the same as you did.’
He grasps me to him and buries his face in my hair, sighing hard before he pulls away. ‘If you’d so readily forgive me, then you need to forgive yourself as well. Varrik used trickery on you just as Fiana did on me.’
I smile in spite of myself. ‘I’ll try.’
We go into the main room, and Kal immediately pulls me into a tight hug.
