Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Lia
I ’m afraid.
More afraid than I have been in a long time. Once I’d made it through my stint in Varrik’s dungeon, I knew that I’d survive the rest because I had done it before.
But things are different now. I touch my stomach. It’s still so new, so tiny, so vulnerable.
I now no longer care if I kill Varrik. I just want to get away from here, ensure the babe’s safety. The Harbinger agrees. It’s told me to leave as soon as I can and not to look back. It truly does care about me more than its revenge, more even than the fae it wants to protect.
‘Why are you still in the bed?’ Kallum whispers. ‘She’ll come soon.’
I glance in the direction the voice comes from and grimace. ‘I know. I have to stay in bed for an hour after Dane’s been here. She ordered it so the seed is more likely to take. Why do you think she waits almost an hour to come in?’
I hear Grey’s angry growl and Kals’ low curse.
‘Don’t make a sound when she’s in the room,’ I whisper. ‘No matter what you see or hear, she can’t know you’re here. Promise me.’
‘We promise,’ Grey snarls.
‘I’ll hold you to it,’ I whisper as I hear the door.
Fiana enters, giving me a dark smile. She’s alone for now and I’m thankful for that. At least they won’t be watching Skith put his hands on me.
‘How is my little piggy this morning?’ she sings. ‘Well seeded?’
I give her a curt nod, and her grin widens.
‘It won’t be long now, you know,’ she says, drawing closer and looking me over as one would a prize mare. ‘I will so enjoy having you serve me, Harbinger. I have such plans for you.’
She looms over me.
‘Would you like to hear them?’
I’d love to say something biting, but my first thought isn’t for me, and my pride isn’t important, so I nod.
But she just turns away with a titter, and I hear Kal’s voice snarl something I can’t make out in my head. I startle at it and her eyes narrow.
She waggles a finger at me. ‘Ah, ah, ah. Not time to get up, my little human. Not for a few more minutes yet. Don’t make me punish you.’
‘She’s unfocused. Vern isn’t in the fold. Start there.’
‘Has Vern been sent to get another of those boxes?’ I ask. ‘I thought I felt the Gate.’
Her eyes narrow. ‘How do you know about those?’
‘Perhaps Varrik told me.’ I shrug. ‘Or maybe it was Dane.’ I force a small laugh. ‘You know how he likes to chat afterward .’
Her face twists and for a second, I see the true Fiana, angry and vicious and jealous . How didn’t I notice it before? It’s so obvious now. She hates that Dane comes in here even though she thinks it’ll get her something she wants.
‘Skith told me he’s received that stopper I asked him to send for. You know, the one to shove up your cunt to keep the seed in as you’re too stupid to keep still, swine. I’ll bring it later, shall I?’
I suppress my shudder and don’t rise to her words. ‘So Vern has been sent to collect the final box? Soon, Varrik will know where to begin his little search.’
Fiana looks so disconcerted for a moment before her expression shutters that I almost laugh.
‘Well, well, aren’t you informed for a breeding slave locked in a bedroom ...’ she murmurs, coming closer, a glint in her eye.
I press on. ‘How will he get there? To the place he needs to go to?’
‘She’s thinking about it. I can see it. A golden orb on a thick chain. ’
‘I don’t think a slave needs to worry about such things, Thalia,’ she says sweetly. ‘Once we’re at our destination, I’ll ensure you’re so busy serving me that you never need to worry that silly little head about anything more important than ensuring my wine is the right temperature ever again. But, for now, I will tell you that Vern and I have almost everything we need in place.’
‘So, you have the map?’
Her eyes narrow, but she doesn’t answer.
‘Not yet, but she thinks she will soon.’
‘I hope you haven’t put all of your eggs in Vern’s basket,’ I remark cooly. ‘He’s even more feeble-minded than I am.’
The pain she conjures on me has me choking on a scream, my back bowing off the bed, and, from the deep recesses of my mind, the Harbinger surges forward, using strength it should be saving. It still isn’t strong enough to get through the binding, but it takes the pain for me and soothes my body. And, more importantly, it protects the babe.
I vaguely hope that Grey and Dane remember their promise, and I try to keep the fact that the Harbinger is saving me at the forefront of my mind so that Kal hears and doesn’t do anything rash.
