"Cedric," Silas greeted tersely, confirming the identity of the distant voice that had spoken.
I slowly sunk into the water until my chin was submerged and pressed my body up against the rock in front of me. Every muscle in my body tensed as I tried to listen to Silas and keep my movements to a minimum. I was afraid to even take a full breath in case it could cause ripples in the water that could draw attention.
Muted footsteps sounded as someone moved. I assumed it was Cedric with how the faint crunch of fallen leaves grew louder as they neared. He sounded like he was alone. Or, at least I hoped he was.
Silas's revelation meant it was highly unlikely that Cedric and his friends who had kidnapped me were human. Adding in the fact that they seemed to be trained soldiers, I found myself worrying for Silas. Though he scared me, he seemed to be the safer bet at the moment. He hadn't dragged me into this mess. In fact, he seemed to be willing to help me out of it as long as I wasn't deceiving him. Though he had put a choker around my neck that could hurt me, that was to protect himself. I couldn't fault him for that at the end of the day. Like he had said, I was a stranger, he couldn't trust me. It was a sediment that I could understand and relate to firsthand.
But what had me trusting him just a little, was how quickly he had reacted to hide me. It also rose a question.
Why was he helping me?
"I thought you learned your lesson the last time you ventured onto our land," Silas dryly said.
His tone and words had me believing it wasn't because he wanted to help me, but because he didn't like Cedric and the other men. The enemy of my enemies was helping me to spite them.
I would take that. Especially if it helped me return home.
Home. Ha! It was funny how desperate and unexpected situations had me calling a den of horrors home.
"Threats do not scare me. Nor do you," Cedric stated with arrogance. He didn't seem to like Silas either.
"I reckoned that the thought of losing your remaining good eye might though," Silas replied, nonchalantly revealing he had played a part in disfiguring and blinding the man.
Artemis let out a cry that sounded far more hostile than the ones she had been sounding at me earlier. Given Silas's words and the bird's hostility, it didn't take much to piece together what had left Cedric blinded with clawed scars on his face.
I could feel the detestation radiating between the two all the way where I hid.
"We're not here to discuss you and your mother residing on the edge of the King's territory-"
"Hmm," Silas interrupted calmly. "I wonder how the Autumn King would feel knowing that the Winter King is claiming neutral territory as his own."
Animosity crackled in the air.
"We're looking for a woman," Cedric continued, ignoring Silas's interruption that held a thinly veiled threat. His voice had taken on a hard edge. "She may have wandered onto your property. 5'4, dark hair, tan skin, and dark eyes."
"Fae?" Silas questioned, knowing full well that I was human. His inquiry had me wondering what else resided in this realm that he had to ask.
Cedric must have answered with a nodded lie.
Silas let out a laugh. "With that height, are you sure you're not in search of an adolescent?"
"I'm sure," Cedric bit out.
"What court?" Silas continued.
"It is yet to be determined."
"Been slacking, Captain?" He taunted, wearing on Cedric's already thin patience. His use of his title wasn't in respect.
"Silas," he said, his voice turning steely. "Have you seen her?"
"No," Silas bluntly stated, his tone shifting to mirror Cedric's. "I haven't."
A tense silence followed, accompanied by a drop in temperature. My heartbeat thundered in my ears as a cold breeze blew over my cheeks and the sharp bite of the water continued to numb my body.
"Harbouring or aiding a fugitive of the Court of Winter carries a harsh sentence. That includes lying and withholding information," Cedric calmly informed Silas, breaking the silence with a warning that revealed just how little he trusted him. "If you see a woman matching her description, make sure to report it."
Artemis let out another cry, returning his warning with one of her own.
"Will do," Silas curtly responded.
Another tense pause followed before the faint crunch of footsteps sounded again. I didn't dare move, staying still even after they grew distant and too faint to hear. I don't know how long I remained like that, listening to my own quiet breaths and hammering heartbeat, but what finally broke me out of the frozen state, was what had placed me in it. Fear.
I flinched hard, slipping further into the water as I lost my grip on the rock when a dart of air shot past me and into the water. Scrambling for purchase, I choked on water that rushed up my nose while turning to the ribbons of blood that rose in the water beside me. They were quickly dispersed by movement as a fish was plucked from the dark lake.
"You can come out. He's gone."
I let out a heavy, shaking breath at Silas's words.
Using my stiff, shaking hands I pulled myself around the rock and towards dry land. My numb feet slipped on the steep rocks leading up to it, but I caught myself before I could injure myself further. Placing my palms on the ground, I struggled to pull myself out while Silas wrapped the fish he had caught in the leaves and tied them securely with twine.
