Chapter Fourteen
With morning, Selina fetched them breakfast. He’d wondered out loud whether it might have been tampered with. She’d rolled her eyes before cramming a muffin down her throat. Rion resisted the impulse to comment about how she ate like a male. He dug into his potatoes instead. Selina snatched his pastry despite complaining hers was too dry.
She watched him, but thankfully didn’t comment about the nightmare. Rion subtly searched for any signs of bruising around her neck and was thankful to find none.
“Any ideas about what we should do until nightfall?”
He shrugged. “Relax, I suppose.”
She feigned shock. “Does Rion of Brónach know the meaning of the word?”
“You caught me reading.”
“That wasn’t reading, that was torture.”
“It’s a small village. It’ll take you ten minutes to see the entire thing.”
She huffed. “Well, I’m going to take a look anyway. It beats being crammed in here all day.”
The rain had stopped, much to Rion’s dismay. He kept his magic reined in and quiet, but just as Selina predicted, no one seemed to recognize him.
A pair of males stumbling from the only tavern didn’t look at them twice. A beggar seated against the wall of a small shop even reached out his hand. Selina handed him a coin. The male didn’t even have the curtsy to wait until they were down the street before he ran into the tavern, waving the coin above his head. He’d be drunk within the hour.
“He’s going to hound you when we get back.”
She shrugged. “If he can drink an entire gold coin’s worth of ale in one sitting, I might pay him double just so I can watch.”
Rion would pay him triple to bathe first.
They explored everything in less than thirty minutes. From a mediocre bakery with, according to Selina, less than average pastries, to a tiny building they called a library. Rion would have thought the librarian dead were it not for his faint snoring.
Not a single soul recognized him. It was a small village, completely cut off from the outside world. A sanctuary where no one called him a demon.
Selina didn’t like it. She complained endlessly, but Rion found himself surveying the area, wondering what it might be like to settle in such a place. Sure, Saoirse would never be able to visit; he’d be found out if she did. But to have people look at him as if he weren’t a monster. To be treated as any normal traveler or Fae was . . . refreshing.
“Why are you smiling?” Selina inquired with a puzzled look on her face.
“No reason.”
“It’s creepy.” She furrowed her brow. “You can’t seriously like this place.”
He shrugged. “It’s quiet.”
“Too quiet. I miss the city.”
He wasn’t sure he agreed. He’d always loved the lake house, even if Saoirse complained about the lack of room service. She never brought slaves. He’d always thought it was because of him, but Rion was fairly certain their mother had never allowed slaves on the grounds either. Maybe it was some unspoken rule he’d never learned.
A light breeze carried a revolting scent that had Rion recoiling. Selina crinkled her nose. “Well, whoever that is isn’t having a pleasant day.”
With nothing better to do, the pair followed the scent. It led them outside the village and toward a narrow river bend.
Four Fae males stood beside a dead horse, all whispering in hushed tones. Their gazes looked the approaching pair up and down but none reached for their weapons, fear didn’t sting Rion’s nostrils, and one even waved in greeting.
He definitely preferred this over the city.
“If you’ve come for water, best to head back. The innkeeper should have a reserve.” He was short with a stocky build. The calluses on his hands spoke of hard labor. Rion doubted the male had ever wielded a sword in his life. He still noted the hunting knives in their belts.
“What happened?” Selina asked, staring at the poor creature with its tongue rolled out. Rion grimaced. He could deal with bodies, but for some reason horses always got to him. He might have even called them a favorite animal if he were given the time to think about such things.
“The water,” another said, his voice even gruffer than the first. “It’s been killing our livestock for weeks. We try to keep them fenced off, but occasionally they’re too smart for their own good and work around the latch.” The male shook his head. “A shame he wasn’t smart enough to avoid the water.”
Selina exchanged a glance with him. “Has anyone else been . . . hurt by it?”
“We had a few younglings fall ill, but they recovered. The nearby wells are tainted, too.”
“How do you get water then?” Rion asked.
The four males looked him over, sizing him up, he realized. They made eye contact, puffed out their chests . . . then relaxed.
“There’s a small lake on the edge of the mountains.” He pointed north. “We take a wagon full of barrels every few days to restock. Works well enough.”
“That sounds . . . miserable.”
“It’s starting to affect the crops, too. Dain’s entire field shriveled up last week. And Imogen’s is beginning to do the same.”
“Have you gone upriver to see what’s contaminating it?”
They nodded. “We went as far as we could travel in a day, but didn’t see anything unusual. Just more dead animals along the way.”
“The wolves forced us to turn back,” another chimed in. “Unlike you lot, we’re not exactly equipped to fend them off. Especially not a pack that size.”
“I keep telling you, those weren’t wolves. Wolves don’t leave footprints that size.”
“Don’t go scaring off travelers with your theories.”
“I’d love to hear them, actually,” Selina inquired.
One of the males rolled his eyes as the other continued, his voice dropping to a whisper. “There’s Dark Fae about.”
“There are not,” his friend chided.
“There are,” he argued. “They’ve come down from the mountain.”
“Why?” Selina asked and Rion thought she might honestly be interested.
The male shrugged. “Who can say? Maybe they’re tired of being confined.”
Vines snaked up from the ground and Rion stiffened, anticipating a fight, but they simply wrapped around the horse’s back hooves. “We ought to bury the poor fellow. Lest those wolves-—”
“Dark Fae,” his companion interrupted.
“Lest they catch the scent and decide we’re their next meal.” He glared at his companion.
“The inn should have a vacant room if you two need a place to sleep tonight.”
“We found it,” Selina said. “Thank you.”
He nodded and the other three followed as they dragged the carcass away from the village. Rion watched them for a time, somewhat marveling at the casual exchange.
“I guess it’s safe to say they don’t recognize you.”
He didn’t comment. Instead, Rion turned toward the water. “What are the chances?”
She shrugged. “We are up here for a reason.”
He continued staring. “If I don’t use my magic, the rebels won’t know anyone from Nàdair was involved.”
“Can you fight without your magic?”
He glared at her. “I am a trained warrior, remember?”
She shrugged. “I’ve never seen you fight without it. What about you losing control? Do we need to worry about that?”
“If the situation calls for that, there won’t be anyone left alive to spread the word anyway.”
“Are you saying you want to take the time to help these people?”
“Are you saying you don’t?”
She chewed her lip. “Well, if it turns out to be another manufacturer, it would still be within the parameters of the mission.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
She shrugged. “Then I’ll tell Alec you went rogue and demanded we save a village of innocents.”
“He won’t believe that.”
“I can’t lie.”
“He still won’t believe it. He’ll likely think you’re delusional and send you off for an evaluation.”
“Then I guess you’ll just have to butter up your sister for me.”
He smirked. “Need lunch before we set off?”
“Lunch and to pay the innkeeper. Can’t have someone stealing my clean sheets while we’re out.”