Page 2 of Bound to Three Fae Beasts

After some time, I found the thicket of raspberries I was looking for. From the outside, it looked completely overgrown, but I’d cut a secret entrance into the side and hollowed it out. It was through here that I snuck. There, I tallied my injuries, decided they weren’t that bad, and snacked on the almost-ripe berries while I tried to get my body back under control.

My heart wouldn’t stop racing. That was the problem with my system. During a crisis, I was cool as I could be, or at least disconnected enough from my body that I didn’t notice these things. Afterward, though…

It wasn’t long until I turned twenty-one. Less than a year now, and then I could finally leave this miserable place behind. As wards of the state, we weren’t allowed jobs, because we were supposed to be focused on our studies. And yet once we hit twenty-one, we were kicked out. There was no funding for further education, and a lack of practical skills made it more difficult to make our way.

The orphanage might be miserable, and the human realm beyond might be just as miserable. But once I was out of here, at least I could shed the reputation of sharing blood with a fae-killer. Even if I ended up in a trash job, I could have money of my own.

Most likely I’d end up in the tenement buildings. The orphanage matron was convinced I’d end up as a prostitute and get murdered in a back alley. Maybe that was true. Maybe I would end up that way. But at least it wouldn’t be dying in this place.

“Not that I’d make a good prostitute, either,” I mumbled.

I was average-looking in every way. My brown hair was ordinary instead of chocolate or highlighted with gold. Brown eyes that were easily forgotten. Neither tall nor short. Naked, my curves were obvious enough, but wearing my uniform, they were barely hinted at.

My hair was to my waist now, but with short hair, I looked like a boy, though it was probably thanks to my boyish looks that Kili had never veered into sexual harassment. That, or the matron would actually put her foot down when it came to such things. I really didn’t know.

I was just starting to relax when a voice boomed through the forest. “Azriel Jones, report to the matron’s office this instant.”

I flinched. Magic wasn’t used in the human realm often, but for the matron’s voice to be so amplified, she must have used it. Which meant this wasn’t just an ordinary summons. I grabbed another handful of berries and squirmed out of my hiding place.

The matron called for me twice more before I made it to the orphanage. When I emerged from the trees, one of the workers hurried over and grabbed my arm. I spied Kili heading toward the kitchen. He walked with nary a limp. I glared at him. I knew it was too much to hope that I’d broken something.

“You could have at least tried to look presentable,” the worker snapped at me.

I shrugged. She was new here and so I hadn’t bothered to learn her name. We had such high turnover, there was no point in trying to get to know them. She dragged me to the matron’s office and shoved me in.

The matron, surprisingly, stood on the near side of the desk. Behind it, sitting in her chair, was a fae. Behind that one, another stood with hands folded in front of them.

The air left my lungs. I’d seen fae from a distance, of course. Enough to know that Kili’s arrogance and superiority complex was inherited. But now, in the same room as two of them? He was nothing. The aura that surrounded these two was not visible, but it was tangible all the same. I didn’t think I was someone who was easily cowed, yet I found myself shrinking. I dropped my gaze before I could take in a good look at their appearances, too intimidated.

“This is her?” the sitting one asked.

“Yes, sir,” the matron said with a bowed head.

The fae hummed thoughtfully in their throat. The voice was neither feminine nor masculine, and I didn’t look up to see if there were any other indications of sex. “Azriel Jones. You have been extended an offer of attendance to the Binding Academy within the fae realm.”

The what?

I opened my mouth to ask, but caught myself just in time. It was clear from the fae’s tone that this wasn’t an invitation. It was a summons. An ordinary human might be able to get away with being shocked and confused, but the daughter of a fae-killer? No way.

Even if they didn’t outright kill me for refusing this ‘generous’ offer, I would still be punished. If not by the fae, by the orphanage itself. The matron was already shooting me a furious look for not tearfully accepting. And Kili? Oh, no. If he found out that a lowly human was offered a position in a fae academy and he wasn’t? He might just decide to kill me himself.

Besides that, I was being offered a place in the fae realm. I’d heard stories all my life. It might have been full of fae, but it was full of other things, too. Humans who found themselves in the fae realm often returned not only with tales of their magnificence, but also heaps of treasure. I pictured myself lounging on a heap of gold coins like a fae, laughing as Kili knelt before me, begging for a small loan to keep from starving to death.

The thought made me drunk. What else would I find in the fae realm? The orphanage was a shithole, and the human realm beyond wasn’t much of an improvement. As for what the fae wanted with me, who cared? If they wanted to give me a public execution for my father, was it really worse than getting beaten to death in a back alley? Or here on orphanage grounds by Kili?

So there really was only one thing for it.

“I accept the offer,” I said. It was only after that it occurred to me to ask why this invitation was being offered. I was human! What did the fae want with me?

It was too late to ask. The moment the words left my lips, a roaring noise filled the room. My hair whipped in front of my face and a startled scream tore from my lips. I reached for something, anything, to hold onto. But my fingers disintegrated even as they stretched out, and everything went black.

Chapter 2 - Azriel

I woke with a start, heart thumping against my ribs. It was so hard I thought I could hear it echoing in the room. The darkness went away just as quickly as it had come, but I could tell by the dryness of my throat and the slight ache in my nasal passages I’d been asleep. I tended to snore if I lay on my back, which was why I usually slept on my side.

My heart calmed quickly, and I pushed myself up, glancing around. I half expected to find myself in the girl’s dorm with the others from ages twelve to twenty. Instead, I was in a room by myself. I’d never been to an inn before, but this was what I imagined it would be like in the books I read. Well. Close to, anyway.

It wasn’t big by any means, but it was set up in a way that felt free and airy. The bed I lay on was larger than the narrow bunks that we were made to sleep on in the orphanage. I was over the covers, which were woven rather than quilted.