Page 23 of Trapped to Tame
‘What trickery is this?’ he said, looking at their Brothers’ blacks.
‘It’s not a trick,’ Fie replied. ‘Greygor cut us out of the Army for being fae, put a price on our heads. We went to Kitore and got stuck inside the city’s wards until recently.’
Quin snorted. ‘Someone wanted you dead badly to risk the ire of the entire Dark Army.’
Priest shrugged. ‘We made powerful enemies in the city while we were working towards our own ends. The First Scholar was one of them. We thought this female was sent by him to kill us.’
He didn’t bother telling the Commander who they now suspected was truly behind the attack. When they finally gained entrance to the Underhill, they’d have the proof they needed to take the bastard down. Revenge would be theirs in every way possible then.
‘You gave our Fourth to Nixus! You put her in danger,’ Bastian boomed, looking furious.
‘An oversight,’ Fie murmured, putting his hands up in supplication. ‘We didn't know who she was. She never said.’
Lily turned to Quin. ‘Neither did they. We didn't know who each other were. It’s no matter now. It ended well,’ she said. ‘You have just made this unit Brothers again after all.’
She gave him a look and the Commander listened to his Fourth. Clearly the female had some sway over him for he backed down and Mad Mal put his blade away.
‘What are you doing in my tent?’ Quin asked again. ‘Are your accommodations not to your liking?’
He smirked and Priest barely stopped himself from growling aloud at the inconveniences they had suffered since being at the Camp.
‘Our Fourth,’ Priest began, but Lily interrupted.
‘Maeve brought their Fourth to me. She looks a little worse for wear,’ she said, clearly blaming Fie and Priest for Eve's lack of clothes, cleanliness and appropriate boots.
Priest rolled his eyes. ‘Eve has had an arduous journey without us and has been unable to take care of herself,’ he muttered, trying not to think back to the tent when he’d had the halfling under him and all he’d wanted to do was fuck her senseless then and there on the floor after their skirmish. She was a better fighter than he’d given her credit for. His nose still pained him. He’d not expected that strike.
Maeve let out a scoff from behind Lily. ‘Perhaps you cannot take care of your Fourth,’ she said in challenge.
‘Do not test me, woman,’ Priest growled, turning his attentions back to this other infuriating female, ‘or I’ll see you in the rings.’
But the female did not back away or cower as he’d expected. Instead, she sneered at him.
‘I'll meet you in the rings whenever you like, you faerie cunt,’ she spat.
‘Enough!’ Quin said, ‘You'll not be fighting my steward in the rings today, Brother. Maeve, you have work to do.’
‘Aye, Commander,’ Maeve said, turning away with a flick of her hair, her deference to the Commander just shy of mocking. She went back to that mammoth desk and began sorting documents into piles.
‘Is our Fourth almost finished?’ Priest drawled.
Lily's gaze flicked to him for a moment. ‘I'll see.’
Giving her unit a look that said she didn't want to hear any more arguments, Quin's Fourth disappeared back into their chamber and Priest barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes again.
‘Wait outside,’ Mad Mal commanded, turning away as soon as he'd uttered the edict, not bothering to see if they obeyed.
‘Fuck,’ Fie said as he and Priest traipsed from the tent, out into the cold. ‘What they said is true. She doesn't look taken care of. We need to find her some actual fucking clothes, a cloak, some boots that fit her and aren't full of holes.’
‘Aye,’ Priest muttered. ‘Come.’
They began to walk in the direction of the main thoroughfare where all the businesses were. It wasn't far away as the Commander's tent was in a prime location at the center of the Camp.
‘I don't feel anything different from the binding,’ Fie commented.
Priest nodded. ‘Drax will be taking on the brunt of it. He’ll have a noticeable link to her now.’
‘Is that normal?’
