And started to carve.
I thrashed from side to side as I screamed. And screamed. Tears pooled in my ears and soaked my hair. But all I could hear was their demonic chanting and all I could feel was the sweltering agony of their nails as they etched evil into my skin. Their magic seeped under my flesh and filled my veins like poison. Then came the drip, drip, dripping of my blood falling into the Red Cap nectar below.
The light changed from green to red. The sickly-sweet smell changed to something rancid that filled my nose and lungs as I screamed.
They carved symbol after symbol on me, covering as much skin as they could—my hands, wrists, up my arms, and working up my thighs towards my torso. Ribbons of my blood ran into each other and slid down into the nectar, dripping off my slick limbs. All the while, the smoke became thicker and their carvings grew faster and faster.
Pain and smoke blurred with the stench of the nectar. I couldn’t see my surrounding anymore, from the tears and double vision. A cloud of confusion settled over my head, the telltale signs of unconsciousness. If I slept now, I’d never wake up. My throat was so raw, my screams turned to whispers, pleading for help—begging for something that would never happen. “Mama! Papa! Help, Mama!”
The chanting grew louder as the smell of smoke became overpowering.
“Papa! Help! HELIOS! HELIOS!” I screamed for all I was worth. As soon as his name came out, it was the only thing I could say, over and over again.
In a flash of light, I was surrounded by scorching heat. My eyes fluttered open and my vision cleared enough to see that every wall in the squat hut burned yellow and danced with fire. Still barely able to breathe, I started to cough under the high temperature. Smoke pooled at the ceiling and escaped through holes in the thatched leaves as they shriveled up and rained ash down.
The Red Caps’ chanting erupted into shrieks of terror. They let go of me and covered their heads with their bloodstained hands.
Huge metal picks broke through the ceiling and latched onto the branches. Unified yells echoed from outside, then the large hooks gripped the ceiling slats. The hut ripped down the middle of the ceiling like an egg, as smoldering leaves and wooden shreds crashing around us. The walls collapsed into piles of broken, burning wood, leaving a clear circle where the hut used to be.
I flinched as small debris landed on me, but it didn’t hurt any more than the pain I already felt.
The Red Caps shrieked, but they had nowhere to go, since they were surrounded by the collapsed, burning walls. They knocked into each other as they scrambled up above my head.
A small bud of hope broke through the terror and pain that had plagued me. No matter who ripped the hut apart and instilled such fear in the Red Caps, whatever they do to me couldn’t be worse than what the Red Caps were doing.
Out of the dark opening, three fiery Fae in full bronze armor fell from the smoky sky.
Were they here to kill me? A part of me wished they would. Wished that they killed me before the Red Caps finished this evil ritual they started.
Two of the Sun Fae stayed in the back, hovering in the air and pointing swords at the Red Caps. The third Sun Fae with gold designs on his armor, extinguished his flame just before he landed right next to the net that held me over the red nectar.
I blinked at him as recognition slowly sank in. Helios. It was Helios.
His fiery glowing eyes flicked over me, to the nectar below, then up to the Red Caps behind my head. His head tipped down as he glared, the light of his wings brighter than the garish glare of the red nectar.
“My father warned you years ago against this. And you thought enslaving me and selling me to humans, now that he’s gone, would stop us from retaliating? Know that your actions, and the attempted sacrifice of an innocent life under my protection, has brought the wrath of the Sun upon you. This time, you will burn from it. May this lesson be remembered by any who survive.” Helios raised a hand and flicked his wrist towards the Red Caps.
The two Sun Fae flew forward, their fire-covered swords forward. The Red Caps screamed in agony as the building lit up bright as the sun.
I stared up at Helios in awe. He came. He really came. He didn’t have to. He wasn’t my slave anymore. It would have been easier for him if he’d just had me killed. He could have set the whole hut on fire and left me in here with the Red Caps. Instead, he came to get me. I was crying again, but this time it wasn’t from pain.
