Page 109 of Quicksilver

I wasn't even remotely nauseous as I stepped through the gate and out into the crisp, bright winter morning in the war camp. Fae warriors bustled about their business, gathered outside the front of the mercantile, busy rushing across the muddy square. Fisher stood ten feet from the shadow gate leaning against a wooden post, hands in his pockets, head bowed. The moment I emerged, he shoved away from the post and started walking away at a fast clip.

“Hey!” I walked quickly, following after him. “Hey, asshole! What the hell? Getbackhere.”

He didn't stop. He didn't even slow. I upgraded to a jog, my breath forming a cloud of steam when I fell into step beside him. “Would you care to explain what the fuck this is?” I snapped, yanking down my shirt collar.

A flicker of annoyance flashed in Fisher's eyes, but he did not look at me. “Don't worry. It'll fade. Probably,”he said in a flat tone.

Oh, so he knew what I was pissed about, then? Gods, he was a piece of work. “I did not ask for atattoo, Fisher,” I hissed. “I definitely didn't ask for a bird to be permanently inked right above my fuckingboob.You need to take it back.”

His gaze remained fixed straight ahead. “It doesn't work like that.”

“Bullshit, it doesn't. It came from the ink on your body. You touched me. It slipped from your skin to mine. So, fuck, I don't know, shake hands with me or something andtake it back!”

“I'm notshaking handswith you,” he said dismissively.

“Then what the hell am I supposed to do with it?”

Fisher looked like he was struggling not to roll his eyes. “It's a tattoo, Osha. It won’t kill you. Just forget it's even there.”

“I will not! I have plans for my own tattoos, y'know. Ones I voluntarily go out and get. And this one is right in the middle of my fucking chest!”

“I don't know what to tell you,” he rumbled. “Feel free to have someone cover it if it upsets you so badly.”

I stopped in the mud, watching him walk away. “I can do that?”

“Wouldn't bother m—” He cleared his throat. “Of course you can. There are any number of bored warriors with a needle and some ink in camp.”

“Okay. Fine, then. Iwillcover it. Look, can—can you hold up for one second, please! Where are you taking me?”

“To the camp healer,” he gritted out. “You need to take something.”

“What do you mean,I need to take something?”

“Because of last night. Because children might be extraordinarily rare between the Fae and humans, but they can still happen, and—”

I burst out laughing.

Fisher stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes wide. “I don’t pretend to understand you at the best of times, but why isthisfunny to you?” he demanded.

“I can’t have children, Fisher. I was cleansed when I was fourteen.”

I expected to see relief on his face. But instead, his face drained of color. “What thefuckdid you just say to me?”

I stopped laughing. “I was cleansed. When I was fourteen. They do it to about seventy percent of the girls in my ward.”

He came and stoodveryclose to me, his head bowed over mine, nostrils flaring. “What do you mean…cleansed?”

“I mean…they sterilize us,” I whispered. I figured he’d known last night. I would have expected him to at least mention contraception otherwise. But from the look of shock he wore, he hadn’t had the first clue. “The Third Ward’s the poorest,” I told him. “Madra’s health advisors decided that we shouldn’t be allowed to procreate, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to support ourselves. The policy’s been in effect for over a hundred years. Seven out of every ten female babies are tagged when they’re registered with the ward officials.” I showed him the small black cross tattooed behind my left ear. The mark that meant I wasn’t allowed to breed.

Fisher’s expression flattened out. His eyes went blank.

“What? I figured you’d think that was good news.”

Clenching his jaw, he spun around, his eyes searching the horizon for gods only knows what. Had he heard something? Some promise of danger that my inferior human hearing hadn’t detected? “Fisher. Hey! What’s wrong?”

When he faced me again, his eyes were almost fully black, his pupils blown wide open. “Nothing. Nothing at all. Find the forge and get to work. Everything’s already waiting there for you. I'll expect a report at lunchtime.”

He stormed away without a backward glance.