Page 65 of Kingdom of Faewood

I twisted my hands. “He gave me an allowance.”

“How much?”

“Five rulibs per month.” I made sure to keep my focus forward since I could feel Guardian Alleron glaring at me. “But he did other things too. He provided for me. He bought me gowns and jewels, fed me, housed me.” I frowned. “But I never had many rulibs of my own.” In fact, since purchasing that dillemsill, I had next to nothing now.

A low, discontented sound came from Jax, but several giggles and tittering calls shifted my attention forward.

At the doorstep to a home just ahead, three female siltenites stood on the porch. Each was dressed in a colorful yet simple gown that showed off her figure. And all of them gazed at Jax adoringly.

“Good day to you, Dark Raider!” one called. She angled herself, which showed off her svelte waist and long hair.

“It’s always a good day when we see you,” another called, bumping the other female aside, who I guessed was her sister since they shared similar features.

The first female stumbled on the step, then glared at the other one.

The third one draped her arms over the porch’s railing, but instead of gazing at Jax, she eyed Phillen. “Plans for tonight?” she asked coyly.

Phillen grunted and ignored her.

“He might be busy, but I’m not!” Trivan called.

All three of them burst into excited giggles.

We passed the females, and it struck me again how differentlyeveryone was acting toward Jax and his friends in this town.

My frown deepened. “What happened to Malimus’s daughter?”

Jax turned another corner, and more homes appeared as the market fell behind us. “She ventured into the desert, a bit farther than she should have, and fell into a bolum. We were nearby, passing through when it happened, so we helped.”

“What’s a bolum?”

Bowan came up behind me and whispered into my ear, “It’s the part of the Shadow Valley that gets hungry.”

I sputtered a laugh. “Hungry? Thedesert?”

“The Shadow Valley isn’t like other lands.” Phillen swung his brawny arms and inclined his head. “Only those who’ve grown up in this region could survive a fall into a bolum, but sadly, most are never able to climb free.”

“Okay, now I’m thoroughly confused.”

Jax’s eyes crinkled in the corners, and I knew he was either smiling or smirking beneath his mask. “Bolums are creatures that live within the desert. They’re part animal, part land. Some days they’re entirely immobile and more rock than alive. Other days they’re quite alert and awake, andthoseare the days that you want to steer clear of them.”

“Because otherwise they’ll eat you?” I asked with a scrunched-up nose, nodding toward Bowan and his comment about it being hungry.

Lars snorted quietly at my expression.

“Precisely.” Trivan thumped me on the back, and a lock of blond hair peeked out from under his bandana. “Death by bolum is entirely painful and a prolonged experience. Since they wax and wane between being alive and being sand and rock, they can take weeks to digest you. It’s said that some fae are awake and conscious throughout the entire ordeal. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. Well, except maybe that pirate arsehole we encountered last summer. I wouldn’t mind throwing him into a bolum.”

Bowan laughed, and I could have sworn Lander’s mouth twisted in a sly smile from beneath his mask.

“And you all saved his daughter from that.” It struck me again that these males might be feared and hunted by the most powerful fae on the continent, but here, they truly were saviors if they’d risked their lives to retrieve a young female wildling from certain death.

A thought struck me, and I cocked my head. “If those here love you so much and you needn’t worry about them calling the kingsfae, then why the disguises? Why not remove your masks entirely?”

The laughter died in the group. But instead of answering, Jax nodded down another lane. “Come. We’ll dine up here.”

CHAPTER 16

We waited outside another inn with a salopas beneath it. Jax and Phillen had gone inside to secure rooms before we had supper, and the rest of us had chosen to wait on the street with its perpetual breeze versus the small, stuffy entryway.

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