Chapter 5
brYN
I’m aware of movement, a bustling close to me. When I open my eyes, I find Locke at the wardrobe in the corner, taking clothes from inside.
I’m in the Light Realm!
I sit up abruptly, excitement flowing through me, scarcely able to believe that it’s true. I’m really here! I thought for certain that it was just another trick yesterday. But Locke actually brought me to the Light.
When he sees that I’m awake, he gives me a slow perusal out of the corner of his eye that makes mine narrow a fraction.
What does he want from me, some thanks for finally fulfilling his part of the deal?
Fuck him!
‘How are you?’ he asks.
I don’t say anything at first. How am I? I don’t know.
My eyes begin to swim at the question and I look away for a moment. I don’t want him to see how much I’m feeling.
But I’m actually in the Light Realm. I’m not a slave any longer!
I let out a hard breath that I can’t help.
‘I can’t believe I’m truly here,’ I say, deciding not to hide my disbelief.
His lips press into a line and I frown a little.
It’s been one night. Does he regret bringing the dirty Dark Realm slave with him already?
As he turns toward me, I see his face fully for the first time.
I gasp at the bruises and swelling. He was looking better yesterday after we came here. This must have been done after I went to bed last night, and he hasn’t had a healing potion.
‘They beat you again?’ I can’t help but ask, wishing I didn’t sound as if I cared.
After all, he deserves it.
‘Aye,’ he answers readily, his lips turning upward. ‘But, not to worry, Jak will give me another healing potion later this morning.’
‘I’m not worried,’ I say, looking away from him. ‘Just wondered who to thank.’
He lets out a reluctant chuckle as he puts some clothes on the bed. ‘Well, you’ll see Morgan soon, so you can. Get dressed. I’ll be waiting for you. We need to talk.’
I watch him as he leaves, closing the door softly to give me some privacy.
I get up and find water for washing in the ewer and then I put on the dress that he’s left for me, draping the clothes I slept in on the chair.
The gown is dark green with silver trim, and made of thick, quality linen.
I’ve never worn something so fine, definitely never seen any human wearing clothes like this.
I stare at myself in the looking glass, in awe of the finery at first, but then I frown at my reflection.
Why is he dressing me up?
I open the door to find him sitting at the table, eating breakfast. My stomach rumbles loudly. I remember going to bed last night before I could eat the dinner that Morgan had prepared.
He looks up at me, watches me in silence, surveying me and the clothes.
I sink down across from him without being asked and I tear a chunk of bread from the boule in front of me before regarding him with open suspicion. Everything I do is the opposite of what my behaviors would be if I was a slave. I make sure I don’t look at the floor once.
It’s more difficult to do than I thought it would be. I have to think about my every action, but it feels good.
‘Why?’ I ask, gesturing at the dress he’s provided.
‘That’s what we need to talk about,’ he replies cryptically.
‘Where are the others?’ I ask, looking around and wondering if they’re still abed.
‘Jak went to the healer’s rooms early to make sure everything is stocked properly and Morgan was up at first light. He’s helping to build cottages along the way. They’ll meet us there.’
I give him a questioning look. ‘Meet us where?’
‘At the Council Hall. Where we went yesterday. You met Dane, remember?’
I nod though I don’t recall much of their conversation.
‘You’re to take me back this morning,’ I say. ‘Someone needs to speak to me?’
He nods. ‘Firstly, there’s nothing to be afraid of.’
My eyes narrow. I wasn’t afraid in the least. But I am now that he’s said it.
‘You…don’t think they’ll let me remain in the village?’ I can’t help but ask, my mind swirling in fear, spiraling downward in a panic I can’t control.
I can’t go back to the Dark.
My heart begins to beat quickly as I wonder where I can go if I’m not allowed to stay here.
I can’t go back to the Dark!
‘I don’t understand. This is the Light Realm. Humans are welcome here.’
I take in a deep breath, feeling a little dizzy suddenly and I grip the table hard.
‘Aren’t they?’
Gods, what if this isn’t the Light after all? What if this was all a trick? I suddenly feel cold and clammy. A bead of sweat rolls slowly down my spine and I feel as if I might lose what little I’ve already eaten.
No, this is the Light. It has to be. The humans I saw last night were clearly free. I could see it in their eyes. They couldn’t have pretended that.
‘Yes, humans are welcome here.’
I let out a breath I’d been holding, grasping onto his words, using them to allay my fears.
In front of me, Locke closes his eyes and rubs his temples. He looks like the weight of all the Circles are on his shoulders.
