Page 65 of A Courage of the Chosen

“Elspeth Aitken. Elspeth Aitken. Elspeth Aitken.”

She repeats my name over and over again.

Callahan shoots me a look and my heart sinks even further. When he lowers himself to his knees, I join them. His voice is soothing as he pushes her hair away so we can see her features properly. “We’ve got you.”

The girl’s eyes move behind her lids. Little scratches mark her face, and her lips are chapped and broken. She looks as though she’s walked from one end of Elfayne to the other with nothing but the thin clothes on her back. She’s missing one shoe, and blood drips from her exposed foot.

Seelie are sturdy but not infallible, and this little girl can’t be more than eight.

“Can you hear us? You’re safe now,” I tell her.

At the sound of my voice, she stirs. First blinking at me, then up at the man who holds her.

She scrambles away from him and toward me with a cry.

“It’s okay. You’re safe,” I repeat, opening my arms.

She falls into my chest, and buries herself there as sobs wrack her tiny frame. Finneus and Eòghann hover nearby, equally concerned for the child.

“I’ll fetch a healer.” Finneus sweeps away on hurried feet.

“I . . . need . . . to . . . find . . . Elspeth . . . ” Her cries are muffled into my shirt.

“That’s me, sweetie. I’m Elspeth.” I run a hand along the back of her head and she stills, peeling away from me.

Soft brown eyes lift to meet mine, filled with tears and visions of things that she’s much too young to have seen.

“I . . . have . . . a . . . message,” she hiccups.

I don’t let the fear twisting inside me show on my face. Finding Callahan’s gaze over her head, the same awareness greets me. There’s only one person cruel enough to torment a child like this. We don’t speak, but our disgust and concern is mirrored along the bridge.

“Take a breath,” Callahan soothes.

I offer her an encouraging nod, and she fists her hands in her lap, bracing herself as though I’m going to punish her for what she’s about to say.

She falls silent, casting her face down.

“Is the message for me?” I coax.

A single nod.

My pulse thunders, and I’m equal parts heartbroken and furious for this little girl and whatever she’s experienced. “No one here is going to hurt you,” I promise. “What’s the message?”

Her lip quivers before she speaks soft and low. “He said to tell the false queen he’s coming to take what’s his.”

“Who said that, sweetie?”

Fresh tears begin falling down her face, slicing through the dirt clinging to her skin.

“I . . . I don’t know. He didn’t look like a man. But the . . . the prince was there. And everyone bowed before him.”

She begins to tremble violently and I react instinctively, sheltering her in my arms. “It’s okay. You’re not in any trouble. He can’t hurt you now.”

My mind tethers to Callahan’s. “Raghnall. There’s something in him. I saw a glimpse of it when I was captive.”

His jaw twitches in response, but his focus remains locked on the small Seelie in my arms.

“Was that all he said?” he asks, voice not conveying the fury that’s igniting in his eyes.