Page 20 of Facade

He poured the tea and sat across from me.

“You came on a good day. The Queen and her Witch left yesterday for some business east of here. So it’s a little less… oppressive than usual.” I perked up at that information. “You’re not from here. Are you?” His gaze narrowed on me. I forced the hot liquid down my throat.

“No. I came with the caravan.”

His mouth tipped upward. “I mean not these parts.”

I met his gaze.

“As I said, I came with the caravan. We traveled here from Brixton.” Confidence laced my words despite the unease in my gut.

His gaze lingered on me a moment longer, calculating, before he focused back on the tea. “Interesting. Because this caravan came from Marcien.”

My throat grew dry.

“I get a sense about beings.” He took a long sip, then set his cup down with a clink. “I can read ‘em. Not with magic or anything like that. Just… intuition. I’ve been here a long time. I lost my family to a sickness hundreds of years ago when I was still a young Fae. Nearly broke me.”

“I’m so sorry…”

“That’s life. We lose those we love. It’s how we handle those deaths after that determines our future. I was ready to end mine with them. Went to a cliff near the ocean, far from here, and planned to throw myself off it onto jagged rocks below.”

He sipped his tea as the blood drained from my face, one hand gripping the cup while the other went to my throat.

“But there was this wretched beast, crying out in pain. It took me some time, but I eventually found a horse that had gotten stuck chest-deep in a mud pit. Took me two days to get the thing out on my own. And once I did, he didn’t leave my side. Something about seeing that beast’s gratitude pulled me out of the darkness. I knew then I couldn’t end my life. That my wife wouldn’t have wanted that. She would've wanted me to do something good while I was still here. So I learned all I could about horses. I became known for speaking to them, I guess.”

Grief washed over me for this male’s loss though I remained wary.

“Anyway, during that time, I got really good at reading horses’ moods, whether they were lost or hurting, hungry or tired. And that attribute transferred over to other beings. I tend to lean toward the broken and lost.” He sat back, studying a spot on the table before continuing. I finally picked up my tea again, blowing the steam.

“There’s this one human girl—showed up here about three years ago. They lied about how she got here—”

“A human girl?” My brows drew. Why would this male be telling me of some human girl? Unless— “What was her name?” I demanded, the cup in my hands slipping. The contents sloshed, spilling on the table.

“Evanee.”

I fought to steady my breathing. After all this time—

“Is she here now?”

He looked down. “No. But you’re not far behind her. The King’s guard came and got her a few days ago. I don’t know why they wanted her after she’d been here so long, but I don’t think it was anything good.”

He stood, taking the teacup to a small bucket of dishes, returning with a rag.

“How did you know I was looking for her?”

“I told you, I have an intuition.” He tapped his head as he sopped up my mess. “I also saw your big companion sneaking about the other night. Nearly made my stable boy piss himself when he started asking about a girl fitting Evanee’s description. The lad thought the large male was a skur, what with his white hair and all.”

I’m going to kill him. I’m going to kill Ryker.

“It’s not safe for you to be here. I did what I could to keep my stable hand from telling anyone what he saw, but I can’t guarantee he hasn’t opened his mouth. I don’t know what’s going on, but something’s happening. You and that male can still catch up. I imagine you’ve been searching these lands for a while. Tonight I’ll leave you two fresh horses near the river. But you need to go before anyone else notices you’re here.”

“How can I ever repay you for helping us?”

“No need. Just help your friend—our friend,” he amended, a small smile tugging at his mouth as he cast his eyes away.

“May I know your name?”

“Micah. If you would—when you get her back, tell her I said hello and that I hope she lives a peaceful life. And get her as far away from these lands as you can.”