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My chest tightened. If the Faerie was really wearing that, they were being burned over and over again. Instead of being sick all over the floor of my tiny cell, I pulled on the iron around my own wrists.
“Once you complete the purchase, we can give you her Name, and she’ll do whatever you wish.”
“Name?”
“I’ll explain later. The others are growing restless.”
A small cry came from the Faerie. My heart broke in half at the agony and terror threaded through the sound.
From the cell in front of me, I saw something pointed stretching out of a what looked like a boy’s head as he bolted upright. It took several more blinks for me to realize that it was an ear.
Apointedear.
Thinking about the fairytales Magda had made me read, I imagined he was an Elf.
Or was he something else?
He pushed against the bars and shouted in a language I didn’t understand. Everyone else grew silent, and the wet, dripping sound was joined by an aggressive sizzling while he pushed off the metal rods.
The men at the entrance didn’t move, and the boy with the pointed ears didn’t cry out.
It was almost as if they were waiting for him to scream in pain. After a moment, the man continued, “Ignore him. The bars are iron as well.”
The other hummed. “The highest I can do is a hundred thousand.”
A pause.
“You’ll take her with the ruined wing?”
The man nodded.
“Deal.”
The boy in front of me shouted something else, but stayed seated on his bed.
Anxiety clawed at my chest, and I fought back tears. Perhaps someone stronger would get used to seeing just how evil the world was. I couldn’t. Antonio was right: I was soft.
But I was afraid of all the wrong things. I should have been afraid that there were fantastical species all around me. The stories I’d heard and read said Elves and Fae were cold-hearted, powerful. But the one sitting in the cell right in front of mine had shouted for the poor Faerie.
He wasn’t ferocious in nature, he was ferocious because of what he had seen. That gave me strength, which I latched onto before it slipped away.
“¡Los verdaderos hombres no compran sus mujeres!” I shouted. It didn’t matter if he was buying a pet or a consort, he was evil.
A guttural laugh broke out. “You have humans here?” One of the men started walking back toward me, and the other grabbed his arm.
“The appointment was only for this Faerie. We don’t allow shoppers to browse our other stock.”
A spike of panic rose in my chest as I strained against the chains binding my wrists.
The men didn’t come any closer, and the dim light coming from the other side of the cavernous room snuffed out.
My heart stopped, but I didn’t feel bad. I had once felt foolish for speaking up when I saw something awful happening, but my perpetual fear was fading.
The Elf in front of me didn’t turn around to acknowledge what I did, but that was okay. I didn’t do it for his approval. I shouted because the buyer was a monster. Monsters needed to be confronted.
I sank back against the bars of the cold cell, still glad that my clothes were so good at keeping heat in.
If I didn't find a way out soon, I could die here, entombed with people I don’t know.
