Page 73 of Trapped to Tame
‘Our thanks, witch.’
Yet again Eve's eyes widened as they fell on Vie. Vie was a witch? She’d thought they were only myths and Vie certainly didn't look the way the stories said either. Her long dark hair was beautiful, thick, and shiny with not a hint of grey or white and she couldn't be much older than Eve was. She found that Vie was watching her, a very tiny line between her brows as if she was trying to make out something.
Vie stepped towards her. ‘Forgive me. I know we don't know each other, but are you,’ she came closer still. ‘Are you fae?’
Eve glanced at her Brothers, not sure what to say, but they were all in deep conversations with the First Scholar and the other Brothers and didn’t notice her, so she nodded slowly.
‘Half,’ she muttered.
Vie grinned. ‘That explains it.’ At Eve’s questioning expression, she elaborated. ‘There's something different about you. Most wouldn't notice it but …’
‘But you're a witch.’ Eve finished for her. ‘What else can you tell?’
Vie shrugged. ‘Your magick is strong or at least it will be when you learn how to wield it.’
Eve canted her head. ‘Can you show me how?’
‘I have fae magick, but it comes to me differently than it does to fae conjurers,’ she said giving Eve a rueful smile. ‘In truth, I don’t know the first thing about fae magicks, but that one,’ she nodded at Priest, ‘he’s relatively powerful. Can he not help you?’
Eve flinched, thinking about what Priest did to make her use her power.
‘No,’ she said, ‘he can’t.’
She turned away, walking to the edge of the mezzanine, and staring over the Library. ‘I had no idea there were so many books here. I suppose you’ve read them all.’
Vie laughed. ‘I haven’t even put a dent in them!’
‘Forgive me if I was rude,’ Eve said, casting a look back at her unit.
Vie gave her a sympathetic look. ‘Lily told me you were forced into the unit,’ she said low.
Eve nodded jerkily.
‘And now?’ Vie lowered her voice further. ‘I could petition the Commander to break the bond …’
‘No,’ Eve said. ‘I don’t … I don’t know what I want, but they’ve made it clear I’m theirs.’
‘I find that sometimes Brothers are a bit too used to getting everything their way,’ she said, giving Eve a look and Eve snorted.
‘Aye, that’s true enough.’
She turned to glance at the Brothers, finding that they were saying their goodbyes.
Vie gave her a wink as she walked back to her unit, one of them casually throwing an arm around her and pulling her to him to cuddle her close.
The Brothers filed out with purpose in their strides, and she followed after them.
‘I hope to see you again, Eve,’ Vie called as she descended the stairs back to the main Library floor.
They left the way they’d come, briskly walking the short distance back to the house that, despite her better judgement, Eve kept thinking of as a home. Her home. It was an odd feeling for she'd never had one before. She was also beginning to feel more at ease in the casual opulence of her surroundings, more often than not finding peace in the beauty of it.
She caught Priest staring with an indiscernible look on his face and stared back, still angry with him for what he’d done, both the breaking and the remaking of the bond. She made a face at him. It was childish, but it made her feel better.
She got back up to her room and lay on the bed, feeling fatigued.
Someone knocked on her door and she told him to go away.
‘Gather your things. We leave before midday,’ came Drax’s muffled voice from the hall.
