Page 19 of The Maleficent Faerie
Some of the Edge-Knights are dismantling tents, but the camp isn’t anywhere near being completely packed up. It seems the Void King and I are riding ahead to the Chapel in the company of a few soldiers. The smaller the group, the greater the speed, I suppose.
The Void King takes me to a foul-smelling shack that apparently serves as the outhouse for the camp. I manage to relieve myself with a decent degree of cleanliness, even though my hands are manacled. Then I’m placed on a gigantic black horse and tied to the saddle by a rope around my waist.
For several minutes I sit there, watching the King and his knights make final preparations. Fitzell will be in charge of the camp, while Andras and others will accompany the King. Among the Edge-Knights riding with us are Vandel, the redhaired knight I mocked, and a few of the men who were standing near him at the time. One of them, a blond Fae with bright purple eyes and a square jaw, gives me a wink and lets his tongue slither out between his lips. It’s deeply forked, and its two halves writhe suggestively.
When I meet his gaze, he approaches my horse and pretends to check its bridle. “They say the Caennith Fae fuck each other during their glory rites and sun gatherings,” he says, low. “Is that true? Is your worship just an excuse to have orgies?”
Holding back my anger, I smile at him. “Do you like orgies?”
“Never participated in one, but I wouldn’t mind hearing stories.” He sidles a little closer. “You’re the Princess’s bodyguard, right? Did you ever… play around with her at one of these orgies?”
Smiling wider, I lean down as if I’m about to confide something, and he moves forward eagerly.
My boot smashes into his chin with a crunch of bone.
The Fae staggers backward, howling, clutching his broken jaw.
“What happened?” Fitzell strides over. “Reehan, you idiot—keep your distance from her, you hear?”
“She’s a maniac,” slurs the knight through his crooked teeth.
“Hold still.” Fitzell grips his jaw and reseats it with a pop, then forces his mouth open and straightens a few of the teeth I knocked sideways. “Go prepare your own mount, and stay clear of the prisoner.”
As Reehan hurries off, still holding his chin, Fitzell plants both fists on her hips and looks up at me. She’s thickly built under the black armor—a woman of strength and skill. I suspect she’d be a match for me in a fight.
“What did he say to you?” she asks.
The question surprises me. There’s no judgment in her tone, no threat of retaliation.
“He disrespected my religion and the Princess,” I reply.
“Reehan has much to learn about respecting those who aren’t like him. He is an excellent fighter, but he’s young and foolish.”
In this realm, where we reach maturity around twenty and remain in that physical state for decades, youth is relative. And it’s no excuse for being an asshole.
With a low scoff, I glance away from Fitzell.
“You hate us,” she says. “You’re angry because you were captured, angry that you’re not going to be ransomed right away, angry because you believe we’re ruthless monsters. I’m angry, too. I’m furious that I let my king risk himself and drain his magic to capture a princess who turned out to beyou. I’m angry that I didn’t check you for glamours myself.”
“How can you check for glamours? You’re human.”
“I have a little Fae blood in me. Enough for that task.” She vents a heavy sigh. “Most of all, I’m angry because for a few hours, I let myself hope that our realm could be saved. I should know better.”
“Saved?” I frown at her.
She chuckles wryly, shaking her head. “You really don’t understand why he needs the Princess, do you?”
“He wants her blood for evil magic.”
“He wants her blood so he can stop the Void forever.”
“But that’s not possible. No human or Fae can stop the Void for good. Only Eonnula’s prophesied savior can do that.”
“And how will we know the savior when they arrive?”
“There will be signs,” I say firmly. “The Priests will know, and the—”
Fitzell cuts me off. “And how long must we wait for the savior? Until the Edge has consumed mountains, crops, villages, and water sources? Until we are huddled on the last piece of shrinking ground? What is so wrong with trying to save ourselves?”
