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Neve mounted her horse again. “I have a bad feeling. Let’s get down there.”

Still alert, we rode down into the carved-out portion of the mine. In the crater, I looked at the mountains surrounding us, their sharp peaks towering above.

There was nowhere for people to live. There had to be another road out of here, probably the same one for the wagons carrying gold to Guldtown.

“I would say let’s look around”—Neve turned her horse on the spot—“but as far as I can see, there’s nowhere to go. I—oh!” She pointed.

A female, dressed in thin clothing, walked out of the entrance into the mountainside. She was running quickly and did not see us.

“What is she doing?” Anna whispered.

Her question was answered a moment later when the female scurried up the crater that dipped into the dug-out mine and darted inside the trees. The human pulled down her pants and fell into a squat. I averted my eyes, as did Caelo. My wife and Anna, however, did not.

“Once she’s done, we need to speak with her,” Neve said.

“I think there may be a problem with that.” Anna pointed. “She’s spotted us.”

“She’s running!” Neve hissed. “Come on!”

She was about to run her horse, but galloping up the steep crater was risky for them.

“Fly,” I said, and Neve didn’t miss a beat.

She pulled her feet from the stirrups and soared. I followed behind her. We caught up with the female, and I flew up behind, ripping the female off her feet. That allowed me a first look.

A dirt-covered, thin face. Furious eyes. Rounded ears.

“Let me go!” the female—no, the woman—howled and kicked wildly. “Let me go!”

“We want to ask you a question,” Neve said, landing and trying to appear calm, despite the fact that we’d chased the woman down. “Please. We don’t want to harm you.”

“Then let me go! I need to get back to work!”

“Work?” Neve sucked in a breath. “In the mines?”

“No, at one of the lovely shops just round the corner.” The woman ceased her kicking and flailing long enough to scowl at me. “What else is there around here?”

“Seemingly not much,” I said. “But you’re human.”

“Well spotted.”

I blew out a frustrated breath. “Why would you be working the mines and not fae?”

The woman stilled again, and this time, a dry laugh rang out of her. “The only fae I see are the lord and the few he brings with him. Fae don’t work, mines. Humans do.”

“That—is not what the rest of the kingdom thinks.”

“Where is the village?” Neve asked.

“Village?” The woman’s eyebrows pinched together. “Days away? I don’t know. Everyone stays in the mines.”

Neve stared at the woman for a moment before her gaze lifted to meet mine. “This makes no sense.”

“Agreed.” I murmured. “Lord Roar is supposed to be here. Where is he?”

For the first time, her scowl fell from her face. “My lord is where everyone else is—inside the mine.”

Chapter 53