Page 92 of Trapped to Tame
‘We need the Council on our side. Isbeth is our best bet. She’s grateful for the return of her grandchildren so we’re entitled to a special request,’ Priest said. ‘She might be persuaded to help.’
Fie nodded. ‘Set up a meeting,’ he ordered. ‘Quickly.’
Priest walked out into the hall, summoning a fae guard standing close by.
‘We need a private meeting with Councilor Isbeth,’ he said.
The guard inclined his head, ‘I’ll make the request but they’re usually busy so I wouldn’t get your hopes up,’ he muttered, pulling a cord.
A human servant appeared a moment later, smiling shyly at the guard, but cowering away from Priest.
Priest frowned, not liking in the least that the female was afraid of him. How far he’d come since they’d found Eve.
The guard spoke to her quietly and she soon calmed down, scurrying away to do his bidding.
‘Did you enthrall her?’ Priest asked conversationally, watching the retreating human with interest.
‘Never.’ The guard gave him a pointed look, his eyes also training on the human girl as she walked down the hall. ‘Not all of us agree with how the humans are treated.’
Priest inclined his head, returning to their room to find both Brothers pacing.
‘Calm yourselves. Eat something. You’ll be no good to her if you aren’t hale and strong.’
Fie sighed, sinking into a chair while Drax made a point of picking up an apple and biting into it.
Priest followed his own advice, taking one as well. ‘We might have a chance if we tell Isbeth the truth,’ he said, his mind turning.
‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean we tell her who Eve is, that she’s our mate. That she has power. Gerling would never have given up his child if he thought she had magick. His error is our gain, and the current climate is on our side. As a mate to us all, there’s more chance of getting her with child. Isbeth might be able to persuade the Council to let Eve stay with us instead of letting Gerling take her.’
His Brothers glanced at each other.
‘And if she becomes pregnant?’
‘The Council will know of her, but the most that will happen is she’ll be forced into a sanctuary.’ He threw up his hands. ‘Wherever they send her, we’ll go too.’
‘Will they let us?’ Fie asked.
‘We’ll make them, ‘Drax said grimly. ‘It’s a small price to pay to get her back.’
Moments later there was a knock on their door. They were summoned.
Fie wasat the front as they walked into the Council’s private rooms, he and Drax flanking their commander. But as they entered, Priest inwardly cursed as he saw three of the Council sitting at the table instead of just one. Isbeth sat on one side, the other female in the middle and a male at the other end.
‘We asked for this audience with Councilor Isbeth,’ Fie said with a bow, ‘to request the return of our Fourth … and our mate.’
Three sets of eyes turned towards them.
‘You did not say the human female was your Fourth and mate earlier,’ the oldest council member, Lord Belarus, rasped.
‘That was by design,’ Drax said, speaking up from behind Fie with his head bowed. ‘Our arrival here was sudden and largely unplanned. We weren’t sure what welcome our female would receive at the court, so we decided to tread carefully.’
Fie drew himself up. ‘We didn’t presume that a council member would condescend to interrogate a human prisoner himself, but what’s done is done. When can we expect our mate to be returned to us?’
Belarus inclined his head, looking directly at them though his cloudy eyes tended to blindness. ‘Your mate has already been taken to one of Gerling’s personal estates. He had business elsewhere so he will carry out her interrogation at his leisure.’
‘You didn’t tell me that, Belarus,’ the councilwoman said, her sharp eyes boring into her colleague.
