Page 99 of Given to the Fae
‘You need to change,’ I murmur.
She eyes the slave garb. ‘When will we get to the Light Realm?’
‘We have to get to Merediea first,’ I hear myself saying. ‘It’ll be after that.’
She nods, trusting me, and dons the dress quickly, leaving the other clothes in a neat pile on the bed by her boots. I turn away and busy myself with packing up quickly.
I find the collar and turn to her, feeling like the worst cunt who’s ever lived.
‘I’m sorry,’ I say softly, buckling the thick leather around her slender neck.
She says nothing, and we leave the room, Bryn walking behind me while I hold the rope.
Outside, Locke and Morgan are mounted. I turn to Bryn to help her onto my steed, but Locke’s voice cuts through the noises of the street.
‘The slave walks.’
I hear Bryn’s sharp intake of breath and I give her an apologetic look. Why is Locke being like this? I cast a look at Morgan. He’s ignoring all of us in favor of watching a pair of pretty pixie girls washing in a water trough nearby.
Bryn’s eyes follow his gaze, and she looks down when she sees what he’s staring at, her jaw tightening.
We walk the street, seeing the remnants of yesterday’s festivities. Bryn plods beside my horse, flinching at the scowls of the townsfolk who were all so friendly when they thought she was their equal. They don’t recognize her from yesterday, not even the innkeeper at the taphouse where we ate and drank.
My stomach churns. What am I going to do? And why is Morgan pretending he doesn’t care how Locke is acting?
We reach the Gate and Bryn looks relieved, though it’s hard to tell as her eyes are downcast.
‘Give me the rope,’ Locke commands. ‘She stopped inside last time, and we don’t want an accident in case she does it again.’
I do as he says and he pulls her hard enough toward him that she lets out a pained cry.
‘Locke!’ I hiss.
‘Come, female,’ Locke commands, ignoring me.
I look at Morgan. He’s watching Bryn, but there’s nothing in his countenance to suggest he cares about her at all. She looks up at him, and my heart lurches at the tears in her eyes, but he just looks away as if he’s not really seeing her.
The Gate opens and Locke unceremoniously pulls Bryn through the Ring and into the Breach without a backwards look.
I try to keep my eyes on her inside the portal, make sure she’s not succumbing to Gate Sickness or the screaming she told me about, but besides being confused by Morgan and even Locke’s callous behavior, she only looks out into the darkness once, listening to something I can’t hear.
We come out in Merediea, the first city, and I watch her eyes take in the gleaming white buildings for the first time, her awe palpable.
Locke barely gives her a moment though, pulling her along beside his horse. We traverse the wide cobbled streets until they become the narrower dirty roads of the outer city, and it takes the better part of half a day. More than once I tell Locke to let Bryn rest, but he pretends he can’t hear me. My hissed remarks to Morgan are met with his silence as well.
‘What’s wrong with you?’ I finally ask, bringing my horse close to his.
‘What do you mean?’
‘You were the first of us to say she was good and kind. Why do you pretend you don’t care what happens to her? Locke is going to leave her here. You understand that, don’t you?’
Morgan doesn’t even look at me. ‘She’ll be fine. She’s lived this long in the Dark Realms.’
I let them go ahead, my mind in a whirl as I watch them. What happened between last night when I heard Morgan leave and this morning?
Fuck me.
My eyes narrow on a certain mage who’s pulling along a very tired human without any care for her at all.
