by Mary Dublin
"You lot took your sweet time showing up," one of the new voices groused. "The boy give you too much trouble, Seamus?"
The giant man carrying Daniel growled, making Brennan wonder if he was part-bear. "It'd serve you well to keep your mouth shut. We were warned of knights, but not a dozen of them."
As Brennan listened, he was dismayed by how low the ceiling was becoming. The lower he flew, the farther away he had to remain from the bandits to make sure his wings weren't heard. The thought of not being able to hover high out of reach didn't sit well with him at all.
Finally, the bandits reached a jagged archway that led into short hallway-like path and ended in another archway opening into a small torch-lit chamber. Once the bandits entered, Brennan drew close enough to hover at the edge of the second archway, positioning himself as deeply into the shadows as he could without losing sight of the scene within the chamber.
Daniel, still limp, was lowered to the ground and propped up in a seated position against the far wall.
"Bind his hands," the one called Seamus ordered.
One of the masked men produced a length of rope from within his cloak and set to work on the restraints, pulling Daniel's wrists behind his back. The prince didn't so much as budge.
"You seem jumpy," a man commented.
Another shook his head. "I keep feeling like we'll hear the princeling's cavalry coming to storm the place at any moment."
"The others aren't moronic enough to be followed," Seamus put in. "I expect the knights are scattered by now, thinking they're racing after their prince. With what we're being paid, the others better hope on their lives they don't make a mistake."
"Quiet! The man binding Daniel looked up sharply and stood. "If the prince hears any—"
"Him?" Seamus nudged Daniel's leg with his boot, sneering. "He'll be out for quite a while, believe me."
Brennan pulled back from the archway when the giant man turned in his direction. Thunderous footsteps echoed through the cavern once more, but this time Brennan had nowhere to go.
His heart pummeled his chest. If he doubled back, he'd be spotted. There was a chance he could remain out of the bandit's line of sight if he remained close enough to the archway, but surely they would hear the buzz of his wings when they passed.
The wall, rough as it was, provided no safe perch for him. Having no other choice with the bandits closing in, Brennan darted to the ground and landed, pushing his back against the wall.
Booming conversation continued overhead, but as the first pair of boots crashed right before him, he lost interest in listening. He turned his head and squeezed his eyes shut as the next human walked by. Brennan's whole body was wound tight, begging him to fly, fly far away as fast as he could. If he could have moved, he would have.
He waited for one of the bandits to spot him, to shout in alarm.
But no one did. None of them noticed him at all.
The ground still rattled, but with decreasing magnitude. Brennan opened his eyes, lungs aching from holding his breath. The small chamber containing Daniel was empty of anyone but the prince, but one of the bandits stood watch at the front of the short hall, entirely unaware that an intruder had already infiltrated past that point.
Brennan skirted around the archway and dared to open his wings again. He approached Daniel, glancing over his shoulder every other second. The torches on either side of the chamber made menacing shadows dance on the prince's slumped form.
As badly as Brennan wanted to release the binds immediately, it wouldn't be much use if Daniel was unconscious. There was still the guard to worry about, and the others within the cavern, but they were a matter to be dealt with later.
"Daniel?" Brennan drew closer and angled himself to look up at the prince's lowered face. Daniel may as well have been in another world, and bringing him back was not going to be a pleasant wake-up. "Sorry about this," Brennan muttered, shoving his hand between Daniel's eyes and releasing the same jolt he had used to scare off the attacking hound.
He should have expected the answering jerk, but when Daniel stirred, it still caused Brennan to flit back in alarm. The prince gasped as though he had been held underwater for a long period of time, and straightened back against the wall. His eyes went round as he looked left and right, squinting in the firelight. It was at that point that he appeared to take notice of his bound wrists. Almost immediately, he began to struggle against the ropes.
"Stop it, they'll hear you!" Brennan hissed.
Finally, those ice colored eyes fixed on the one familiar thing in the room. The prince stopped fighting and slumped back against the wall, allowing Brennan to approach.
