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I drew in a sharp breath filled with blades of air that cut my throat and lungs to pieces. The silk of my dress, though loose enough minutes before, grew uncomfortably tighter. I gasped, reaching for the ties at the back as air became more difficult to come by.
“What’s wrong? Lady Neve?” Lord Riis leaned closer. “Are you quite alright?”
I shook my head. “I—no, I’m not. I need air.”
Oh stars, but how? The vampire who’d promised to purchase me, who wanted to tame the so called wildcat fae, blocked my exit. It didn’t help that at this ball, I was an attraction. Where I went, eyes followed. I feared if I took one step in Gervais’s direction, I’d garner attention from other fae. Then he’d surely spot me.
“Follow me,” Lord Riis said. “We’ll seek a quiet place.”
I dared not glance at the vampire, even though the draw of seeing Anna again was great. As Lord Riis led me to a small door not far away, I realized that must be where the smell of food wafted from. Sure enough, he opened a door, and the aromas of bread and meat grew stronger.
Fae servants scurried about a beverage staging area, bowing and apologizing for doing their jobs. Lord Riis waved them off as we descended a wide staircase lined with paintings. I tried to focus on the art, not my thundering heart or the rushing of blood in my ears, but only one caught my attention enough to truly distract me. It showed an orc battle, and in it the monstrous breed of fae sacked a town. I swallowed as my eyes latched on to one biting into the neck of a youngling.
Not helping.
At the bottom of the steps, we found ourselves in the palace kitchen. Or one of them. This one appeared somewhat small to serve an entire palace that housed hundreds of fae. Obviously, it was here for events. A support kitchen of sorts.
The high lord maneuvered me to the back of the kitchen, where a few chairs sat, dilapidated and dusty. As he did so, an elderly servant rushed up to offer another—one with a cushion. I started to wave the servant off when I noticed he wasn’t fae at all.
Rather, he was a human.
I stared at him, and my throat constricted. I’d heard stories of fae courts that enslaved humans, but since I’d been here, I hadn’t seen one and hadn’t wanted to either. It reminded me too much of my old life, and that the Winter Court was not all that different from where I ran from.
This man looked thin and dirty and old, worn down. I felt certain that he did not work here because he wanted to. Why would any human stay in this realm, always relegated to being second-class?
The seconds passed as I stared, and the man’s face reddened, but I didn’t know what to say, what to do. When an old woman, also human, came up and took the man by the arm, I was almost relieved. That was until she looked at me.
Her face fell.
“You,” she whispered, and her trembling hand went to her right temple.
“Do I know you?” I asked softly.
In response, the woman turned away from me. “Set the chair down.”
The man complied, and the pair turned and before I could ask again, the pair scurried off.
What in the stars had just happened?
“Lady Neve, please sit,” Lord Riis said softly.
I didn’t sit, but I did turn my attention to the lord next to me. “They’re slaves?”
“Pardon me?” Lord Riis’s eyebrows pulled together.
“The humans.” Annoyed, I gestured the way they’d gone. It wasn’t like he could fail to see them. “They’re slaves, aren’t they?”
“Uh, yes.” He shook his head. “Lady Neve? Can you breathe more freely?”
Not really. My breath still came in thin streams, and my entire body burned with fear.
“You really should sit down.” Lord Riis gestured to a chair when I didn’t answer.
“Where are the slaves from?” My mind latched on to this, likely because handling the issue of the vampire proved impossible.
“Many are born here. To slave parents.”
“But not all?” Anna had also been born a slave. But Yvette and Simon and so many others in the Vampire Court had arrived here from the human realm.
