Page 59 of Given to the Fae
‘Then why was I taken to that female pixie?’ she says from inside my cloak.
Jak looks to me and then to Locke. ‘It’s a long story,’ he says finally. ‘Not one I can tell you.’
‘I don’t believe you.’
Locke lets out a breath. ‘Have any among the three of us hurt you, girl?’
‘No,’ she whispers after a moment. ‘At least not...like other masters.’
Locke flinches at the telling words.
‘Jak is a healer. I vow it. Let him look at you.’
She doesn’t move.
‘Get a vial of healing potion,’ I say.
‘She might not need...’
When he sees my expression, his words peter out and he puts his hand up in placation. ‘Fine.’
‘Would you like a bath, like the one in the first inn?’ I ask her.
I feel her hesitant nod.
‘And conjure a bath in my chamber,’ I call to Jak, who nods on his way through the door.
He brings the vial a moment later and her small hand makes its way into the open to retrieve it. She drinks it and then hands the empty container back.
I hold her for a few minutes more, waiting for the potion to work. I know when it begins to because she shifts, and her breathing deepens.
‘Are you all right?’ I ask, shaking my head at my own stupid question.
‘I’ll be fine,’ she says. ‘May I...bathe, my lord?’
‘No more of that,’ I say with more fervor than I mean to, and I wince as she freezes against me.
‘No more ‘my lords’, I mean. Call me Morgan. And call Locke and Jak by their names as well.’
‘What if someone hears?’
I let out a sigh. ‘Warrior is dead and it’s still two weeks before we meet up with the others. No one else knows us. They won’t interfere.’
‘All right,’ she says.
I stand up and hear her small gasp. ‘I’m just taking you to the bath.’
In my chamber, I put her down, sitting her on the bed in case her legs won’t hold her.
She unwinds my cloak from around her and, thankfully, is dry-eyed for now.
I move away. ‘Everything is there.’
She nods, but then frowns, looking away. ‘Would you...stay? In the room, I mean? I... I’m...’
‘Yes.’ I nod, my fists clenching in anger at what Warrior has done...what others have done.
I turn away as she loosens her dress, and it falls to the floor. The water splashes and I hear her grunt as she gets in and lowers herself into the large bath with a sigh.
