The morning traps had not gone as well as she’d hoped. Namely, there were so many feybeasts in the area, some had snacked on those in two of the five traps she’d set up. In another, one of the trapped feybeasts ate all of the others, evolving as it did into a porcupine-like creature that shot quills from its back.

  Needless to say, she’d had to bandage her arms, cursing the lord and whoever were his current hunters as she did.

  Still, she managed to salvage two of the five traps, though the other three would need full replacements. Maybe she could procure some parts from the castle town if there were vendors who wouldn’t give her shit. She could make all the parts herself if necessary, but it was tedious, time consuming, and would cost her all of her energy for several days.

  Squirt stuck to Tobias’s shadow like glue as they reentered the castle. So far, he’d still not shown any hostility towards her, which was better than some of the other members of the Guard or fey working for the lord. While she didn’t trust him per say, she figured her odds were better at his side than not. If anything, he’d been oddly concerned about the injuries she’d sustained, though at her scowl he had backed off finally.

  Still, the fact that she was able to scowl spoke to the quality of his goodness.

  Her eyes darted around the halls, looking for any sign of the other trainees who might hold a grudge against her. All she saw were servants, some of the guards, and then some of the ennobled who didn’t even spare them a glance. When Tobias stopped on the side of the hall and bowed to let them pass, she put herself just behind him, keeping him between her and the ennobled and out of their sight. She’d much rather have used the servants’ stairs to avoid them entirely, but then that had close quarters, making it more difficult to hide from others as she passed.

  Eventually, they got to a large oak door in a quieter part of the castle, in the wing that was his lordship’s residence. Rather than knocking as was proper, the color drained from her face when Tobias just opened it and stepped right into the large, opulent office.

  It was technically not as opulent as anything in the Capital, naturally, leading to a more rustic, natural feel to the display of wealth rather than overdone decadence. The large desk was well crafted sturdy oak with hand done artistic patterns carved into it. The detail work was painted in a bright yellow-green, while the desk itself was a darker forest green, with special accents in indigo and yellow of blooming flowers. The chairs matched the color schemes, no less opulent, but not as bright and garish as some nobles preferred. The built-in shelves continued the colors, decorated in carved leaves so delicate they were almost real.

  Whoever the lord had hired to craft his furniture, as newly minted lords tended to do, they were highly talented.

  The lord sat behind the desk, a few of his advisors and knights standing behind him, as a few of the trainees stood at attention on the carpet before the desk. There were no chairs for them to sit at, but there was a table set up in the center of the room in front of the desk, currently empty of anything on top of it, and two sofas facing each other between which the trainees stood.

  She caught a glimpse of the top of the lord’s tightly curled blue hair and a furrow to his brows as he wrote something on a page before she dropped her gaze to her feet.

  Tobias, as casual as ever, simply sauntered forward, his hands in his pockets, grinning at the lord whose brows furrowed further.

  Squirt swallowed, standing by the entrance warily as a couple of the other trainees glanced over their shoulders at her, noting that both Jul and Zakam were in attendance. If she tried hard enough, surely, she could just melt into the shadow here and be entirely forgotten by these people—

  The lord glanced up, though naturally, she didn’t notice it. “Tobias,” the lord said in a deep voice that somehow commanded immediate respect, “how did the hunt go?”

  Squirt’s eyebrow twitched, wanting to know how she could pitch her voice to automatically garner respect like that.

  Tobias breezily chuckled, turning towards her based on the positioning of his feet and beckoning her forward. “See for yourself. Come put what you gathered on the table for the nice lords and ladies to look over and tell us all about them.”

  Aghast, Squirt hesitated. Yes, she had known she was being tested, but what hadn’t crossed her mind was having to present the materials gathered herself.

  After all, normally hunters only brought feystones. The rest of it? Well, Stalf had thought she was raving mad when she first brought all these extra materials home with her.

  Damnit, she should have left it all behind, should have just collected the feystones and let the rest go to waste or kept it for herself—

  Not that she could have, anyway.

  “Come on, little bird, don’t be shy,” said the wolf entirely too teasingly.

  She mentally added Tobias to the list of people she wanted to strangle in their sleep, putting him right at the top. Outwardly, she bowed, unable to reject the command as she warily made her way forward, keeping her eyes down to not risk offending the greater fey with her gaze.