"Where?" Daniel panted.
"Some sort of cave system in the woods. East, I think."
Daniel frowned for a moment. "The Weeping Wood," he muttered.
He pulled a pained face as he shifted, attempting to get his feet under him. He didn't make it far before his bitten calf gave out. Daniel winced and sank back painfully to the ground. Brennan looked on sympathetically. It felt wrong to see the human prince in such a helpless position.
While Daniel still caught his breath, Brennan inched closer.
"I told you to go," the prince rumbled, arching a brow.
"I'm not one of your knights, Daniel," Brennan retorted, "and you're lucky I'm not. Now look, I'd break those bonds, but I don't think it would help your chance of getting out of here. There's only one way out as far as I could tell, and they're blocking the exit."
"How many?"
Brennan paused. "At least five. Not counting those still on the field."
Daniel made a weary noise, tipping his head back against the stone. He glanced down at the empty sheath on his hip.
"Could use a bit of magic right now," he mumbled.
Brennan smiled sadly. "We'd need a small army to deal with—"
"He can't be stirring yet. That's lunacy."
Daniel froze, sharing a panicked look with Brennan. The unfamiliar voice came with quick, purposeful steps and the clank of a bandit's armor.
"I heard voices. I know it."
Even from the air, Brennan could feel the heaviness of the speaker in every lumbering stride. He would be upon them in seconds. With no time to think of a better spot, he veered to the floor and ducked into the shadow of Daniel's hands.
The rumbling worsened, and then halted suddenly. By the sound of it, two bandits entered the chamber. Brennan huddled against Daniel's hands, giving a start when the fingers curled inward slightly. He knew it was an attempt to hide him further, but whatever the intention, it managed to make his anxiety run deeper.
"See?" Seamus' resonant voice managed to be smug and annoyed simultaneously. "He's out cold."
Brennan breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that Daniel had thought quickly enough to fake unconsciousness. However, it was too much to hope that the bandits would simply turn around and leave the chamber.
"Hang on," the other urged.
Footsteps ambled closer. Brennan felt the hands around him grow tenser.
"There are marks in the dirt," the bandit declared, a scowl pinching his face, no doubt. "See there? Those weren't there before. He was more than stirring."
"You're seeing things," Seamus tried to dismiss, but his steps drew closer all the same.
The silence that followed was deafening.
A deep chuckle rumbled through the chamber, turning Brennan's blood cold. "It seems I may have misjudged the dosage, Your Highness," Seamus said.
There was a long pause. Without warning, Daniel was jerked forward with a very audible and very conscious gasp of pain.
As Brennan was thrown against a palm, Seamus chuckled again. "That's what I thought."
"What is it you want?" Daniel growled, resigning his ruse.
"Oh, I'm a man of simple tastes. Me and my brothers."
"Gold?"
Seamus shoved Daniel back against the wall. Brennan had to bite his cheek to keep from crying out as Daniel's hands closed up co
mpletely for a moment, squeezing him. He gasped gratefully as they relaxed again. Through the opening between thumbs, he watched enormous shadows stretch and flicker in the firelight like sinister spirits.
"Aye," the bandit said in a cheerful rumble. "But you're worth even more than gold, aren't you, my prince?"
"I can't say I know what you mean by that," Daniel said evenly.
Brennan was impressed by the amount of confidence the prince was able to speak with despite everything. But it was going to take more than confidence to free him. Brennan could only pray that the bandits didn't decide to put Daniel under again.
"All in due time," Seamus said, clearly not going to elaborate. Despite the air of authority he seemed to carry, Brennan knew he couldn't be the one actually pulling the strings. Judging by what he'd heard, their employer wasn't present.
After a beat of silence, Daniel spoke up again. "You're making a mistake. I'm not foolish enough to believe I can talk you out of it, but just know. You're going to regret this for the rest of your lives."
Seamus gave a hearty laugh. "My prince, we're making the best decision of our lives." He didn't give Daniel time to offer a retort. "Search him," he ordered the other man. "Resilient to the sleep draught he may be, but I won't have him cutting his way out of those ropes."