Helios dropped down to his knees by and pulled out a knife. “Oh, Fae Eyes,” he whispered as he cut the cords binding me, completely ignoring the fading sounds of the Red Caps and the swaying net beneath us.
As soon as my throbbing hands were loose, I reached for him, desperate for comfort. At the sight of my own hands, I froze. My flesh was mangled from the tips of my hands to my shoulders and from my toes to my hips with crude arcane signs, and blood beaded and rolled down to my elbows and down to my heels. All at once, the wonder of being saved wore off and I was left with the ugly truth of my own scarred, bleeding, and exposed flesh. With a wail, I curled my hands into my stomach and bent over, trying to hide from him.
My long skirts and leggings had always hidden my deformities. I was able to pretend I was almost normal. How could I hide my hands and arms from everyone now? And forget the pain? My bleeding wounds hurt worse the more I thought about them, a sharp knife stab with each pulse of my aching heart. I squeezed my wet eyes shut, trying to black out this new nightmare.
Warm, smooth fabric pooled around me on the net, blocking out the fire’s heat and my own self-loathing.
I gasped and looked up as Helios carefully wrapped his cloak around me, making sure I was covered from chin to toe.
His face was set and his hands were gentle, as if I didn’t disgust him at all. He carefully pulled the hood up and covered my hair. Once he was content, he scooped me into his arms and stood up.
I bit my lips and swallowed the pained moan as his hands pressed against the fresh cuts on the back of my legs. Being held against him, feeling the pressure all over my aching, throbbing body was awful. Every cut sent stings of agony through my body, hundreds of them, like hail in a storm. But the safety I felt in his arms, made it all worth it.
He stepped back, away from the net over the Red Cap Fae nectar. He shifted me a little, then the arm that supported my back straightened out until his palm faced the nectar. I bit my lips to keep from gasping at the pressure on my legs. Fire, lots of it, exploded from his hand and shot at the nectar. It lit like oil, sending flames ten feet tall.
From the shelter of his arms, however painful it was, I watched nectar laced with my blood burn and begin to evaporate. It hissed and popped, like angry Red Cap giggles. But for once, I didn’t feel scared.
Helios watched the fire for a moment then turned to one of the soldiers waiting at his side. “I need to attend to her right now,” he said. “Burn it all, all the nectar and any traces of the Red Caps. Be sure to keep the fire contained. Only the tainted sections of the forest need to be cleansed.”
“My king,” the Fae responded and thumped his right fist on his chest.
Helios nodded. He leapt into the smoky air, leaving the horror behind.
With a sigh, I closed my eyes and leaned into his warm chest, letting the beating of his heart overpower the throbbing of my flesh. I didn’t know where we were going, but it didn’t matter. I was safe.
Chapter Seven
Some time later, Helios and I descended back down through the trees. The smoke had thinned out, and I finally pulled my head away from his chest to look around. His powerful wings wafted away the leaves and wispy branches as we landed. A ripple of motion went through Helios as his feet hit the ground and passed onto me. I winced and hissed as the pressure and shifting wet Fae silk agitated my cuts even more.
“Sorry,” he muttered and stilled, his hands loosening on my legs. Helios rolled his shoulders and tucked his wings down like a cape on his back.
We were in a washroom of sorts, the largest
I’d ever been in, back in Lasair from the look of the walls and trees attached to them. A white bathtub stood in the corner of the room and a water basin sat on a pale table with matching chairs.
“Where are we?” The quiet of the night prompted me to whisper, my hoarse voice cracking.
Helios walked over to the chair and set me down on it. His brows wrinkled with regret when I bit my lips as my weight settled on my mangled legs. I didn’t even know where to put my throbbing hands. Each tiny movement brushed my fingers together and opened the scabs that were trying to form.
He took a second to pull the hood down, revealing my face. “My personal quarters. I’ll be back, Fae Eyes.” He walked out of the room and shut the door.
I stared after him and bit my lips to resist calling him back. I didn’t want to be alone. At the same time, I didn’t know what I would do with him back. It wasn’t that I was scared to be here—anywhere was better than where I just came from—but I wanted someone here with me.
