Page 41 of Trapped By Claws
"Just humans?" I took a bite of the stew, savoring the soothing richness of the savory broth and the bite of the tomatoes mixed with the fish. "I'd have thought it being under the sea would make that almost redundant."
He shrugged. "They're forbidden in some of the other enforcer and shifter fae homes as well. But all enforcers are forbidden from having a certain species in their quarters. For me, it's humans. Usually it isn't an issue. Dwarves, elves, and fae are more likely to travel these paths. You're the first human I ever saw." He laughed a little.
I laughed as well. "I suppose that makes sense. Though complimenting me on being the prettiest girl you'd seen suddenly seems far less impressive and much more understandable."
"Oh. No." He set his spoon down as he stared at me. "You're the first female human I've seen. But I've seen and spoken with many other females, including princesses and duchesses and the like. You are incomparable. If all women were like you, I'd imagine the king would tell us to not even look upon any vessel carrying a human instead of just telling me I can't have human guests."
My hands dropped into my lap, and my face burned. What could I even say to that? And he wasn't even smirking. He'd said it so sincerely, so openly. As if it were entirely true without hesitation or limitation. "I—why would there be different requirements for different enforcers?"
He resumed eating, devouring the stew hungrily. "The King of the North Sea doesn't like to be questioned. It's always beenthis way. When I was officially required to enter his service, I received certain instructions. Some of them saved my life. Others—well, I'm certain he has his reasons. It's not for me to question." He said the last part like he struggled to convince himself more than me.
"Saved your life?"
"I'm diseased." He said it flatly, the words just hanging there for a moment. "Not contagious or anything, fortunately. But diseased. It's why my family abandoned me."
I almost dropped the spoon. "Your family?—"
"Yes. I don't want to talk about it." His voice had gone hard. He stared down at his stew, then shook his head. "I was a child. I don't even remember them. They looked at me and decided they didn't want me. But I am cursed or diseased or whatever you prefer to call whatever this is." He gestured toward his appearance. "I can become an eel. That's basically it."
"You were a mer," I said, the words slipping out more to fill the silence than because they were important.
He gave a rough shrug, then took another bite of stew. His shoulders remained tense. "It's in between the human and eel forms. Only good thing about it is I'm really good in the form I have. I'm very strong, and I can endure a lot. All the rest who are diseased like me, we have that going for us, I guess. Even though we'd give almost anything to be full shifters like we're supposed to be. At least we serve a purpose here. Though, sometimes, what bothers me the most is that I can't even change what I look like in my state of rest. I always have these cursed stripes." He gestured toward his face.
His striping patternwasunusual. I wasn't sure what to say. And if I opened my mouth, I'd probably say something stupid like how much I liked yellow and green.
He continued, his voice darker and harsher. "I shouldn't forget my place though. I'm grateful to have a place to live,wretched as it can be sometimes. It's dangerous in some parts for shifter fae to be so visible. They're always killing us beyond the North Sea's boundaries. Skinning us. Enslaving us. They use us for potions and labor. We have to blend in, or else we die."
I frowned at this. That wasn't what I had seen with shifter fae at all. Shifter fae were incredibly hard to defeat. Many were warriors and mercenaries. Most I had seen could become more than one creature. There had been one guide who helped Mama and me across the Painted Mountain Pass, and he had been capable of transforming into a mountain lion, a grizzly bear, and a fanged squirrel among other things. My fingers curled against my palm. "Who would do such a thing?"
"Many out there hate shifter fae, especially ones like me," he said. "The King of the North Sea alone offers us shelter and an opportunity to make something of ourselves. If not for him, I would have had nothing and been nothing. But because of him, I am an enforcer." These words sounded as if he had said them many times. "He was gracious to us, even though he was imprisoned."
I considered this, nibbling on my lip. This didn't make sense. And everyone else spoke of the King of the North Sea as if he were some terrible monster, not a great benefactor who would offer refuge to persecuted shifter fae. "I don't know why he was imprisoned in the North Sea. Only that something dreadful happened years and years ago. Long before my time. But I've seen many shifter fae in my travels. Shifters with striping similar to yours too."
He stiffened, his arm still resting on the tabletop. "You have? Living shifter fae?"
I nodded. "Past the Painted Mountain Pass there was a village that was almost all shifter fae. None of them had green and yellow stripes like you exactly, but there were some who were…well…very colorful. One man had turquoise skin with redtriangles and silver lines. And another had deep-blue skin that sometimes glowed."
"This was an unusual place?"
I shook her head. "Not really. They said that a number of their residents were travelers. But those who lived there seemed happy. There were several different cadres, some of them quite large."
"Children too?" His brow furrowed. His claws dug into the table, making it shift on the uneven leg. "Were there children in that place? Were there—were there bright children?"
I nodded. "Yes. There were more in a fishing village just before we set sail. Duke's Port. Probably less than two weeks' swim for you. You could go visit them."
"I am not permitted." He gripped his wrist, his hand folding over the claw bracelet. His sleeve almost hid it.
"Convenient," I mused. But a little bit of hope flared within me. He could come with me. He probably would. Even if he wasn't allowed, he'd be tempted to join me. I knew he would.Then he could meet other shifters and maybe find a cure.
He crossed to the woodstove and counter. "If not for the king, I'd be dead." He then picked up a mug and removed the jar of herbs from the cupboard.
Tagger watched him, gnawing on the fish head as he sat on his stool.
"That's kind of funny," I mused. "You were able to heal me somehow, but you have to drink that concoction for your disease?" I crossed over and took the jar from his hand.
His eyebrows lifted. He shrugged then. "I suppose so."
I sniffed the herbs, then winced. The foul scent struck me even harder now. It was definitely familiar. Back at that ramshackle place…several of the shifter fae had drank something similar. But it wasn't medicine exactly. They had sat by the fire and sipped it to keep themselves from losing theirforms. Slippery root, snake's bane, and glory cabbage. "What exactly does this do to help you? This smells like something the shifter fae in the village used to suppress shifter instincts."