Before Brennan's frantic mind could catch up with what was being said, Daniel's hands closed up again, though without the pressure of before. The prince's pulse drummed through his palms.
His hiding place turned to chaos as a pair of unseen hands grabbed Daniel by his collar and forced him to sit straight as every inch of his person was patted down, pockets jerked open wide. Brennan's labored breaths mingled with the smell of sweat and dirt in the small space.
"I lost my dagger when I lost my horse," Daniel told them. "There's no need for this."
He was ignored. Soon enough, he felt Daniel pushed forward again. Fingers scrabbled at the bindings. Paused. Grumbling under his breath, the thug made a grab for his hands. Daniel's grip held stubbornly.
"Oh-ho! You were onto something, Seamus, the princeling's hiding something!"
Oh gods, Brennan thought.
He backed away into the deepest corners of Daniel's awkward grasp, but it was in vain and they both knew it. One by one, Daniel's fingers were painfully pried apart, and a new hand dove in to seize what was inside. The booming voices arguing above him were distant thunder compared to the sound of his own gasping breaths.
The pressure was incredible. White dots danced in his vision as he was hoisted through the air. One of his legs was sticking out between a finger and thumb, and his left arm between another. The hands readjusted, and before he could spread his sore, squished wings, he was clasped from the chest down in a gloved fist.
Exhaustion and shock rendered him nearly frozen as he found himself face to face with the smaller bandit. A stubbly chin and jaw peeked out from under a tight black cloth bound over his eyes, with only small circles carved out for sight.
"R-release me," he ordered weakly.
The man merely gaped. "What in the gods' names… It's one of the wee folk!"
Seamus laughed behind him. But as his face lowered into view, the smile had vanished. Brennan leaned away as far as he could. Even behind the masks, he could see the darkness in the men's eyes.
"What would a royal want with fairies?" Seamus muttered, almost to himself.
"Let him go!" Daniel commanded. The men turned. "If you harm even a hair on his head, you'll both pay for it in blood."
Seamus snatched Brennan from his partner in a coarse, sweaty hand. He held him just out of Daniel's reach and gave him a shake that left the fairy's head spinning with stars. "Come and get him, then."
Daniel's composure slipped into rage. He struggled again to stand, using the wall for leverage and fighting fiercely against the binds. A wince interrupted his anger, though Brennan couldn't be sure if it was from his leg or the rope biting into his wrists. He sank back down, glaring with barely-suppressed fury.
Seamus scoffed. "He's right here," he taunted. "But I suppose you don't care enough about your little friend, then."
He pulled away from Daniel and it was then that Brennan fully realized how short his breaths were coming. He swallowed thickly and squirmed, attempting to free some room in the crushing fist.
"Too tight," he gasped.
The giant man paused and brought Brennan close to eye level. Amidst the darkness in the man's eyes, a glint marveled greedily. "What was that?" he asked mockingly. "You're going to have to speak up."
The fist tightened further, speaking to Brennan loud and clear that his words had been heard precisely. He was merely being toyed with.
"I said, too tight!" Brennan clawed into what was left of his strength and forced a bolt of raw magic to explode from his hands, pressed tight to his sides.
Seamus gave a deafening roar of pain and staggered, releasing Brennan. His fall was short before he forced his protesting wings to keep him aloft. At full energy, the spell might have been enough to knock out even the beast of a man, but as it was, Brennan was nowhere near full energy.
It didn't stop him from lashing out blindly with more magic. The other bandit ducked back, while Seamus straightened up furiously.
Before Brennan could settle on which direction to fly, a gargantuan hand flew in from the side and slammed into him. Pain erupted through him like fire. The hit should have dashed him to the ground and broken every bone he had, but the fingers of the offending hand curled inward like a net.
Brennan was certain Seamus was going to lock him back up in his suffocating fist and ensure that he never took another full breath, but the fairy quickly found himself preferring that.
