“We’ll need to move everyone out of the cells and place them in the open areas,” Jax said. “Once that’s done, we count every single half-breed here.”
We all set to work, lifting the half-breeds and grunting under their weight. Similar to how Bastian had been when we’d rescued him, they all remained unresponsive. None of them even blinked when we laid them down on the ground outside their cells.
By the time we were done in this cavern, two dozen half-breeds lay unmoving before us. We used saggerwire plants to hydrate all of them. The water held in the leaf’s inner surface allowed us to rehydrate each one with only a drop. Some looked so parched that I had a feeling it’d likely been days since they’d drunk at all.
Panting heavily, I glanced back toward the winding tunnels in the cavern. “There are dozens of other half-breeds down here, along with children. We have to find all of them.”
Jax nodded. “We don’t finish until we’ve got everyone.”
It tookus over a week to free all of the half-breeds within the caverns. There were so many of them, and not enough of us to make their rescue go any faster.
During that time, none of the half-breeds roused, and no guards returned. It soon became apparent they’d truly been left here to die. Even the children.
My heart broke when the kids remained just as catatonic as their parents. Like the adults, the children also wore anklets.
I had no idea which child had found Jax in Possyrose Forest. All of them had glazed eyes that stared up at us, entirely unseeing, and it took everything in me not to begin sobbing every time I saw them.
These children had known nothing but slavery and abuse in their short lives. But I couldn’t help but notice that none of them had antlers. None of those already born could have come from Bastian, but we discovered that three of the adult females were pregnant, their bellies round and swollen. I cringed to think what would happen to their infants.
The only comfort I took was knowing that none of these children or adults would remember any of this. Bastian still couldn’t recall any of his time locked away under the king’s spell, which meant these tiny, innocent souls and the adults who’d bred them would likely not remember anything either.
Still, it didn’t make their abuse any less horrific.
The only saving grace about all of it was that Alec had been right about the court’s and kingsfae’s attention being distracted. So much activity was occurring in Faewood with the king’s funeral, the princess’s succession, and then the Centennial Matches set to begin, that nobody was paying any attention to the Wood.
It allowed us to come and go each day, only stopping long enough to rest and eat when our aching muscles demanded it.
Dust perpetually coated my skin each night when we left the tunnels, but by the end of the eighth day, we’d discovered every tunnel and cavern, and after I did a quick venture to the Veiled Between, the semelees confirmed that we’d found every enslaved half-breed.
“How long do you think it’ll take Saroly to correct all of this?” I asked Jax as we gazed at the tunnel lined with dozens of unconscious half-breeds.
His lips thinned. “As long as it takes.” He pulled a portal key from his pocket. “Speaking of which, I think it’s time we let Norivun know about all that’s gone on. We’ll let him decide how this should be handled from here.” He turned to his friends. “Stay here and keep feeding and hydrating them. Elowen and I are heading back to the Solis continent.”
CHAPTER 25
Norivun’s huge black wings folded behind him as he stood next to us in the underground caverns. His four guards stood behind him, all of them wearing grim expressions. Fury emanated from the Solis’s auras.
Norivun’s silver eyebrows slanted together. “We can’t keep them in these conditions. It could take weeks for Saroly to successfully remove each anklet from them. We’ll have to transport them back to Solisarium and keep them there unless you want the entirety of Faewood knowing what’s gone on down here?”
I swallowed the ball in my throat, but before I could respond, Jax shook his head. “No, that’ll bring up too many questions that we’d rather avoid.” He subtly reached for my hand and squeezed it.
As we’d promised each other, nobody, save us, knew that I’d twisted fate. And Jax had already decided that he wouldn’t allow any questions to ever be brought my way. Protecting me from any potential fallout was his number one priority, so if it meant concealing what King Paevin had done, then he would.
Norivun nodded. “In that case, we’ll mistphase them out, and I’ll hire staff to care for them until each anklet can be removed.”
“And the children?” I asked, my voice catching. “What’s to become of them?”
The Solis royal’s voice gentled. “We’ll see to them first.”
“And when you’re done?” Jax asked.
Sandus, one of his guards, stepped forward. “We’ll return them to wherever their homes are.”
Jax’s brow furrowed. “Questions will undoubtably be asked when they return home. Some of them now have children.Illegalchildren. Will you keep me posted on their recoveries? I’ll likely have to get involved once they return here, wielding whatever illusions are necessary to conceal their children until they’ve grown and have learned to hide their immense magic.”
“Of course,” Norivun replied.
I sighed. Despite Norivun’s help relieving a mountain of pressure from my shoulders, Jax was right. This wouldn’t be something we could walk away from. We would have to continue working over the seasons to ensure the half-breeds’ safety. But one look at everyone around me, and I knew we would take on whatever task was needed to protect all of them.
