Page 51 of Ties of Bargains

Daisy peeked her nose out from under the bed, giving Val’s ankle a nudge.

Val’s gaze went unfocused as she reached down to pet Daisy. “The local warlord accused my father of treason. Whether or not my father actually committed treason, I don’t know. All I remember is being awakened in the middle of the night. My mother was screaming, my father begging, as we were dragged from our home and forced through a rift into the Realm of Monsters.”

“That sounds terrifying.” Harm had been taken from his own realm, but at least he had been a willing adult. She’d been a child.

“Terrifying.” Val gave a laugh that was more scoff than mirth. “That wasn’t the half of it. My parents weren’t prepared for the starvation, the monsters, the death of that realm. Both of them were dead within days of our banishment. I would’ve died too, if a band of the Wild Hunt hadn’t found me. I bound myself to them, and they raised me.”

Made her who she was, though she didn’t say as much. Being raised by the Wild Hunt certainly explained a lot.

“That sounds like a tough childhood.” Harm scuffed his boots on the floor, resisting the urge to go to her.Right now if he tried to offer the comfort of a hug, he wasn’t sure if she’d fall into his arms or punch him.

Daisy fully wiggled out from under the bed and leaned her body against Val’s legs. The dog was probably doing more to comfort Val than Harm could.

Val gave a shrug, some of the shattered look leaving her eyes. “It is what it is. It isn’t like I can change it now.”

Harm nodded, his gaze dropping. “My mother died when I was ten. It’s been just my father, my brother, and me ever since. It was a good childhood, and I wouldn’t change how close I am with them. But I still miss my mother.”

Val leaned over as Daisy flopped onto her back for a belly rub. “I’ve gone through the Court of Sand plenty of times for missions—the rifts there are the most reliable way into the Realm of Monsters—but I’ve done my best to avoid the warlords. I will never go back to pledging myself to a warlord, noble, or monarch who could use me or banish me or own me like that ever again. The Wild Hunt gives me freedom from that.”

After the things Harm had seen here in the Fae Realm, he could understand that, even if he wasn’t sure the Wild Hunt was the freedom she thought it was. She was here, after all, tied with the same rope he was and bound by the guilt of being complicit in transporting him to captivity.

Harm held up his wrist with the end of the cord. Better to steer the conversation on to a less emotional footing. “It isn’t how I’d like to see the Court of Sandeither. But the Court of Sand should be easier to escape from than the dragons, right?”

“Yes and no.” Val’s tone steadied, her face smoothing, as if she too were calmed by their usual discussion about his eventual escape. “The dragons are obsessive about things they consider theirs. Once they have someone bound into their service, it’s incredibly difficult to leave.”

That was what Harm had gathered, based on previous discussions. Escaping a dragon had sounded impossible.

“But they usually don’t find pleasure in cruelty for the sake of cruelty the way many of the other fae do. Human captivity is more business for them than it is about dominating others.” Val’s mouth tipped in a wry line, though it wasn’t a smile. “They’re dragons. They already dominate everyone around them. Few of them feel the need to prove it.”

“In other words, the dragons would have been harder to escape, but I would have likely endured less torture while serving them for the rest of my life.” Harm waved toward the door, his other hand drifting toward the sword still buckled at his hip. That would explain why the dragons hadn’t felt the need to disarm him.

“Correct. The warlords, though…” Val grimaced, her gaze going distant again.

Harm wasn’t about to ask her how bad Warlord Zaya was. Based on his observations of the type offeeënwho dealt in bargains for captive humans, she likely wasn’t the honorable and kindhearted sort. Was she thetype who shoved innocent children through rifts into the Realm of Monsters?

More cruel, but more possibility of escape. Harm tried to dredge up a shred of hope.

Nope, things still looked hopeless. He was absolutely going to die here in the Fae Realm. Should he be hopeful that at least a cruelfeewould mean he’d likely die sooner rather than later?

“Harm.” That note of steel returned to Val’s voice. Her posture straightened as she stopped petting Daisy, her eyes flinty again in that warrior-look. “I won’t abandon you here in the Fae Realm. As soon as I’m free of this”—she held up her arm with the tether—“I’ll free you. I don’t know how, or if I can. But I promise, I will return you to your home, no matter what it takes.”

Harm opened his mouth. Closed it. He wasn’t sure how to respond to such a big promise. “Thanks. I just…thanks. I don’t think I’d even have a chance of getting home without your help.”

For a moment, her gaze dropped away from his, the muscle at the corner of her jaw knotting as if she didn’t know how to accept his gratitude.

Besides, he knew what neither of them wanted to acknowledge. Just because she’d promised didn’t mean she’d succeed. There was every chance both of them would die in the attempt.

“Look. I should have told you this long before now.” Val leaned backward as Daisy hopped onto the bed and snuggled into her lap. As much as a hefty, muscular dog could snuggle. “But there’s this fae lord who goes by the moniker of the Wild Fae Primrose. He lives in the Courtof Knowledge and rescues captive humans. I don’t know how to contact him, but I’ve heard his League is spread over the entire Fae Realm. If I can’t rescue you, then surely the Primrose League can.”

Primrose. That was a flower, wasn’t it?

Harm dug into his pocket, having to search for several moments before he found what he was looking for. He pulled out that small red flower the strange human had given him at the faerie market in the Court of Knowledge. He’d nearly forgotten about it after he’d stuffed it in the magical pocket once he’d changed into his new clothes.

The flower was a little wilted, but it didn’t look as bad as he would’ve expected for having been riding around in his pocket for several days. He held it up for Val to see. “I think I might have met someone in the Primrose League.”

Val’s eyes widened, her gaze traveling from the flower to him. “That’s a wild fae primrose. Where did you get that? When?”

“A man approached me while you were haggling for my sword at the faerie market. He couldn’t have been the Primrose himself since he was human, but he gave me this and told me to trust someone if they gave me another one.” Harm studied the little red flower. Such a small, unassuming thing.

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