“Oh! Youarein for a treat! Yes, we haven’t shared our little secret with anyone, but…” Maglar shook with anticipation. “We believe you are of a like mind in our hopes for this realm. Thereare forces at work that could destroy our very way of life, and we see you are prepared to accept the natural balance of things before those events can manifest.”
Rylo felt a sense of unease grow in his stomach, and it had nothing to do with the fish and wine combination. He truly didn’t understand what the man was talking about. He wasn’t used to being the surprised one. He was used to being the one revealing secrets when the time was right.
“Yes, of course.” His agreement with Maglar’s statement felt sticky on his tongue. Too close to a lie.
The shrill cries filled the space as two small slaves entered the room, chained at their wrists, feet, and wearing the same collar Morgan wore. It was hard to tell if they were male or female in the low faelights, but based on the filthy sacks they wore and the long, stringy black hair, Rylo suspected they were women. The grimils who held their leash dragged the two folk, tugging them across the cold stone floor of the cavern. One of the women was the source of the frantic screams. The other didn’t seem conscious until Rylo saw the slight lift of their head.
“Here they are! My prized possessions,” Maglar beamed as he stood and took the chain leashes in his hand.
Rylo could see more clearly that they were both female. Tiny, emaciated women, they made Morgan look large in comparison. Rylo covered his disgust as Maglar gave the leashes a hard tug, jerking the women closer to him. The screaming one let out a painful gagging sound as her collar dug into her exposed throat. Rylo took in the marks on their bodies, the various bruises, scrapes, and cuts.
“Stand!” Maglar commanded, and both women stood on spindly legs, weak as a newborn colt.
Beyond their filthy conditions, something was very wrong with these folk. There was no visible essence. The two women looked up at Rylo with far too large of eyes. Unnaturally huge globesstared back at him in a filmy shade of grey. Their skin was so white it seemed almost translucent, just like the cave fish at supper. The two women were mirror images of each other. Twins.
“Show him your ears,” Mara said harshly.
The sister who’d been screaming let out a harsh shriek, yanking and jerking on her chains.
“They are not used to seeing others,” Maglar mumbled. “We keep them under close watch. Their powers—they could destroy these caverns in their entirety.”
Slowly, the quiet sister pulled back her ears, revealing what Rylo had begun to guess. Curved ears, human ears.
A sick, twisting sensation wrapped through him. “And your forehead?”
The girl moved the mass of slick, blackhair, revealing the five stars of Althea.
“Goddess alive,” Rylo gasped. The prophecy flashed through his mind. He turned to Maglar. “Do you know their age?”
“Nearly twenty-six. I was called in after their birth. The mother, of course, didn't survive, but the mark was there upon both their foreheads. Just before I was called in, I witnessed a fascinating prophecy. When I saw them, I knew I held the future of our realm in my hands.”
Rylo’s face didn’t display any of the emotions that were boiling inside him. What did this mean for Morgan? Was she even the one spoken of in the prophecy, or was that just a coincidence?
Another shrill scream filled the cavern as the more violent sister charged Maglar. Drawing up his essence, Maglar created a barrier of stone. The girl hit the rocks with a crunch, tumbling to the ground. Her collar tightened around her neck as she let out a strangled choke for the second time. The other sister dropped to the ground, crawling to her sister as she scooped her into herfrail arms and whispered something that seemed to sooth the woman.
“Calamity and Tyranny are their names. Their powers as witches manifested slowly, but by the age of six they were able to do brilliant and terrible things with their magic. We’ve had witches before, but nothing of this magnitude.”
Rylo did frown at this statement. “You make it sound as though humans and witches are commonplace.”
Maglar grinned with pride. “Yes, they are. We are very selective with whom we let visit Onyx Caverns, as you know. This is, after all, your second visit. The last must have been when we sent our cousin to marry your sister. A pity how all that turned out. Have you ever wondered who works our mines? Who completes all that labor? Sure, we Goldoths are known for our fine crafts and mineral extraction, but those who do the hard work are our human slaves.”
“How? How can that be possible and why would you share that secret with me?” Rylo asked. This was worse than anything he’d imagined. He never dreamed that Goldoth held witches in captivity.
“When I heard how you stole the young rebel’s human soulmate, and you orchestrated the murder of Jasper, my interest in you was piqued. When I heard how you tore the sister of Savine’s soulmate from her at the gates of his home, I knew I’d found my ally. Humans are fragile, even witches can only survive forty to fifty years. These two are middle-age, and I need to utilize their power before they are no longer serviceable.”
Rylo didn’t mention that he had another human in his own realm who was already beyond those years, yet hadn’t aged. He would need to write to the leaders of Bayberry, Riggins and Po, to hear how they tethered their daughter’s life to their longevity. He’d take no chances of losing Morgan.
“I am flattered my reputation has reached you down here deep underground, yet you still haven’t explained how you came to have such a labor force.”
Rylo looked down at the sisters, holding each other close. The injured one shook in her sister’s embrace.
Mara chimed in, her dazzling eyes sparkled in the low light. “Goldoth has always utilized humans as their labor force; even before The Cleaving, humans were the ones to work our mines. We have moved deeper into the earth since then, but they have remained. Not even the witches cleaving our two realms apart could take our slaves from us. Our ancestors made adjustments. We no longer kept human villages above ground. They were emptied anyway. These humans have changed over the millenia, adapted to life in the dark. Our slaves live their entire lives underground, knowing nothing of sunlight, of the changing of seasons. This is to ensure their safety and keep our secret.”
A chill ran down Rylo’s back and he had to suppress his own sun glow from releasing, his essence stirring restlessly under his skin.
“And now you seek an alliance to defeat the other nations of Aeritis. You, with your strong armies of fae and endless resources, wish to ally with my much smaller, weaker nation. What is the advantage in that?”
The quieter sister let out a long, sorrowful moan.
