Page 71 of A Courage of the Chosen

“He used his magic, not like the mist some of my friends’ mums and dads can wield. It was the shadows. But they felt really cold when they came near me. It went inside all of the people from our town. They were screaming and trying to get away. But the Seelie there wouldn’t let us, and we had chains on our wrists that made me feel like I couldn’t breathe properly.”

My stomach bottoms out. I know what those chains feel like. How they smother and choke you. For her to have experienced them is barbaric.

Her words tumble out faster. “Then everyone stopped screaming. And Mum, she . . . she let me go. Her eyes looked different. Like she didn’t even know who I was. Then everyone turned to stare at me, and I thought they were going to hurt me, even my mummy. But the big monster made them take the chains off, and he told me to bring this message to the false queen. He let me go, and sent Brollachan and some soldiers after me to make sure I didn’t stop. If I went the wrong way, they would shout at me and the Brollachan would try to get me. When I got to the Loch, they told me to keep going until I found the palace.”

Erin was discovered in a heap outside the gates that border Ederline, by a soldier who ran into Eòghann on his way through the kitchens, which means she had to have come from somewhere in the North of Elfayne, after her village was attacked.

“Thank you for telling us that, Erin,” Reyne says sincerely. “You’ve been such a brave girl. We won’t ask you anymore about what happened for now, but if you remember anything else, can you let us know?”

She nods, pressing herself closer to me.

I wrap her in my arms, asking, “Can you tell us where your dad is?”

“He died when I was little.”

This poor little girl has lost everything. Her parents. Her home. Her sense of safety.

As I hold Erin, rubbing a soothing hand up and down her arm, the savage part of me plots all the ways I can make Raghnall’s and Tavish’s deaths as slow and painful as possible.

Chapter 20

Elsie

After properly introducing Erin to Lorna, she seems quite happy to remain in the healers’ wing for another night. She was given a small bowl of stew that didn’t last more than two minutes, and she only let Reyne and I leave with the promise that we would come and see her tomorrow.

Callahan remained outside her door the entire time, and when I met him in the hall, his face was stony and ferocious.

“At least by the morning, all of Elfayne will know the truth, and they won’t be surprised like Erin if they come face to face with them,” he said as we ate lunch in my rooms.

I agreed, my heart heavy for all that Erin, and so many others like her, have had to suffer and endure. Generations of children being born and raised with the threat of the Dorche hanging over them. The thought has stayed with me, but I’m swept up into the conversation with my friends, who joined us the instant we returned, like they’d been tracking our movements. Honestly, their company has been one of the few things that’s kept me going.

We eat together most nights at the large table in my room, and it’s like a season of Friends, with far less coffee and a lot more tears. They come and go without knocking these days, and I’ve stopped expecting not to find Rach and Eòghann here at the end of the day.

“Still can’t believe you’re scared of spiders, and I never knew,” Brodie nudges Callahan on the opposite side of the table where they joined Eòghann.

“I would pay good money to see you face off with a Skelf,” Eòghann chuckles as he tucks into his salad.

“You wouldn’t see a damned thing, because I’d be out of there faster than you can say Skelf,” Callahan replies without even lifting his chin.

“What’s a Skelf?” I say, and Cal looks up at me through his lashes.

“Don’t ask, Elsie,” he says at the same time Brodie grins wickedly.

“They’re giant spiders, with mouths that open in all directions and have rows of teeth like a shark that can tear through bones.” He takes too much pleasure in it, his eyes dancing in Callahan’s direction as he tells me.

“Basically, they’re what you’d get if the Predator and a giant-ass spider had a baby. Horrifying.” Rach shivers, and the others laugh at the terror on my face.

“They aren’t seen often, lass, don’t worry,” Reyne chuckles.

“But I am tempted to find one, just to see Cal shit his pants,” Eòghann scoffs, and then groans where he’s elbowed in the ribs by the man in question.

And that’s how the rest of lunch goes, casual teasing and laughter, until we decide we need to get ready for this evening.

A couple of hours later, I’m alone, and wrapped in a towel after an ‘everything’ shower made ten times easier by using my magic to shave my legs.

Thank you, Elfayne.

I comb through the dresses hanging in the closet, trying to work out what to wear. There are more here than what I’d possessed last time I was in the palace, and I suspect that Reyne has slowly added to this collection without ever asking.