Chapter 6
brYN
They're all looking at me and my grin wavers as I tuck the vial that human woman just secreted into my sleeve higher up, so that no one notices it.
It's a healing potion, I'm almost sure. But how did she know I need it?
And why didn't she say anything about it to anyone in the room, not even to Dane?
Not that it matters to me. I've already decided that I won't be telling the others anyway. What would be the point? What could they really do?
'Bryn,' Jak says quietly. 'You pledged yourself to the Underhill.'
'Yes.' I tilt my head at him, stowing my questions about Lia for later. 'I don't understand. Why are you all looking as if I’ve done something awful?'
Did they truly want me to be cast out? I frown at the three of them. Are they upset that I’m still here?
If so, it’s a doubly good thing I took control in here today. But then why did the trio speak up and claim me in this odd law?
'They own you now, Bryn,’ Jak says quietly.
I chuckle, and then as his words sink deeper into me, I begin to laugh a little more loudly.
I gasp and the sudden expansion hurts my chest, so I try not to do it again, putting my hand up to keep him from saying anything else that might cause me to start giggling uncontrollably, because I might.
It's close. A hair's breadth from starting and I don't know if I'll be able to stop.
Is this what hysteria is?
They're all looking at each other as if I've gone mad. I clutch at my chest, trying to control myself.
'You don't see,' I choke out, tears of mirth threatening to run down my cheeks. 'You just don't understand.'
Jak and the others aren't laughing.
'What don't we understand, little human?' Morgan asks quietly, taking my hand in a gentle grip.
I pull away immediately, sensing his condescension and not liking it one bit, enjoying his touch and not liking that either.
I'm not distraught, or going mad. Things went according to plan, more or less.
As far as I can tell, they've gone as well as they could have, especially as the Light Realm doesn't seem to be quite the utopia that I'd heard it was, at least not for my kind.
But it's good enough considering where I've come from and I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
'I've been a slave all my life,' I chuckle, 'and now I'm in the Light and I can stay here.'
'That was worth the Law of the Fourth? It was worth signing yourself over to serve the Underhill without knowing how they'll make you fulfill your promise?' Jak asks, looking incredulous.
I return the look. 'Yes. Of course it was.'
I shake my head at his foolish question.
'So, I have to stay in your home with you and you'll all have to make sure I don't do anything to hurt your precious village.
So, what? I wasn't going to anyway. You have nothing to worry about.
And then I have to help the Underhill in the Dark Realms. Do I want to return there?
No, but if it means I have a place here to come back to, I'll do it, Jak. I'll do almost anything.'
They still look confused. Jak's mouth opens and then closes, he gives Locke an angry look.
'Almost anything,' I say again. 'Don't you see?'
'Bryn, the Underhill will call in your debt to them,' Dane explains from the dais, looking just as confused as Morgan, Locke, and Jak.
'Yes. But you aren't listening. I spent my life at an outpost in a dying world,' I say.
'I'm no stranger to the Dark Realms, to cruelty.
I spent the last months in the pits, and I didn't die there, my mind wasn’t lost. I wanted a place here.
Now, I have secured it and it's worth whatever I must do.
I made a deal. There was no other way, not when more than half of your Council voted for me to be cast out and were so adamant that they began to say that you shouldn't be allowed to stay here either. '
I frown as I think back to my trial.
'I don't quite understand why Calder was so desperate to get rid of me for being Fate Touched that he would consider sacrificing three Underhill spies only to turn around and make a bargain with me but?—'
'Because, despite voting against you, they want you, Bryn,' Dane snarls low.
'They covet what you can do, the same as they covet the Harbinger’s power.
But my Lia is much too strong to roll over and do as she's told, and she has allies in the Underhill within the Council Five itself.
You do not. Calder and Voss likely had a plan to somehow take yo?—'
'Of course!' Jak interrupts him quietly, slapping his palm to his forehead. 'They would have had her cast out and then had one of their network capture her quietly in Merediea.'
Locke nods. 'They'd have made you work for them anyway, Bryn. Probably made a deal for your freedom if you did what they wanted, but without any official obligation to see it through.'
'There,' I say, validated by their words and still not quite understanding why they're so upset. 'See? This is much better. I'm already free and they can't treat me like a slave or trick me into helping them with promises and then leave me in the Dark to my fate.'