I pushed my hands out of the sticky, blood-soaked silk so I could stare at them. The material stuck to the shredded pieces of my skin and pulled, causing fresh blood to drip. My hands trembled like an old woman’s as the torn muscle in my arms resisted any motion. They hurt so badly. My whole body did, it was almost impossible to comprehend that this was my future now. Just looking at them, with all the deep red lines illuminated in moonlight, caused my throat to tighten painfully and tears to swell in my eyes.
Someone knocked at the door.
I jumped, hissed in pain, and slid my hands back into the cape, hunching over to make sure I was all the way covered. I took a second to pant away the pain enough that my voice didn’t shake when I called, “Yes?”
The door opened and a couple Sun Fae women walked in holding large buckets. The oldest ignored me entirely as she walked over to the bathtub and poured steaming water in from her bucket. The younger woman, not much older than me, stared at me with wide curious eyes until the older Fae hissed at her. She jumped and hurried to empty her bucket in the tub before following the other Fae out. They returned three more times to pour water. The last time, the younger Fae put a folded white material on the table by the water basin and the eldest set a chair in front of me.
The fifth time the door opened, Helios walked back in. He carried a small, shallow bowl filled with bright yellow Fae nectar.
At the sight of the Fae nectar, I gasped. I’d been so absorbed in the strange feeling of safety and misery, I completely forgot about the whole reason I even met Helios. Frantically, I checked my body with my hands, ignoring the pain. But my dress was in tatters, and the precious vial for Uncle Albus was gone. I didn’t even know when or where it fell out of my pocket. It could be anywhere in the forest. How could I find it now?
Helios caught the defeated look on my face. He paused and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a familiar glowing vial and set it on the table next to the bowl.
My lips parted in surprise. It was Uncle Albus’s vial. Where did Helios find that? How many times was he going to help me with nothing in return?
He sat on the chair next to me and set the bowl down. He held out his hand. “Give me your hand?”
I hated showing them to him. But he did ask. Slowly, I brought my right hand out.
Taking it gently with one hand, he dipped his other fingers into the bowl. The Fae nectar clung to his fingers like oil. Carefully he rubbed the glowing liquid over my broken skin, making sure he covered every inch of my fingers and palm. Helios glanced up at me. “You used your Fae nectar on Luzzu.”
“He was dying, wasn’t he?” Maybe not immediately, but eventually he would have.
Like water on dry soil, the Fae nectar spread over my hand and collected around the Red Caps’ markings. The golden glow began to fade, absorbing into my skin, taking the cuts and blood with it.
My skin was left as soft as a babe’s.
“Yes.” Helios kept going, making sure he got all of the markings, up to my elbow. “Luzzu found your uncle’s vial on the ground and had to use that too, in order to get enough strength to get to me.” At last he turned my hand over and smoothed the markings off my palm. He stopped with his palm over mine.
His hand was so much bigger than mine, long and slender, an artist’s hand. Warm as the morning sun. His fingers rested delicately on my pulsing wrist.
I glanced up at him. What was he was thinking about right then?
His face was smooth but he stared at our hands intently. He blinked and looked up, meeting my eyes. His face softened into a smile, and he let go of my hand. He leaned back and dipped his fingers in the bowl again then motioned for my other hand. “My council doesn’t know what to do about you. After all, you’ve now saved both the king and the general of our army.” He started wiping Fae nectar over my other hand.
I blushed and looked away. My mouth wrinkled in discomfort. “I wasn’t trying to do something wonderful. I was just using you to get Fae nectar.” I glanced down at his hands. Now that I thought of him as more than just a Sun Fae, I wish I’d helped with more chivalrous reasons.
He laughed a little. “I was just using you too.” When I looked at him in surprise, he explained. “There were much closer places I could have taken you to get Fae nectar. I could have gone to any Fae and requested it. I am the king, after all. But if I took you to Lasair, I could be freed.” He frowned, looking a little guilty. “And I worried if you knew who I was, your heart might have been turned to greed. I do have access to all my kingdom’s riches.”
