Bartered to the Fae Lord

by Rylee Winters

  It wasn’t until nightfall, long after Elise had been settled into her rooms, and been given a chance to bathe and change into a nightgown the chambermaid had presented to her, that Callum finally reappeared, striding into her bedroom after a brief knock.

  Elise had immediately tensed, backing away nervously as he’d approached, wondering what else Callum would demand of her as his new wife. She’d certainly wondered whether he’d want that…

  But all he did was walk across the floor of the room a few times, sweeping his eyes over the interior—looking for god knows what, Elise couldn’t even begin to guess; before nodding politely at her and bidding her a good night’s rest, and walking straight back out of the room.

  The whole thing had left Elise completely confused and on edge…

  However, not one to look a gift horse in its mouth, she’d taken his action at face value and felt a huge sense of relief that she’d be left alone for the night. So, he hadn’t expected her to sleep with him…thank goodness for that at least!

  That had been several nights ago…but even since then, Callum had never once hinted that he was expecting her to share her bed with him at some point.

  Elise broke out of her reverie at the sound of Callum getting up from his chair; bringing her mind back to the present. She looked over to him, feeling apprehensive once again. She still didn’t quite know where she stood with him, so it was better for her to be cautious and not let her guard down.

  “I apologize for not being able to spend more time with you since you arrived here, Elise. Unfortunately, there are urgent matters I need to deal with personally, and everything else for the time being, must wait. Going forward, I’ll ask Melody and the staff to set it up so we can dine together each night…it will give us an opportunity to get to know each other better,” he smiled.

  Elise held back a grimace, not sure how she felt about having to eat dinner with her large, stern captor every night. Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer, the old adage unexpectedly popped up inside her head.

  Maybe these dinners would give her a chance to suss out more about Callum…and perhaps she’d even learn about a weakness or two that could help form part of her plan to escape from here and return back home!

  “Sure…” Elise finally replied after a moment, agreeing to the arrangement. “Is there anything else?” she asked tentatively, raising an eyebrow in Callum’s direction.

  Callum was still for a moment, and Elise thought she saw a flash of disappointment appear across his face…but in the next moment it was gone, and she couldn’t be sure whether it’d just been her imagination. “No…there’s nothing else,” Callum replied with a slight edge to his voice, which made Elise think he was lying. “Enjoy the rest of your afternoon, and I hope you get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow, I will ask Aiden to accompany you around the back fields so you can get some exercise.”

  “Thanks,” Elise returned, leaning forward and looking at him in surprise. Allowing her the freedom to roam the grounds was not an offer she had expected him to make!

  Something briefly flickered across his eyes as he regarded her carefully. But whatever it was Callum was thinking, he didn’t voice his thoughts.

  He gave a small bow. “Take care, my lady,” he said, bidding her farewell. Then, turning on his heel, he left her bedroom, and Elise sunk back against her chair; the tension she’d been holding melting away from her body. Strange thoughts twirling inside her mind. Had she offended him somehow…? Maybe she hadn’t been as good at hiding her feelings as she thought.

  At least he was promising her a slight degree more freedom than what she had currently been given. She guessed he didn’t completely trust her from bolting away…just yet, anyway.

  She rose from her chair and walked over to the desk leaning against one side of the wall. Shafts of late afternoon sun filtered through the translucent drapes hanging over the window above the desk, spilling onto the light, wood-grained surface, and across the blank sheet of paper Elise had left lying there.

  Pulling out the chair stowed underneath the desk, she took a seat, and picked up the blank sheet of paper sitting on the very top. Placing it aside, another piece of paper was revealed to be hidden underneath it—this one with a drawing.

  Uncapping a fountain pen—the only writing instrument she’d been able to find in the drawer—she continued to add lines to the existing drawing, working on the map she’d began of the garrison that would hopefully aid in her escape.

  There was not much to the picture at the moment, since she hadn’t been allowed to see much of the place…but she had high hopes of being able to build on to it in more detail as the days passed on.

  When the time came for her to escape, the map could prove to be invaluable…and the very thing which might tip the scales in favor of her plan becoming a true success!

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The sun was at its zenith as Callum walked at a swift gait towards the training grounds. He spied Cassius up ahead, his Captain of Guards, standing feet astride as he supervised three pairs of recruits engaged in a practice spar with their partners.

  Just as Callum reached Cassius, there was a clanging noise as a blade fell to the ground. One of the younger recruits looked over at his Captain with a stricken look, heat coloring his face at his own poor performance. “Again!” Cassius shouted, ordering the young Fae to pick up the sword. “Do not drop your sword again this practice round, Sethos, or it’ll be thirty laps around the field for you!”

