Chapter 2 #5
She ignores me, going to a table laden with food, filling a pack she’s found somewhere, and stuffing her mouth full along the way. She finds a jug of wine and sniffs it, but then glances around the room of corpses and wisely puts it back.
I lurch over to Bere, rifling through his pack to find the belt he stole from me. I quickly check all my pouches and see that most of my possessions seem to be intact.
‘Come,’ I say, grabbing one of the money bags that the orcs were throwing around during their wagers as an afterthought because we’ll need coin in Merediea until we can travel to the Light.
We leave the chamber and enter a smaller, round cavern with polished black walls. There’s a cell at one end where a huge demon lounges behind iron bars.
Bryn freezes and I put a finger to my lips.
‘I’ve made it so that no one can see us, but they can still hear us,’ I whisper. ‘It’s the best I can do at the moment. So, be quiet.’
She doesn’t seem surprised that I can work magick. She doesn’t even question it. She simply nods and we walk slowly, and as silently as we can, down the next wide passage.
We slip into the room where the stone Ring stands ready to connect to the Breach, a huge natural cavity where the walls are high, and a small hole in the very top of the room filters in a tiny amount of natural light.
‘Take your pick,’ drawls a short pixie beside the tall, open door, holding the ropes of five large human males who stand docilely. ‘Any one of these fighters will do well in the arenas from Merediea to the Sixteenth Circle. I guarantee it.’
We sneak by the pixie and his slaves as well as past the two orcs who are bartering with him.
The roar of the Breach has me pulling Bryn to the side as the Bridge connects and we’re too close to the protective markers that shouldn’t be crossed. We’re pushed backward a few steps with the force of the opening.
As we watch, a tall fae male dressed in rich dark crimson silks appears.
Behind him is a group of chained humans.
All of them look terrified. Some are crying and whimpering quietly.
Two others with short whips at the back yell at them to be quiet and the humans are herded over to the other side of the cavern.
No one here looks surprised to see them but I freeze, staring at them, their clothes, their terrified expressions.
These humans aren’t Dark Realm slaves. Not yet. This is a group that’s been stolen. Just now.
‘Bryn,’ I whisper.
She looks over at me, her face still devoid of emotion.
‘See those humans?’
She nods.
‘They’ve been stolen from the Light Realm. That’s why I was here. I was trying to find information about where they’re being taken from and how. Do you understand?’
‘You want to help the humans?’ she asks, canting her head and looking confused again.
‘No.’ I grimace. ‘I mean, yes. Of course I do, but there’s no saving these ones. We’ll never get so many back through Merediea without being caught. But I need to find out more about these fae who have brought them so that we can stop them at the source. Stay here. Don’t move.’
She nods a little and I make my way over to where the fae are standing with the scared humans. I note that the youngest is probably only six or seven and I clench my hands into fists, wishing I could save them from their fates the way I couldn’t save Nanna and the others.
But I can’t. Even if I was at full strength, there’s no getting them out of here.
As I watch them, one gets out of the bindings and breaks away from the others with a cry, running toward the Ring, but one of the orcs catches her easily, laughing as she struggles against him.
‘This one’s a bit more courageous than the others,’ he remarks. ‘I’ll give you ten gold bits for her.’
‘She’s worth more than that. She’s fresh from the Light. Look at the fear in her eyes. You can’t buy that for twenty in Merediea, let alone ten.’
‘But we en’t in Merediea. And she won’t know anything about being a good slave for me.’
The fae purses his lips. ‘Make it fifteen.’
‘Done.’
I hear the money clink as it changes hands, but I’m not watching them anymore. I should be paying close attention to the exchange, trying to learn as much as I can, but, across the room, an orc smells the air and starts making his way in Bryn’s direction.
She doesn’t move. Her chest heaves, so I know she’s afraid, but that’s the only thing that gives it away.
My magick comes out of me swiftly, a conjure that makes her invisible to his nose as well as his eyes, though it saps what little is left of my strength, making my head spin. He stops and sniffs around a bit, but then goes the opposite way. I let out the breath I’d been holding.
She stays where she is, expression vacant like an empty shell, and I wonder if the conjure I worked on her has had unforeseen effects because of what she is. A Kismet is so rare that they were never really touched upon specifically in any of my magickal studies.
She stands by the wall, staring at nothing, no one. Just waiting.