I smiled. I was just a simple farm girl. How would I know what to do with a kingdom’s riches? Especially when I never earned it for myself? “How did the Sun Fae’s king become a human’s slave?”
He sobered and sighed. “I was careless. My people and the Red Caps have never been friendly. Seven years ago, my father smothered their attempts to strengthen their Fae nectar with a sacrifice—it was around the same time this happened.” He motioned to my legs. “He stopped them but was injured in such a way that even nectar couldn’t heal him. Two weeks ago, I felt the same evil Red Cap magic that my father had faced. I went to investigate, and we were ambushed. My men were killed, and my will was stripped from me.” His face darkened. “They humiliated me by practically giving me away to those slavers, as if I was worth nothing more than scat. And they didn’t tell the humans who I was, either.” His mouth twisted in anger, and his fingers tightened on my hand. “Me, a king, at the mercy of slavers.”
“And then you ended up with me,” I whispered.
Helios blinked and focused on me. His gaze roamed my face, lingering on my eyes, then traveled down to our touching hands. Slowly he slid his fingers off mine.
My hand closed to resist grabbing his warm hand back. I looked down, wondering why my cheeks were just as warm as my palm.
Helios’s hand fisted and dropped down to his side. He took a deep breath and stood up, stepped around the chair. “There’s enough Fae nectar to heal you. When you’re done, the bath is also available for your use.” He motioned to the white garment on the table next to him. “This is for you to wear. It’s simple but should fit. Come out when you’re ready.”
I nodded and watched him exit the room, shutting the door behind him.
I pushed the robe off my shoulders, and carefully peeled the tatters of my clothes off my body, wincing with every move. Although my hands didn’t hurt anymore, the rest of my body protested every movement with sharp, stabbing pains. It was odd—embarrassing even—to be unclothed in a room that didn’t belong to me, but the rush of excitement of being free from pain softened the awkward feelings.
I dipped my fingers into the Fae nectar and watched it pool around my fingers. It was so pretty, just like Helios’s wings. Carefully, I rubbed it into my skin. Just like when Helios had done it, the Fae nectar collected on the Red Caps’ markings and merged with them, making them glow bright yellow. I sighed as the throbbing pain was replaced with a cooling sensation wherever the Fae nectar touched
.
Once my arms were cleared, I began working on the marks on my legs, old and new alike. I watched openmouthed as all the lines disappeared. It had been seven years since I’d seen my legs smooth. Whole. I took a slow breath, my chest tight with happiness.
This must be how Helios felt when he got his Pearl back. This rush of freedom. Like I could do anything. Just be free.
Excited, I stood. For the first time, there was no pain.
When I was bathed and clothed, I opened the washroom door to find Helios sitting on the corner of a large bed.
He stood up and walked to me. “Better?”
My heart was about the burst. “Yes!” Maybe I shouldn’t smile so big, because Uncle Albus was still sick, but I felt as light as a cloud. The soft material slid over my smooth—smooth—legs as I hurried to meet Helios halfway, trying to keep my steps even. Even though my legs didn’t hurt anymore, it seemed my limp might be a habit.
He smiled back. “Good. Let’s get you home. I’ll do it myself, this time.”
My eyes widened and my fingers tightened around the vial I held. I’d never let this one out of my sight again. “Don’t you need to go help your people?”
He nodded. “Yes. But this time, I will see that you get home safely first.” He scooped me up and flew into the predawn sky.
* * * * *
I thought he’d take me to the edge of the forest and leave me, but Helios flew all the way across the fields, giving me a good look of the cut hay neatly bundled together on several wagons. My family was able to get a lot of work done while I was gone.
He touched down outside the light of the first house at my homestead and set me down.
“Thank you, Helios.” I stepped back and looked up at him. Into his strong, kind eyes. For a moment, I was lost. What should I say after everything we’ve been through? I should say something, anything.
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