Or just for me.
'They arrived in the early morning,’ a woman’s voice from the cell on the other side of mine says quietly. ‘It was still dark when they came.’
I peer through the dim light. ‘Claudia?’
‘Aye. Somehow, they got through the ward. They took everyone. Brought us here.'
‘Is Orry with you?’
I belatedly see the pale boy at his mother’s skirts and let out a sigh both of relief and trepidation. At least they seem to have kept everyone together, though, for now.
‘So, is this Fiana’s court?’ I ask.
‘As if you don’t know,’ Tavish grinds out after a moment.
I roll my eyes. 'This wasn’t my fault and if you truly think it was, then you're a fool, Tavish,' I say. 'Or, maybe you’re trying to put eyes on me because you’re the traitor.’
‘What are you talking about?’ he hisses.
‘Well, they were meant to be going to Kitore. Why didn’t they? How did they know where Halsford even was? How to get through the wards?’ I snort. ‘Or maybe you aren’t the traitor at all. Perhaps you're just annoyed that your men didn't do a good enough job and left me for dead when they should have killed me properly.'
My lip curls at him, and he looks surprised. Next to him, a woman shifts, turning to face us and I realize it’s his wife, Dawn. Her face is tired and wan and she’s holding Taramel close.
'What's she talking about, Tavish?' she asks, looking upset.
‘I don’t know, my love,' he answers softly. ‘I promise you that I don’t.’
'Enough of this!’ she whispers urgently. ‘Bryn is a healer. She isn’t a spy, or a betrayer.’
‘She’s a Dark Realmer!’ he says loudly enough that some of the villagers in the other cells look over at us.
‘Aye,’ one of his men mutters. ‘A deceiving Dark Realmer.’
My eyes narrow at him. ‘I knowyourvoice,’ I say softly.
I don’t, but he pales and puts his back to me, giving himself away. I take note of his face, and the other three who stand with him. Maybe Tavish wasn’t there at the river after all. He certainly doesn’t seem to have any inkling of what I’m talking about.
‘She helped me with Taramel when she had that fever,’ Dawn says to her husband. ‘Jak told me later that without the tincture she gave me, our babe might not have survived.
She pokes Tavish hard in the chest.
‘Jak is loyal to her,’ Tavish protests. ‘They are bound by the old laws. He’d say anything to paint her in a good light.’
‘Oi!’ I hear Claudia snarl quietly. ‘Don’t you be saying nasty things about Fae Jak. Most of us here have been healed by him at one time or another.’
There’s a murmur of ascent in the cells and Tavish looks uncomfortable.
‘I just mean that?—’
‘No!’ Dawn growls. ‘Bryn is one of the village. She’s shown us that. Stop treating her like an outsider. She’s shown that she cares. Where was the Underhill? They were meant to protect the village if we were ever in need. But where were they, Tav?’
Her eyes narrow. ‘This is that fae’s doing, isn’t it?’
He shakes his head. ‘Of course not , I don’t know what you’re?—'
‘You said you’d no longer do his bidding. You told me he was false.'
'The fae didn't do this,' he snorts.