  Keeping her movements careful while being prompt enough to not irritate them, she laid out her bundle of items on the table and rolled out the fur she had finished drying before bed last night with another one of her homemade tools. Tobias had insisted that she keep every feystone gathered separate from her own stash for this demonstration and had handed her a bag to use. She dumped them out now, less careful with them than some of the other materials she had gathered. The quills, a couple more flamesacs, a paralyzing venom gland, a bundle of silver feathers, and a handful of translucent scales.

  As she set the last piece on the table, the lord abruptly stood from the desk, the advisors murmuring and whispering amongst themselves. Just as abruptly, she dropped to her knees, her hands on the floor and her head bent low. She caught a few of the words, enough to know that at least one of the advisors was convinced she had somehow cheated, and the others were baffled by the very concept of her bringing back anything that wasn’t just a handful of feystones. Like most, they had never considered trying to harvest from the feybeasts they felled.

  Then all the voices fell silent, ominous clunking footsteps circling around the desk. “Tobias, you can confirm that all of these materials were gathered since you left the clearing yesterday?”

  “I can, my lord.”

  “Hm.” The footsteps stopped on the opposite side of the table from her, and she risked glancing at his boots. They were more worn than she expected—polished, yes, but with enough wear and tear on them that it was clear they were not just for show, a detail she hadn’t noticed before when she was distracted by the sheer quality. Something unexpected for a titled fey.

  “How many?”

  Tobias listed off every feybeast she had killed, his voice practically sparkling with excitement. He finished and said, “I can confirm that she did it all on her own, with limited supplies. I even offered to help her with the quillbeast and she refused—which is why her arms are bandaged.”

  “Hm. And your assessment of her?”

  “It was incredible, my lord. Not just the skills in hunting or tracking, but the breadth and depth of knowledge. Did you know you can offer jewelbirds feystones with a couple drops of blood on them in return for a night of protection?”

  Gods damnit, she never should have trusted the fucker.

  Genuine surprise sounded in the lord’s voice. “Truly?”

  “Truly. I’ve never met anyone nearly as knowledgeable on feybeasts. If you send her back to her home village, you’re the biggest idiot I’ve ever met.”

  She almost choked. Instead, she kept her wide eyes on the floor, praying the man hadn’t just signed her death warrant, only the loudmouth continued.

  “That hide that’s there, she cleaned it and treated it herself in just a few hours using tools I’ve never seen before. She managed to cook soup without starting a fire using some enchanted block of metal—that alone would be worth her weight in suns for long journeys for the soldiers.”

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  Suns. Suns. Gods, when had she last seen a sun piece?

  Currency was relatively simple. The closer to the fey, the cheaper the currency. Earth, moon, sun, star. She’d never earned a full moon piece, let alone a gods damned sun.

  Did he want her to die? Seriously? A greenling with her weight in suns?

  Maybe if she crawled forward, she could hide under the table.

  Another voice cut in, clearly exasperated, “My lord, you can’t be seriously considering a greenling. Hunters are unnecessary wastes of resources to begin with, but this is a disgrace to the Everwinter name.”

  Now she was trembling in rage instead of fear, her temper flaring.

  “We haven’t needed any hunters at the castle in the last decade, why waste all of our time—”

  The man suddenly fell silent. “Sir Calst,” came the quiet, calm voice of the lord, “there is good reason why her highness removed the previous Lord Everwinter. You would do well to remember that.”

  The threat hung heavily in the air.

  “Little one, stand. I wish to know about these materials you have brought us.”

  Squirt hesitated just long enough to confirm that the man was, in fact, asking for her to stand and speak, and schooled her face as best as she could before rising. Keeping her eyes down in deference to those present, she wiped her sweaty palms on her pants, keeping her tone as level and clear as possible. The sooner she could explain, the sooner they could dismiss her.

  Bowing politely, she intoned, “As you wish, my lord.” She pointed to the scales, her voice still wavering a little despite her best efforts. “These are scales from a glasslizard. You can use them to make protective eyewear that is resistant to magic.” She moved her hand to point to the next item, only the lord spoke before she could.

  “Explain this resistance. What uses could it provide?”