He gasped as a finger and thumb pinched his upper left wing. The fist released his lower body, leaving him to dangle. Pain raced through his wing, his shoulders, while the other wings flit uselessly, attempting to carry him enough to relieve the weight.
"Stop!" Daniel shouted. He had managed to shift to his knees and was forcing himself up, balancing his weight on his good leg.
Meanwhile, weak magic sparked from Brennan's fingers, and Seamus was quick to take notice.
"None of that," he rumbled. The finger and thumb of his other hand came up and gripped Brennan's right ankle, giving it a slight pull.
Brennan froze, feeling the stretch inflicted on his body. And Seamus wasn't even trying. In an instant, the threat of magic disappeared.
"So many legends about the wee folk," Seamus mused. "Legends about fairy wings being far stronger than they look. So I wonder. What would come off first? The wing, or the leg?"
With excruciating slowness, Brennan's wing was pulled upward while his leg was pulled down. He gritted his teeth, but when the strain became too much, there was no stopping his scream. "Stop!" he breathed, barely able to force the word out. "Please, please, stop!"
"Enough!" Daniel tried to shoulder his way past the other bandit, who was restraining him from lunging at Seamus. "Release him! Release him, and I won't fight! I won't struggle, just let him go!"
Seamus considered him for an agonizing moment, looking taken aback. "A generous offer, Your Highness," he said, voice dripping with mock gratitude.
The grip on his wing loosened, and Brennan swung by his ankle to be wrapped back in the fist. This time, only his ankles protruded. He squirmed to peel his cheek off Seamus' hand, hating the smell and darkness that was trapped with him.
"I'm sure you're an honorable man," Seamus rumbled. "But just to make sure you don't change your mind… the fairy stays with me."
Brennan's world swung down steeply as Seamus let his hand fall to his side. Muffled through the meaty fingers, Brennan could hear Daniel shouting after him as the thug turned on his heel to leave.
"Give him another dose," Seamus called over his shoulder. "I won't have him ruin everything by waking up the forest."
He couldn't hear the entirety of the struggle, but Brennan knew who had won when Daniel's voice
vanished. With every rattling, swinging step the bandit took, Brennan felt more alone than ever.
Chapter
Five
In no time at all, more voices were rumbling outside Brennan's fleshy prison. The other bandits were rushing to see what all the shouting and commotion was about, but Seamus was quick to silence their questions. Between his heart pounding in his ears and the rattling gait of the giant man, Brennan could scarcely catch more than a few words at a time. Still, he was all too aware that he was surrounded by humans.
He may have been surrounded by unsuspecting knights all day, but at least then he hadn't been experiencing the creeping chill of doom.
New panic settled in. His capture meant that far more than his life was at stake. Someone now knew that Daniel had connections with the fae. If that was exposed, he couldn't begin to fathom what it could mean for Esmae, for Evrosea.
Calm down, he ordered himself. Calm. Down. He would have taken deep breaths if he could, but at the very least, he forced himself to stop writhing. The fingers coiled around him weren't going to give until Seamus decided. Fighting was a waste of energy that could be of use later. He needed to stay calm.
After being tortured by a witch for nearly a week, he could handle a band of greedy humans.
Conversation continued above him. No doubt Seamus was filling in the others about a fairy being discovered in the prince's hands. Brennan hadn't the foggiest idea what was planned for him, but before he could ponder worst-case scenarios, his stomach dropped as Seamus came to a sudden stop and swept his hand up. Torchlight burst into the darkness, and for a blessed moment, Brennan could breathe again.
He blinked hard, trying to straighten himself up. The other hand seized him, pinning his wings to his back and his arms to his sides before he could even attempt to stretch. He bit back a curse, sick and tired of being manhandled.
"By the gods," a booming voice gasped.
Three new faces were staring down at him, all of them masked. The sensation of those enormous, dumbfounded eyes all weighing down on him made Brennan want to turn his head away, but instead he steeled himself and glared at each of them in turn.