Page 42 of Trapped to Tame
‘We can't chance building a fire,’ he muttered, noticing her teeth chattering.
‘I'm not cold.’
He frowned. She was much more frightened than she was letting on. He put a hand lightly on her shoulder, telling himself he wanted to calm her, so they didn’t go missing in a dark realm if she lost control of herself again.
‘There’s nothing to fear while I’m with you. I've been to the Dark Realms a thousand times. We are safe now and we aren’t stuck here. Our amulets are tied to the portal magick. They will lead us to the closest bridge, and we will yet arrive at the Underhill without much delay.’
‘What else can your amulets do?’ she asked.
‘Protect us from some Dark Realm creatures. They got us past the wards and into the capital too,’ he said. ‘Couldn’t get us back out when we got stuck though.’
‘Why?’
‘Gods only know. Kitore’s magicks are ancient and jumbled. Even I don’t have the skills to unpick that mess.’
‘I'm sorry I put us in danger.Again,’ she whispered, changing the subject.
He was surprised at her words. ‘It wasn’t your fault,’ he said and could seehehad surprisedheras well.
He peeked out from the rocks where they hid instead of speaking further on the subject, not sure what to say.
‘I think it’s gone,’ he breathed. ‘Come on. We need to get through these rocks and, hopefully, the portal won’t be too far away.’
* * *
Eve
Eve followed Priest.Her arm wasn't hurting, but that hardly meant anything. Her mind was adrift. Could she really have opened a portal? Did she really have magick?
She glanced up at his retreating form in front of her.
‘Am I fae?’ she whispered, giving voice to the question that had been brewing in her mind since the day she met these men. She said it so quietly that he couldn't possibly hear … and yet he did.
He looked back, his eyes assessing. ‘Half.’
She gaped at his cavalier reply, tears coming unbidden to her eyes. ‘I don’t understand.’
How could this be possible? She was an orphan, a street child. She ran to catch up with him.
‘If the nuances of how children are made escapes you, female, I’m afraid I cannot be the one to enlighten.’
Her tears dried as she gave him a look. ‘Stop playing games. You know what I mean.’
Priest grunted his ascent. ‘The fae aren't meant to take humans as slaves,’ he began, ‘but, like everywhere, those with power and wealth can do what they like without any real repercussions. In truth, your mother was probably a slave taken from your realm, sold to one of the lords.’
He glanced at her as if ensuring she was still listening to him. ‘Halflings used to be rare. The human females taken weren’t allowed to become pregnant, but that has changed in recent years.’ He shrugged. ‘In truth, I’ve no idea how you ended up in that town. There was once a portal nearby. Perhaps you were brought through it and left to die.’
He was silent then and Eve didn’t ask him anything more.
Her mind was reeling. She'd always assumed that her mother had simply not wanted her. Perhaps if things had been different … she would have had a family, people who’d loved her. Her eyes prickled again, and she turned her face into the wind. That hadn't happened and it was useless to dwell on it now.
‘Who are you looking for in the Underhill?’
She hadn't really spoken much to Priest in general, so she didn't really expect him to answer. She was surprised when he did.
‘I had kin there, havekin there,’ he said, his jaw tightening.
‘Your mother or father?’ she asked.
