Page 32 of Fae Tithe (The Cursed Courts #1)

H elena felt a rush of magic reverberate at her back as the gate of Tithe Manor slammed shut behind her. A pulse rippled as the ward set itself in place, forcing the group stumbling forward. The late morning sun beat down on her head. Helena licked her lips, mouth parched and head pounding.

We’re out, she breathed, relief flooding her limbs.

Helena limped forward, tugging her daughter down the closest laneway, dodging a group of rushing, uniformed faeries.

Lance shadowed their steps, his ward still in place around them.

They stopped, clinging to each other in the cooler shade of the buildings.

Eleanor’s face pressed against her, sobbing into Helena’s torn, bloody clothing.

“I knew you would come for me,” the Changeling wept onto her shoulder.

“Always. I will always come for you,” Helena promised.

She cupped either side of Eleanor’s face with her hands.

Helena tilted her daughter’s downcast head upwards so she could study her.

She had already been taller than her mother, but now it seemed that her height had been stretched again.

Eleanor’s face was now sharper, more angular.

Her pimples and freckles were gone, and all that remained was smooth perfection.

The only features that Helena could recognise on Eleanor’s face that marked her as her daughter were her matching rosebud lips and the identical arch of her eyebrows.

Everything else was different. Helena looked at her daughter’s eyes.

Within the irises swirled a starburst of brilliant silver, making the dark pupils more prominent and the blue more defined.

Lastly, she took in her ears. The pointed tips peeked through her hair, showing her to be Fae-kind.

Helena wiped away her daughter’s tears. “I need to know. Are you okay? Did anyone hurt you? Did anyone touch you?”

“I did get hurt, but no one touched me in that way, Mum. There was this faerie with healing magic and...” Eleanor’s eyes widened as they drifted down her mother’s face and neck. “What happened to you?” she asked.

“We fought the guards, trying to get to your bedroom.” Helena turned her head to Lance.

The Merman slumped against wall next to them, finally dismissing the water ward with a wave of his hand.

Barely on his feet, his sweating head leant back against the brick, eyes shut tight.

Helena watched as the High Prince’s chest heaved, his nostrils flaring at the effort, as though he could not get enough air.

How could you lie to me? She clenched her jaw. After all this time?

Of all that was revealed to the Seelie Court, the only thing Helena had known about was his enthusiasm to get married – or ‘Bound’ as he called it.

He had brought it up over the years, and she had been amenable to it, as it meant so much to him, despite her disastrous first marriage.

With this latest revelation, though, Helena knew she needed to have a serious conversation with her Merman. They had a lot to talk about.

Eleanor turned her wet face to Lance. “Th-thank you,” she stuttered.

“Of course,” he replied, opening his eyes, his voice hoarse. “Like your mother, I would always come for you, fight for you. I wasn’t lying to the Seelie Court. I see you as my daughter. Nothing would change that.”

“You’re the only father I know, Lance, and I’m so happy it’s you.” A weak smile spread across Eleanor’s face.

Despite herself, Helena felt a pang of joy at the tender moment. Lance stood straight. She bristled under his gaze as he studied the wounds on her face, neck, and knuckles.

Lance reached his hand to her, a failing, blue glow in his palm. “Len, can I—”

“I don’t want you touching me right now,” she hissed, recoiling back.

Helena levelled him a seething look, and he dropped his hand, a wounded expression on his face.

She had no idea what to say to him after all the revelations in front of the Seelie Court.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, eyes throbbing beneath her closed lids, the pounding sting of betrayal aligning with her pulse.

Helena dropped her hand and opened her eyes, turning back to her daughter.

“I’m sorry. Threatening the King… I made that so much worse.

We were so close to getting you out, without anyone knowing.

Then the guards came…” She swallowed, fumbling her words.

“I’ve never felt so angry before.” Her eyes roved her daughter’s face.

“I realised… I would do anything, even burn Seelieland to the ground, if that’s what it took to keep you safe. ”

“The Circle,” Eleanor said, clasping her mother’s hand. She sniffed, tears ebbing.

“The Circle,” Helena agreed with a nod.

“Don’t be sorry, Mum. We got out, that’s the main thing.” Eleanor gave her mother’s bruised fingers a comforting squeeze, and Helena bit back a wince.

“It shouldn’t have happened to begin with.” Helena took a step back, letting out a breath. “I am so sorry I let them take you.” Guilt stabbed at her gut. “I didn’t know… but the moment we found out, we came as fast as we could.”

“It’s not your fault, Mum. It’s theirs,” Eleanor replied fiercely.

Helena dipped her head in acknowledgement, guilt still pricking her every movement. She cast her gaze down the lane, then back to Eleanor. “Let’s get back to the inn. You too,” she said, rounding on Lance, her glare sharp. “We have a lot to talk about later.”