I see Locke and Morgan wince at the parallel I've drawn, and I snort. 'I'm truly one of the freefolk now.'
My smile widens again, hearing it out loud for the first time.
'Tell her, Locke.'
'Tell me what?' I snap, all at once finished with their cryptic fae nonsense.
'The Law of the Fourth, Bryn. You think it's…that we're simply responsible if you do anything wrong here, but…' Locke trails off, looking vaguely ill.
I frown at their drawn faces, my stomach clenching uncomfortably. '…Is it not?'
'You do understand, don't you, Bryn, about the Law of the Fourth?' Dane asks, appearing uncertain. 'You do know what you've agreed to…'
'Of course she doesn't,' Jak snaps. 'She'd never have said yes if she knew what it entails!'
I stare at Dane, my mouth doing dry. I swallow hard, wishing I had some water to moisten my tongue.
'I thought…Locke, Morgan, and Jak are responsible for ensuring I don't try and raze this place to the ground.
That's what it sounded like. I suppose I must thank you three, too,' I say, turning back to them while I remember.
'You had a part in my not being cast out. '
Though I'm loath to admit it, they did actually try to help me. Though they didn't do much, they did speak up. But none of them say a word to me now, none of them meet my eyes.
I whirl back to face the front of the room, stung. Perhaps they do regret that they're lumbered with me again. Perhaps they didn’t truly know what they were agreeing to either.
'Bryn.'
I look up at Dane. He's come out from behind the table. He stands in front of me.
'What is it?' I ask, trying to hide my impatience, and not sure I'm succeeding.
Why can't fae just speak plainly? Everyone is looking as if something is terribly wrong. What have I missed?
'The Law of the Fourth,' he answers, looking beyond me at the others. 'You misunderstand.'
I wait for him to speak, my stomach sinking a little lower, twisting a little tighter.
'It's a mate bond, Bryn,' I hear Locke say harshly from behind me.
I spin to face him and the others. 'What do you mean?'
'We must all be bound to you and you to us. It's a ritual of blood.'
I gape at him, searching his eyes, but I see no trickery there.
'Tell her the rest, Locke,' Jak commands, sounding angry. 'There's another part.'
Locke looks away. 'It's not complete until you've been…claimed.'
'But you already did,' I argue. 'You claimed me in here just moments ago. That was the word you all used.'
'That was the promise,' Dane says quietly. 'The claiming itself is…more private.'
He says those last two words with a meaningful look at me and then the others and, finally, I grasp the truth. My mouth drops open.
'I didn't realize,' I mutter quietly, finally understanding now why Locke and the others look so unhappy.
They don't want me. I steel my thoughts toward them, realizing that feelings other than anger and loathing had begun to creep in.
Why should I care if they don't want me? I don't want them either!
I give my head a small shake.
'It need only be one of us,' Locke begins, his eyes finding Jak, though Morgan's countenance darkens at the implication that it should only be the healer who lies with me.
'No,' Dane pipes up. 'Calder will ensure that it is all of you.
He'll want the binding to be as strong as possible, so that her leash is as tight as yours is.
They'll likely try to use the bond created to keep you in line, Bryn.
He will petition for it to be all three, if it isn't done, or he will simply take Bryn. '
Dane looks up at the ceiling, clearly wishing this meeting was long over. He's not the only one.
'If it isn't done,' he continues, 'Calder will use that as an excuse to remove Bryn to the Underhill for the training he's demanding, instead of doing it here in the Light.
She'll be locked in a cell when she isn't with Voss.
Then, after the mission is complete, whether it fails or succeeds, she'll likely be cast out into the Dark regardless.
The sooner you're bound, the better protected you are, but at the same time, the more within Calder and Voss's power you'll be. '
Dane lets out a world-weary sigh.
'But you will be one of Halsford's residents by Calder's own admission if you succeed in luring Fiana out. He can't take that back now, so long as you're bound as well. Both are part and parcel of the deal you made, and both must be honored for it to stand.'
Dane stands up straighter, giving the males behind me a pointed look before his gaze finds me.
'I didn't know you were Kismet, but Calder is known for planning quickly. I assume Voss found out during the interrogation.'
I snort at him.
'I thought it was merely a talk,' I say, my eyes narrowing a little. 'You didn't call it an interrogation, one that was just for show.'