Chapter 1 #2
“No. Not like this. Leave him a stone on his pyre later, but do not seek him out in this moment.” Mila studied one of the vials in her hand, then looked down at where I sat on the hard ground. “Get up, child. To your feet. You should be moving soon.”
“Why must I move? Why do you rush?” I asked.
Her aged face stilled, those eyes boring through me with deep sorrow and patience.
Mila’s words were never long, but she did attempt kindness in the moments when she remembered me to be the child she’d taught how to read and write and decipher the plants of the mountains.
“This is a village of humans, Wren. And as much as you or I appear to be the same, they will remember our differences the moment they find their anger through their grief. Both of us must prepare to move on.”
Our differences.
Still feeling numb, I stood up as Mila bent to scoop a new vial of oil, lost for any actions that weren’t handed to me and ready to obey Mila’s advice until I could regain myself. I wiped my face with my sleeve, eyeing the smoldering buildings behind me.
“Where are the raiders? How did any of us survive?” I asked.
Mila sighed, looking her raven in its blind eye for a moment.
“Something from the Wyldes came down from the mountains and slaughtered the raiders.” Mila stood, brushing her knees. “It has been an age since I last laid eyes on a fae.”
The numbness in my body subsided briefly, just enough to let in a jolt of fear.
“A fae?” My heart sputtered. “Here?”
“Do not bring fear of the fae into your heart, child.” Mila came up to me and stroked the hair hanging over what remained of my left ear. “He killed only the raiders. If he wanted to do the same to the village he would have done it, not pulled you from the lake.”
My body froze, but my eyes darted wildly. I looked at the lake, then at the path to the small fire for the injured. I looked to the remaining buildings, to the men scrambling to save what they could. The blacksmith still stirred the water for more people.
“A creature from the Wyldes carried me to the fire?” I asked.
Mila nodded.
“A thing from the north pulled me from the burning lake? Not one of the villagers?”
“They would not save you. The fae saw this and pulled you free himself.” Mila rubbed her bad wrist. “They might have saved you last, but only after their own had been rescued. Is this a surprise to you?”
“No,” I murmured. Numbness, emptiness, grief, all were replaced by a burning hatred in my chest. Clenching my fists, I took a calming breath. It didn’t work. I turned and watched the people at work.
“Bryn would have saved anyone.” My voice cracked as I spat my words at the village. At anyone who would listen, though none were close enough to hear me.
“I know, child.” Mila reached to pat my arm. A tear trickled down my face. I ignored it and steeled myself.
“What am I to do now?” I cried, furiously wiping my face on my sleeve. “My . . . I can’t hold him. I can’t even see him.”
“Bryn is gone, child. But the one who saved you is yet here, the fae. The villagers do not dare approach him.” Mila scanned my face. “There is fear in the hearts of men of what is unfamiliar to them. You have no reason to fear him, and at the very least you owe him your gratitude.”
I looked to where she pointed. South of the village, a dark figure moved among the dead. He walked slowly between the pile of horses and plainsmen, bending down on occasion, looking for something.
My eyes darted again to the village. Some threw worried glances behind them. They were staying well out of his way. Bumps coated my arms, and my breath came fast. The people of the mountains might not trust the fae, but they didn’t trust me either.
“I thought you told me not to thank one of them,” I said.
“Do not thank one needlessly, Wren,” Mila said, her croaking voice sharp. “This is one instance in which it is a requirement. There are consequences to owing a debt to a fae, this is true. But to not thank one who saved your life would be far worse.”
My hurting heart sank. I was trapped without a choice. I blinked away the fresh tears in my eyes, my throat tightening again as my body trembled to release my grief.
“Mila,” I whispered.
“You are more than the fear of the humans in this mountain, child. Show him respect and then go home. Whatever comes of it, may it be for a day far from this one. The shock of this day will wear off, and I would have you warm in your bed when it does. Prepare your things. Times are moving, and soon so must I.”
Mila gave me a rare smile. She wouldn’t lead me astray. So be it.
I took a quivering breath and turned to approach the figure to the south. The pine needles crunched underfoot in rhythm with my beating heart. I drew the dotted circle of protection over my heart when I was only steps away from the creature.
“Hello, sir. Can you understand me?” He looked down at me, and my eyes widened as I finally looked at him from so close.
He was huge. His skin was blue as midnight.
His shaggy hair, hanging loose nearly to his shoulders, was just a shade darker, almost black.
Blood speckled him like stars, and beneath the blood a collection of scars told a long tale of violence.
His silver eyes were as sharp as his teeth, and both looked ready to pierce me straight through.
My eyes flicked up to the telltale pointed ears of the fae, something I’d never seen in person before, then back to his face. He stared at me for a moment, then he gave me a slow nod. “I understand you.”
The fact that he spoke struck me as unexpected.
Something so beastly speaking the common tongue didn’t seem to fit, yet he spoke all the same.
I shivered at his voice, low and soft and demanding caution.
The numbness of Bryn’s loss was somewhat replaced by the panic I felt before this fae, if only while I was in his presence.
I trembled like a rabbit before the fox.
“Thank you,” I managed to whisper. “For saving me.”
He narrowed his eyes at me and looked me up and down. “I accept your thanks, and on another day your favor.”
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I waited for his next move. Some kind of trick, or a sinister laugh of triumph that he had fooled me. But instead, he turned his attention away from me and back to what he had been doing.
The fae studied each body and only occasionally stooped down to pull something free.
I watched as he ripped a dagger from the belly of a horse, throwing it onto a pile of bloody weapons.
The blade had pierced the animal’s intestines; I could almost taste it in the air.
It was lucky that my stomach was already empty or my last meal would have been on the ground.
I resisted covering my nose. Something feral about the fae told me not to show any signs of weakness.
I watched as he worked, fascinated at his speed and precision but even more fascinated by his struggle.
Something in this task was burdensome to him, I just hadn’t figured out what that was yet.
Should I assist in the task, or would I be underfoot if I tried?
With my thanks given, I had nothing left to offer here, so I turned from him to see if I could find Bryn’s body, despite Mila’s warnings.
A hand shot out and grabbed my shoulder. I turned, my heart thumping. The fae’s arm had stopped me where I stood, and I nearly fainted.
“Wait.”
The look on his face was not a pleasant one, and he turned his nose to me like a wolf scenting his prey. He brought his other hand up, still gripping my shoulder, and delicately brushed the braided hair from the side of my face, exposing my ear. My shame.
The tips of both ears had been cut off in horrible, rough lines where there should sit two curved tips. Ugly and scarred, a glaring reminder that I was only half a human. The reason I’d been abandoned. The reason the village hated me.
Tears and hatred burned my eyes. Before they spilled over, I pushed at his chest, as deep an insult as I could muster.
I hated him in that moment. Hated that he could tell I wasn’t one of the people of the village.
That even a complete stranger knew I wasn’t one of the people here, not really.
Tearing from his grasp, I ran for the woods, praying to anyone who was listening that he wouldn’t follow.
From what I could tell, he didn’t, and while my prayers were working, I also asked never to lay eyes on another fae.