Page 7 of Fae's Mate
Fates, what a nightmare.
Chapter 5
Seki
When I return to the suite, everyone is still in the same groups as before. I am suddenly uncomfortable when everyone’s gaze flicks to me, so I quickly shuffle over to the group I was with earlier, who have taken to sitting in a small circle close to the fireplace. Slumping down on a cushion, I let out a sigh, grateful to be free of the thick vibrating air that seems to surround me whenever I am around the High Lord.
“So… how’d it go?” Alana asks me nervously.
“Well, apparently, theycanlie. But you were right about iron.”
“We already asked around,” Alex explains. “No one has anything made of iron.”
The guards darken the doorway, having followed me back, and point to the curvy blonde from my shop. She bites her lip, then walks slowly towards them. Then the doors close and lock behind her.
“Do we know everyone else’s names?” I ask.
Alex nods, “The guy is Riley, the woman with the long curls that keeps crying, is Amber—she’s been throwing up for the last half hour. The lady that went with the guards is Charlotte. Then the three in the corner there,” she jerks her head in their direction, “are Mollie with the curls, Edith with the long blonde hair, and Sascha is dressed all in black.”
I nod, trying to commit the names to my memory.
“Did you find outhis?” Alana asks.
“No, he wouldn’t tell me. He said names arepowerful. So, I guess we just call him High Lord for now,” I crinkle my nose.
“Powerful,how?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Did you give him yours?” Alana pushes.
All I can do is nod, then shrug, not able to work out how names hold any power. I spend the next few minutes staring into the fire, watching the flames crackle as I try to guess what his name might be. I’m running through some posh ‘British lord’ sounding names like Humphrey and Albert when Charlotte returns. Behind her are a handful of people, all with slightly pointed ears, dressed in simple clothing and following her with armfuls of blankets and cushions. I imagine they are servants, then. They place all the bedding in the center of the room, then scurry away without saying a word to us.
“I asked the High Lord about sleeping arrangements,” Charlotte begins, as she approaches our group. “He said he would arrange accommodation tomorrow, but for tonight we should all sleep in here.”
“Slumber party!” Willow remarks cheerfully, and I roll my eyes.
Just as I remember the two bedrooms attached to the main room, I see Mollie and Sascha, abandoning poor Edith, rush for one room, while Amber and Riley sneak into the other.
“Do you suppose they’re hooking up?” Alana wonders out loud.
I shake my head. “Doubt it, but they seem to have bonded over their shared kidnap… human-nap?”
Beside me, Yasmin is signing frantically to Alex, who then signs back and rests a hand on Yasmin’s shoulder. Alex turns to me. “Yaz is worried that if something happens in the night, she won’t be able to hear it, and has asked me to sleep beside her. Will you take the other side?”
“Sure.”
I grab us all some pillows and blankets and we arrange them close to the fire, but not so close that we risk setting fire to ourselves in the middle of the night. Edith is the next person called from the room, and I wonder if the High Lord will speak to all of us tonight, or if Edith will be the last and he will speak to the rest tomorrow.
The others settle down beside me. Yaz, then Alex and Alana, then Willow at the end. Charlotte has snuggled up on one of the couches and when Edith returns, she does the same. No one else is called away and a wary sort of quiet falls over the group. In the distance muffled crying taints the air, Amber I think, in one of the bedrooms—she’s really having a tough time with all this. To be honest, I’m surprised more peoplearen’tfreaking out. Who knows how long we are going to be trapped here? Just as the crying stops, Willow starts snoring and I roll my eyes. I will not get any sleep.
Staring up at the elaborately carved ceiling, my mind wanders back to the High Lord, and I wonder what sort of questions he will ask me next time we speak. I wrack my brain trying to figure out what I should keep secret about myself, and what would be harmless to tell him. Feeling like I should suspecteveryquestion, my brain tangles itself up, attempting to guess what he will want to know, and why.
As I drift off to sleep, all I can think about is the way his brown eyes cut right into my soul, and the feeling of the heavy vibrating air between us.
Chapter 6
High Lord