I hate it. She’s not herself at all and my conjures are clearly at least some of the problem.
I need to remove them carefully but not here.
I don’t know how she’ll react to me once she remembers the truth and I don’t have the strength at the moment at any rate.
A thought enters my mind and I wince. What if, because she’s not the same as other humans, I can’t undo what I’ve done?
Gods, she’s just suffered weeks in the pits because of me. I can’t leave her like this. I won’t. We’ll get out of here and I’ll find a way to fix it. I won’t let my actions hurt her anymore.
I can’t think of what comes next. Merediea. The Light Realm. I need to focus on the present, find out what I can, maybe claw back some reason for all that has happened, all I’ve done, so that Bryn’s suffering hasn’t been in vain.
I let out a long breath and turn my attention back to the fae who came through with the humans. He’s walking around them slowly. One of the orcs approaches him with a grin. They know each other.
My eyes narrow as I watch, committing everything they say to memory.
‘You’re early,’ the orc remarks and the fae shrugs. ‘Good luck in the hunts?’
The fae chuckles. ‘Very good luck as you can see. An entire caravan of females with only a handful of males guarding them. The males weren’t worth bringing though. Not this time. Too weak to be bulls.’
‘Your lady will be happy with so many.’
‘Aye, she will, and some of them are quite sturdy. She likes it when they’re not too frail. They last longer in her court. Better for her experiments, too. Same amount as usual to keep them here for a bit?’
‘Aye, usual price,’ the orc nods and the fae hands over a jingling purse, which the orc takes and stows in his tunic.
‘How long this time?’
‘But a few hours. Feel free to take any of the older ones, use them to slake your lusts if you like. But the younger ones I need to remain unspoiled. She wanted some pure ones for her research.’
‘Aye, I remember,’ he chuckles. ‘I’ll let the others on duty know there’s some diversion to be had.’
‘When is the Breach next set to open?’ the fae asks casually, eyeing the humans he’s brought. ‘Need to make sure they’re chained well. They try their luck when they think there’s a way out. Had a runner the other week.’
‘Did you? I hadn’t heard.’
‘Aye. He got away, too.’ The fae rolls his eyes and shakes his head. ‘Only to Merediea, not the Light but…’
‘Did you catch him?’
‘No. I sent two to search for a bit, but there was no hide nor hair. Probably picked up by an opportunist as soon as he was seen. Likely sold and on his way to some backwater Circle as we speak. Pity. He was a big one. Would have fetched a good price in her court even as fodder for the beasts she keeps.’
‘Bad luck. It’ll be open to Merediea soon. Not long to go. I’d get ’em stowed if I were you, mate.’
That’s a stroke of luck at least. In Merediea I have a room and we’ll be able to stay out of sight in case anyone comes looking.
Warrior, when he wakes, definitely will.
I’ll need to ensure we’re not discoverable while I gather my strength, make contact with Dane or one of the others, and we wait for our way to the Light.
They keep chatting with each other, so I stay where I am, though I’m conscious now of the Breach opening soon. We don’t want to miss our only way of escape.
‘Aye, will do,’ the fae says. ‘Ah, I’m meant to tell you there’s a big one coming before season’s end.
Some festival in a city. Thousands to be had.
’ He laughs. ‘We’re taking as many as we can in one go.
She has some idea to make them forget about the ones we take so we can keep going back.
Some conjure she’s going to work, I think.
The city itself makes it possible or some such.
’ He waves a flippant hand. ‘Can’t say I listened too closely.
She goes on a bit. Anyway, they might be taken straight to her court, but if we do have need… ’
The orc chuckles. ‘Let me know if and when. I’ll make sure we have the space.’
The information runs through my mind, making my heart thud hard in my chest. There aren’t many places in the Light Realm that they could be talking about.
If we can work out which city and what festival, we’ll know where the slavers are going to be and when.
Finally, something useful. Now, I just need to get back to the Light so we can use it.
I look over my shoulder at Bryn. She’s still standing not far from the Ring. The fae and the orc have stopped conversing and I hear the fae ordering the humans to be chained securely.
I make my way back to her quietly. She stares at my feet, her eyes not rising. She hasn’t looked at me properly since I was chained to the wall. In fact, her eyes barely leave the floor.
I don’t like her like this, not at all. My regret increases the more I see of her, how not her she is.