The sun was already setting when Kirin stormed into the command tent in the Fae camp.
"You petty piece of crooked pottery!"
Valerien sat up on the bed and raised an eyebrow. His lips twitched in suppressed amusement, which fuelled Kirin's anger even more.
"You left me in charge of Fae prisoners and seven miners out for their blood, you insane demon bastard!"
Valerien shrugged. "Judging by all the noise outside, most of them are very much alive. So what are you complaining about?"
"You left me there alone to punish me because I said those things to you!" Kirin exploded.
All amusement vanished from Valerien's face as he shot up from the bed.
"Punish you? I am neither your master nor your mad warlock!"
Kirin flinched. It was so unusual for Valerien to raise his voice that he only registered the words with some delay.
He let himself sink onto the bed and stared at his dusty boots, his anger fading into exhaustion.
"Why then?" he finally asked.
The bed creaked when Valerien sat next to him.
"I can't give them a choice and the kind of mercy you want, but maybe you can," he said.
The familiar scent and warmth of the strong body next to him disoriented Kirin. He longed to lean into it for comfort, but stuck his hands between his knees to stop himself from reaching for it.
"I've never been in charge of anything but a few goats. And I lost two of them," he admitted.
The demon's lips twitched again, but he just said calmly, "Tell me what happened."
"A girl plied me with mead and kisses in the hay while her brothers stole them."
A strangled sound made him look up. Valerien's eyes were bright with mirth, his body shaking with suppressed laughter.
"Not with the goats, Kirin. Where are Merran and Nira?"
Kirin blushed and rubbed his burning eyes. "Oh. I put them in one of the small tents. Rhys is guarding them."
"They won't run."
"That is not what I'm worried about. It is for their own protection. Some of the miners are still suspicious. Not just of them, but of me, too."
"They don't trust you, even though you freed them?" Valerien asked, but there was no surprise in his voice.
"Most people don't trust witches. But I can't send them home tonight. They would break their necks descending this mountain in the dark," Kirin explained.
Valerien nodded and lay back down on the bed with his hands behind his back.
"You did well."
The praise meant more than Kirin cared to admit, but he was still tempted to punch the smug bastard.
Instead, he just shoved him. "Make some room. I want to lie down, too. I've never been so tired in my whole life."
"How is that my fault? If you had listened to me, we would have stayed on that nice warm clearing instead of climbing mountains," Valerien retorted without moving an inch.
"Fine then. I'll go find another bed."
Valerien moved and folded his arms across his chest.
Kirin lay down and wrapped himself in his cloak against the cold mountain breeze coming through a large cut in the tent canvas. The whole place looked like a storm had swept through it, and there was a puddle where Lenora's body used to be.
He closed his eyes and tried not to think about it. It bothered him how easily he, too, had taken three lives today. And now he had to decide on the fate of even more people.
By law, he should hand over any dangerous magic users into the custody of the High Warlock. That surely included Fae soldiers. Yet he couldn't bring himself to do that after he had seen the disfigured, tortured prisoners at the fort in Caernarfon.
Opening his eyes again, he rolled onto his side to face Valerien.
"Can you just smuggle them back home without telling your Queen?" he asked.
Valerien chuckled. "I'm flattered by your faith in my less honourable skills, but even I can't smuggle three rebels past the regiments waiting on the other side of the Veil."
"I think you mean criminal skills. And it's only two of them."
"This is your rescue mission. I'm just assisting. Every prisoner made is yours. Including Gerant," Valerien informed him.
Kirin sighed in resignation and showed him a rude gesture. "Does that make me your commander then?"
"A commander never asks if he is in command."
Kirin huffed. "He only expects everyone to follow him into a disaster. Those soldiers had no idea what was happening when they crossed the Veil."
"That is why they are granted a quick death."
"The famous mercy of the Fae," Kirin muttered.
"It is still better than a Blood Ban," Valerien said with a shrug.
"Let me guess – that is the extinction of the traitor's whole bloodline," Kirin said dryly.
"That kind of thinking almost qualifies you to be a Fae King," Valerien replied with a mirthless smile. "But the Blood Ban has nothing to do with bloodlines."
Kirin grimaced at him. "Do I even want to know what it is?"
"Probably not."
"Tell me anyway."
Valerien sighed, rolled onto his side, and propped himself up on an elbow.
"High Fae convicted of treason are tortured to death. Their souls are banned from returning to the Source," he explained.
It sounded like some symbolic gesture, but Kirin glanced at the mead jug on the table. He had seen Valerien release Lenora's soul from it before they went to the mine, but it was still strange to him that one could trap a soul at all.
