Page 43 of Given to the Fae
I nod, trying not to look relieved, but he must see it because his lips tighten. He doesn’t ask me anything else, though. He sits back in his spot on the other side of the fire next to Morgan, and they begin to speak. I strain my ears to listen to their conversation in case I hear anything useful. Many of the masters assume humans are mostly deaf, I’ve heard, because other creatures’ hearing in the Dark Realms is so much better than ours, and it means that they frequently speak too loudly around us even when trying to keep secrets.
‘What are we going to do about...you know.’
Locke’s eyes are on me, and I pretend I can hear nothing.
‘Releasing, you mean?’
Morgan nods. ‘You can tell Warrior you did it while Jak and he were hunting tonight, but what about tomorrow morning? What about over the next fortnight? The cunt is like a dog with a bone and quite loyal to Bere after himself, at least at the moment. He will divulge all he learns about us, and he won’t hesitate to tell tales when we meet up again in the First Circle.’
‘I know.’
Morgan makes a noise of anger. ‘I knew we might have to do these things but...after you were finished with her this morning. She was?—’
‘I said I know!’ Locke hisses. ‘Do you think I wanted to? Ihadto. You’re too close already and better me than Bere or Kings orWarrior! You heard what they did to the other two.’ He shuts his eyes and shakes his head. ‘There’s nothing we can do, my friend. We will meet up with Bere in Merediea. We will go to the auctions. We will learn what we can. We will make connections. We will sell her on the way back through. That is what we must do. It’s the reason we’re here. If you ever want this to end, sacrifices must be made.’
‘I know. It’s just. She’s...different.’
Locke snorts. ‘Methinks you should visit a brothel in the next town.’
Morgan snarls his response and stands. ‘Whatever you say.’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘You forget, I know you as well as you do me. I saw you when you were touching her, saw into your eyes. Admit that she’s not like the others.’
‘No,’ Locke grates out. ‘She’s the same. They’re all deceiving, conniving, backstabbing creatures.’
‘How can you say that? We know enough who aren’t.’
‘They’re different. They’re not slaves.’
I listen with bated breath. They’ve forgotten me completely or they wouldn’t speak so freely!
‘Some of them used to be, Locke.’
‘It’s not the same. They came tous, foundus. These humans out here can’t even fathom life without masters.’
Morgan lets out a soft sound of derision.
‘They can’t help it. It’s all they know. They’re practically bred for traits that make them better slaves and whatever will is left is punished out of them. There’s something… She tried to save the small one from Bere’s beating yesterday. She put herself in danger for another of her kind. You don’t see that much in these realms.’
Locke scoffs. ‘Bell told me that was because Bryn owed her, and Bell wanted Ila safe because she didn’t want to be sold without her, which would have been the case if Bere had killed her. It’s all transactional to them. Remember what she did the first night. She didn’t even give Bell a chance to fight, and she hit her so hard she was out for hours, just so she could have a warm place to sleep.’
Morgan lets out a long breath. ‘Regardless, Warrior will not be left alone with her again. He will not touch her, or I will cut off his fingers.’
‘Fine,’ Locke growls. ‘But you abide by the same rules.’
Locke stands and puts a hand on his friend’s high shoulder. ‘It’s for the best. You see that, don’t you?’
Morgan gives a small nod. ‘But she’s to be kept safe and not made to suffer unduly.’
‘Until she’s sold,’ Locke says very quietly, and Morgan nods, deflating a little.
‘Until she’s sold,’ he echoes.
He turns away only to turn back again. ‘When you…released her...’
‘What about it?’
