Page 100 of Given to the Fae
Locke.
We reach a nondescript building and Locke scratches at the door. A hatch opens and I can see a pair of eyes that I recognize.Kings.
‘Password?’
‘Fuck off, Kings!’ Locke snaps. ‘You can see it’s us.’
The door opens and Locke gets off his horse, pulling Bryn inside and causing her to stumble. I follow with a snarled curse and grit my teeth.
The room is dingy and dirty. Bere sits by a hearth with a drinking horn in hand.
‘Ah! You made it on time!’
‘Of course,’ Locke smirks.
He hauls Bryn forward.
‘She looks well. Healthy.’ Bere nods at Locke. ‘Well done and not even a hint of Gate Sickness. Very good.’
Bere stands. ‘The auctions begin later today, but I have a contact who’s telling me where and when the best deals will be coming up. We’ll go together.’
‘What of the other two females? You were able to sell them, I take it?’ Locke asks, sitting down and pouring himself a horn of ale.
‘Aye,’ Bere smiles. ‘The gods were smiling down on us. Both were sold to some wealthy goblin who lived in some grand estate in the Seventh Circle. Our coffers are filled and ready for the auctions despite not getting rid of this one yet.’
He watches Bryn and she keeps her eyes down even when Locke pushes her toward me.
‘Make sure she’s fed and watered,’ he tells me, not even looking in my direction.
‘Aye,’ I say, leading Bryn away by the chain gently.
‘Where’s Warrior?’ I hear Bere ask as I walk into the other room.
I don’t even bother to listen to whatever story Locke spins. I’m too busy making sure we’re alone in the next room. Before I think the better of it, I’m pulling her into my arms. She’s shuddering and I feel the moment she loses her battle with emotions and begins to quietly sob into my chest.
‘I’m sorry,’ I whisper. ‘I didn’t know it would be like this, thathe’dbe like this.’
I hear her quiet scoff.
‘Neither did I,’ she admits brokenly. ‘Why is Locke being so…? And Morgan. He won’t even look at me.’
‘I’ll make it right,’ I promise.
‘No.’ She steps back and looks up at me. ‘There is no Light Realm, is there? It was a trick.’
‘There is,’ I promise her, but she only shakes her head.
‘Even if that’s true, I won’t be going there...will I, Jak?’
I stay silent, though I vow that, if I can, I will save her from this place, from the pits.
She lets out a shuddering breath. ‘I kept trying to remind myself, but I still think I’d almost forgotten, you know?’
‘Forgotten what?’ I ask, finding that looking into her quickly-dulling eyes is torturous.
‘What you are, what you all are. You dressed me up and let everyone think I wasn’t what I am, and it made me forget as well.’
I don’t say anything. All I can do is hide the devastation I feel when we leave the room and I put her in the small paddock in the outer barn to await her fate.
