Page 42 of The Court the Fae Forgot
Icarus.
The name caused my heart to lurch, even as something deeper in me stirred. I knew, the moment I heard it, who it belonged to.
The dark fae in the forest had told me we shared a bond. I felt it now, deep within me, as I heard his name spoken aloud for the first time.
“Why, though? What makes a fae so untrustworthy?” I tried to keep my voice steady, but I was sure the beating of my heart would give me away.
He took a deep breath. “That fae represents everything that is perverted about our glamour. Even before …”
“Before, what?”
Overhead, a breeze picked up. The branches rustled and cracked, sending a couple acorns pattering to the ground.
“Let me just say this,” he said, something dark in his voice. “It would have been a dark day for all fae if Icarus had found you first.”
That breeze continued to blow, carrying with it a smothering heat. I looked from Shiel to the others, and then back once more to that deep, dark part of the forest.
I didn’t have the heart, nor the courage, to tell Shiel just how wrong he was.
Delusion or not, Icarus had more than found me, already.
Finch called Zev over, his brow furrowing as he searched for something in his bag that he couldn’t seem to find. Only then did Shiel see what it was we were doing.
His face went blank for a moment as he looked me over, then swiftly kneeled at my side to match his companions.
“Your hands, they’re injured too.”
“Oh, they’re alright,” I said, shifting my hands so that he can’t see my blistering palms. Compared to my back, they were nothing. The wounds there were only half from my father, from trying to fight off the blows that just didn’t stop coming. The rest were already there, callouses that cracked and bled from weeks spent at the quern-stone.
But that answer was not enough for Shiel. He swiftly grabbed my wrists, flipping my hands and pulling them into view. Though he made no noise, his face darkened at the sight of the red, angry wounds. Like the slashes across my back, they too had begun to heal before I started moving them again. Just the motion of uniting my boots had been enough for some of the scabs to break, leaving smudges of red lines across my pale skin. He opened his own pack, digging through it for a moment before pulling out a vial and some bandages.
These were apparently what Finch and Zev were searching for, because the two of them stopped and leaned close as Shiel unstopped the vial and held it up. “This will help advance your healing and dull the pain for a while … but it will sting quite severely.”
Finch grabs ahold of my arms and holds them out, so my palms are ready.
“I think I’m quite capable on my own,” I inform him, trying to pull out of his grasp. But he keeps my hands completely still.
“You’re going to want my help,” he says with a small smirk. “I could, of course, lick them until they’re better … fae saliva does wonders for healing.”
I pressed my lips together.
“Ah, well,” he said with a shrug and a sigh, “your loss.”
I stopped them again before Shiel could tip the vial over.
“Isn’t there some other kind of healing magic you can use?” I asked. I knew I was skirting dangerously close to having to reveal my first interaction with their lord of the Wildness, but I couldn’t forget how easily he’d fixed my crushed foot.
There was no painful vial needed for that.
Shiel shook his head. “Maybe, once. Maybe one day soon. But the fae in this kingdom haven’t held that power since … well … since as long as any of us can remember.”
I bit back any further questions—though there were too many to count. Shiel was once again looking suspiciously up at the trees, and I knew I’d already come too close to revealing what I already shouldn’t know.
“Wait,” I said, stopping them one last time by holding up one hand and instantly regretting it. My entire back protested the movement. “If fae saliva can heal, can’t I lick my own wounds?”
“Aside from the fact that I would find that very, very sexy,” Finch said, that grin of his finally making a comeback, “It’s going to take a little time for your own healing to return to you.”
Zev held out a small handful of dried apricots toward me again in way of explanation.
