I wipe away her tears, holding her close. One way or another, I will escape this place. I only hope that she still feels the same when I someday return to Rosehill.
“They can’t do this,” she whispers, her voice catching with tears.
They can. They have. “You do not understand what it is to face extinction. They need males.”
“They want you to mate with them?” she shrieks, yanking out of my grasp, her hands balling into fists. “Tell them to find someone else! Aren’t there a whole slew of unmated men in your village? Get one of them to come here instead.”
Her point is a good one.
Why did I not think of this solution?
My Nia is the most intelligent female.
This might not work, but it is certainly worth a try. I take Nia’s hand, leading her back to where the Chieftain waits with the rest of the Seelie hostages. “We have a counteroffer,” I say. “I come from a clan of mostly males. If you let us go to them, I can ask if any would be willing to remain here in my stead. Many are anxious for mates.”
The faces I can see appear overjoyed. This starts the chatter anew, excitement buzzing in the air at the possibility of an alliance between our clans.
The Chieftain bobs her head. “Very well. Have the Seelie female bring us six willing males before the week’s end, and we will release those who wish to return to the above lands.”
Nia wraps herself around my arm. “Why is she pointing at me?”
Week’s end? That only leaves three days for Nia to climb to the top of the canyon and back again. This is not enough time. “I will go.” I do not suffer from the fear of heights and can run very fast. I will run the entire way there and back.
“You will stay,” the Chieftain counters. “As I have said before, we do not need another female.”
“You cannot expect her to survive on her own.” What if she slips and falls? What if she meets a wolf? There is no end to the dangers in this place.
“And yet you wish to mate with one so weak?” The Chieftain scoffs with a roll of her eyes. “Ignorant males.” She shakes herhead. “The Seelie female may take one Seelie escort. That one.” She waves her hand toward the Nolan.
“Not that one.” Anyone but that one. The journey to Rosehill will take hours if not days. Look at how close she and I have grown in the time we spent together in this canyon.
How can I possibly compete with a male who has held Nia’s heart for years? By the time they reach the top, they will be planning their mating ceremony, and I will surely be forgotten.
“They are the ones. Tell them to leave before I change my mind.”
The Seelie males and Nia all look to me for an explanation. “What did she say?” Nia asks.
The Chieftain has unknowingly sealed my terrible fate.
“You and your Nolan are allowed to leave. If you return in three days’ time with six males willing to remain here, then the Chieftain will release the rest of us.”
Nia grimaces. “Can you and I go instead?”
There is some solace in knowing that she does not seem eager to travel with her former lover. That is where my peace ends.
“This is the way it must be.” Unsheathing my dagger, I press the bone hilt into her hand. “Take this as a gift in response to the one you gave me from the river. You know what this means?”
It means I accept her offer.
It means that I am hers and hers alone.
Her eyes widen, her fingers wrapping into a white-knuckled fist around the hilt. “I know what this means.”
I press a kiss to her forehead, hoping it is not the last one.
All that is left is to wait and see if Nia decides to return at all.
39
