The Faerie Blade

Chapter 6

Those words shocked me right out of my stunned stupor.

"No. Absolutely not. Five years of servitude? No thank you. You can find yourself some other human to do your dirty work for you. Goodbye."

I turned towards the door and yanked at the handle. To my horror, it would not budge an inch.

I whirled back towards the Fae. "Let me go!" I snarled.

A cruel smile graced the Fae's lips. "No. Until you agree to my request, I will keep you here at my leisure."

"Request!" I snorted. "More like a coercion. You, Mr Fae, will not get away with this. My parents, my friends, they will - "

The Fae interrupted me. "I can, and I have," he said brusquely.

My mouth hung open in a gape. "You can't be serious! Unless you've made them forget about - "

At his narrow eyed look, I started cursing. "Oh you conniving bastard!"

As I started growling out other expletives, the Fae's displeased look deepened. "Enough! Neowid sain!" He roared, shaking his gnarled staff. Suddenly, my litany of swears cut off. "You cuss like a drunken leprechaun sailor," he grumbled. "If you can't speak decently, do not speak at all."

I bared my teeth and hissed at him, pleased to find that I could still do that even when my voice had been robbed.

"You're lucky I need you," he muttered, "because I am sorely tempted to turn you into a bug and crush you under my heel."

"That's murder!" I bellowed, surprised to find that he had returned my voice. "You're despicable."

"And you're an annoying female who doesn't know her place," he shot back.

"Why you little - " I advanced towards the Fae, shaking my fist at him. I was not sure what I was going to do, but socking him in the face sounded like a fantastic idea at that point in time.

I drew my fist back to deliver a punch, but before I could do so, his hand darted out and caught my wrist in an iron grip.

I fought to free myself from his grasp. "Let me go, you son of a - "

"Stop it!" He shook me until my teeth rattled. "You can't win against me, not when you're in that form." He frowned. "And I see that you really need that training."

I stopped struggling as his words registered. "Training? Whatever for?"

The Fae didn't answer. Instead, he fixed me with a glare that promised dark retribution if I kept resisting. Not to be cowed, I stuck out my tongue in a childish gesture.

Drawing in a deep breath, he rumbled, "Can you at least promise to be civil as I try and explain why I need you? Can you?"

I rolled my eyes and nodded. "No fighting. Now let me go!"

He released his hold and stepped back swiftly. I rubbed my wrist as I scowled at him. "So? Mr Fae? You promised answers."

He smoothed down the robe he wore, straightening a few creases that had emerged from our small scuffle. "The reason I need you," he began, "is because you're the only one who can help me."

"Me? Surely you can kidnap any other random human who will be willing to help you. As you well know, I'm not very willing."

"Be that as it may," he said, "the spell chose you. That means you're the only one who can help me."

"Yeah, so you keep repeating," I spat. "If a spell chose me, cast it again! Make it choose someone else. Send that stupid lark to bother someone else."

He rubbed a hand over his face, exhaling heavily. "It's a one time spell. I can't cast it again."