Page 24 of Given to the Fae (The Dark Realms #3)

‘...but you wouldn’t be able to help with that, would you.’

‘No, my lord.’ Her voice is more subdued than usual.

‘And why is that, girl?’

‘Because I’m a useless, ugly slave, my lord. I’m fit only for the arenas I’m to be sold to.’

‘That’s right, but you forgot filthy and vermin infested.

Gods, look at your flesh, so flayed and maimed.

It’s a wonder any bull would mount you. What bull could stomach it?

Even the most desperate would have to be blindfolded to get hard enough to stick it in.

Do you think if you were a better slave, you wouldn’t have been thrashed with the rod so hard that it left such deep scars or burned quite so many times with pokers? ’

‘I don’t know, my lord.’

My stomach turns, and I step away, trying to think of an excuse to get her away from him and his vicious words.

I rush to the middle of the room. ‘Slave!’ I bellow. ‘Why aren’t you sorting the packs as I told you? How am I to know what to buy at market if I don’t know what supplies we have left?’

‘I’m sorry, my lord,’ I hear her call.

She tears open the door, and half runs from Warrior’s room a moment later. I’m relieved to find that she isn’t bruised and battered. Her eyes, however, are dull and blank and her hands are shaking a little as she begins to unpack the bags, sorting everything into piles.

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t do as you ordered, my lord,’ she says quietly a little while later as she unpacks the last of the bags.

I let out a sigh. ‘I didn’t order you to do anything, Bryn,’ I say in a low tone.

She looks up sharply. ‘Then why...’

‘I heard the things he was saying to you.’

She stares at me. ‘I don’t understand. Why would you care what he says to me?’

She shakes her head a little as if she can’t fathom a reason and goes back to her task in silence.

I hear Warrior leave the rooms via the main door and watch as Locke follows a moment after, intending to trail him to wherever he goes to ensure he won’t be back for a while.

I glance at Bryn, not stopping what I’m doing. ‘When we got here, you took a vial. The one to make sure you weren’t carrying vermin.’

‘I don’t have vermin, my lord,’ she mutters somewhat stiffly.

‘I didn’t think you did,’ I say. ‘But I did think it was foolish of you to drink that potion when you didn’t know what was in it. This is a city of mages. They’re tricky and clever. Gods only know what it might have been.’

She whispers that she’s sorry, seeming smaller next to me now under my chastisement.

I let out a sigh. ‘Just ask before you do anything. I don’t want you to be hurt, Bryn.’

She gives me a nod and I say no more about it.

We finish our task in silence and I make a small list of what I’ll need to buy at the markets tomorrow as we’ll be in the wilds for several days after Dead City, and we’ll need to ensure we have enough of everything.

It doesn’t take long for Locke to return, and when he does, he gives me a nod.

‘Where’s Morgan?’

I shrug. ‘I didn’t see him leave.’ I glance at Bryn. ‘I need to speak with Locke. You begin repacking the piles, and I’ll be back in a moment.’

She nods and I follow Locke out onto the cold balcony.

‘She can’t be left alone with him, not even for a moment,’ I hiss.

He looks taken aback. ‘Morgan?’

‘Warrior!’

‘What did he do? When?’

‘He told her to unpack his belongings. He went into the room with her, closed the door. I listened and he was talking to her.’

Locke stares at me as if he has no idea why I’m bothering him with this.

‘It’s what he was saying to her, Locke. Awful things, words to make a person feel worthless, worse than that even.’

‘Was she all right when she came out?’

‘Bodily, she seemed all right, but...’

Locke rolls his eyes. ‘Why are you both so fucking...’

He whirls around and walks to the edge of the balcony, looking out over the city and breathing deeply.

‘We cannot get personally involved with a slave. Gods, I can’t believe I’m being forced to have this conversation with you as well.

We are here for a reason. She will be sold in just over a sennight.

She will likely be dead by the week after that. There is nothing we can do, Jak!’

‘We could take her with us.’

‘Where?’ he scoffs.

