Chapter 5 #6
I nod. Since Bryn arrived, the crowd has been getting more and more unruly.
Some of the humans seem ambivalent to the proceedings but there’s definitely a group of them, dispersed throughout the crowd so as to appear to be a bigger number, that are inciting discontent.
They stay far from Morgan and me, but I still notice them whispering to those around them.
Someone spits at Bryn. It lands on the floor by her feet.
She ignores it.
‘This stinks of Calder,’ Morgan mutters.
The councilor in question sits behind the long table on the dais next to Tavish, the trading merchant who’s made his wealth carting supplies back and forth for Halsford. He and Calder are in business heavily together and have been since they took Gwen and Drakar’s Council places.
I nod. ‘Bryn. She looks…’
‘Different than she did earlier,’ he says with a frown.
‘I was going to say oddly indifferent. But what do you see?’
I survey her thoroughly. She looks the same as before Voss disappeared with her to me, but I’ve never known an enforcer to take someone to another room to ask their questions unless they’re a known threat to Halsford or the Underhill. I didn’t like that at all.
‘I don’t like this,’ Morgan mutters, echoing my thoughts. ‘And I don’t trust Voss either. It was meant to be Avendel. He’s at least not wholly Calder’s lap dog.’
The gavel is banged by Dane, who is trying to look impartial, but is clearly more than a little incensed by the way that his position as Head of the Council is being constantly undermined this morning.
‘The Underhill is telling us our business more and more and no one thinks to thwart them,’ Morgan seethes.
I hush him in case someone near us overhears. The last thing we need is for Morgan to be charged with sedition. As a former Dark Realmer, his position here is always a little tenuous, but it’s obvious that things are much worse here than we thought even last night.
And I have no doubt that Calder and Tavish are involved.
It’s no secret that ever since so many fae females were killed and their faelings hidden, the Underhill has been fearful of it happening again.
And then when Varrik was able to infiltrate their home…
and with his protege, Fiana, still at large, the fae have been trying to claw back every advantage they can.
They’re becoming desperate. They’ll stop at nothing to deal out justice to their enemies and, lately, they seem to be ensuring that Halsford is filled only with their staunchest supporters.
I look around and scoff, and these idiots really think the Underhill has their best interests at heart, that they would come to save them if this place was under attack.
No, they consider Halsford as their first defense. The humans here are merely fodder for any attack that comes. Nothing more.
Ignorant fools.
‘We shouldn’t have brought Bryn here,’ I say.
‘Where else could we have taken her?’ he mutters. ‘We promised her the Light.’
‘We didn’t promise her this.’
‘Enforcer Voss, what is your verdict?’ Dane booms out.
‘I’m afraid it is clear,’ Voss says from his place at the edge of the room. ‘The human is, regrettably, too Dark Realm for me to guarantee the safety of the village.’
His expression oozes regret.
Too much.
I lurch forward, but Morgan holds me back.
‘Wait. There will be discussion. The tide could still turn in Bryn’s favor.’
I scoff, but I do as he asks.
A few of the humans around the room look skeptical. Some even roll their eyes, but most say and do nothing. The loud ones clap and whoop and pat their nearby cohorts on the backs, all while looking elated.
Relieved.
As if the evil Dark Realmer could single-handedly take Halsford and it has now been saved from her.
‘She is but one human,’ Wren, the only other woman, human or otherwise, on the Council says, speaking for the first time.
She sneers a bit at Voss and I decide I like her.
‘She has not given us any indication of ulterior motives. She merely wishes to be safe. Is that not what we all wanted when we were liberated and brought here?’
‘And yet Enforcer Voss’ task, as given to him by the Fae Council, is to determine which of those who find themselves here are deserving,’ Tavish states.
Beside him, Calder gives a regal nod.
Wren snorts. ‘Enforcer Voss, though I’m sure adequate at his job, has never determined any Dark Realmer to be deserving in the two years since he took the post.’
Calder looks down the table at her and snorts.
‘That is because none of them have been. Have you forgotten that two autumns ago Halsford burned? Have you forgotten all those who were lost both in the fighting, the fire, and then during the harsh winter when you all had to brave the elements in canvas tents?’
Wren’s expression tightens. ‘I lost one of my own children, Councilor Calder. I’m sure that none could accuse me of forgetting!’
Calder puts his hands up. ‘Of course not. The fact of the matter is that this girl, a slave from the Dark Realms, has been deemed, not dangerous perhaps, but not able to be rehabilitated certainly, by an Underhill enforcer, who we all know have a tangible talent when it comes to separating truth from deception. Should we as governing council, with the village’s safety meant to be our top priority, really be willing to grant this creature sanctuary given Enforcer Voss’ findings?
