Page 18 of Ties of Bargains

“You can’t kill them with faerie steel.” Val placed emphasis on the words, flicking a glance at his ankle where she suspected he had an iron knife hidden. But she wouldn’t say anything more pointedly than that. If he couldn’t figure out what she meant, then he wouldn’t have the brains for escaping.

“I see.” Harm drew out the syllables, giving a nod. “What about the captive binding? How do I escape that?”

Val probably shouldn’t tell him. Her fellow fae wouldn’t like that she was educating her package.

But that tight knot was easing in her stomach, and not just because she was satiating her hunger with the stew.

“There are three main ways. You can be rescued by someone else, who returns you to your home and sets you free. That’s the main way humans are freed.” Val hesitated, then decided not to mention the Primrose League, a shadowy organization that existed to rescue humans. That would have been too helpful, especially when they were headed into the Court of Knowledge, the court that allegedly harbored the League’s leader. Besides, if he sought out the League now, he might just get her killed. “You might be able to free yourself, though you would be left in the Fae Realm without the ability to communicate or eat any food whatsoever. The third way is to override the captive binding with an even stronger binding.”

“Such as?” Harm leaned forward, his stew seemingly all but forgotten in his hands.

“Any binding involving love. Most often that is themarriage binding.” Val couldn’t help the curl to her mouth. All such sappy stuff. Anyone in the Realm of Monsters could tell one just how rare such things were.

“Marriage.” Harm raised his eyebrows. “After what we saw today?”

“Hard to believe, I know. But the truly strong marriage bindings involve love, and those are the powerful ones. Supposedly. I’ve never seen it.” Val scraped the last of the stew from the bottom of her bowl. “You’ll need to be wary. Some fae might try to trick you into a marriage binding, hoping you’ll fall in love with them. A marriage with a human—when there is love—makes a fae immune to iron and gives them the ability to lie in the Human Realm. Both things that fae who prey on humans long to achieve.”

“A marriage binding could save or doom me.” He took a bite of the stew, chewing before he swallowed. “Anything else I should know?”

So much, but they’d be up all night if Val tried to explain every nuance of the Fae Realm. Instead, there was only one last thing she’d warn him about now. “Just be careful that your captor doesn’t shed your blood and his or her blood. That would place you under a blood binding. Blood magic is banned here in the Fae Realm, but even then, some fae will still do it. Blood bindings put you fully under the control of your captor. You won’t be able to refuse any command, and escape is nigh impossible.”

Harm set aside what remained of his stew. “Avoid a blood binding. Understood.”

Daisy’s ears perked up at the sound of the bowlclunking against the tree root. She stopped licking her already clean bowl and placed her nose in Val’s lap, giving her the begging eyes.

“All right, I’m done.” Val set her bowl on the ground for Daisy to lick out.

Harm eyed Daisy. “We are washing the dishes, right?”

“Youare washing the dishes.” Val touched the side of the pot. It had cooled enough so she set it next to her bowl for Daisy to lick out next. “Daisy is just helping you out by pre-cleaning everything.”

Harm made a noise in the back of his throat. So ungrateful. She’d only made stew—and its excess of dishes—as a comfort food because he’d looked so disconsolate after their run-in with Queen Titania.

Daisy’s head shot up, her whole body stiffening, as she stared into the forest behind Val. A low growl emanated from the dog’s chest.

Val rose to her feet as she cocked her head to better listen to the forest sounds.

Harm braced himself, as if preparing to stand. “What is—”

Val held up a hand, and he fell silent.

Daisy’s other two heads appeared, her fur rising along her back. She gave one last, low growl before she bolted into the night.

“Monsters.” Val drew her knife, spinning in that direction.

“Should I…” Harm fumbled with his trouser cuff where it was stuffed into his tall boots.

“No, use mine.” Val drew a second knife and tossed it at him.

Instead of catching it, he stumbled backwards, eyes wide, as he let the knife fall to the ground.

Val huffed and turned toward the forest. Yes, she would definitely have to teach him to use a knife. He’d never survive if she didn’t.

Chapter Seven

Harm tentatively picked up the knife, gripping it in his hand and facing the forest as if he actually knew what he was doing. If it had been a sword, he would at least have had some clue. But a knife? Nope.

He’d had some perfunctory training with swords and blunderbusses. But most of his training had been focused on overall war strategy as he was expected to remain behind while the generals took care of actual tactics and the men did the fighting. Not that the Duchy of Tulpenland got in many battles.

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