I regard him stonily. ‘You know where!’

‘Impossible! We don’t even know where her loyalties lie – likely with herself, the same as all the rest of the unfortunate cunts out here. We cannot risk everything that’s been built because you feel sorry for one little human. Fuck! Where is Morgan? You two need a reminder of what’s at stake.’

He rubs his eyes wearily. ‘Go and get your cock wet later. Put the female out of your mind. She is no one. She’s nothing.

She’s not important. There are thousands of her out here, slaves who’s bloodlines and kin have been in the Dark Realms for generations.

This is to help the ones who haven’t been bred here, in case you’ve forgotten.

The ones like Nanna and–’, he turns away with a harsh intake of breath.

I step forward with an apology on my lips, but he gets his emotions in check before I can say anything and he turns back angrily, pinning me with a hard stare.

‘Remember the reason we’re out here in the first place,’ he snarls.

‘We don’t know where the new ones are being stolen from and until we do, they’ll continue to be taken.

They’ll keep ending up here. How many have been pinched so far?

Hundreds? Thousands of people who’ll never see their families again, who’ll die in the Dark Realms?

Enough of this. I don’t want to hear about the girl again unless she’s ill or hurt in body.

I don’t care what Warrior says to her, so long as she’s in one piece by the time we get to the First Circle and she’s in good enough health to sell, as we promised Bere she would be.

No more of this. Not from you, and not from Morgan.

The girl is a slave and has been all her life.

She is the same as the others. Deceitful.

Selfish. Scheming. Stop looking for more than that when there’s nothing to find! That’s an order, Jak.’

I take a step back at the forcefulness of his tone. It’s been a long time since Locke was truly a soldier, but his commands don’t allow for dissension.

‘Fine,’ I snarl, not even bothering to pretend I agree, ‘but perhaps you shouldn’t release her anymore either.’

‘What the fuck does that mean?’ he snarls.

‘Have we been out here for so many months that you actually believe Morgan and I to be simple slavers?’ I goad. ‘We have seen you with her and all your mighty words to us about staying detached mean nothing if you can’t do that yourself.’

‘She is a slave!’ he hisses. ‘I would never touch her except as a necessity, and whatever she’s led you to believe about feelings or inclinations she has toward you, they’re false!

She’ll do and say anything to survive. She’ll fuck you and make you think it means more.

She’ll steal and cheat. She’ll stick you with a knife while your back is turned and not feel a moment of remorse. ’

I heave a sigh and look inside to where she’s still sorting the bags, oblivious to our conversation.

Is Locke right? I don’t want him to be but how would I know, really?

I barely know this girl and even this conversation could put us all in jeopardy.

How far am I willing to go before our mission fails because I can’t keep my head straight?

‘Perhaps you’re right,’ I concede in a low voice, trying not to sound sheepish. ‘I’m getting...too close. I know it. But she’s...’

‘I know,’ he says quietly. ‘She’s vulnerable and quiet, and she’s been abused and hurt. She’s fearful. But she will play on these things to get what she wants. Who’s to say she hasn’t already? What have we seen or heard that she’s wanted us to so that she can wear down our resolves?’

He lets out a long sigh. ‘She knows where she’s being sold,’ he says quietly. ‘What creature wouldn’t do everything in their power not to meet such a fate? She’s to be pitied, not blamed. But we can change nothing for her.’

‘I know,’ I whisper as I watch her, my heart sinking.

I see Morgan return with a jug of wine and a bowl of fruit, which he puts on the table.

‘He’s back.’

I wave him outside. ‘What are you going to do with the slave while we talk?’

Locke glances inside and snaps his fingers while Morgan is close to her.

The conjure puts her into a deep sleep immediately and she falls.

Morgan catches her, frowning and peering out at us.

His lips thin when he sees Locke, deducing that he’s the cause.

He puts her gently on the upholstered daybed close to the hearth, covering her with a nearby blanket before he joins us outside.

‘Was that necessary?’