When she stops, I know it hasn’t been long. She gazes down at me with a smirk and a tinkling laugh, and I’m struck by a memory of being in the dungeon. Of the pain that was conjured on me and that same laugh.
‘Watch your tongue, slave, or I might just cut it out.’ She lets out a small sigh. ‘You really are quite intractable, you know, and it won’t do. It really won’t.’ She sits on the bed and caresses my face. ‘I think drastic measures are going to be necessary. But, not to worry, the books have quite a few methods to try before culling is considered necessary. I think I’ll try the rings first.’
‘I know it was you,’ I say, ignoring her threats.
‘What are you whimpering about, you pathetic little creature?’ she sneers, bending a little closer.
‘In the dungeon. It was you who tormented me from outside the cell.’
‘Of course it was me,’ she laughs, shaking her head and tittering. ‘Who else?’
‘You were here weeks ago,’ I accuse.
‘So?’ she rolls her eyes at me and stands. ‘Is there a point to this at all, piggy? Because if you keep wasting my time, I’ll make you piss yourself like I did before, and I doubt Dane will give you another blanket once you soil this one.’
‘He never knew you were here. You didn’t tell him. You didn’t see him.’
‘Who?’ she asks impatiently.
‘Dane.’
Her eyes narrow, and she sweeps down, grabbing me by the front of my chemise and hauling my face up to hers. ‘Even if you breathe a word of this to him, it won’t matter. He won’t listen. He’s mine, and he’ll stay mine. BUT, if you do tell him, I promise you that all the torments I’ve visited on you will seem like happy memories,’ she hisses. ‘Do you understand?’
‘Yes, Fiana,’ I say through gritted teeth, and she drops me back onto the bed.
‘Good.’ Her eyes narrow again, and I brace myself mentally for her next barb. ‘I think I’m going to make Dane let me watch him rut you tonight. Would you like that, piggy? Would you like me to direct him? Tell him how best to seed you? Make sure not a drop of his spend is wasted by plugging you up good and tight as soon as he’s finished with you?’
I look away, not answering, and she snorts.
Just then, the door opens, and Skith saunters in. He stops when he sees Fiana and gives her a small bow. ‘My lady. I’m here to ensure the slave has been mounted this morning.’
‘Healer Skith. I’m so glad you’ve come early. Please proceed. I’m finished with her for now.’
Skith’s polite pretence slips when he looks at me.
‘Strip.’
I get off the bed, glancing at where Grey and Kal stand unseen in the corner, reminding Kal silently of their promise not to show themselves no matter what happens.
Fiana gives me a cruel smile, moving back to give Skith space while still close enough to watch and listen. The healer has me get on all fours on the bed. My cheeks are hot, and I know my embarrassment is plain. It’s worse knowing that Kal and Grey are seeing me like this, harder than I thought it would be.
The healer’s fingers enter me, and I close my eyes, trying not to let this get to me. I know that’s why Fiana is watching too. It’s just another way to get into my head and torment me. The Harbinger is throwing itself at the barrier that’s stopping its power from coming out, but I tell it to stop. It needs to save it’s energy.
The healer makes a noise I can't discern. ‘One of the elites has already been here to seed you?’ he asks.
‘Yes,’ I murmur.
‘Get on your back.’
I do as he says, keeping my eyes on the wall as Fiana comes closer and peers down as he widens my legs and pulls my lips roughly apart.
‘Wider,’ she says. ‘I haven’t seen a human female’s cunt this closely before.’
The healer pushes one of my knees up towards my chest and uses his other hand to part my lips wide.
I flinch as Fiana reaches down and grasps the bud between my legs.
I grit my teeth, not giving her anything to use but terrified that she might maim me in some way. My eyes flick to the corner, and I only just stop myself from begging for them to help. The Harbinger isn’t ready, and until it is, I have to bear these humiliations.
It’ll be worth it. I’ll make it worth it.
Fiana pinches it gently and I wince. ‘Is this normal?’
‘For a human female? This one’s normal from the texts I’ve seen.’
‘Is it big enough to put a ring through?’ she asks, seemingly idly.
The churning of my stomach intensifies, realizing what she meant by rings as a method to subdue me.