  The young Fae grimaced, but didn’t utter a word of complaint. He quickly retrieved his sword from the ground and got into battle-stance again.

  Hearing Callum’s approach, Cassius turned around and greeted him with a bow. “My Lord,” he said, before straightening up.

  “Cassius.” Callum inclined his head towards his old friend. “How is their training progressing?”

  “As well as can be expected,” Cassius replied, his face turning a little grim. “It’ll be hard to get them ready by seven weeks time, but they’ll get there in the end––either that, or they’ll collapse from exhaustion trying.”

  Callum nodded. “We’ll need to push them to their utmost limits over the next month and a bit. There is nothing more we can do but try to prepare them as best as we can for the battle in the south. King Torin and the army battalions already posted there are relying on us.”

  Cassius looked away from Callum and gazed out at his troops, a gloomy shadow crossing over his face, and slowly shook his head. “I’m afraid dark times are ahead of us, old friend…but we will do all we can to teach them how to win and survive,” he said, his shoulders sagging, heavy with the burden that’d been placed on him.

  Callum clapped his friend on the shoulder. “Thank you. I know I can always rely on you, Cassius.”

  Cassius gave him a wry smile. “How’s your new wife going?” he asked, changing the subject. Callum’s unexpected trip to the human realm and his return with a bride in hand, had drawn the interest of many of the occupants of the garrison.

  “She is well…I guess…?” Callum replied, screwing his eyes up as he looked towards the sky. “She’s been taking daily walks with Aiden this past week, and he and Melody have been slowly showing her more of the place. She seems to be growing accustomed to living here, bit by bit…”

  What Callum did not reveal was he could tell Elise was still unhappy about being brought here. But he suspected over time, she would eventually adjust...

  Hopefully, he thought. She’d have to—he was not going to give her up and stain his honor. Besides, given who she was and how important she was to him, he wouldn’t be able to bring himself to part with her anyway…

  And even though she’d only been here for a short time, he was already finding her company and presence to be rather pleasant. On top of that, her pretty face and soft, feminine figure, were qualities any hot-blooded male would find difficult not to appreciate.

  As Callum thought over these things silently in his head,
the corner of his lips started to curve upwards into a secret smile. There would be a time when she would come to accept him; and he was looking forward to that moment when she was finally ready to warm his bed.

  Just the mere thought of her soft, delicate form beneath his blankets was enough to stoke and flame his desire, and he shifted uncomfortably as his groin hardened beneath his dark breeches.

  “How is your nephew going?” Callum asked, trying to distract his mind from his lustful thoughts.

  “You mean Zander?” Cassius asked, and snorted. “The lad is causing as much trouble as always. He’s been assigned to His Majesty’s security detail—but Galen tells me even a stubborn mule is better at following orders!”

  Callum’s face cracked into a smile and he let out a hearty laugh. “The folly of youth…I remember you were like that once,” he winked at his friend.

  “I was never that bad,” Cassius retorted, but smiled. “The good old days, eh?”

  “My dear friend, you make it sound—” Callum began, but stopped as soon as the sound of running feet coming towards them came to his attention. Both men twisted around; their bodies alert. Callum’s hand reflexively went to brush the hilt of his sword.

  “My Lord. Captain Cassius,” Aiden bowed, huffing as he addressed his superiors.

  Callum’s brow wrinkled apprehensively. It was not like his lieutenant to be racing so frantically around the barracks. “What’s wrong, Aiden?”

  “It’s Lady Elise. She’s jumped into the lake…”

  Callum didn’t even wait for him to finish. His feet bolted forward as soon as he heard Elise’s name. He tried to suppress the fear and worry rising inside him as he raced towards the lake on the south-west side of the garrison, praying to the Light of Amorites she was unharmed.

  What was she thinking?! He thought. Even though some magical enchantment kept Lake Thistle from ever freezing over, it was nonetheless a pool of liquid ice in the winter climate! She’d get hypothermia from submerging herself in its waters—not to mention some of the strange, malevolent creatures who lived inside the lake!

  Callum increased his pace to a run, his footsteps thudding heavily on the grass as he passed the perimeter of the training grounds, and thundered through the trees to the small meadow that led to the lake. The weather had started warming up, and much of the snow had retreated to reveal the plants and trees kept evergreen by the magic of the land.

  As he neared the lake’s banks, he could see two small figures struggling inside the its waters: a young woman and a small child. Elise’s head dipped up and down in the water as she clutched the child to her chest, paddling backwards towards the shore where Melody stood, crying out in distress.

