Page 74 of Trapped to Tame
Spirits plummeting, Eve got up and packed a spare set of clothes for herself as well as a few trinkets that had appeared in her chamber, including a carved, wooden hairbrush that she loved. She didn’t know which of the Brothers had given it to her though. She supposed she should throw it in the fire, not take anything from them except the barest necessities, but then she’d not have a hairbrush and she’d found it invaluable for her long tresses.
A voice in her head said she should give it back anyway along with a firm rebuke to ensure they knew that she had no need of their frivolities, but she couldn’t bring herself to. She liked it. It made it easier to plait her hair back, and she enjoyed the feel of it.
She made her way down to the front hall, finding all three ready and awaiting her and, again, she wondered why they’d bound her to them anew. What did they want from her; more portals made?
She looked at Priest, not giving anything away, but her heart began to beat faster as she thought about how he might terrorize her into making her magick manifest for them in future.
She swallowed hard, moving her eyes away from him quickly when he looked at her, her pride not wanting him to know how she dreaded him.
In truth she didn’t want to leave now. She wasn’t feeling quite right. She felt tired and her back was hurting, she supposed from the Bull’s throw. Low down in her tummy throbbed as well. She hoped she healed fully soon.
* * *
Priest
He wishedhe didn’t know what she was thinking, that they weren't connected by the bond again, but as Priest glanced at the female from the corner of his eye, he could feel it all. She was angry and afraid of him. Confused. After what he’d done, she should keep her distance from him. He told himself he hoped she would, ruthlessly silencing the tiny voice in the back of his mind that said the opposite. He’d thought that breaking the bond would allow his Brothers’ minds to be unclouded. But none of it had gone to plan. Instead, having to rebind her had ensnared him more than ever.
He shook his head. How could one tiny female cause such havoc? Before they'd met her, they'd had no thoughts of a Fourth, no need for a female in their lives. And now both Drax and Fie were besotted and he wasn’t far behind. She consumed his thoughts. Even when he tried to think of something else, he drifted back. He had to stop this.
They leftthe city in haste as soon as they had ensured they had all the supplies needed for their journey now that they had their first real lead as to the whereabouts of the children from the Underhill. After so many months, they were all impatient to find out if what the witch had found in that bastard Nixus’s papers would bear fruit. He hoped the gods it did, or he doubted he would ever see his sister again.
They took the road south that would lead to the flat plains and the grasslands. Though this time of year, the lowlands wouldn't be much more than frozen mires with some dead spindles of grass poking out next to pools of ice.
The wind whipped as they rode and even Priest found his teeth chattering.
They got as far as they could, finding an inn before the sun went down and the temperature plummeted further though it hardly mattered in Priest’s opinion. They were already well and truly frozen to the bone.
The inn, it turned out, was full so they bedded down in the stables for the night.
Priest found himself too tired to care that there were no creature comforts, that he was laying his head in straw instead of a downy pillow.
Fie had he and Drax see to the horses and sort a meal for them and, although he hid it well, Priest could see that his Brother was subtly enjoying his newfound control. Not too much, but he was clearly remembering all the times those had been his duties under both his and Drax’s commands.
But now as Priest saw to the horses and looked into the stall where they’d be bedding for the night, he saw Fie sitting very close to the female, talking to her in soft tones, putting a hand on her shoulder. The woman looked almost shy as she spoke back and even he, with his sharp fae ears, could not hear what they said to each other.
He was curious, having never seen Fie speak very much to any female besides Eve. In the past, his Brother tended to pay for their time, and it wasn't to talk.
Drax came back a few moments later with some bread and meat. They ate heartily and, all of them fatigued from their travels that day, soon bedded down for the night amongst the intermittent noises of their four-legged companions in the other stalls.
The next morning brought with it even colder conditions and Priest was reminded of the ice plains though, granted, he had not spent as much time there as Drax and Fie had. He’d been with Eve in the Dark Realms after all.
Their female sat on her horse, huddled under her ermine cloak; the finest one he could find for her in Kitore before they left. He had ensured that she was well provided for during this journey with sheepskin-lined boots and thick woolen clothes to keep her warm.
He hadn't examined too closely what made him want to take care of a woman who hated the very ground he walked on. Guilt for what had happened, perhaps. How it had been his fault that she’d been caught by the Bull. He gritted his teeth, remembering how the great beast of a man had pushed their tiny female to her knees, beaten her. Priest had never felt so powerless as when he was stuck in that conjuring circle, waiting for their Fourth to be defiled before their eyes and unable to do anything but watch. He was proud of how she had killed her enemy.
He grinned at that memory. He and his Brothers would gladly have avenged their Fourth for even that one blow he’d dealt her, but, like the true fighter she was, she hadn't needed them to. She'd done it herself. Priest knew he’d remember the sound of the bastard’s skull cracking until his dying day. Even the thought of it filled him with satisfaction.
He gazed at Eve, watching her ride. He could see that she was keeping her seat better now, not looking constantly uneasy on her horse’s back. He’d also noticed that her cravings for food had calmed down considerably. They’d all been worried at first, but her body was still filling out despite her no longer eating all and sundry. She looked healthier; her skin having taken on the glow typical of a fertile fae female.
Priest averted his eyes, for some reason embarrassed by the realization that their female was now well enough to get with child.
That night they found a cave; one of many now that they were past the wind-swept planes and heading into the mountains. Fie and Drax went together to hunt as Fie had ordered that no one was to go anywhere alone, leaving him and Eve to keep each other company in the small cave.
She regarded him warily as he approached her. He tossed a book on her bedroll.
‘Read this,’ he said, making an effort not to sound gruff. ‘It will at least give you some idea of what your power can do if you learn to control it properly.’
She gazed at the book but made no attempt to pick it up. He frowned at her.
