Page 44 of Given to the Fae
‘You used a conjure on her, didn’t you.’
‘Only to calm her. She was...afraid.’
‘Of the block?’
‘Of that and of being touchedthere.’
Morgan’s hands ball into fists and he lurches to his feet. He stalks off into the night, leaving me with Locke. I don’t look at him. I pretend to be half asleep but my mind is in turmoil as I try to make sense of everything they said during their unguarded conversation. They’ve joined with Bere for a reason, and it’s not to make coin from selling slaves. They know humans.Freeones. There’s only one place where humans are free. I can only draw one conclusion, and it makes my heart beat like a drum, for once in excitement, not fear.
Somehow, they’re from the Light Realm!
Jak
Finding meat with Warrior is successful, if not a little sickening. The fae hunter has got two rabbits and one grouse. He shot arrows through the rabbit’s hind legs and then held them up by the shafts, shaking them a little. He grinned as he watched them squirm, listening to their squeals of pain and fear before he tied them to a pole and swung it over his shoulder. The bird he shot through one wing and then flung it over with the other twitching beasts while it fluttered and squawked, laughing a little at its suffering.
Morgan, though I’d consider him a friend, is half insane. He’s feared by many of the others at the Camp. There are times when even I’m afraid of him a little. But he’s nothing like this barmy cunt.
And the human was left with him all day.
As we walk back to the fire, listening to the occasional flap, or rabbit scream, I can’t help but wonder if he gave in to his baser urges with Bryn. We were close by all day, and I didn’t hear her make any sounds of pain, but she did seem more than a little subdued by the time we made camp.
I wasn’t going to interfere. In fact, we were intending on letting Warrior have the primary duty of taking care of the human so that we could spend some time talking about the mission and making plans. We all knew Warrior was a few barrels short of a brewery, but I don’t think the others realize how unhinged he is. It’s bad enough what we’re being forced to do, but to leave a helpless girl in the hands of this monster when it isn’t necessary...
I decide I’m going to speak to Locke as soon as I’m able. There are ways we can talk without Warrior finding out our secrets, especially once we reach the next town.
When we get back to the fire, Warrior pauses mid-stride, his eyes on the girl. She’s by the fire with a blanket around her now. His eyes narrow and he sneers.
‘Shall I release her this evening?’ he asks, not even looking at Locke. ‘I don’t mind doing it. A happy human is a hearty human, after all.’
Knowing he can’t see my face, I grimace at the line he uses, the one that I’ve heard so many times.
‘No need,’ Locke says, without hesitation. ‘I did it quickly while you were hunting.’
‘She’s so loud, surely we’d have heard her screams,’ Warrior quips.
The girl curls into herself, hiding beneath the blanket.
Locke chuckles. ‘I made sure she was quieter this time. I didn’t want the game to get scared off.’
‘I’ll do it tomorrow, then.’
‘Perhaps,’ is all Locke says before taking a long draw from his wineskin.
If Warrior doesn’t like the answer, he doesn’t show it, but he makes a point, I notice, of letting the girl see the half dead animals he’s brought.
She looks at themand himin unconcealed distaste as he throws them down beside her. ‘Kill them. Pluck them. Skin them.’
‘Yes, my lord,’ she says quietly.
He throws one of those jeweled knives down as well, and it clatters to the ground.
I catch Locke’s eye. He nods, standing up with a stretch and yawn and mumbling something about needing a piss.
The girl slits the rabbits’ throats and wrings the grouse’s neck as quickly as she can, letting out a small sigh when their sufferings are at an end. I leave her to do what Warrior told her when Morgan appears out of the tall grass. I walk in the opposite direction to Locke until I’m far enough from the camp that Warrior won’t hear us.
‘What is it?’ Locke whispers from behind me.
I turn with a roll of my eyes. ‘Warrior. He’s more deranged than he seemed when we were with the others. I believe Bere keeps him in line. Without his leader... I don’t think we should leave the female alone with him again.’