My clothes clung to me, weighed down with dripping water as I climbed my way out on my hands and knees. I took a moment to catch my breath, but it was difficult with how violently my body shivered and my teeth chattered. Goose bumps pebbled my skin. Forcing my stiff muscles to move, I rose to my feet as Silas finished tying his last knot.
Hugging myself for warmth, I made my way towards him as he hefted the wrapped bundle of fish under his arm.
"Still think I'm secretly colluding with them after that encounter?" I managed to ask through chattering teeth with difficulty.
He eyed me coldly. "Only time will tell," he said, his voice holding the same clipped tone that it had with Cedric. I swallowed hard and hoped it was just due to the residual effects of their meeting.
Brushing past me, Silas made his way away from the lake with the unspoken expectation to follow. If he had any qualms about the warning Cedric had given, he didn't air them. Not that it would have made a difference. It was too late for him to turn back now according to Cedric's words. He had already helped me hide and lied.
Slipping my hands under my shirt to grab the bare skin at my sides for warmth, I struggled to keep up with Silas as he continued through the trees. The only positive of being shoved in the pool aside from slipping Cedric's notice was that the numbing cold had reduced the pain I felt throughout my body. Though, with how stiff my muscles were as I shook, I wasn't looking forward to what I was going to feel when I was warm again.
Following Silas in silence, I didn't have the energy or capabilities to break it more than the soft chattering of my teeth and ragged breaths already did. Not even to ask him to slow his pace that eventually grew easier to keep up with as the minutes blended into one another.
I wasn't sure how long we had been walking. With the exhaustion I felt, it could have been anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour. Just when my feet had increasingly begun to trip over roots, branches, and one another while my wet shoes rubbed them raw, a white picket fence and a quaint, yellow cottage came into view.
I couldn't help but gawk at the unexpected sight as Silas led me through the wooden gate that led into the enclosed yard. This wasn't what I had pictured when looking at the man in front of me. Leaves fell from a large tree to cover the grass with red, orange, and yellow leaves. Vines with the same colored leaves and swatches of green climbed the side of the house, covering the chimney that had smoke drifting out of it and spreading to frame the windows that looked out the front at the trees surrounding and isolating the home.
Not daring to stop and rest my feet in fear that I wouldn't get them to move again, I followed after Silas as he made his way to the front door and pushed it open without knocking. I hesitated before crossing the threshold behind him, taking note of the bike leaning against the house by the door in case I needed to make a quick getaway. The choker surrounding my neck was activated by my intention to hurt him. Hopefully, it would remain inactivate if all I wanted to do was put some distance between us. A lot of distance.
Taking a deep breath as I stepped into the cottage filled with the smell of bread and rosemary, I felt an instant shift in temperature. The front room the door led into was warmed by a roaring fire in the fireplace. My chilled skin prickled as my eyes roamed over the room. It held comfortable seating covered with crocheted throws, book-filled shelves that covered the far wall, and wooden stairs to the side that led to the floor above.
"What took you so long?"
A woman's voice had my eyes snapping to the open doorway on the opposite wall that it had sounded from. It seemed to lead into a kitchen. Silas didn't hesitate as he made his way through the door and set the bundle of fish on the dining table. That's when I caught a glimpse of the woman who had spoken as she approached him. She had dark skin that showed signs of age and silver hair that was pulled back in a low bun at the nape of her neck that held various necklaces. They complemented the simple shift dress she wore that went down to her ankles.
"A... situation arose," he answered as I made my way to the door, lagging behind with a slight limp.
"What situation?" She demanded, worry seeping into her tone. "Are you alright?"
Reaching the door, I peeked in to take in the rustic kitchen that looked surprisingly normal. Shelves filled with dishware lined the walls while white cabinets sat beneath oak countertops. Though another fireplace with crackling wood and flames warmed the space, pendant lights hanging over the island and a small refrigerator off to the side told me that electricity wasn't a foreign concept here. Nothing really stood out that shout I wasn't in the correct realm.
A hard thud had me jumping. My eyes snapped back to the woman to find her glaring daggers at me while a tomato rolled across the table after falling out of the basket filled with vegetables that she had slammed down.
"Silas." Her voice lost the warmth it had held moments ago. "What is this?"
"Just a stray I managed to pick up. She got caught in one of the traps that Maude set up for us."
My eyes snapped to the back of Silas's head at the new piece of information. One he had conveniently left out when questioning me on how I ended up suspended from the trees.
"Why is she here?" The woman demanded, a hard frown pulling at her lips.
Silas released a tired sigh. "Where else was I going to take her?"
"Anywhere but here," the woman snapped. "You're inviting more trouble than we can handle by bringing a human home. Go," she ordered, pointing behind us toward the front door. "Don't come back until you've gotten rid of her."
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