Bryn freezes and I put a finger to my lips.
‘I’ve made it so that no one can see us, but they can still hear us,’ I whisper. ‘It’s the best I can do at the moment. So, be quiet.’
She doesn’t seem surprised that I can work magick. She doesn’t even question it. She simply nods and we walk slowly, and as silently as we can, down the next wide passage.
We slip into the room where the stone Ring stands ready to connect to the Breach, a huge natural cavity where the walls are high, and a small hole in the very top of the room filters in a tiny amount of natural light.
‘Take your pick,’ drawls a short pixie beside the tall, open door, holding the ropes of five large human males who stand docilely. ‘Any one of these fighters will do well in the arenas from Merediea to the Sixteenth Circle. I guarantee it.’
We sneak by the pixie and his slaves as well as past the two orcs who are bartering with him.
The roar of the Breach has me pulling Bryn to the side as the Bridge connects and we’re too close to the protective markers that shouldn’t be crossed. We’re pushed backward a few steps with the force of the opening.
As we watch, a tall fae male dressed in rich dark crimson silks appears. Behind him is a group of chained humans. All of them look terrified. Some are crying and whimpering quietly. Two others with short whips at the back yell at them to be quiet and the humans are herded over to the other side of the cavern.
No one here looks surprised to see them but I freeze, staring at them, their clothes, their terrified expressions.
These humans aren’t Dark Realm slaves. Not yet. This is a group that’s been stolen. Just now.
‘Bryn,’ I whisper.
She looks over at me, her face still devoid of emotion.
‘See those humans?’
She nods.
‘They’ve been stolen from the Light Realm. That’s why I was here. I was trying to find information about where they’re being taken from and how. Do you understand?’
‘You want to help the humans?’ she asks, canting her head and looking confused again.
‘No.’ I grimace. ‘I mean, yes. Of course I do, but there’s no saving these ones. We’ll never get so many back through Merediea without being caught. But I need to find out more about these fae who have brought them so that we can stop them at the source. Stay here. Don’t move.’
She nods a little and I make my way over to where the fae are standing with the scared humans. I note that the youngest is probably only six or seven and I clench my hands into fists, wishing I could save them from their fates the way I couldn’t save Nanna and the others.
But I can’t. Even if I was at full strength, there’s no getting them out of here.
As I watch them, one gets out of the bindings and breaks away from the others with a cry, running toward the Ring, but one of the orcs catches her easily, laughing as she struggles against him.
‘This one’s a bit more courageous than the others,’ he remarks. ‘I’ll give you ten gold bits for her.’
‘She’s worth more than that. She’s fresh from the Light. Look at the fear in her eyes. You can’t buy that for twenty in Merediea, let alone ten.’
‘But we en’t in Merediea. And she won’t know anything about being a good slave for me.’
The fae purses his lips. ‘Make it fifteen.’
‘Done.’
I hear the money clink as it changes hands, but I’m not watching them anymore. I should be paying close attention to the exchange, trying to learn as much as I can, but, across the room, an orc smells the air and starts making his way in Bryn’s direction.
She doesn’t move. Her chest heaves, so I know she’s afraid, but that’s the only thing that gives it away.
My magick comes out of me swiftly, a conjure that makes her invisible to his nose as well as his eyes, though it saps what little is left of my strength, making my head spin. He stops and sniffs around a bit, but then goes the opposite way. I let out the breath I’d been holding.
She stays where she is, expression vacant like an empty shell, and I wonder if the conjure I worked on her has had unforeseen effects because of what she is. A Kismet is so rare that they were never really touched upon specifically in any of my magickal studies.
She stands by the wall, staring at nothing, no one. Just waiting.