The healer looks back at her and shrugs. ‘I think it’s more typical to have rings through their teats and a tuggable chain to keep them in line, but I don’t see why you couldn’t ring her here as well or instead if you wanted to, my lady. You can do whatever you want with her, I suppose.’ The healer shifts. ‘If I may.’
Fiana lets go of me, and, to my horror, he begins to rub me.
‘If we engorge it, make it swell, I mean, you'll be able to see how big it can get. It'd be best to ring her when it's like that.’
I try to ignore his hands, glad at least that my body isn’t betraying me because this is giving me no pleasure at all.
But he makes an annoyed sound when my body doesn’t do as he wants and rubs harder, making me wince and try to draw away. He notes the movement and sighs.
‘It’s unfortunate that this one is so intractable,’ he mutters as if it’s my fault. ‘My apologies.’
Fiana shrugs. ‘It's no matter,’ she says airily. ‘She’s always needed a firm hand. If you say it's big enough, it's big enough. ‘Would you like that, little piggy?’ She asks me almost fondly.
I look away from her. She immediately slaps my mound hard, and I yelp.
‘What was that?’ she asks.
‘Yes, Fiana,’ I say.
‘Well,’ the healer stands. ‘She looks to be in order.’
‘How long before she’s bred?’
Skith looks apologetic. ‘I’m afraid I can’t know for certain, but it should be soon. She’s healthy enough for a human, and she’s entering her most fertile time. I’ve also had the servants adding fertility herbs to any food that’s brought to increase the chances.’
Fiana purses her lips. ‘Very well.’
My eyes narrow on the healer, equal parts furious that Skith has had my food tampered with while also relieved that he seems to have no idea that I’m already with child. It’s too early for him to detect without a shifter’s nose.
Fiana’s eyes narrow on me, and they’re oddly knowing . My heart lurches in my chest.
Does she suspect that her tea switching worked?
But then she simpers at me as if she has no idea and I relax a bit.
‘See you later, swine.’
They both leave and I breathe a sigh of relief, but I wince as I remember that Kal and Grey have seen and heard everything.
I look over at the corner to find them visible ... and livid.
Neither of them speaks as I sit up and slide my legs over the edge of the bed, not meeting their eyes.
‘Why didn’t you tell us?’ Kallum grinds out.
‘I didn’t think you’d believe me,’ I whisper.
Kallum lurches forward, taking me in a hard hug that I return with a comforted sigh. ‘We would believe you if you said the sky was green with stripes, Lia. Never keep anything from us again. Swear it.’
I nod.
‘They’re dead,’ Grey whispers, dark promise in his eyes, and Kal gives a jerky nod.
I bask in the knowledge that these fae males care about me and that they will protect me and the babe.
The Harbinger sinks deep into my darker recesses, conserving its strength after doing what it could under the binding, and I feel its determination. Soon, I won’t need protecting. Soon, revenge will be mine.
Dane
I stare at the mirror in my hand, shaking with anger. I heard her make the others promise not to intervene. I know it’s because she and the Harbinger aren’t ready, and attempts to escape from the fold would be futile until they are. But it meant that I, too, could do nothing but watch as Skith put his hands on Lia roughly, seemingly impersonally, while he surreptitiously hid the bulge in his breeches, and Fiana, the female I thought I loved once, treated my female as a slave.
Horror soaks into me like cold from the damp earth at the realization that the feelings Fiana forced from me for years, I do feel in truth, but for the Harbinger. Their treatment of Lia ... my treatment of her. How could I have allowed it, thought she deserved it?
But I know how.
I performed the obscure rite I found years ago in some forgotten tome in a neglected corner of the library in Alcana. It did its job and showed me all the magick that’s ever been worked on me.
There was much more than I could ever have imagined, and most carried Fiana’s taint. She must have laid her conjures on me over and over when she couldn’t release me of that first one she bungled so that I’d never know what she’d done to me.
But I’ve purged them all and every pretend feeling along with them. And the hole where my love for her used to be, a place I assumed would be hollow and empty when I was finished my task, is instead full of my caring for another. I just couldn’t see it, feel it before.
Lia, the mother of my unborn babe.
