Page 4 of Owned By the Fae
It would be so easy.
The thought isn’t mine, and the realization that it’s spoken to me has my body physically jerking on the floor.
Grith’s smile widens. As usual, he thinks it’s all for him. Arrogant prick. He picks me up and draws our faces close. I can feel his breath on my cheek, and I barely hold back a grimace.
‘Shall I tell you what you have to look forward to, Harbinger?’ He licks his lips salaciously. ‘You’re mine to break. You best believe that I’m going to enjoy every moment of hurting you, and when Varrik allows it, I’m going to plow your human holes as much as I like.’
This time when my stomach twists, I bend over and vomit all over his boots.
He lets out a disgusted noise and pushes me away hard. I hit the wall and sink to the floor, where his final kick to my ribs has me coughing up blood onto the rough stone.
Grith finally steps back.
‘That’s just the beginning,’ he murmurs. ‘Varrik sees now that I was right about how you need to be controlled. You’re going to be much more useful when you’ve been broken ... as humans should be.’
He begins to walk away, leaving me where I’ve fallen.
I don’t try to get up. That’s just an invitation for him to get a few more blows in. So, I lay on the cold floor, listening to him retreat and wondering if he’ll have a healer come. That’s what he used to do after giving me a good beating.
He always ensured that I was healed enough that no one could see the worst of the marks. I sometimes wondered why he didn’t just tell Rikoth to hide them as Fiana did, but then, his first loyalty was always to Varrik, and his lord would need me hale enough to wield the weapon he put inside me.
If he bothers to call for one today, though, it won’t be for that reason. Varrik won’t be letting me out of his fold to do his bidding until he knows he’s got me under his thumb again. He won’t risk me escaping a second time.
My door closes, marking Grith’s departure, and I let out a harsh breath. I need to begin planning how I’m going to get away for a second time and where I’m going to go. If my journey back through the circles was anything to go by, the Dark Realms are even more dangerous for a young human like me than they were before.
I wonder if I could get my hands on another trinket like that one I found to change my appearance. I discount the idea quickly, though. I can’t hinge my hopes on that. I never saw any other such baubles besides that one that Dane destroyed in Alcana. I’m guessing that the bracelet I found on the eve ofmy first foray into Varrik’s world as a child, when he had me kill some of his rivals who’d been stuck with him in the Dark Realms, was a rare sort of artifact.
I sniff. The thought of living the rest of my life as a troll or an orc doesn’t fill me with excitement anyway ... Though it would be preferable to staying here to fall in with Varrik’s plans for me.
The door opens again a few minutes later. I haven't moved from the floor, and I don’t bother to even when the healer comes into view.
The young fae male’s familiar eyes narrow a little as he sees me, but he gets to work without a word, healing the fractures caused by Grith’s boot, the internal ruptures, and the bruises on my face. He leaves everything else that won’t be seen under my clothes. He’s probably been ordered to.
‘I know you,’ I croak, staring up at him.
‘I was an apprentice … before you ...’ His eyes narrow, and I flinch at the unspoken accusation.
‘I remember. Jak.’
The healer’s eyes widen and then harden. ‘You do remember me. You should know that I’ve been warned of your deceitful human tongue, Harbinger. I won’t help you to escape nor to harm poor Varrik again.’
I almost roll my eyes outwardly this time. All of them are like this here. Their hearts are so full of their master that they can’t see anything else. They explain his actions away so easily, no matter how awful. Varrik could throw a dagger at this healer’s chest, and the boy would come up with a perfectly valid reason for why his lord did it. Then, he’d probably say ‘thank you’ and profess his undying love for his leader.
‘Wouldn’t dream of it,’ I whisper, closing my eyes.
‘I’ll … help you into the bed,’ he finally says, and I startle, having let my mind wander and assumed he was gone.
He pulls me up with his hands under my arms, averting his gaze from my naked body as he helps me carefully into bed and covers me with the thin, holey blanket.
‘Thank you,’ I whisper, and he scowls, turning to go.
‘Wait.’
He doesn’t turn back, but he stays where he is.
‘The ones who brought me back … Are they … Where are they?’
I know at least one of them can’t be too far away because that conjure Dane put on me is still there. I can feel it in my sternum, just shy of painful.
