Page 89 of Trapped to Tame
‘We better finish this quickly then.’
They kept going, beginning to hear the muffled sounds of men talking and laughing as they neared the lower levels of the fortress, close to the main gates where a guard room would be in any other keep. They took a small staircase down and were met with a closed door, laughter and talking coming from the other side.
Drax took the latch in hand and Fie nodded, fingers groping for the dagger at his belt and finding it missing. He’d given it to Eve upstairs.
‘We need to get that female her own weapons,’ he murmured.
Drax grinned, pulling his dagger from his boot and tossing it to Fie.
He threw the door open and Fie sprang across the threshold, killing one short soldier outright as his knife ran headlong into his chest. He killed two more after that and Drax, right behind him, slew another pair. He ran one of the men through and stabbed another in the throat. One was left. He cowered in a corner. His sword clattered to the ground and his breeches became saturated with piss.
Drax stared at him in blatant disgust.
‘Please let me live,’ he begged.
Drax merely shook his head, throwing his knife and embedding it in the man's heart without mercy. They would have shown the children none, after all. Mid-winter was only days away. They’d got here in the nick of time.
The soldier fell to the ground and Drax dragged his weapon from the other man's flesh, wiping it clean on the Library guard’s uniform.
‘Coward,’ he muttered and spat on the man's corpse.
‘If Priest and Eve did what they were meant to, all the guards are dead,’ Fie said. ‘The priests aren’t fighters. They’ll hide once they know the soldiers are gone. Let's go down to the square. Remember to remove your glamour so that the children are not afraid.’
Drax immediately became taller, leaner, broader and his eyes turned violet. As he showed his true face, Fie did the same. They walked slowly and quietly down to the main square and, as soon as they walked in, the children began to turn their heads towards them. Subdued chatter broke out and Fie raised his hands for quiet.
‘Rogue?’ he called.
‘Fie?’
A boy ran forwards to him and threw himself into his brother’s arms, hugging him tightly. Fie embraced him back, finally relaxing in a way that he hadn't since he'd heard his brother was gone.
‘Are you all right?’ he asked, and his brother nodded. ‘Is anyone hurt?’
‘No, but they put something in our food to keep us calm. Pricks didn’t know I saw ‘em, but they all had slow hands. I fished it out of the pot before last mealtime so everyone’s coming ‘round,’ Rogue said.
Fie chuckled. ‘You’ve done well.’
‘Are you here to take us home?’ a small girl nearby asked.
‘In due course,’ Fie said. ‘Be strong and stay close.’
On the other side of the square, he saw Priest hugging a young woman.
Eve was behind him, feeling happy that they’d found their kin, but afraid as well though she was trying to steel herself. Fie felt his heart break because he knew what Priest was going to have to do. He tried to catch his Brother’s eye, but Priest avoided his gaze.
* * *
Priest
Priest embraced his sister.Taking her face in his hands, he kissed her forehead. He could scarcely believe that he'd found her at last. He held her close again and then looked past her to Eve, who was standing not far away. The link between them flared to life and he could feel that she was glad for them. But she was also afraid for the same reason and his happiness at finding his sister alive was tainted because soon he would have to do what he’d promised himself he wouldn't ever do again. He was going to have to make her conjure a portal unless she could do it herself.
He set his sister aside, squeezing her shoulders. ‘We're here to take you to the fae realms,’ he murmured to her. ‘Let them all know that they need to be ready to leave as soon as we give the word.’
He went to Eve.
‘Close your eyes,’ he said without preamble.
She tensed, but she did as he asked. He put his hands on her shoulders, tracing down her arms and then up again to calm her.
