Page 90 of Owned By the Fae
It’s clear that she’s no longer loyal to the fae lord. She has her own agenda ... and it includes me, or at least the babe that Varrikwants from me. She wants Dane to breed me. Does she mean to take it to raise with him?
I sit down heavily at the table, rubbing my bruised neck. It doesn’t matter what her plans are because I won’t be a part of them.
‘How much time do we have?’ I ask the Harbinger.
It isn’t sure. It skulks at the back of my mind, furious that it couldn’t destroy Fiana just now, feeling impotent and angry even though it’s clearly strong enough again to communicate with me while I’m awake.
‘We’ll get out of this,’ I whisper, reassured by its show of strength.
‘I don’t want to just get out of this,’ it seethes. ‘I want revenge.’
Kal
I sip my drink slowly like everyone else seems to be. I mingle and trade pleasantries with other high-level Skilled, those who rarely look in my direction outside the keep and who I’m sure barely know my name. A small smile, an expression of polite interest, is stuck to my face like grime I can’t wash off. It makes me feel unclean.
The hall is filled with Varrik’s loyal fae. Golden and black banners hang from the high ceiling and waft in the breeze. There are even flutes, lyres, and harps being played by a group of lower Skilled in a corner. Fiana and Dane are on the dais where the largest table is, along with Varrik and the other elites. I have a chair up there as well, though I’ve luckily not had the chance to make my way to it yet because chit-chatting with people I don’tknow or like is infinitely preferable to trading platitudes with Fiana and her ilk.
There's food piled high on huge platters. Pork, beef, chicken, as well as a few types of meat I don’t even recognize. Piles of pastries and fruits, nuts and wine entice the guests. Delicacies I’ve never seen before are dotted around, and the Skilled fawn over them. I hide my disgust behind my cup. They all give him their loyalty so cheaply.
I glance at the dais. Fiana is speaking with Varrik. Dane’s arm is around her waist in a casual show of affection, or perhaps it’s possession, as the fae female barely looks at him. I can't help but roll my eyes as I glance away and down my drink in one.
I'm bored practically to tears. I gaze around the room, taking in the false smiles and high-pitched laughs, wishing that I was with my female instead. This banquet has only highlighted to me how much I hate this place. I frown at the copious amounts of food that will likely be wasted. Has Lia even been fed tonight, I wonder? Did they make her a fire today? My eyes narrow on Dane once more. Has he even made sure, or has he just stopped by to stick his cock in her and then left without tarrying so he can get back to hislove?
I snort. At least he’s agreed to help Grey and I with our scheme tonight, which surprised me. I just hope he’s not so focused on the fae lord and the bitch next to him that he forgets his role.
Noticing the time, I see that I’ve been here for over two hours, and I decide that's more than enough for my purposes. I've shown my face and I have other plans tonight. And, even if I didn’t, I can't bear this any longer.
I leave through a side entrance, taking care that no one notices me. Although I doubt they would anyway. I may be one of the elite now, but it's clear that I'm at the bottom of Varrik’s illustrious hierarchy. Thank the gods. It means I’m frequentlyleft to my own devices, and the others rarely deign to speak to me.
I leave the keep quietly. With Varrik’s attention taken wholly by the party he's thrown for Fiana, with the guards imbibing as well, and with all the noise coming from the hall, it’s a perfect night for clandestine operations so long as Dane remembers to hide our presence from Varrik’s wards in the fae lord’s personal rooms.
I go to our house, and I find Grey waiting for me. He’s pacing a hole in the floor as usual. When he sees me, he looks relieved.
‘Where the fuck have you been?’
‘Showing my face and pretending I give a fuck like a good, loyal Skilled,’ I say. ‘Come on.’
He puts a hand on my shoulder immediately, and I make us invisible then and there. We take the road back up to the keep, avoiding our fae brethren who are out in the streets, the Dregs who haven’t been invited to the fancy soiree up at the keep. They seem to be making merry anyway. Any excuse, I suppose.
When we get to the bridge that crosses the mote, there are more guards than usual at the entrance, but most of them are half drunk and having their own little party. Some are even dancing to the faint music we can hear wafting from the hall.
I hear Grey scoff next to me.
‘I agree,’ I mutter.
We go inside and I hear Grey's sharp intake of breath as the intuitive wards pull at him, but we get through them easily enough and make our way to Varrik’s personal apartments. I circumvent the hall where everyone’s gathered. There’s an easier way that I discovered during my wanderings. I pull Grey through the walls with me until we get to a small, disused door that I found the other day. It leads into a small servants’ hallway and the backway that I told Dane we’d be using to get into Varrik’s heavily warded smaller study.
When we get to the right door, I push it, gratified by the complete silence as it swings open slowly. The servants must make sure the hinges are well-oiled so their movements don’t disturb the lord.
I take a breath and step over the threshold, hoping that Dane is paying attention so that we can pass through and no one is alerted to our presence.
We slip inside without incident, and I shut the door carefully behind us, listening for any commotion, but there’s nothing.
‘Looks like Dane performed his task,’ I whisper.
Grey's hand leaves my shoulder, and he reappears immediately while I decide to stay in my incorporeal state for now.
‘How did you get him to agree? What of hisloyalty?’ Grey asks as he surveys the room.
