Mortals who realm hop? I can’t imagine any of the residents of my old village being brave enough to try such a thing.
“It’s good she was caught before she could get herself killed. They’re so fragile, these mortals. They can’t even fuck properly. Look how pathetic Jamie and Kerry look over there.” She gestures at the middle-aged man who’s red-faced and humping his partner on the dais. “He’s boring her with his lack of skill, and she’s faking every second in the hopes it earns her another drop of fae wine.”
I don’t look. I’ve seen enough.
“This is wrong.”
“Come now.” The princess attempts to laugh my words off. “This is our way. We’ve kept the mortals for hundreds of years. You yourself were swapped for a mortal child. Surely you know that?”
“She wasn’t swapped,” Drystan snarls. “I had no use for a babe. The mortals fostered her in exchange for protection, gold, and a healing draught for their son.”
Máel waves away his words. “Semantics. The point is, humans are fleeting. Barely better than animals. And we take such good care of them… when they behave.” The last is aimed at her own human. “Won’t you have a little wine, petal?”
“I would rather drink my own piss,” the female retorts, and is rewarded for her crassness with a disciplinarian tug on her leash.
Máel actually looks embarrassed at the human’s behaviour. “Sorry for her foul language, Nicnevin. She’ll be better trained by the next party. For now, we’ll take our leave.”
“Whatever you’re thinking,” Drystan begins as the princess walks away, guiding her reluctant human behind her. “Don’t.”
“You can’t actually agree with this?” I demand. “They’re people.”
“To most fae, they’re amusements. They consider them treasured pets, not unlike your bond to Wraith.” He raises a brow. “Regardless, no, I don’t believe in it. Humans are inconvenient. But even if you free them, how do you plan on stopping them from starving to death now they’ve taken our food?”
I blink at him. “Those stories are true?” I half believed it was something Lore had made up to frighten me.
He nods. “How else do you think they’re trained? They have no life outside of this now.”
“What about her?” I jerk my head in the direction of Máel’s human. “The realm hopper? She doesn’t seem addicted yet.”
Drystan sighs, then raises his eyes heavenward. “If you think freeing her will make a difference, then I would like to remind you that you have a crazy redcap at your disposal who enjoys making ludicrous romantic gestures and would consider breaking a human out of captivity and slaughtering her captors a fun evening.”
I blink at him, trying to reconcile the words with the uptight male I know. “Are you…?”
“I will not repeat myself. Now, let’s endure this party and continue to hope that Eero returns before tomorrow night, so we never have to attend another.”
“There’s the grumpy fae lord I know and love.” My heart stutters, and I miss a step. I didn’t just say that out loud, did I?
The absolutely horrified look on his face assures me that I did.
Forty-One
Rhoswyn
“Pet!” Lore blinks into the space between us, shattering the awkwardness of the confession. “Ooh, you’re flushed. Is it the wine, or has our favourite knight been teasing you again?”
“I’m fine,” I whisper. “We were just… discussing the humans.”
Lore grins. “Aren’t they boring!? Why anyone would want one as a pet is beyond me. They don’t even have fangs! Sure, some of their realms have fun stuff—like those tiny metal boxes that play magic projections of cats running away from cucumbers. Ooh! There’s that realm where they’re all kinky blood slaves to vampires. But, fun blood-soaked realms aside, honestly, the majority are just completely ignorant of the monsters hiding under their beds!”
He starts listing all the ways humans are boring and defenceless, but I can’t focus. Of all the members of my Guard to confess any kind of feelings to, why did I pick Drystan?
Perhaps he won’t see it that way. It was just an expression, after all. It’s not like I came out and said ‘I love you.’
“Redcap, why are you here?” Drystan asks, cutting through Lore’s rambles.
Goddess, even the sound of his voice is making me blush.
“I made a promise to always extract Rose from stuck-up high fae parties!” he croons, and I smile at the memory. “I’ve been remiss, and our date nights have suffered for it. Oooh! Can we find a place with less stuffy nobles and get her drunk again?”