  She bit her tongue before she responded carefully, “They aren’t powerful resistances, my lord. It is enough to keep most low-grade airborne irritants out of the eyes, such as a creature with poison breath. The user can see through minor illusions, and it is useful for things such as blazing ants.”

  “Blazing ants?” he asked, a note of genuine curiosity in his voice that made Squirt’s tone flatten further. Did the man know nothing of his own territory?

  “Blazing ants, my lord, are a common pest in the surrounding areas.” She paused. “The red smoke from the dungeon ruins yesterday is made from blazing ants. They don’t burst into flame, simply release an airborne toxin that makes it feel like the skin is on fire.”

  One of the knights scoffed. “That powder was easy to neutralize. One simple cleansing spell was all it took, and I highly doubt a seasoned soldier would be nearly as affected as the ragtag group of guard trainees assembled from this backwater province.”

  Her tongue was going to be covered in bite marks at this rate.

  Another said, “Sure, but combine that with the ability to see through minor illusions?”

  “We don’t know that for certain, she could be lying to gain favor—”

  Annoyance crossed her face as much as she tried to tamp it down, her tongue running out of space for bruises. On impulse, she reached into her pouch to pull out her own set of goggles, handing them with two hands to Lord Everwinter. “These were made with the scales, my lord.”

  He took them gingerly, studying them under the light before he murmured, “Enchanted?”

  “Yes, my lord.”

  “By who?”

  Shit.

  Why did he have to ask? Shouldn’t he just take it for granted and tell her to procure more?

  She swallowed. She’d hesitated too long to answer. Any longer, and the annoyed ennobled would hold a grudge that she wouldn’t be able to easily disappear from. Bracing herself, it still took her an extra second for her voice to even work, her mouth opening and freezing in place until she was able to force the words out. “… I made them, my lord.”

  A deafening silence filled the room for one heartbeat. Then two. Then, several in the room broke out into laughter that made the blood drain from her face. It was a sound she’d heard many times in her life—the laughter of fey willing to be cruel.

  “Gods, my lord, where does she come up with this stuff—”

  “—picked up a performer—”

  “—planned this, didn’t you—”

  “—a greenling, able to cast enchantments, how absurd—”

  The lord did not growl, as shifters often did. He did not bark or yell. He simply said, “Quiet,” and the laughing lords and ladies fell silent.

  Despite Squirt’s most valiant efforts, she was trembling in terror, waiting for the words he’d say, the command he’d give, whatever she might face—

  “You are all dismissed. Leave us.”

  Before Squirt could race from the room, Tobias clapped his hand on her shoulder, making her freeze in place. A stunned moment of silence followed the lord’s announcement before the perplexed lords, ladies, and trainees traipsed out of the room. The sound of the door closing snapped Squirt out of her stunned terror as she dropped to her knees in the lowest bow she possibly could, her forehead pressed into the ground and her hands at right angles from her shoulders.

  There was a sigh, followed by heavy footsteps as the lord moved around the table while Tobias took a respectful step back. She moved with the lord, following as she turned herself to always face him. If he attacked, she could roll under the table and make a break for the window—

  The sound of shifting cloth was followed by the lord sitting cross legged in front of her. “Easy, little one. You do not need to fear me. I have never in my life enjoyed cruelty, and that will not change today.”

  Tobias kneeled at his side facing her as well, his voice lighthearted and gentle. “I can attest to that. You know, my sister is a null.”

  For the first time since the laughter, the panic in Squirt’s brain paused its spiral.

  “She never got an animal. And you know what? She’s happily mated and a beloved member of the community. She’s a popular writer, actually, though that isn’t as well known. Wolves don’t kick out weaker members, they care for them.”

  Not in Squirt’s experience. She almost scoffed at the sheer idealism.

  “Plus, she makes the best pumpkin pie you’ve ever eaten in your life.”

  Did the man never shut up?

  The lord sighed again. “Tobias, fetch Kenna for me, would you? Lowvyn?”

  Tobias stood with a happy, “Sure thing, my lord,” that sounded weirdly sarcastic and teasing, while the lord’s main attendant placed a plate of tea and snacks on the floor between the lord and Squirt. The smell wafted over to her as the door opened and shut.

  The lord spoke again, “When you’re ready, there is a cup waiting for you.”

