She steps back uncertainly. ‘What?’
‘It’s not a stockade. It’s a block and human women are locked in them to be mounted daily. It’s a common sight in every Circle.’
Some of the group’ eyes widen a little and my frown grows.
‘Aren’t all of you in training to be sent there?’ I ask.
No one answers.
‘Come, come,’ Mirabel derides. ‘A likely story. Humans are so deceitful.’
Humans, not Dark Realmers.
‘They’re weak of body and of mind. You shouldn’t be training with us. Humans aren’t fit to breathe the same air as us.’
'Isn't the most powerful being in the Underhill a human?' I ask.
A few of them glance at each other, clearly having forgotten that Lia, the Harbinger, is a human, not a fae.
'What would you know of the Harbinger?' one of the males chortles and the others murmur their ascent.
I let out a chuckle of my own. They've clearly decided that I'm so far beneath them that I couldn't possibly have even met Lia.
I hear the hum of the Breach and turn away without another word, confused by the fae and their motivations now more than ever.
I see Locke standing in front of the Hall and I frown. Was he inside?
I trudge back through Halsford next to him, feeling more and more tired with each step.
I happen to see my reflection in a passing window and stop short.
I thought I was unhurt, but there’s a blackened bruise on my forehead and over my nose from where I banged into the ward. It only hurts when I touch it and it looks worse than it feels, but I’m afraid that Morgan will do something rash if I return to the cottage like this.
I was planning to take one of the healing vials when I got back, but now I see the flaw in my logic. Locke doesn’t seem to care, but Morgan will see the worst of it if I go back like this.
‘I need to stop at the apothecary,’ I say.
Locke merely nods and gestures for me to go in front.
He follows me as I make my way there, stealing through the side door, and into the healing rooms at the back. I gulp a potion down, stare into the looking glass, and watch as the bruises and cuts on my neck and my hands knit back together and the swelling fades. It's not perfect but, hopefully, in the dim light of the living area, Morgan won't notice.
I find Locke waiting outside the apothecary door and he accompanies me the rest of the way to the cottage, but turns away as I grab the latch.
‘You aren’t coming in?’
He shakes his head. ‘I have some other business,’ he says vaguely, and strides back in the direction of the Hall…and the tavern.
Does he go to meet a woman? I haven’t seen him with any but… I frowned at his back.
I don’t care!
I give myself a shake and I open the cottage door, resolving not to think of Locke or where he’s going. The smell of yet another delicious meal hits me, and I groan, my mouth watering. Roast chicken.
As I walk inside, I notice that there are only two plates on the table and Jak is nowhere to be seen.
Morgan gives me a smile, rising from where he’s sitting by the hearth.
I return it, feeling much better now that I’m back here, and in his company.
