Page 11 of Wrath of the Fae

Her messy ponytail hangs over her shoulder, and her skin and clothes are covered in dirt and dust. Exhaustion hangs heavy in her eyes as they flick between us. Long gone is the wannabe princess who clung to gowns and jewels.

‘Do we need to pack up? Are we still safe?’ She looks me up and down. ‘Is she?’

‘You’re safe, Tessa,’ I reply, too tired to be bothered by her panic and stress. ‘Here. Eat.’ I pass her the bowl, which she quickly discards, handing it to a small boy passing with his mother.

I step around her and head inside my tent. Lucca follows, and Tessa stomps down her foot before spinning on her heel and storming after us.

My tent is the largest in the camp. We have no furniture. Everything is made from what the world provides. A long sheet of slate is propped up by naturally protruding tree roots making a sizeable table surrounded by log stools and moss-covered boulders. It’s piled high with books and covered in various weapons. The tent is tall enough to stand in, with a single bed at the far side and a stove in the centre with a chimney that protrudes from the top. Lucca slumps on my bed and sits back, licking his lips before devouring the soup. I slap his dirty shoes off my bed. He mutters an apology and shifts himself, leaving a chunk of dried mud behind.

‘What happened?’ Tessa asks, standing at the doorway. Her eyes are still wide, and she shuffles from foot to foot.

‘A couple of runners from the nearby Kingdom,’ I tell her, dropping Lucca’s coat and tossing it on the edge of the bed. ‘A handful of soldiers were giving chase.’

There is a pile of clothes draped over the chair. Tessa stares at the floor as I walk towards them naked. I select a dark blue dress and slide it on. The back is cut low, giving my wings room. Unlike my previous wings, these don’t seem to form through the material. They tear it to hell if there’s anything in the way. Besides, too much on my skin makes me uncomfortable. I feel every thread. Every stitch. Every crease. My skin constantly hums in response to the slightest touch. Everything is heightened. My skin. My eyes. My ears. Silk dresses seem to be the least irritating.

‘Why have you brought the soldiers into camp?’ she asks, finally looking at me. ‘Alive?’

‘To find out what they know, of course.’ I reach down and grab a cloak to throw over my shoulders. Lucca added two large slits into each one I have. I manoeuvre my wings through.

‘Know about what?’ Tessa pushes.

‘Everything.’ I shrug. ‘Anything. I want to know what they know.’ I head towards the door, but she blocks my path.

‘Lucca and Wolf will interrogate them, yes?’ she asks, but in a way that isn’t really asking at all. Her determined stare drifts past my shoulder to Lucca, who still shoves food into his mouth. ‘You will go, Lucca. You and-’

‘Iwill go,’ I state plainly, taking a step to pass her.

Again, she blocks me and shakes her head.

‘You are angry,’ she says quietly. ‘You can’t go. You know what happens when you let your emotions-’

‘I can see their truth,’ I interrupt. ‘I can sense their lies. If they know anything-’

‘Anything they have to say is a waste of time. Kill them and be done with it.’

‘Nothing is a waste of time, Tessa. Not if they know something to help us tear the First Kingdom down.’

As I step around her, she wraps her fingers around the top of my arm and steps close. Her eyes, now so much duller than I remember them from before and filled with such anger I can taste it, stare straight into mine. Lucca shifts behind me, and the room falls into an icy tension.

‘Get your hand off me, Tessa,’ I warn.

‘You want to talk to them to find out about…’ She hesitates, swallowing the names she was about to say and instead says, ‘Them.’

I twitch at her words. At the dreaded way she slowly said…Them.

‘Move aside, Tessa,’ I say in a forced calm.

She takes a deep breath as if going to argue. I feel my rage and frustration. I know the bile I want to throw at her. The cruel words of hatred and violence. So many words.

My eyes shimmer in reaction to it. She sees and flinches. But her feet remain rooted to the ground.

‘We risked everything to get you back, Raven. We lost everything. Others lost even more. You can’t risk it all so that you can spy on two men who abandoned-’

My hand is around her throat before she gets to speak another word.

‘Do not talk to me about what others have lost, Tessa.’

I squeeze, feeling her bones grind beneath my palm.

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