  Worry contorted her face, as she yelled out to her mistress. Two other attendants and a boy Callum didn’t recognize were standing next to her, also gazing out at the lake in panic. “Gideon!” The unknown boy called out, his voice full of terror.

  “Blankets, now!” Callum bellowed out the order to Melody and Aiden as he careened into the meadow and stumbled to a stop near Melody. Unbuckling his sword and pulling off his boots swiftly, Callum raced down to the waters edge and leapt in.

  The water was frigid, and he would’ve shivered from the bite of the cold were it not for the rising panic eating away at him, causing adrenaline to pound through his blood.

  With broad, furious strokes, he made his way towards Elise, who was about twenty-five yards from him.

  “Elise,” he gasped, reaching out his arm and snaking it securely around her waist when he finally reached her. He pulled her to his chest, paddling to help keep her and the boy afloat.

  “Callum!” she choked out. “Take the boy,” she gasped. “He’s unconscious and doesn’t know how to swim.” The next moment, she gulped in a mouthful of water, spluttering.

  Callum bristled. “No! I’m taking the both of you!” he growled, refusing to let Elise go.

  “You can’t! It’s too difficult with the two of us! I can swim. I’ll be fine—just take him! Please!”

  Callum refused to listen, and stubbornly began to swim backwards, clutching Elise and the boy…but he soon realized Elise was right. With the three of them being fully clothed, the weight of the two additional bodies he was pulling and the bulkiness of their forms was making it difficult for him to cut through the water.

  At this rate, the three of them would freeze to death before they reached the shore…! He thought grimly.

  Callum gritted his teeth. No! He could do this. He just needed to endure! But Elise took him by surprise. Twisting in his clutches, she managed to slip herself free, and shoved the boy into his arms in place of her own body.

  Callum jerked his head upright, panicking; his eyes wild. Elise had pulled away from him and was now floating several feet from him in the water. “Elise!” he hollered, his voice hoarse with emotion. What was she doing?! She was going to drown without his help!

  “It’s okay, Callum! Go!” she hollered back. “Get the kid to safety—he needs medical attention!” The water splashed as she started swimming towards the shore, her strokes steady, but slow.

  She must be fatigued… Callum thought, hissing.

  There was nothing for it. Callum tightened his hold on the boy and started swimming towards the shore aswell. He’d just have to trust Elise and have faith she was a strong enough swimmer to get back to the shore on her own.

  Callum’s powerful legs kicked out, propelling him rapidly through the water. Soon he found himself on the banks of the lake, carrying the motionless body of a small child of around ten summers out of the water and back onto dry land, laying him safely down on the lush grass bordering the lake.

  “Someone get one of the healers!” Callum ordered as he looked worriedly down at the brown-haired boy’s pale, white face and blue lips. One of the attendants nearby rushed off to find a healer.

  Unable to do anything else for the child at the moment, Callum spun back around to face the lake, causing droplets of water to splash everywhere. His eyes scanned the water in search of Elise, who was steadily swimming towards them. His heart squeezed worriedly at her small, fragile form, but he drew some comfort in knowing the real danger was over. She was now only a handful of feet away.

  He breathed a sigh of relief as she reached the shallow waters and scrambled upright onto her feet, stumbling onto the banks and onto the grass.

  Water sluiced off her dress as she struggled to put one foot after the other underneath the long skirt of her bedraggled dress; the material heavy with cold water from the lake.

  For a moment, Callum stood frozen, his eyes locking on the almost naked outline of Elise’s wet body. The material of her dress clung so tightly to her curved form it could’ve been a second skin; baring her shapely legs, generous bust, and soft flare of her waist for the world to see.

  “Blanket!” Callum barked, snapping out of his trance; baring his teeth possessively as he growled at those around him. His feet began moving forwards at their own accord.

  Someone rushed over and placed a thick, folded sheet of wool in his hand, but his gaze was too busily focused on Elise to even notice who it was.

  He advanced quickly, catching Elise by surprise as he drew the blanket open and threw it over her in one swift motion, pulling the edges tightly around her at the front.

  “Thank you…” Elise managed to say through the chatter of her teeth. Callum pursed his lips and pulled her tightly into his chest, cocooning her in his warm embrace. He rubbed her back and arms beneath the blanket, trying to get warmth back into her frozen limbs.

  “That was reckless and brash!” Callum growled in a low voice, his gaze darkening as Elise tilted her face up and he took in her wet hair, which was plastered across her face, and the blue tinge of her lips.

  She could’ve died! The thought struck his heart like a spear made of frozen ice.