I feel sickened by Fiana’s dark plans for her that I’m learning in detail from the spying conjure, and my face twists when I think of how she’s hurt Lia as well as that healer’s filthy hands on her.
I don’t want to remember Lia’s wince of pain and her resigned expression when she looked away. I could see that she’s used to this being done to her and while I knew the healer would be going and making sure Varrik’s will was being done, I’d thought it would be, at most, a cursory inspection. Not this, and definitely not with Fiana looking on with a sadistic grin on her face, a possessive glint in her eye that reminded me of Healer Reyn with his slave, Gwennie, in Rondorai.
Fiana wants Lia for herself. She wants to rule over the Harbinger and the human ... and my babe as well.
I vow then and there that I will watch the light leave her eyes, I decide. I will kill Fiana. But first things first.
I break the salt circle, take up my small mirror, and stride from my room. I give Fiana’s door a look of promise, and I leave the keep by way of the main portcullis and the bridge over the moat. I see Skith on the path to the village, and I follow with purposeful strides.
I catch up with the healer easily, and I walk past him, getting to the village before and getting a pint from the pub so that I have a reason to stand and watch his coming and goings under the guise of a refreshing drink. I stand outside, my ale on one of the giant barrels, and keep my eyes trained on him covertly as he ambles down the street toward me.
He goes into the supply stores and comes out a little while later with a package and a bounce in his step. He doesn’t wait to unwrap it, even coming close to where I’m standing to place it on one of the barrels, not even noticing me in his haste. He rips at the paper, revealing a box, which he opens.
I straighten and lean forward, looking over his shoulder at the smooth, cork-like object as he picks it up. It has leather straps-, and a piece of parchment flutters to the ground. I pick it up, the color draining from my face as I take in the picture of a human female, and I see what this thing is for ... who it’s for.
Fury rises as I force myself to give Skith a polite smile as I hand him the paper, pretending I haven’t even looked at it and that I don’t know him as I turn away to finish my pint. He puts it back in the box and walks off slowly in the direction of the keep, probably to the healers’ rooms.
I make my way there and slip in through the door quietly. I watch him at the table with his back to me. The box is open again as if he just couldn’t help himself, and he’s studying the crude drawings of human females with questionable intensity.
‘Yes,’ he murmurs to himself, holding it up with the harness and glancing at the picture. ‘This must go around the thighs and then the waist here tightly to keep it in place.’ He snorts a laugh at my female’s expense.
My hand is over his mouth, and my knife is sliding between his ribs before he even feels the first touch. I haven’t killed like this since our time in Alcana when I worked for the head scholar of the academy.
The healer gurgles a moment and then slumps down to the floor, his eyes rolling back, and I give his corpse a cold smile. Never again will he touch Lia.
I drag him to one of the beds and put him in it, weaving some conjures over the body and the bed so that no one notices or smells him for a few days. I make sure there’s no blood left anywhere to give the game away, and then I leave, whistling a tone as I walk back up to the keep.
I head straight to Lia’s, not sure what I plan to do, but knowing I can’t just leave things how they are. I ignore the guard on the door as I grasp the latch, but then I turn back to him, wondering if there’s anything or any one else I’ve missed in my haze of the past weeks.
‘Tell me who has been to visit the Harbinger since she was brought up from the dungeons,’ I demand.
The guard looks to the side and seems hesitant. ‘The healer comes every day,’ he grinds out. ‘My Lady Fiana had been once or twice, Rikoth, the servants, and you, my lord.’
‘Has Fiana come with the healer?’
‘No, the healer only goes in by himself.’
I force myself not to react to his lies, but I decide he won’t be lasting very long either.
I go into the room, careful not to open the door too wide so the guard can’t see inside. I watch Lia’s head swivel toward me, looking fearful until she realizes who it is.
I see relief in her eyes and it makes me hope. Perhaps not all is lost with her.
‘What did you learn?’ I ask.
Grey and Kal glance at each other, and I sit down. ‘You were right. It was all a trick,’ I murmur, hating that they’ll know how easily Fiana made me into her willing lapdog.
‘And now you feel better?’ Kal asks, looking suspicious.
‘I’ve purged myself of all the magick that was on me. Some was Fiana’s and,’ I hesitate, ‘some was Varrik’s.’
