All Things Wild and Beautiful

6. Insufferable

The artwork above is not mine.

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Fenrys was growing more frustrated with Nascha every day. It had gotten to the point where he found himself thinking quite often that perhaps it was good they'd failed to bring her to Maeve. It wouldn't have been long before one of them had enough and killed her, and Maeve would have killed them for doing so. Besides, if Nascha had been taken to Doranelle, she would've been properly trained and far more dangerous than she was now.

Not that she wasn't still dangerous, of course. Fenrys found her attempting to pick the lock on her door from the inside, using her owl talons. She'd tried to carve holes in the walls with her starlight. Once, when he went into her room to give her food and attend to the delightful task of emptying her waste bucket, she'd swamped him in darkness and tried to make a run for it. That resulted in Fenrys throwing the bucket at her, then later dousing her with buckets of water that did nothing to get rid of the lingering stench.

It was a relief when Suria was finally in view and Captain Silva announced they'd be docking in a few hours. Fenrys was updeck while Aedion took his turn guarding Nascha. He drew in a deep breath and smiled. "You're glad to be back?" Vaughan asked behind him.

"Yeah." Fenrys braced his elbows on the railing as Vaughan joined him. "I never thought I'd be able to say that about a place."

"Do you like Terrasen?"

Fenrys nodded. "I may have been born in Doranelle, but Terrasen is my home. It was always going to be, eventually."

"Connall mentioned a few times that you had always wanted to serve Aelin, even before you met her."

"And even more so after I met her." Fenrys glanced at Vaughan. "She won't force you to swear the oath if you don't want to. She understands. If you want to serve her another way, I don't think she'll object."

Vaughan crossed his arms, not looking at Fenrys. "Do you think I should take the oath?"

"Only if you won't regret it."

"Would she release me from it if I did?"

"If that is what you wanted. She would release any of us if we asked." He pursed his lips. "Except maybe Lorcan. I think she likes having a leash on him, just in case he gets into a killing mood."

"Understandable," Vaughan chuckled. "Do you think you'll ever ask to be released from the oath?"

Fenrys sighed before answering. "I don't know. I have no desire to, but that could change. Although...I don't know what would happen to me without the oath."

"What do you mean?"

Fenrys faced him, knitting his brows. "No one told you how I came to be blood-sworn to Aelin?" Vaughan shook his head. "Let's sit down."

They dropped to the wooden deck, pressing their backs up against the siding. Fenrys leaned his head onto the railing, staring at the sky and fluffy white clouds that drifted overhead. "Maeve kept me trapped in my wolf form while Aelin was her prisoner. I was forced to watch Cairn torture her, and I could do nothing to help. She tried to hurt me to break Aelin. You know how Connall died?"

"Suicide," Vaughan replied. There was a hint of sorrow in his dark eyes.

"Maeve compelled him to drive a dagger through his own heart." Vaughan's lips parted in surprise. "She conveniently didn't tell you that, I imagine." He shook his head. "Well, now you know the truth." Vaughan turned his head away as Fenrys continued.