Page 80 of The Last Heir of Elsewhere

“Your mates.”

32

LONNIE

ABOARD THE FORESIGHT

“How old are you?” I demanded.

The fairy looked down at me. His eyebrows pulled low over eyes so dark they appeared black. “Go away, infant.”

I stayed exactly where I was. Fae were terrifying, generally, but mother had told me to trust this male. If mother said something, it had to be true.

Anyway, he looked like a prince from a storybook. Anyone this lovely couldn’t be all evil.

“I’ve only seen gray hair on old people before, but I thought fae didn’t age.” I continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “Unless you are very very old?”

He sighed. “Stop. It is humiliating enough to be sent outside like a servant. I won’t debase myself further by talking to a human.”

I blinked at him, somewhat confused. He’d used several words I’d never heard before, but I understood generally that he was insulting me. “Is it not defacing yourself to bother insulting a human child?”

“Debase,” he corrected.

“Child, not infant,” I replied. “Surely you know the difference, unless you are so old you have forgotten.”

The corner of his mouth tipped up ever so slightly. “I have always had this hair color. Now, go away.”

A pang of offense shot through me. “What’s your name?”

He sighed, looking up at the sky. “What’s yours?”

I paused for half a second. Earlier, when he’d asked my name I’d refused to answer. But, if mother trusted him…

“Elowyn,” I replied, using my full name to sound more grown up.

The Fae glanced sideways at me, black eyes assessing. “That was an incredibly stupid mistake, Elowyn,” he said, sounding almost bored.“I assume you have some sort of nickname. You should only ever use that.”

My brow furrowed. “Why?”

“Do you know what a powerful fairy can do with your real name?”

I sucked in a breath. I wanted to say yes, but in truth I didn’t know. My mother had warned Rosey and I never to give out our names, but she never said why. Like everything else, she never explained her reasons, only saying that she’d tell us when we were older.

“For the rest of your life, you’ll never be able to deny a direct order. You’ll always have to come when I call you. You’ll never truly be free.”

My stomach sank. “I don’t believe you.”

“Fae can’t lie,” he said, sounding bored. “But I’d be happy to demonstrate for you. You have a sister, do you not?”

“Yes.”

“What if I told you to go murder your sister?”

Angry heat licked up my spine, dancing over my arms and making my fingers tingle. “Then I would kill you first so you could never make me do that.”

The fairy laughed, a cruel, musical sound that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. “Interesting. Well, let me tell you a secret, infant human. I can tell you exactly how unlikely that is.”

He glanced off to the side, as if looking at something far in the distance.

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