"And your queen just keeps them in a box somewhere?" he asked.
For the first time since Kirin knew him, Valerien looked uncomfortable.
"Of course not. Their blood is used to bind them to the plane of the living. That is why it's called the Blood Ban."
Kirin swallowed nervously. "Have you ever done that to someone?"
"I gave you my word that you have nothing to fear from me, Kirin. But if it makes you feel better, I couldn't do that even if I wanted to. Only a Royal Fae can perform a Blood Ban," Valerien said, a tinge of reproach in his voice.
"But your mother was a princess," Kirin said suspiciously.
"That does not matter. Only a reigning monarch can create a Royal Fae by binding all four elements."
Kirin pondered that and asked, "So you can't become king?"
Valerien snorted. "Thankfully, no. Being a monarch usually just means that you have to spend centuries listening to the council arguing about taxes."
"Yes, I am sure that is much worse than torturing your subjects and stealing their souls," Kirin muttered.
Valerien remained silent for a moment, then asked, "Is that so different from your High Warlock who tortured them with iron and crammed their souls into a pickle jar?"
Kirin looked away guiltily. "You know about that?"
"I do now. I suspected he might have done it, but I couldn't find them."
"I… I will ask him to free them," Kirin said, even though he doubted that request would be granted.
Valerien shook his head. "I will deal with it."
"You will go back to Caernarfon?" Kirin asked incredulously.
"I gave your warlock my word I would answer his questions if he healed Elinor, so I have to go back to him."
Kirin frowned. That sounded like a horrible idea to him, but all he asked was, "When?"
"After Midsummer."
"But Midsummer is in ten days."
Valerien lowered his eyes and his whole body tensed.
"I know. But my task will be finished by then, one way or the other," he finally said.
"One way or the other?" Kirin repeated.
Valerien just rolled onto his back again and stared at the canvas ceiling.
When no answer came, Kirin turned to the other side and listened to the wind outside. It tore at the hole in the canvas. He had to close it with something before it opened further.
Exhausted, he sat up and tried to rise from the bed when Valerien's fingers gently closed around his wrist.
Kirin paused. With his heart beating in his throat, he said, "You keep telling me to trust you, but you never return the favour."
The fingers slid off his wrist. Kirin got up, picked a wet blanket from the ground and tied it to the tent ropes to cover the hole. Unwilling to return to bed, he sat down on the chair. It smelled faintly of mead but was quite comfortable. He had slept in worse places.
Valerien was watching him from the bed, tense like a lurking wildcat, but he just closed his eyes.
"If I don't give the Queen what she wants by Midsummer, she will declare my brother a traitor."
The words were flat and calm, but Kirin winced. He still didn't dare look at Valerien as he asked carefully, "And if you can't find your brother?"
"I still have to go back. She keeps my father hostage to make sure I return."
Kirin plucked up his courage and went back to the bed. He sat on the edge and said,
"Rhian said you are Seren's last living experiment."
Since Valerien looked more confused than shaken by the news, Kirin forced himself to ask, "Doesn't that mean your brother is dead?"
Valerien seemed to think about it for a moment, then shook his head.
"That is unlikely. Lioren was created in the Fae realm like any other High Fae."
Relieved by his reaction, Kirin lay back down and asked, "And you are considered an experiment because you are the only Fae created in the human realm?"
"Yes. My mother used Fae Fire and combined it with the Earth element of this realm. What else did Rhian say?" Valerien asked.
There was a strange, unguarded look in his eyes that made Kirin's heart skip a beat. It made Valerien appear so young and vulnerable again.
"Nothing I didn't already tell you. What do you think he meant?"
"I don't know."
Kirin wondered if it was the mountain breeze or something else that made him shiver. Hesitantly, he moved closer to the warm body. He was sure Valerien was too lost in thought to notice, but when Kirin's shoulder touched his arm, he raised it and drew him in.
Kirin nestled into the warmth and asked sleepily, "What is it then that your Queen wants in exchange for your family?"
"To make her daughter's death look like an accident."
Kirin's head shot up. Valerien winced and rubbed his chin.
"Your skull must be made of stone," he muttered.
"But she is her daughter! And your cousin!"
Valerien gave him one of those irritating blank looks as if to ask what that had to do with anything.
"You are a monster."
The words had burst out before Kirin could hold them back. He braced himself for anger or at least a raised eyebrow. What he got instead was an amused smile.
"How is that news to you?" Valerien asked.
Kirin opened his mouth, found he was at a loss for an answer and closed it again. With a sigh, he concluded that Valerien was right for once. It was not news to him.
With a resigned sigh, he cuddled up to his monster's chest again and fell asleep.