Page 97 of Trapped to Tame
She grasped hold of the magick inside her, the light Priest had helped her to see made tangible by her will.
But nothing happened. It fizzled into nothing. She almost cried in frustration. Why couldn’t she do it?
‘If you’re attempting a conjure, it won’t work here,’ one of the guards said.
The other laughed at her as they advanced. ‘Come on. You might as well be trying to escape from one of these locked cells, female.’
They each took hold of her and began to take her back to her room. As they walked, Eve was able to see more clearly into the cells. Some held men, huddled on the floor. In others there were women dressed in rags, one or two languished on beds wearing nothing at all, seemingly in stupors for they didn't even realize that anyone was passing as they stared up at nothing, their expressions vacant.
‘What's wrong with them?’ she couldn’t help asking aloud, not expecting an answer.
But one of the fae guards replied. ‘Your father likes to enthrall them before he fucks them.’ He grinned in a way that made her want to shrink back. ‘Me, I like ‘em with a little spirit, isn’t that right, girl?’ he called to the woman who was sitting in her tiny room on a cot. It was Sym, the servant who’d brought Eve her meal.
The guard looked at his friend in askance and the other one shook his head with a grin. ‘Go on then. Get the slave with child if you can.’
The first guard sauntered into Sym’s doorless room. ‘You know what to do.’
Sym didn’t look up at him as she pulled her shift from her shoulders, letting it pool at her feet. The guard winked at Eve.
‘You see? I don’t need to make her do what I want. She knows what happens when she doesn’t please.’
The guard still in the hall with Eve rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t be late for rounds. I’m not covering for you this time.’
He took Eve by the arm, and steered her down the corridor to her room, the look on his face as he eyed her one she’d seen many times on the Bull.
She looked down, heart beginning to beat faster. Could she beat back a full-fae male if she needed to? Was she strong enough?
‘I believe I’m making Lord Gerling’s daughter nervous,’ he murmured, putting his hand on her rump, and squeezing.
Her eyes narrowed, but she did nothing. He wanted her reaction. She’d give him none.
‘You’ll be expected to breed, you know,’ he said softly. ‘If you don’t, gods only know what Ceres will do to you. He’s known for his cruelty.’ His hand wandered. ‘I could help. My seed is stronger than some pampered lord.’
Resisting the urge to batter the male who was more than twice her size, Eve opened the door to her room herself.
‘Lay another hand on me and I tell Gerling,’ she hissed. ‘I’d wager he’d let me choose your punishment simply to amuse himself and, by the gods, I’ll see your cock cleaved from between your legs.’
He took a step back, paling, and she watched him swallow hard. ‘I beg your forgiveness. It was a misunderstanding.’
With a snort, she walked into the room and heard the lock turn. She sat on the bed, thinking of the girl just down the hall, wishing she could help her. But she couldn’t even save herself. What good was she to anyone else here?
How was she going to get out of this? Escaping this magicked fortress was clearly impossible. She would have to wait until she got to her final destination. Perhaps she would be able to use her newfound skills to flee whomever her father was selling her to. She had memories of how to conjure her particular brand of magick and she could see now why Priest’s efforts to instruct her had failed. It wasn't the same. He'd been trying to unlock something that was a secret of her father’s family. Now that she knew what it was, she could draw on her power effortlessly. It was just that Gerling had some conjure in place to stop bridges opening in his home. It was bad luck, but it made sense. A fortress wasn't a fortress if anyone could just go in and out as they pleased … but perhaps on the journey to wherever she was going to be taken next …
She lay back on the bed to wait, planning how she was going to escape this cursed place and very glad that her father had underestimated his halfling daughter.
* * *
Drax
‘Are you ready?’Priest asked, straightening his formal black tunic as he looked in the mirror.
Behind him Fie swore. ‘We should be going after our Fourth, not attending parties.’
Drax ran a hand through his hair, he agreed with Fie wholeheartedly, but this was a fae realm and things had to be done a certain way. He remembered now why he had left to join the Dark Army in the human realm. He’d never been able to countenance all of these fucking proprieties that served only to polish a shining veneer that hid the rot beneath. Keeping up appearances no longer made sense; not for a dying race like theirs. They should be putting their efforts into saving their kind.
‘We must do what we have to,’ he said. ‘If we want to find out where she’s been taken, we need to play Isbeth’s game for now.’
‘We need to get her back and make Gerling pay!’ Fie growled.
