Chapter 4 Bylur
Ifaced the human again. Her wide green eyes held a mixture of awe and fear, but I could not allow myself to be charmed by them, no matter how alluring they were. I gave them a hard stare. “You lied to me.”
She raised her chin and wrapped her arms around herself. “I did not.”
“You said—” I paused, trying to remember her exact words.
Her voice quivered, despite her defiant expression. Or perhaps it was the cold water. “I said that I upset some elves and they were coming to punish me. That is very true.”
I narrowed my eyes, unsure of how the expression translated in a bear’s face. “You upset them by stealing from them.” I meant to make it a question, but the cursed bear’s grating voice lost any lilt I attempted.
She understood anyway. “Yes. I stole food from them. I—” She dropped her gaze and stared at the stones behind my shoulder. “I’ve been doing it for years.”
“Why not find work?” I didn’t like how my interrogation made her shoulders slump.
She sighed and rubbed her wet arms. “I tried. I took lots of little jobs, did lots of cleaning, ran lots of errands. It was never quite enough. And it never lasted long. Elves aren’t…
fond of humans, and nobody kept me on for more than a few weeks here or there.
Stealing was the only way to stay alive. ”
That wasn’t as bad as I’d feared. She wasn’t a criminal, then, so much as a victim of circumstance. Unless—
“Can you lie?” My voice sounded deep and accusatory. The bear was far more cruel than I would have been in my natural form, though I would have asked the question either way.
A muscle in her cheek tightened. I couldn’t tell if it was because she was cold or angry. She lifted her chin again, as if daring me to challenge her humanity, but she only said one word. “Yes.”
I cursed under my breath, but it came out as a growl in the back of my throat.
She tensed, but did not shift away. Did that mean she was frightened of me but refused to act on that fear? Or was she too afraid to move?
While I was still trying to figure out her thoughts, she asked her own question. “Can you lie?”
“No,” I rumbled. “And the fact that you can makes me doubt my whole plan.”
Her eyes widened. “You intend to keep me, as you told the elves?”
I sighed. “I certainly beat them; therefore, I won your debt fairly. You owe me.” It would have been a terrifying statement to any fae, but she just blinked at me in uncertainty. Cold uncertainty. I needed to make a decision before she dropped from exposure.
If I’d been in my normal fae form, I would have collapsed into a library chair for this discussion. Instead, I was stuck as a looming monster over someone who had far too little voice in the situation.
She stepped closer to me. “You were going to ask me for a favor in exchange for your help earlier. I suppose you can just demand it now.”
I huffed a chuckle, but it, too, sounded like a growl. Perhaps she had plenty of voice. I shook my head. “I will not demand your assistance in that. For your debt, I will insist that you accompany me to a human community and dry yourself off before you lose any body parts.”
She smiled up at me, her eyes shining, and stepped closer. And then closer again, until she set her hand on the fur of my front leg. “I do not think you understand how much I appreciate what you did for me. I told you I would do anything if you hid me. How can I help you?”
Her touch on my leg raced up to my heart. Those elves must have been truly horrible if she was more afraid of them than a bear who could crush her with one claw. Especially one who had considered constraining her with the bargain I needed.
But no. Queen Daneira might have stripped me of my dignity, but I refused to give her my decency too. “I will take you to a human town. You can tell them that fae exist who are kind to humans. It will be enough.”
She stepped back so she could stare into my face more easily and plopped her hands up on her hips. “Listen, Fae Bear, you very likely just saved my life. There is clearly something on your mind. What exactly could a human do for you?”
“Not any human,” I grumbled, “and I refuse to require it of anyone, including you.”
She raised her brows expectantly. “Then request it, and see if I will offer my help.”
I sighed. That would be for the best. Once she heard it, she would understand why it was so reprehensible. “I am cursed with this form during the day,” I started.
She glanced at the sky. “And in two hours?”
“I will change back to a fae.”
She gathered up the golden hair around her face and tucked it behind her shoulders. “What’s a fae?”
“Very similar to your elves.” Based on what I saw and the magic they used, I was not sure there were any differences between us. But that was a topic for another day. This one had a time limit.
She folded her arms again, as if trying to conserve heat. “And?”
“And.” I would have preferred to hand her a summary on a piece of parchment, but my throaty bear voice was the only way I had to communicate here. “And I will be stuck in this form permanently if I do not find a wife before tonight.”