Page 24 of Given to the Fae
I let out a long-suffering noise as I sit down, trying to rid myself of the sliver of guilt I feel that she was hurt because of me.
‘Gods, after all that, they only gave me one fucking meal.’
She glances up at me and then away.
‘What? Speak,’ I order.
‘Bulls eat from a plate on the floor,’ she murmurs, shifting as if uncomfortable. ‘Females are given food from their master’s hand.’
‘You’re joking.’
She shakes her head.
‘This is how you’re fed?’
She shakes her head again. ‘I’ve never been to a place like this. In The Barrack, the bulls ate first and the females picked at whatever was left on the ground after they’d had their fill. There were no tables tonotsit at.’
I shake my head and rip a piece of bread off the loaf, putting it between my fingers and trying to give it to her. She winces and shakes her head yet again, opening her mouth.
To say I’m baffled is an understatement. ‘You’re meant to take it with your lips from my hand?’
She nods ruefully. ‘The stew as well.’
‘Well, how the fuck is that meant to work? It’s hardly solid.’
She shrugs. ‘Aren’t slavers meant to know these things?’
I snort. ‘How doyouknow if you never even left The Barrack?’
‘Slaves talk,’ is all she replies.
I roll my eyes and begin to eat my dinner, leaving several chunks of meat and using the bread to scrape up the juices to give her.
She takes everything daintily, which surprises me. I’d have thought she’d snap at me for it like a wild beast.
I see her tongue dart out and lick her lip where a bit of gravy lingers and I have to look away, my cock suddenly and most unwelcomely beginning to harden.
What is happening? I don’t want this awful little human. I can’t!
I focus on my food, scooping up the last of it and shoving it in my mouth before downing my wine. I stand abruptly, shaking the table as I do. The troll reappears, his burned hand now bandaged.
‘I have a room,’ I growl. ‘Which is it?’
The troll glares at me and points to an archway beside the hearth. ‘Second door. The key is in the lock.’
I stride over to the entrance and rip it open, revealing a long corridor that is definitely not in keeping with the size of the building from the outside. It’s been extended with magick.
‘Come,’ I bark and frown as she immediately gets up and follows me meekly.
We get to the second door and, as promised, the key is waiting there. I turn it and let us into a clean and well-furnished chamber that’s at odds with the main taproom. There’s a bed, and a warm hearth, plus a small, round tub in one corner.
I look at her. She’s staring at the room in awe. She starts forward and then winces, glancing to me for orders.
‘You may as well look around,’ I mutter, unlocking the heinous collar I buckled around her neck and trying to ignore the redness I see on her flesh from it.
She immediately takes off the sandals I tied around her feet earlier for the trip to the healer and I see her feet are red from them as well.
Turning away with a muttered curse, I go to the bed and sit down gingerly so that it doesn’t splinter and crack under my weight. I hate it when that happens.