  There. There was the entitled attitude she was used to. Despite her trembling, the lower rank was supposed to serve, meaning he would wait until she served him. Having already risked more than enough in the last day, she forced herself to shift in her seat. Through sheer force of will she straightened high enough to put her eyes on the shining silver tray and grab the teapot to serve him—

  Only for him to grab it first and pour the cup opposite him before serving himself.

  That single, small action broke her. She simply stared at the cup in a daze as he then quietly sipped on his own. This had to be a trick. Everything she’d tested with Tobias to slowly figure out his leanings, this man communicated in a single action. A single deliberate action. Using the ancient ways to lower himself beneath her, humbling himself to a gods damned greenling to treat her as an honored guest, and subsequently declaring himself against those codes to the point of seeing her as a full equal.

  He was a gods damned lord. The Lord Everwinter.

  What the fuck was he thinking?

  Several minutes passed before he pushed forward some of the snacks—diced fruits and baked confections rare in the Outskirts—and said, “And you are welcome to these, too.”

  It snapped her out of her daze, but she didn’t dare risk glancing up into his eyes. It could be a trick. Sometimes the cruelest fey were those who specifically dared their victim to push the boundaries of social convention just to call them out on it.

  Instead, swallowing thickly, she twisted somewhat in her seat to where the attendant’s nook was in the office, hoping to get a clue from her. The sweet-faced elf woman smiled at her warmly, which didn’t exactly help. If it were a trick, she likely would be in on it, making the warmth she showed a lie.

  Turning her face down to the floor, she scowled. There was one quick test she could do to see if this guy was genuine or not. Only problem was, if he wasn’t, she’d be dead.

  Self-preservation warred against anger. Anger that he had singled her out, anger that she was here, anger that she was trapped by these gods damned rules, rules that she hadn’t needed for twenty gods damned years. After almost a century of living in constant fear, the last twenty had been a blessing. Now, after having only been in the castle a month, she was exhausted. Last night had been the first night in weeks she had slept well, not needing the security of sleeping with a knife under her pillow.

  She didn’t want to go back to that life of terror.

  Wasn’t that the whole reason she even joined the Guard?

  What… what if things could be… different?

  Fear was replaced by acceptance as she steeled herself, solidifying her resolve. If this was what got her killed, then so be it. Better to get it over with than lay here stuck in terror for a minute longer. Take a risk now, because if a man like that was actually willing to listen to her, it could change so much.

  For everyone. Closing her eyes briefly, she remembered every tragedy her village had endured since the previous lord stopped enforcing the wards.

  For them. For all of them.

  All as one.

  Taking a breath in, she sat up, her back straight, and glared a challenge directly at the lord. No hiding. No barriers. No propriety.

  He blinked in surprise, and she almost did as well. He was younger than she had initially thought, for one. His well-kept beard was the same blue as his hair, standing out against his dark skin and lacking even a hint of gray. For another, he had two different colored eyes—one a dark brown, the other a bright blue.

  Meaning he had equal strength shifter and nature magic.

  She hated him immensely.

  He merely took another sip of tea, studying her as she studied him. His shoulders remained relaxed, his posture casual and unassuming. More strangeness. Just meeting his gaze could be considered the height of rudeness, let alone the glare she was leveling at him. Yet, he seemed entirely unconcerned about her meeting his gaze as an equal despite the disparity between them.

  Suspicious of his intentions and seemingly endless patience, she turned to look back at the attendant again, only the woman still had that annoyingly warm smile on her face.

  Since she wasn’t dead yet, and before either of them could rescind the offer, she grabbed as many of the sweets as she could and stuffed them in a handkerchief before shoving that into her pouch.

  The lord chuckled, clearly amused and not offended by the action. Flicking her eyes back to the attendant, she had her hand covering her mouth, clearly giggling to herself and hiding it politely.

  The tension in Squirt’s shoulders drained immediately, though she kept her guard up. Shifting slightly to put them both in better view and angle herself a touch closer to the window, she slowly picked up the tea, studying it intently. It looked and smelled like normal tea. No residual powder at the bottom of something nefarious, no film on the top…

  It was almost as if they were being nice, and a shudder of horror made its way through Squirt’s body. Gods. The audacity.

  Fucking titled fey.