Page 7 of Royal Captive
“They must have tagged the humans they wanted with blood magick, set to trigger at a predetermined time. I bet when the barrier fell, it triggered automatically, bringing them all here,” Ellis muttered darkly, not appearing to be speaking to anyone in particular. His face was set into a harsh expression, full of pain.
I was irritated that was the first sentence he’d spoken to me here in the fae realm, but I dismissed my stubborn anger.
“Should it offend me that I wasn't tagged?” I joked darkly. Anne’s haunted eyes were wide and terrified. I swallowed the rest; now was clearly not the time.
“I hope they all die,” Anne viciously spat out, with heads nodding all around her. “I hope they suffer for what they did to everyone. To us.”
I thought of Ferar’s decapitated head and of Cassus’s forehead scraping the stone floor. The horror and pain in his eyes at his friend’s death hadn’t been feigned. His sorrow at possibly never seeing his family again had been tangible.
I shook my head.
“He said we’d be slaves,” said another woman next to Anne, with strawberry blonde hair tied back in a kerchief. “But I don’t see any slaves.”
The cart lurched forward, knocking us all together in a hubbub of pointy elbows and knobby knees. I didn’t have the heart to tell any of them that slaves were alive and real—not when I didn’t have any more concrete knowledge than they had.
“Whatever happens, we’ll be together,” I said instead. Ellis’s spicy scent surrounded me, but he refused to reach out or touch me. His hands tightened into fists at his side. I allowed myself amoment to close my eyes and breathe. Whatever was wrong with him, it wasn’t something he could openly talk about. I at least knew him well enough now to know that.
“I’m sure it can’t be that bad,” I said brightly.
He glared.
We all settled in for the ride.
This city was spectacular on a level I couldn’t appreciate fully. While smaller, the buildings of the fae city were no less spectacular than the castle itself. Many buildings comprised the same swirling, green serpentine stone, while others used crystals and stones with pinks sheens, purples, and every other color of the rainbow. Some houses had crushed gems into powder and mixed it into the mortar, creating a shimmering lattice work to help hold their homes together.
It was beautiful.
They did not line the streets with cobblestones or bricks, but with one large, smooth white rock that stretched down the road and branched off into side streets and even personal walkways. Had they found one massive piece of white sheet rock and cut it to fit the design needed, or was some other technique at play? I answered my question as I saw a group of men (humans, of course), laboring to patch a small piece of the road ahead of us. As our cage carriage slowed to pass, they mixed stone with a liquid mixture in a large bowl, continually swirling it around until they poured it into the hole, where it hardened quickly like clay.
On and on through the city we went, watching as the beautiful fae went about their business, trailed by human servants carrying their bags and wares, or attending to horses and small fae children.
I didn’t see any human children.
After what seemed like a few hours, we finally left the city behind us. There had been no walls, no gates, and no guards to pass through to leave the city. Did the fae leave all their cities unguarded? Perhaps that was another luxury I couldn’t fathom; having no enemies or danger lurking around the corner.
Thick woods descended around us. Black trees and colorfully vibrant flowers punctuated thick meadows and fields around us. Was it midday? Evening? Night? Clouds had moved in, dark red in color and the thunder grew louder. I hoped it didn’t rain on us.
The wind picked up, slicing through the cage’s bars. Goosebumps erupted on my skin and I moved closer to Ellis, seeking warmth. He flinched, but allowed me to rest against him.
Everyone around us had settled as best they could in the cage, sitting down and leaning against the bars. I sat in the middle, sitting next to cold and hard Ellis. I kept trying to sneak glances at him, but he gave nothing away. He didn’t appear sick, either. Looking around at the other terrified humans, I saw no one was paying us any attention.
“Do you know what happened?” I asked him quietly. “One minute we were getting our clothes, then Cassus and Ferar were there.” I swallowed heavily. “Did they … They had implied … Viana had something to do with it, didn’t she?”
Ellis’s lack of reaction told me more than he ever could. I drew away from him, hurt. Wasthiswhy he was suddenly giving me the cold shoulder and ignoring me?
He noticed my flinch of realization, his cold mask cracking as his features softened.
“Eve, I—”
“You with your dreams and Viana with her stupid voices,” I spat, wrapping my arms around my knees. “Is it a fae thing to be cryptic and vague? Or is it that I’m just a stupid human who couldn’t possibly understand?”
Ellis ran a frustrated hand through his hair, the gold in his eyes glinting. “That’s not it. Don’t do this. I’m trying to keep you safe.”
Men were so stupid, and I was so sick of it.
“By bringing me to the fae realm and then pretending I don’t exist?” I spat back at him, uncaring as heads turned toward us as my voice rose. “Leave me alone.”
Agony twisted Ellis’s face, but I ignored the small stab in my heart and presented him with my back. He knew where I’d be if he quit acting like a jack wagon.
