Chapter 9 #2
There was another, Margaryte’s sister, from their striking resemblance, who had also been forced to leave her small children behind. Despite her own tragedy, she held in her tears, cradling her sister’s head in her lap.
Audra couldn’t look at them any longer; her throat ached, thick with tears, as anger stirred in her chest. She’d always thought the stories of the fae were exaggerated.
She and Fiera used to sit on her roof, outside Audra’s bedroom window, and wonder what would happen if the Mist ever dissipated.
Would magic seep into Khaveah like water into an old boat, or would it rush in like a tidal wave?
If magic returned … would the fae return to Khaveah?
Would the gods?
Audra had hoped so, despite the fear and hatred adults tended to harbor for the fae. Unlike them, she’d wanted to taste their magic.
But now it was clear their hatred had been well deserved. The fae were heartless. Monstrous.
A shadow sliding across Audra’s vision broke her from the cycle of dark thoughts, and blocked the light from the few lamps kept lit overnight.
Mist take her, but he was tall. As tall as a tree and just as sturdy.
“You’re finally awake,” she said to Callum by way of greeting, sitting up.
“Aye. Cersha told me what you and your friend did for us. Thank you.”
She dismissed his thanks with a wave of her hand. “I’m glad to see you up. I was getting worried; your sister awoke hours ago.”
The blacksmith grimaced, white teeth flashing. “Yeah, I think they must have doubled or tripled the dose they gave me.”
Audra nodded. She’d assumed the same.
“May I sit? I’m still a bit …” He waved a hand around his head before gesturing to the foot of her bed.
Audra nodded, tucking her legs beneath her, making room.
He sat down as far as he could manage, clearly trying to keep a proper distance between them, but he was so big it was almost comical to see him fold himself smaller to fit in such a tiny space.
“Cersha told me you and Wilder are puzzling out why we’ve been taken. I wanted to find out what you’ve discovered so far, if that’s okay. I realize it’s late, but when I saw you were still awake …”
Audra waved away his concern once more and leaned forward, whispering, “The thing is, Wilder and I don’t know much.
Both of our situations were similar. Though fae soldiers abducted her, and well-dressed, nonmilitary fae came for me, both were accompanied by a veiled priestess.
Wilder’s been on this ship for a week, but it’s only been a day for me.
” Audra noted his look of surprise. “Yes, somehow, the fae have been in Khaveah for a week, and yet, in the north, in Ruscal, we hadn’t heard anything about it.
I was brought here yesterday. I’m the only one they took from my town. ”
Callum took a moment to process what she said, bringing his hand up to his beard, smoothing it down in what seemed to be a habitual gesture. He winced when his thumb brushed his jaw, where a purple and green bruise had bloomed beneath the red of his beard.
“They came for us this morning. My sister was doing her lessons in my forge. One moment, she’s complaining about an arithmetic problem, and I’m telling her that I didn’t get the brains in the family, she did.
The next, everything goes white. I can’t see, I can’t hear …
” He was talking slowly, as if he was taking his time to relive every moment, or perhaps he was still a bit muddled.
Callum’s voice hitched as he continued, “When my senses returned to me, there were fae surrounding us, a mix of soldiers and well-dressed guards, and religious ladies … I’m a smith.
I’m in my forge; I had so many tools all around me, but I didn’t grab any of them in time.
I had my fucking bellows in my hand. I was making horseshoes, for forgotten gods’ sake.
Why couldn’t I have been forging a hoe or hammer?
” He shakes his head, his tone sharp with bitterness.
“Anyway, when the fog dissipated, there were so many of them. Too many. And they had my sister so quickly. She was right by the door, see, at this little table I’d built for her when we were younger. ”
He’s speaking through clenched teeth now. He looked pained, enraged. A big man like him probably wasn’t used to feeling helpless.
Audra had to force herself to keep her hands in her lap. She didn’t know this man; she shouldn’t just reach out and comfort him.
He shook himself a bit, and his deep voice calmed again, rumbling through his barrel chest. “Anyway, I think I overheard something—before they knocked me out. One of them, he … he smelled my sister. I mean, he put his face right up to her throat and sniffed.” Callum’s eyes darkened, his voice low and dangerous.
“Then he pulled out a fucking knife and nicked her throat, then … he tasted it. Her blood. I tried to get him to back the fuck away from her; I wanted to kill him. If I ever see him again, I will kill him. I was in such a frenzy I almost didn’t hear what he said after. ”
He looked around. Audra leaned closer. “And I’m only telling you this because Cersha seems to trust you, and she’s got a way about these things, but he said … she’s fae, alright. And so is he. Me. He meant me.”
Audra’s blood ran cold, and her chest constricted, as she remembered suddenly what the mad-dog fae had said.
No need to bleed her, I can smell her from here.
Audra had forgotten because moments later, she had been trying to keep her father’s skull from breaking apart in her hands.
Could this be the missing piece? Did everyone on this ship have fae heritage in their bloodline?
Audra whispered, “Well, are you fae?”
“No. Well, I don’t think so. It’s impossible, right? The fae have been gone for thousands of years.”
“But we could have fae heritage,” she suggested, the words tasting absurd on her tongue.
Callum paused, studying her as if she might be mocking him. When he saw she wasn’t, he replied, “We lost our parents when we were young. My mother would’ve said something if she’d known, I think. At least to prepare us, just in case we were ever accused of it.”
“Yeah, but she might not have known. How many of us can trace our ancestors back to before the fae left?” Audra couldn’t even trace her line to her own parents.
“I can.”
Audra and Callum both jumped. The noble, the one whose bunk was across from the door, stood above them. Apparently, he’d decided to eavesdrop on their conversation.