Locke shrugs. ‘She was tired anyway. At least now she won’t jerk and writhe, waking us every hour with her fitful slumber. Now, Warrior will be at the brothel until morning. I’ve made sure of it.’

‘How?’

Locke rolls his eyes. ‘Does it matter? We need to speak, and now we can without fear of being overheard.’

Morgan sits silently on one of the stone benches. ‘Have you heard anything of Tori and Soreno?’

‘No. Nothing. But I wouldn’t expect to. They aren’t meant to make contact until they are placed where we wanted them to be. They’ll have little information of real value otherwise. And, before you ask, I haven’t heard anything from the others either.’

‘So, as far as we know, the rest is going to plan?’ I ask.

He nods. ‘Leaving Bere was simply a way for us to be able to talk and plan the next part without worry of anyone finding out the truth.’

I roll my eyes. ‘Too bad we got landed with Warrior.’

Locke makes a sound of annoyance. ‘Aye. Bad luck, but at least he’s easily distracted.’

Morgan shifts on the bench. ‘So, what’s next?’

‘Other than Warrior, things are progressing well,’ Locke says.

‘We’ll meet Bere in Merediea. The city will be crawling with the kinds of slavers who cater to the very wealthy.

I get Bere to introduce me to them. We find out where they’re working out of, and whether any of their stock are slaves who’ve been taken, not bred.

We should be able to gather quite a bit of information over the days of the auctions. ’

‘And after?’ I ask. ‘Why did you change the plan in the first place? It was meant to be the arenas and then Merediea.’

‘I changed it because I think we’ll be able to use what we learn in Merediea to ask the right questions in the pits.’ Locke sits down next to Morgan, looking a bit apologetic. ‘I’m sorry I altered the plan without speaking to you both, but there wasn’t time.’

I shrug. ‘I agree with your decision.’

Morgan nods as well. ‘Aye, it makes more sense this way. Now,’ he leans closer to Locke, ‘how do you really know this place?’

Locke’s grin is wide. ‘I spent two winters in Dead City during my training. A friend of mine owns this place. He’s a silent partner, but I know this building well. It’s built like a fortress. It’s quite safe.’

‘Good,’ I murmur.

I look back in the room. The slave is still asleep, of course. She will be for hours, probably until the morning, if Locke doesn’t specifically wake her.

‘Are you leaving the slave there?’ I ask Locke.

He shrugs. ‘Should I not?’

‘I’m sure there is some rule about not letting them on the furniture,’ I mutter pointedly.

I watch the sneer begin to twist his lip before he remembers himself and his expression shutters, but I saw the truth if only for a second. He hates that we have to treat the girl this way just for appearance’s sake.

‘Leave her there, put her on the floor. So long as she’s hearty and healthy by the time we reach the First Circle, I don’t give a fuck!’

‘What about her release?’

‘What release?’

‘Didn’t the healer say she needed at least two every day to settle her disposition? She’s only had one,’ I say, the picture of innocence. ‘What would Warrior say to Bere if he didn’t think you were taking care of her properly?’

Locke snarls. ‘Those rules and laws are nonsense. They’re not based in fact and you know that better than Morgan and I do!’

I shrug. ‘That’s as may be,’ I say, ‘but Warrior really wants to try, and if he doesn’t think you’re doing it, make no mistake. He will. You may want to keep things cold , but surely even you wouldn’t condone any creature’s needless suffering at the hands of that cunt.’

‘Fine.’ Locke rolls his eyes. ‘I’ll make sure that, even if I don’t actually do it, he thinks it’s been done.’

I sit back. ‘Not good enough. You said it yourself. Her kind are conniving. What if she tells tales to Bere as soon as we meet up with him? What then?’

‘Point taken,’ he mutters. ‘I’ll make sure I do it. Twice a fucking day!’

I stand up and yawn. ‘Good. I’m going to turn in. It’s been a long few hours.’

I turn away before he sees my amusement. We’ll see how long he can pretend he’s not interested in the girl. I have just over two weeks to convince him to bring her with us, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do. I won’t have a human death on my conscience. Not another.