Page 60 of Their Trials

Arryn continued down the hall after their door shut, leading the rest of us to our room. He took another key and unlocked a door with the number three nailed in place, pushing it inward and out of the way as he stepped inside the room. I followed him, not paying attention to who joined us.

The room was cozy, with a fireplace blazing in one corner despite the summer heat outside. There was a small table with six chairs around it and a couple of couches set at angles to face the fireplace.

My eyes finally trekked to the massive bed that took up one entire side of the room, larger than any I'd ever seen before. “It's huge!”

“That's what she said,” Baer teased, making me laugh at his human colloquialism, unexpected in this world.

“I wasn't lying when I told you it's common for many fae to have multiple partners. Many even form family units, so it pays for inns to keep beds to fit them all,” Arryn said, amused with me.

“This is all so crazy,” I exhaled out. It wasn’t just the bed but everything I had seen in the last hour that completely blew my mind. I started to plop down on the bed, but stopped, realizing I was covered in dust from riding all day. Looking around, I noted that we hadn't brought any supplies with us. No change of clothes, no toiletries, nothing except our weapons, my rope coiled at my waist.

“Brannoc will bring us some changes in clothes soon,” Arryn said confidently. How he knew this, I hadn't a clue since he hadn't negotiated any of this downstairs.

“How do you know Brannoc?” I asked, curious about this glimpse into Arryn's past. To be honest, I knew very little about any of my men, least of all Arryn and Callum, who were remaining quiet about their histories in two completely different ways. Arryn cleverly deflected by changing the subject, and Callum just glared you into not asking questions. Obviously, both had been quite successful in their techniques since I was still totally in the dark about them.

“We grew up together and have stayed in touch,” Arryn said, answering my question while remaining vague at the same time. Like a human politician, he hadn't told me anything I hadn't already figured out on my own.

Letting it slide for now, more pressing matters such as the trial niggling at me, I asked the next question that we were all waiting to know the answer to. The one that only Arryn knew the answer to. “Are you planning on telling us what we're doing here? Or are we supposed to just guess the plan?” I narrowed my eyes at him, letting him know that his smooth deflections wouldn't work here.

He sat down on one of the sofas, unconcerned about the dirt that he was transferring to the fine fabrics. “In order to find the Lady of the Lake, we need to first find the Gwyllion. They are elusive and constantly moving lower fae that are the only ones who will even have the first clue as to where we should start looking. However, to find them, I needed to speak to Brannoc.”

Facing Arryn and with my back to the door, I crossed my arms. “And what's so special about that Brannoc guy that he's the only one who knows how to find these Gwyllion?”

A voice whispered in my ear behind me, one not belonging to one of my consorts, making the hairs on my neck stand up at the very evident threat. “He didn't say I was the only one to know their location, but that I would have the answers he seeks.”

I whirled on him, not liking him at my back. Looking at him now didn't do anything to lessen my fear, so I threw on my best armor, anger. “And just why exactly do you know those things? What makes you so special?” I demanded, watching his every move closely, my instincts screaming at me that I should run from this obvious predator.

He chuckled, a maniacal light entering his eyes. “Because. I'm a Raven.”

“Fuck!” Baer exhaled loudly at Brannoc's declaration.

Chapter Twenty Five: Rhowyn

Getting royally pissed off at all the vague answers, I finally snapped. “And just what the fuck is a Raven?”

I tried to stalk toward Brannoc, but Baer grabbed my arm, holding me back. I sent a withering glare in his direction, causing him to release me. His hands shot up, trying to placate me. “He's an assassin.”

Callum growled and stepped up next to me. “Not just any assassin, but the best. His fae nature makes him perfect for getting in and out of places without being seen, able to kill before people know what hit them.” He moved until he was standing just in front of me but far enough to the side I could still see Brannoc. Not turning to Arryn, he demanded, “Why the fuck would you bring us here?”

Arryn sighed and moved to place himself between us all, keeping us from exploding into a fight. He answered Callum, “Because Ravens aren't just assassins, but they’re also spies. They have eyes everywhere and know things that we cannot.”

Turning to face Brannoc, Arryn glared at him. “Stop toying with them. You already know it's in your best interest to help us, so make nice and quit being an ass.”

Brannoc chuckled. “You know that being an asshole is in my nature. I just can't seem to help myself.”

Sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose, Arryn said, “I've got enough of those in my life right now without you adding to it.” I laughed at that, knowing he was referring to Callum and Lennox. He wasn’t wrong. Since coming here, I had run into way more assholes than I’d ever expected.

Brannoc smiled and quirked an eyebrow at me, amused, tilting his head to study me before turning to Arryn and capitulating. “Fine. What is it you need to know?” He took a seat on the couch as if he hadn't a care in the world. I guess if he was as dangerous as the guys alluded to, then he really didn't.

Arryn took a seat on the couch across from Brannoc, and I moved to sit next to him. Baer took up a seat on my other side, while Lennox and Callum stayed standing, hovering behind me.

Arryn turned to Baer. “Cast an air shield so that we can't be overheard.” Baer did so without question, trusting Arryn's judgement completely. Once he was done, he nodded at Arryn to continue.

“As you can see, we have been chosen to undergo the trials. For the first time, we have a true shot at ensuring a worthy queen replaces the one we currently have.” He paused to look down at me. “We managed to win the first trial, only garnering more danger to us. Rhowyn here has a glamor in place that we can't seem to unlock and has effectively no access to her own magic, which is also locked away.”

Shocked that he was just spilling everything to this guy, whoever he was, I turned to look at him. I trusted him, knowing he had a reason for what he was doing, but I couldn't help the slight flutter of fear that came from someone else having more information on me.

Unconcerned with my worries, he continued. “We've been assigned the task of finding the Lady of the Lake for our second trial. Not only that, but we must receive a boon from her.”

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