“It’s very confusing, I know,” Silas answers.
I’m not confused,I want to say, but I bite my lip. Let him read my revulsion as befuddlement. He was kind enough to explain; I will be kind enough not to becauseI understand perfectly. There is an invisible economy on top of the one we participate in as workers. It is the bigger game, the great game, the one you must buy your way into at a cost so large, only those with inherited wealth can do so.
“Can faeries purchase the debt of other faeries?” I ask. “So that the indebted faerie makes payments to the other?”
“Theoretically, yes. But it’s difficult for a faerie to front the sum all at once. And the House would have to be willing to sell the debt in the first place. It’s improbable, but not impossible.”
I keep my expression from souring. It feels dirty, perverted. It feels like the trickery of fae, and while I am not above blackmailing the High Fae, I do not think I could exploit a fellow faerie. The thought feels comforting, to know that no matter how much I change to venture further into this labyrinth, I still hold some core values.
“Are you ready for the next transaction?” he asks.
I sit up straight. “What do you mean?”
“There are two more transactions we must settle.” Silas pullsthe parchment closer. “First, there’s a fee owed to you from Illusion for a recent assault. The payer is offering the legal minimum.”
My stomach plummets.
“I didn’t report an incident,” I say.
“It was reported by a third party.”
No,I think.No, not this.My hand finds the ghost of the bite mark on my shoulder.
“I don’t want to report it,” I say.
“It’s already been verified by House of Healing.”
Eli?My head drops into my hands.How? How could he be so ignorant?
“Can we scratch it from my record?”
“I’m afraid not.”
“Then at least allow me to deny the payment.”
Silas sighs. “I’m sorry. Once it was verified, the fee was already withdrawn from Illusion. When you’re ready, I’ll take your hand.”
I lift my head, groaning. Dominik has been charged with this fee, knowing it was from me, fueling and justifying his malice. I offer my finger. Whatever the assault fee is, it’s not enough to thin a debt ring.
When I’m sure there will be no change in my tattoos, I ask: “And the final transaction?”
Silas nods, pushing my tea closer to me. I shoot him a look. He clears his throat. “There’s been a complaint against you from the House of Illusion.”
I jerk back. “For what?”
“It says for endangerment.”
A laugh bursts out of me before I can stop it. Although Silas looks appalled, I scoff again.No. No, this can’t be happening.Dominik gets to harm me, threaten to kill me, assault me, and pay a menial fee. Yet he can level any complaint he wants without question.
No matter what protections lie in place, the faeries will pay the price.
I have no words when Silas pricks my finger one last time.There is nothing to say as the balance slams into my body, the pain ripping across my skin. I double over as new debt rings swallow up my freckles and little birthmark and that nick of a scar once more. Will I ever see them again?
A month ago, I had twenty rings; a minute ago, I had ten. Now I have sixteen.
Just like Benji’s new limb of freedom after the Prize of the Pith—even if I pay everything off, a fae could levy him with restrictions once more. I could do everything in my power, I could pay off all his debt, and they could just add it back.
My hands begin to tingle, my mug of tea boiling.
