A black granite gavel is rapped hard upon a piece of gilded metal. I belatedly notice five figures sitting behind the long table. As the room noticeably quiets, I recognize Dane in the middle. On his left are two humans, a man and a woman, dressed in clothes that mark them as from the same ranks as the people who surround me. That must be Wren and Shore. On Dane’s other side is a third human. This one is more richly dressed. His eyes on me are hard.
Tavish, the merchant who deals with the Underhill.
I stand up a little straighter and my eyes find the final figure. A fae dressed in green silk with crystal toggles on his tunic. His hair is long and straight and streaked with gray. He’s looking down at the table in front of him, seemingly bored, idly twiddling his thumbs. As I watch him, he stifles a yawn.
Calder, the fae who’s on both councils.
My skin prickles and I shiver, searching for another that I can feel watching me. Somehow their regard feels different than all the rest. I spy a fae male staring at me from the side, and I know instinctively that he’s a mage, or at least a conjurer. He’s clothed in brown swarthy cotton, and his light hair is in a long plait down his back. He’s blending into the background, pretending to be an unimportant guard, but he’s not.
The enforcer, perhaps?
‘Who is that?’ I ask Locke.
‘Enforcer Voss,’ he says, his tone at first betraying nothing.
But I hear his low, ‘Fuck, he said it would be Avendel.’
I’m tense as I stand before the Council, and I try not to fidget. Maybe I’m just imagining that all of them, bar Locke’s friend, are looking at me like I’m a piece of filth upon their boot…
‘What is your name?’ Dane asks, casting a look of annoyance at the room when they don’t quiet.
‘Bryn,’ I say.
‘What was that?’ Calder asks, sitting back to look at me and raising a contemptuous brow. ‘Speak up, girl! The humans here are free and say what’s on their minds!’
A wave of laughter sweeps through the spectators behind me.
‘My name is Bryn,’ I say more loudly and with conviction, battling the desire to lower my eyes to the floor.
‘Why have you come here?’ the man, Shore, asks.
‘I seek sanctuary here,’ I answer, taking strength from Locke’s presence next to me even though I don’t want to.
‘A Dark Realmer,’ someone in the crowd behind me whispers as if they didn’t already know.
‘And where were you taken from in the Light?’ the woman next to him asks, ignoring the murmurs around the room.
I hold the gazes of the Council members. ‘I…I was taken to The Barrack in the Eleventh Circle.’
They all glance at the side of the room where Voss stands and I see the fae enforcer give a tiny nod.
‘That isn’t what was asked,’ Calder says, eyes narrow. ‘Were you taken from the Light Realm, or not?’
I grit my teeth.Fucking fae.Of course they’re fine withgivingme vague answers, but only accept absolute clarity the other way around.
‘I…was too young to remember,’ I admit.
Calder snorts as he glances at his enforcer who gives another nod.
‘She could be from anywhere,’ the fae councilor mutters with a roll of his eyes. ‘She herself doesn’t even know. Even if she was Light Realm, she’s clearly been in the Dark most of her life.’
He waves a hand. ‘By all means have her questioned, but the laws are to protect Halsford from Dark Realmers. Whether or not she began life that way,she is one now.’
‘Agreed,’ the wealthy-looking human next to him says with almost a sneer. ‘But I move that Enforcer Voss question her anyway, find out what he can, and we reconvene when he’s finished.’
‘Second,’ the fae says.
Dane looks annoyed, but he bangs the gavel. ‘Carried. Bryn, please go with Enforcer Voss.’
