Page 45 of Royal Hunt
Pari’s shoulders heaved, her eyes flashing in anger. Trenton took a step back, justifiably wary. His back met the unyielding muscle of Maven’s chest.
“Where you off to, mate? Seems rude to accuse and run.” Maven shoved him forward, the firelight throwing Trenton’s profile into relief. The former noble shook his head, in denial.
“No, no. You were the ones who stood by and did nothing while we starved. You refused—”
“Oh, and you had graciously opened your hearth and home to those suffering? There are several farms in your area. I hadn’t heard about your vast charity.” Viana’s sneer was as sharp as a knife.
I kept my mouth shut, not knowing enough about the political climate to have an opinion on anything. Since I’d lived on a farm, I’d never gone hungry. Neither had anyone who lived on our grounds, either. Viana clearly knew this.
“Don’t deflect from the fact that she owned slaves. Human slaves.” Trenton’s tone was desperate, but he had a point.
Pari huffed. “I had one slave, and it wasn’t my choice. He was … Well, it doesn’t matter, does it? The council found me guilty of being ‘sympathetic’ to the humans. They gave me another chance, which I also blew, and now I’m here. They’ll do far, far worse to you in these games.”
Trenton’s lips thinned, and Maven let him back away. He gave us one last sneer, then stalked off into the darkness. Hopefully to fuck all the way off, this time.
“How?” I asked, because in the midst of the thousand or so odd questions spinning in my mind, that one stood out the most. The others went quiet.
“How what?” Pari asked, even though we both knew damn well what I was talking about.
“How do the fae get their human slaves?” I growled, having a fairly good guess already.
Viana sniffed. “So that’s the real reason for their little games here, isn’t it? Refreshing the breeding pool for their slave labor, no doubt. Our ancestors were nothing more than collateral damage, weren’t they? An excuse used to try and mask their true goal—kidnapping. Do Cassus and Ferar just run around snatching humans while everyone is watching us, or is that what happens to the humans who don’t die during the games?”
We all went quiet, and Pari sighed heavily. “That’s what we came up with in prison.”
That meant it was likely true. Was all of this a distraction for the fae people while Cassus stole humans? It was too much to fathom. I couldn’t stand the heaviness that settled over us, so I stood and wandered off into the darkness.
Where had Ellis gone?
The sound of retching gave me an answer. I heard Ellis heaving ahead of me and to the left. I nearly stumbled in my haste, but I reached him quickly. He kneeled on the ground, his body braced on his hands. Bile covered the grass in front of him as he continuously vomited, nothing in his stomach and no relief in sight.
I put a hand on his back, trying to rub soothing circles. He flinched when I made contact, but didn’t pull away. Not like he had any choice.
We stayed like that for what seemed like half an eternity, until his spasming body quieted, and finally allowed him some respite. Ellis slumped against me, his thin fingers tightening around my wrist.
“You idiot. How long has it been since you’ve had any?” Viana glided over to us, her tone clinical. Business-like. I wanted to punch her. Ellis muttered something, but Viana’s fae ears must have heard it.
“If you can’t go more than a few days you’re in bigger trouble than I thought. You’re lucky I snagged this from the supplies.”
She fumbled with something at her waist, freezing when she caught me looking. “Do you mind?”
I opened my mouth to angrily retort, but Ellis squeezed my wrist weakly. “Please, Eve. Go back to the fire.”
His rejection stung, so I seized on anger instead of humiliation. I stomped back to the fire and sat down heavily. Pari raised an eyebrow at me.
“So, what do you all have against us anyway?” I asked viciously, desperate for any change of subject, and for anything to take my mind off Viana crouched over Ellis, helping him when he didn’t want me, and the white-hot pain in my head that was in perfect sync to my heartbeat. Pari’s lips tightened, but she didn’t match my vehemence. The others around the fire went quiet, waiting to hear her answer as well. She glared at all of them, but no one backed down. I couldn’t help but wonder once again why she’d changed sides. Why was Ellis sick? And why did he push me away?
“I think we don’t know any different. To us you’ve always been kind of like cute, smart pets. Fae don’t like humans, but there’s been a political shift lately. The older generations used to use any excuse to subjugate humans, but now, well, it’s stupid, isn’t it?” Pari snorted. “You’re sentient beings. I’m not here because I’m a criminal, remember? I’m here because I was an annoyingly loud voice for change.” She smirked. “Even if we are superior physically.”
Maven huffed. “Superiority, my—”
“Our superior strength, our superior senses, and our magick,” Pari continued, her voice sharp. Her large, purple eyes met mine. “You want to know what I did to my slave that was considered so despicably kind after already being jailed once?” Pari glanced away and threw a small stone into the fire. She sighed.
“I killed him.”
Fifteen
Pari refused to share more after that despite the upheaval, her eyes shrouded with pain and regret. I tried to sleep that night, but was plagued by more than just my thoughts. Viana dragged Ellis to sleep over by her section of the wall, giving him drops of whatever medicine she kept hidden in her belt. Every now and then I thought I caught her glaring at me, but I had to have been imagining things.
