Chapter 9 #3
“I can trace my lineage to well before the thousand-year war, and I can assure you, your whore ancestors may have mixed with them, but mine never did.” He examined a manicured nail as he spoke, his voice bored, apathetic.
His accent was clipped, sharp. Audra hadn’t heard one like it, not surprisingly.
Fernwell Inn didn’t exactly attract nobility.
She opened her mouth to reply, not quite sure what she would say, but Callum beat her to it. “If I wanted an inbred’s opinion, I’d ask the rats in the alley behind my forge. As for you, if you don’t have anything helpful to say, why don’t you fuck off?”
The noble was either brave or incredibly stupid because anyone sane would’ve heeded Callum’s tone. Instead, he said, “I think informing you that you are both complete morons is extremely helpful. If you’re attempting to figure out why we are all here, you’re off-path.”
“And I suppose you must already know?” Audra asked, her words dripping with sarcasm. At the sound of her tone, the noble glanced down, their eyes meeting briefly. His were cold. Cruel. A shiver slipped down her back, and she felt relief when he glanced away, focusing back on his cuticles.
“I’m not saying that I know the reason. Just that you two are wrong.”
“Well, why do you think we are here, then?” Audra knew she sounded angry, but this was all too much, and she didn’t have time for pretty little rich boys attempting to put the “peasants” in their place.
He was on the same shithole ship as all of them.
Using the same buckets to shit in and eating the same fucking fruity bread.
“Maybe humans are a delicacy to the fae, and they’ve run out of their supply.
Or maybe they’re bored and plan on putting us into a pit and forcing us to fight to the death for entertainment.
” He tossed his hands in the air and rolled his eyes.
“Either way, I doubt they’ve made the trip to pick up a few of their long-lost relatives.
Why waste time trying to figure it out? All will soon be revealed to us whether we like it or not.
” The noble took his leave while Audra reeled.
Fuck.
Audra hadn’t even considered either of these possibilities. There were countless stories involving humans evading capture, winding up as a monster’s meal; the success of their survival depended on whether they were bedtime stories told by doting parents or a bard’s more sensational tales.
Callum bristled, glancing sharply toward his sister sleeping catty-corner to them.
No doubt he was imagining a fae monster trying to eat his sister or forcing her into a pit to fight to the death.
His sister was slight, shorter than Audra; no way she would survive—unless paired with Margaryte, who would likely take death as a welcome reprieve.
Oh, Mist, Audra really didn’t want to keep thinking about the poor woman without any fingernails.
Audra stopped standing on ceremony, laying a comforting hand on Callum’s forearm.
“That can’t be why they’ve taken us. They’ve been too particular in the selection process for us to simply be entertainment or a meal.
We will figure it out.” Audra’s assurances didn’t do much to ease the tension in his jaw, the lines drawn between his brows, but Callum nodded anyway, pretending, for her sake, to take comfort from her words.
“I’m sure you’re right. Let’s keep our eyes and ears open. I’ll let you know if I hear anything else. But, uh—do you have any water?”
“Oh, forgottens, yes! I saved some for you.” Audra reached down and hoisted a bucket of water.
Once she passed it to him, he ignored the ladle, lifting the entire bucket straight to his mouth and downed the water in one go.
The bucket, which looked so large in Audra’s hand, looked almost cup-sized in his.
She could believe that this giant of a man had fae somewhere in his bloodline—she was surprised he hadn’t been accused of it, coming from a small town.
And … She cut her eyes at the noble’s back; she could also believe that nobody lied about their bloodline more than nobility.
Callum thanked her and walked unsteadily back to the bunk and his sleeping sister before curling onto the bunk, careful not to wake her, though that meant lying diagonal, hanging almost completely off the bed, his large boots on the floor the only thing keeping him from falling.
He lay like that for a while, on his back, giant hands clasped on his chest, his eyes wide open and staring at nothing.
Audra doubted he would get any sleep tonight.
She thought of Emyre. How would she feel if he were here with her right now?
She would tear herself apart trying to protect him from all these unknowns.
She was grateful he wasn’t here, and yet, there was a different ache.
The not knowing. Had he found Shea? Was he safe?
She would give anything to know for certain.
Audra rolled onto her side, turning away from the brooding giant, and curled into herself, pulling the blanket over her head.
Regardless of whether the noble was a prick, he was right about one thing. Soon, whether they liked it or not, they would know what, exactly, the fae wanted with them.