I don’t let the pain show, but Lia walks to me. She doesn’t touch me, but she does look sympathetic and, under the circumstances, it’s more than I hoped for.
‘It’ll take time for you to heal from Varrik’s wounds,’ she murmurs, ‘but you will just as we did.’
My shoulders slump numbly, knowing that it’s not quite the same. No one else in this room was as loyal as I was. I peer up at Lia. Except for Lia, I realize. She killed for him a thousand times before she realized the truth. I nod slowly, and she gives me a tight smile before moving away.
My body immediately calls out to hers, wanting her near, her skin against mine, but I steel myself to the pain of her absence. The things I’ve done will require time and effort to put right.
‘Fiana and Vern do have a way of getting to the Light Realm,’ Kallum says. ‘They intend to leave as soon as Lia is bred. We must not let Skith?—’
‘Skith is no longer a problem,’ I bite out, and both Kal and Grey smirk.
Lia’s eyes narrow even as her cheeks pinken. ‘You’ve been watching.’
‘Yes,’ I admit. ‘I suspected that things weren’t as I thought. I’ve been trying to get the spying conjure to work for days so that I could make sure you were safe. I was only successful today.’ My jaw works. ‘I saw and heard Fiana ... and the healer as well. I’ve ensured the Skith won’t return. I’ll deal with Fiana soon enough.’
Lia regards me, her face blank, and I can’t help but wonder what she’s thinking. Is she glad I killed him, or would she have rather I waited? I can’t tell, but I wish I knew.
‘So we need this Breach necklace?’ Grey rumbles. ‘Where is it?’
‘I know where it is,’ Kal murmurs.
He disappears with a wink, and Grey and I both let out matching sighs.
‘You’re going to get yourself killed,’ I say to the room in case he’s still in here.
Grey shakes his head. ‘Just make sure the foolish cunt remains hidden if he disturbs Varrik’s wards.’
I nod and close my eyes, keeping my focus on the patterns of the keep’s wards to make sure I can nullify them if Kal appears in them. Minutes go by, and everyone in the room remains quiet as we wait.
‘It’s not there,’ Kal huffs, appearing next to me.
I stand up. ‘No more of that!’ I hiss. ‘We plan properly.’ My eyes cut to Lia and Lia’s abdomen. ‘No more playing,’ I say meaningfully and am gratified when Kal looks abashed.
‘So it wasn’t here?’ Grey asks.
Kal shakes his head. ‘No. Either Varrik has moved it elsewhere, or Fiana already stole it in preparation.’
He sits down heavily. ‘Fuck! If we had it, we could leave now. No waiting for the Harbinger, no waiting for Varrik.’
‘Perhaps if we knew what Varrik wanted, we could use it against him,’ Lia suggests. ‘What’s at the end of the map? What does Varrik want?’
‘I think we can all agree that the betterment of the fae isn’t it,’ Grey snarks.
‘Aye,’ Kal mutters. ‘Can you read the runes?’
‘Runes?’ I ask.
Kal plonks himself down and slides the parchment with the map on it across the table. He grabs Lia and sits her on his lap, wrapping his arms around her.
I stare at how she relaxed she looks with him for a second, giving in to the yearning, but I shake it off and turn the paper over.
I stare at the runes in consternation. ‘I know them,’ I murmur as I trace the symbols with my fingers, trying to remember their meanings. ‘It’s just been a long time. Give me a moment.’
I wrack my brain and then turn the page back over, staring at the star and the other symbols.
‘I don’t remember most of them,’ I say softly, angry that I’ve forgotten. ‘But these ones here mean ‘a place beneath’ or ‘under a hill’. They’re on the other side as well.’
‘Under a hill?’ Lia frowns, her gaze becoming unfocused, an expression I’ve come to associate with her talking with the Harbinger.
‘Yes,’ I say, ‘and it’s where the star is. It’s the destination on the map.’
Kal looks as puzzled as I do, but Grey’s expression isn’t the same as ours.
‘Underhill,’ he whispers to himself.
‘You know it?’ I ask. ‘You’ve heard of it before?’
‘Yes,’ he mutters, rubbing his head. ‘And no. It was long ago. Before ... before I came here. I don’t remember much, but I think the place the map goes to ... it’s called the Underhill.’