‘Explain,’ I order with a hiss, my hands shaking in my lap. ‘Why have you dressed me up? Why are you worried? You said I could stay here. What’s changed? Or were you lying to me? Again!’
He ignores my outburst, studies me for a moment, and gives me a small smile that puzzles me.
‘You’ll do so well here if they just let you,’ he mutters almost to himself.
Then he straightens. ‘I am worried. I want you to know, I need you to know that I didn’t tell you about this before we came here, not because I was trying to hide anything from you, but because I didn’t realize it would be a problem.
We were in the Dark for months, you see?
Before that, we spent little time here while we prepared for our mission.
I had assumed that once I explained things to Dane, told him that you were the reason the mission succeeded, that it would simply be a question of him allowing you to remain. ’
He takes a deep breath. ‘But, after speaking with him and then Jak and Morgan last night, we think that things are more different in Halsford than we realized.’
‘What is it that’s different?’ I ask.
‘The laws governing those who come here from the Dark, for one thing. I’d assumed Dane could speak to you if it was even needed, but he says he isn’t permitted anymore, and it has to be done by an enforcer.’
I pick at the bread I took. ‘What’s an enforcer?’
‘An enforcer is always a fae born in the Underhill. They work toward the Underhill’s best interests from the shadows.’ He purses his lips. ‘They’re spies, Bryn, and one of them is always here when the Village Council convenes.’
‘Spies,’ I say softly, trying out the word. ‘Like you?’
‘Yes and no. I didn’t grow up in the Underhill so I… Fae like me aren’t allowed to hold positions there.’ He looks away almost angrily. ‘We aren’t trusted enough.’
‘Jak and Morgan can’t either?’
He shakes his head. ‘No, Jak grew up in the Fold, a tiny realm with a few hundred other fae. He didn’t even know the Underhill existed until he was older. Morgan was born in the Dark Realms to a fae mother and an orc father. He isn’t permitted in the Underhill at all.’
‘And what about you? Where are you from?’ I ask, not sure why I want to know Locke’s story as he’s a great, big cunt of an untrustworthy mage, but I do.
He seems to stumble over his words before he looks down at his plate. ‘It’s believed I was born in the Underhill but I was taken from there to the Light Realm along with many others.’
I tilt my head at him. ‘By who? Why?’
‘A human, a mage from Kitore, the First City. He had all the fae in the Underhill at the time taken in a raid. It was different then. Smaller. There were just females and faelings living there for safety. There were almost no warriors there to protect them. He took them all. Later, he killed the females after stealing their natural magick, and hid the children. The fae were able to find them and get them back, but no one knew for sure how many there had been. The records were destroyed, minds altered by Kitore’s turbulent wards. ’
‘But you weren’t returned? What happened to you?’ I can’t help but ask, though I’m sure I’ll kick myself for it later.
My heart needs to remain hard toward him, and the others.
‘Nothing. Maybe I was with the children who were taken. Maybe I wasn’t.
I don’t remember. But I was taken in by a human woman.
She found me wandering on a road outside the town of Midway, she said.
She estimated I was but two years old. I don’t know how I came to be there.
She took me to her home, grew my hair long to cover my ears so no one would know I wasn’t human. ’
‘What about your eyes?’ I blurt.
‘My eyes?’
‘They’re a purple color sometimes. Other fae as well.’
‘We naturally hide our eyes when we’re young. And we can choose to once we reach maturity.’
‘Oh,’ I say, looking back down at the table where my piece of bread is now naught but crumbs where I’ve absentmindedly demolished it.
The silence stretches between us.
I look up to find him watching me and, suddenly self-conscious, I take another piece of bread from the sliced boule to cover the pile of crumbs I’ve created.
‘So you were able to hide in the Light Realm,’ I prompt when he doesn’t speak.
He lets out a mirthless chuckle. ‘Yes, it wasn’t difficult back then.
Faelings look practically human except for our ears when we’re young.
It’s not until we’re older that most of us begin to look other to the humans.
Taller. More angular features. Some like Jak can blend in well, but most of us can be picked out. ’
He leans back in his chair with a small sigh, looking up at the ceiling.
‘But, in truth, we rarely saw outsiders at Nanna’s. She lived deep in the forest. She had other children, too, all a bit older than me. Soral, Bandy, and Tash. They became my brothers and my sister. They taught me everything. I cared about all of them as if they were my true family.’
‘Where are they now?’ I ask. ‘Here in the Light?’
‘No, Bryn.’ He closes his eyes. ‘They aren’t in the Light.’