Page 71 of Ties of Bargains

“Here. This might work.” Val dug into her pocket again, fishing around for a long moment before she withdrew a leather bracer. “If I cut this in half, I canfashion leather cuffs. We can wear them under the threefold cord, as if to prevent chafing.”

Harm nodded. “I did get rather bruised from the grain sprites. Why weren’t we wearing something like this the whole time?”

“I didn’t plan to be tied by that cord more than a few hours.” Val shot him a sour look, as if that was all his fault. “Diego saw us at the faerie market, and he will probably notice the difference. Hopefully he’ll assume I got them at the faerie market before setting out on the long walk to the Court of Stone. I probably would have, if I hadn’t been so busy procuring clothes and a sword.”

While she set to work cutting the bracer, Harm turned his back to her to move the knife from his ankle to his arm. While they’d discussed the plan—and she even had a hidden sheath fashioned for the knife—she had yet to see it nor had he come right out and confirmed he had it. Just in case Diego questioned her.

Once the knife was secure, he tugged the tattered human shirt he’d worn during the scuffle with the wolf over the fae jerkin and shirt, hiding the knife before he turned back to Val.

She held out what looked like a leather bracelet with strings to tie it on. “Try this.”

He took it and fumbled to tie it on his wrist over the golden line. She reached over and tied it for him, then he did the same for her.

She pushed to her feet, glancing one last time at their campsite, nothing but sand and a ring of stones around the coals now that she’d packed up the tent. “I think that’s everything.”

“Not everything.” Harm stood as well, resting his hands on her waist. “Tulpenland weddings are sealed with a kiss.”

“Are they now?” Val tilted her head as she wrapped her arms around him. “Then I suppose we should make it official.”

Harm didn’t wait for more of an invitation than that.

Chapter Twenty-Four

The next morning, Harm sat beside Val at one of the tables in the eyrie’s dining hall, the rest of the mercenaries gathered around them. Breakfast wasn’t pancakes, but the eggs and sausages were hot and filling.

As they were finishing, Taran entered the room, followed by a man dressed in green and brown, an unstrung bow across his back and a quiver of arrows at his side.

The man swept his cloak behind him as he sat on the bench across from Harm and Val, immediately claiming a plate of sausage and eggs.

Harm dropped his fork on his plate. “You’re the stranger who gave me the flower at the faerie market.”

Val rested her hand on the hilt of her dagger. “Are you the Primrose? I thought he was a fae.”

Chewing a bite of the sausage, the man’s gaze swept over Val in an assessing way. “I’m the Primrose’s right-hand man, you might say.”

“Then what are you doing here? Your League is well on its way to escorting my husband and me home.” Val emphasized the wordhusband, as if she still resented that the dragons had nearly carried him off.

The man sliced off a bite of egg, popped it in his mouth, then waved his fork at Harm. “You’re bringing these mercenaries back to the Human Realm.”

“Yes.” Harm resisted the urge to squirm under the man’s gaze.

The man didn’t cut all that much of an imposing figure with his stature that was several inches shorter than Harm’s. But there was a confidence to his gaze and the way he carried his weapons. “And you truly believe your wife and her mercenaries will be no threat to humans?”

“I trust Val to keep them in line.” Harm held the man’s gaze without flinching.

The man gave Val one last, searching look before he nodded. “Then I have a proposal I wish to discuss with the two of you. The Primrose League is always looking for allies in the Human Realm, both to fight off incursions by rogue fae and to provide an end point for our network here in the Fae Realm. It isn’t always safe or possible to return the rescued humans through the same faerie circle through which they were taken. Thus the need for people in the Human Realm to do the work of helping those who have been rescued to either return home safely or establish a new home elsewhere.”

Harm leaned his elbows on the table as he considered, acceptance already on the tip of his tongue. After his experiences in the Fae Realm, he couldn’t turn hisback on others who’d been taken. Especially those who hadn’t had the good fortune to have someone like Val fall in love with them.

Instead, he forced himself to voice the more practical consideration. “While I would accept, I’m afraid Tulpenland isn’t very tied to the Fae Realm. The occasional faerie circle only appears in the spring when the tulips are blooming. We wouldn’t be a very effective ally.”

“You could still help our other allies by sending aid to fight off rogue fae or to provide a safe and peaceful home for rescued humans.” The human man swirled a bit of egg through the running yolk as he flicked a glance from Val to Harm. “However, I think Tulpenland will be more tied to the Fae Realm than it has been before. You’re taking six fae back with you. More, you will someday put a fae on the throne as your duchess.”

Right. If his blood could hold such sway over the duchy that Diego would go to great lengths to claim it, then putting Val on the throne as his wife would also have consequences for Tulpenland’s interactions with the Fae Realm.

Assuming Tulpenland still wanted him as their duke once he presented hisfeeënbride.

Even then, havingfeeënliving in Tulpenland would still tie the land to the Fae Realm in a way it hadn’t been before.

---