Eleanor followed Helena into their room at the Bright Sun Inn. The moment Lance shut the door behind them, she started tearing at the golden choker at her throat. It had weighed her down on their trudge back to the inn, almost suffocating her.

“Get this off me,” she growled.

“Hang on, don’t pull. You’ll scratch yourself,” Helena said, closing the gap between them. “Hold your hair up.” She bundled Eleanor’s waves in one hand and held them at the top of her head.

“Okay, just get it off.” Eleanor took her hair in her hands, holding it out of the way. He put a collar on me, like I’m a pet. She bristled.

She felt Helena fiddle with multiple clasps at the back of her neck, finally unlatching the necklace and pulling it away from her.

Eleanor took a deep breath as the jewellery lifted from her skin.

The Changeling turned, narrowing her gaze as she saw it glitter in the sunlight streaming through the window.

“I don’t want to see it,” Eleanor spat. “Get rid of it.”

“I will. Just breathe, alright,” Helena reassured, tucking the offending jewellery away in a bag.

The silk dress then screamed against Eleanor’s skin – irritating, stifling, and a sign of her imprisonment. She gritted her teeth and ripped at the bodice, the flimsy silk coming loose.

“I want this off, too,” Eleanor growled. I don’t want any of it near me. She noticed Lance widen his eyes and quickly turn his back to her.

“Let me help.” Helena stood on her tiptoes and tugged the dress off over her head.

Eleanor let out a long sigh of relief, the irritation and rage draining from her. Her body now rid of anything from the Seelie King, she felt free. Helena stuffed the ripped dress into a bag as Eleanor gleefully kicked off her blackened silk slippers.

Her mother eyed the long linen chemise that remained on Eleanor. “I’m sorry, I don’t have something for you to wear right now. I didn’t even think about it… I could find you something?”

Eleanor’s fury ebbed, exhaustion setting in. When was the last time I properly slept? Every night he was in my head… I’m so tired. Her eyes itched and the bags under her eyes ached. She looked at her mother blearily, eyelids heavy. “Huh?”

Helena tilted her head, a line between her eyebrows. “Would you like me to find you something else to wear? Or have a wash? Food? Anything you need?”

Exhaustion tugged Eleanor’s eyelids down. “I’m okay… just… tired,” she replied, wobbling on her feet.

“Alright, bed then.” Helena stepped towards it and pulled back the cotton sheet. “Sleep, love,” she gently ordered, patting the mattress.

Eleanor forced her eyes back open. “Stay with me?”

“I don’t have anywhere else to be.” She smiled up at her daughter.

Eleanor’s eyelids drooped again. Her mother’s grip on her elbow steered her over to the bed.

The Changeling clambered groggily onto the mattress.

She settled her head onto a pillow, feeling Helena cover her weary body with the cool sheet.

Eleanor barely registered the dull thud of her mother’s boots dropping to the floor.

The mattress dipped as Helena shifted onto the bed next to her.

The Changeling jolted, eyes fluttering open, as she felt Helena’s hand on her back.

She soon relaxed into the soothing circular motion her mother’s palm tracked.

Her breathing evened out as she was tugged into a fitful sleep.

In her slumber, Eleanor saw flashes of red and gold, even smelling the sickly-sweet of roses. Images of teacups, schoolbooks, and daggers floated across her mind.

She finally settled into a dream of the gardens of Tithe Manor, where the Seelie King had promenaded her. The King’s burning hand laid on hers in the crook of his massive elbow. His huge bicep then flexed as he gently unhooked his arm from hers.

“It didn’t happen this way…” Eleanor murmured. The Seelie King had latched onto her the entire time.

“That is because it is not a memory. I have come to you in your dream. I can talk to you now as the High Prince has dropped his protection ward.” Rian’s lips turned upwards in a predatory smile.

Eleanor’s flinched in horror, mouth falling open. “No, please…”

“Please what?” he growled. “You lied to me, Eleanor. I did not know you were claimed by the High Prince. It is, however, ultimately irrelevant. The moment he leaves you to return to the sea, which he must do eventually, I will come for you. You are mine. I will accept no other.”

“He didn’t claim me, he adopted me. There is a big difference,” Eleanor hissed. “And you, King, should not be claiming anyone! All the girls you stole for your Fae Tithe had lives and families!”

Rian’s eyes flared red. “Your family are the only ones in Seelieland history to come for their daughter. Most humans offer their children willingly or accept a fair Bride Price if their daughter is taken. I did nothing that had not been done by every King before me, barring my father. It is my right to order a Tithe.”

“And I have a right to choose my own future!” Eleanor snapped.

Rian glowered down at the Changeling he had created. “This is not over, Eleanor. I will come for you, and your family will suffer for it.”

The Seelie King’s eyes burnt into her, and he pulled taut the magical lines he had woven into her chest and forehead. Eleanor felt the invisible hooks yank, even in her dream. She fell forward, whimpering in pain.