’ He shakes his head, looking out over the crowd.
‘I know which way I will vote for my friends here in Halsford.’
When Wren says nothing in rebuttal, Calder leans back in his chair, looking smug.
‘All those in favor of sending the creature back from whence she came?’ Tavish says, not waiting for Dane to ask.
Dane’s eyes narrow. Calder, Tavish, and Shore’s hands go up, leaving Dane and Wren.
‘Passed!’
The louder of the crowd begin to chant. ‘Send it back! Send it back!’
‘Order!’ The gavel comes down hard, but the cries get louder and louder. The room is in pandemonium.
And, in the center, Bryn stands, looking unafraid. Her narrow eyes are on Calder as if waiting for something.
And then darkness descends over the room. The sconces splutter and the light from outside stops penetrating the windows. Everyone falls quiet immediately.
Dane stands, eyes flashing in the black.
‘There will be order,’ he snarls in barely a whisper, but the whole room hears it, and his barely contained power.
It’s not often that Dane reminds Halsford of his level as a mage, but when he does, the people take heed.
The silence is pervading, and then the light reappears and the atmosphere returns to normal within moments.
‘The verdict is clear,’ Dane says, his face betraying nothing of any true feelings he may have. ‘Bryn will be returned to the Dark Realms as soon as the Breach can be opened.’
No…
I turn to Morgan. ‘We need to do something.’
‘Aye!’ he spits out, looking as thunderous as Dane did a moment ago.
The crowd, having learned their lesson, quietly let their satisfaction regarding the outcome be known as we begin to make our way toward Bryn. I don’t know what we’re going to do, but we aren’t letting them throw her back through the Breach.
I look up angrily at Dane who’s staring out over the room. How could he let this happen?
His eyes land on me. ‘Or…as per the law, is there any here who will take her into their home, to be their responsibility?’
Tavish looks over with a loud scoff. ‘There’s no such law!’
Dane looks unperturbedly at the other Councilor but as the room erupts, his countenance darkens. He gazes out over the sea of faces.
‘Silence! Anyone who speaks out of turn leaves from this moment forward!’
The room quiets.
‘There’s no such law in the Underhill,’ Dane explains, peering down the table at the merchant, ‘but we aren’t in the Underhill. There is a precedent in the Light Realm. There has been for centuries. You should know that, Tavish.’
‘You speak of the Dark Army, their Law of the Fourth!’ Calder’s lip curls. ‘They were disbanded years ago! Their laws mean nothing now!’
Dane scoffs loudly. ‘Nothing? Do the edicts of Gaila, the First, also mean nothing to you? That sounds a bit…treasonous, Calder.’
The fae coughs. ‘Of course, that’s not what I meant. Our patron goddess is held in the highest esteem by me and the rest of my House!’
‘The Laws of the Dark Brothers were held within the Army and also outside of it,’ Wren pipes up, nodding. ‘Many a town and village in the Light, especially deep out here in the Ranges, subscribe to these laws still. It is a sound proposition.’
Next to her, Shore hiccups. He says nothing.
I look from Dane to Wren. What is the Law of the Fourth?
‘If she is bound by the Law, her actions will be governed, the responsibility of whomever claims her,’ Dane explains, clearly to appease the room. ‘Therefore, she will not be a danger to the village, or the Underhill.’
Next to Bryn, Locke’s eyes are almost frightened. Whatever Dane’s plan is, he didn’t share it.
Bryn herself is frowning in confusion as well.
‘Who will claim this woman?’
Claim her?
My stomach drops as I finally understand that this means.
Dane now stares directly at Locke, his face blank but his meaning clear.
Locke opens his mouth to do it, to be the one.
But Bryn doesn’t trust him. She doesn’t trust any of us at the moment, but Locke did the worst to her by far.
‘I will claim her,’ I call out quickly, pushing the rest of the way through the crowd that doesn’t move for me the way it does for Morgan.
Calder’s eyes narrow at me and I know I’ve just made a formidable enemy. His smile is vicious. ‘There cannot be only one. It’s called the Law of the Fourth for a reason! There must be three.’
Three? I seethe, hating the fae councilor more with each passing moment.
No one speaks for a moment too long, and Calder’s smile takes on a self-satisfied edge.
‘I will claim her,’ Locke belatedly says from Bryn’s other side and I grimace, knowing how she must be feeling.
Is this really any different than a slave auction?