I don’t want to scare people. And more importantly, fey can’t be all-evil and all-powerful if they are capable of such fear.
It’s forcing me to reevaluate everything I thought I knew about our invaders. I should be ecstatic. Discovering they are not invincible is wonderful news. But I’m left feeling unsettled. Disturbed. It’s easy to hate when you assume your enemy is nothing like you. Finding out we share common traits, like fear, is forcing them into a whole new category in my mind. I’m not sure I like it. For all sorts of reasons.
Mabon pats my head again. “Be good while I’m gone.”
I blink up at him. He has been talking with his visitor while I was ruminating. And now he is leaving me here? My stomach twists.
“How long will you be?” I whine.
He smiles down at me. “A few hours. If you are good, I’ll bring you back a treat.”
“I need a pee!” I exclaim.
It’s true, I do. I don’t think I’ve gone since I was captured and that was yesterday. So why does it sound like a whiny excuse?
“Mabon! You must look after your pets!” admonishes the dark-haired fey.
My heart does something strange. I scared the crap out of him and he is still insisting that I be treated well. My whole belief that the fey are evil is getting harder and harder to maintain.
Mabon looks stricken. “I forgot.”
His visitor sighs. “You are already late.”
“I’ll get the servants to tend to him,” says Mabon.
“Is that wise?” The dark-haired fey sounds deeply dubious. He really doesn’t like me.
Mabon grins, and it lights up his whole face. “Oh yes! Blake is harmless!”
He pats me on the head again and saunters off with his friend. Leaving me all alone on the bedroom floor.
Harmless? Is that what I am?
I truly don’t know.
Chapter five
Ireally need to pee now. It’s getting uncomfortable. Mabon left a while ago and I’m just sitting here on the floor, butt naked and trying not to wet myself.
Did he forget to tell a servant? Is this punishment? A test? What is he going to do if he comes back and finds me sitting in a puddle of my own piss?
This is awful. I need him to come back. I want him to come back. Even if being made to piss myself is not my punishment and he is going to do something far worse to me. Because surely he is going to do something? I tried to escape. I broke my chains. I scared the crap out of his friend.
Actions have consequences, or so the saying goes. And I’m damn sure that angering a fey prince is going to have repercussions.
Suddenly, the bedroom door opens and I have never been more delighted. As long as I get to pee first, I don’t care what happens next.
Then my brain and eyes argue for a moment before I finally have to accept that I am looking at a person that seems to be made entirely of shadows. With glowing red eyes. I continue to blink several times, but he is still here.
He stares down at me. I say he, because somehow the shadows seem male. I force a swallow down my tight throat. Maybe I don’t need a pee so badly after all.
But he doesn’t even ask. He just strides up to me, unlocks the chain from the bed, and then tugs on it like it’s a leash and I’m a dog.
I get to my feet. I’m not going to argue with a literal monster over the way he is treating me. I have more sense than that. I’ll be a dog. I’ll be whatever he wants me to be, because there is absolutely nothing wrong with a healthy dose of self preservation.
Shadow man nods at me and then starts leading me somewhere. I’m taller than him, so that’s something. I’m taller than most people, but on this occasion, it feels bloody good.
He shoves a door open to reveal a gleaming white washroom, complete with toilet. My bladder clenches painfully at the sight of it and before I know what is happening, I’m barrelling past shadow man and relieving myself with a groan of satisfaction. I don’t even care that he is watching. He is behind me, and it’s no less private than a public urinal. Though I don’t usually stand naked at urinals, so there is that.
