A Feytal Encounter

Chapter 7

Throughout the next week, Adanma made Bronwyn do more menial tasks.  Eventually, Andrea was convinced to cooperate, but she was a lot more flighty and irritated than Bronwyn.  Elton told Adanma that working with Andrea felt like working with a two year old who'd been given too much sugar and a set of knives.  Dealing with her kept him occupied, so he couldn't harass Adanma as much about letting Bronwyn do so much.  Andrea was still a force to be reckoned with, even with the poison in her body.  One the other hand, the more time Adanma spent with Bronwyn, the more she was convinced they weren't a threat.  One day she'd added more of the potion to their water, and Andrea had been a little bit woozy, but Bronwyn had been violently ill for 24 hours.  It seemed that they were more sensitive to potion, which could also explain why Bronwyn had passed out during the initial fight.  Neither wolf seemed aware that their food and water was polluted, they just seemed to think it was some natural Fey power that repulsed them. 

    On their end, Bronwyn was exhausted all the time.  Their body felt like it was breaking down and they couldn't even think about escape.  Even if they could, they wouldn't be able to get very far.  Andrea was a pain in the ass and they couldn't remember what had ever been attractive about her.  The most interesting thing they got to do was pull up weeds or collect firewood, supervised by Adanma.  They hadn't really touched since Bronwyn had tried to attack her.  Whenever they walked past other Fey, they could feel the glares, but somehow knew that none could get to them unless the princess allowed it.  It was both reassuring and demeaning.  The wolf inside seemed to pace inside their chest, trapped between their ribs like the cage they were locked in every night.  But when Adanma looked at them with those blue eyes...the wolf within...grinned?  Bronwyn was shaken out of their reverie by an acorn hitting their head.  Adanma was sitting in a tree above their head, swinging her legs and aiming another acorn.  She seemed to find it very amusing. 

    "Hey, dog," she called, an acorn smacking Bronwyn's shoulder.  They ignored it and continued stacking firewood. 

    "Dog!" She sounded irritated as another acorn hit the back of their neck.  A few more acorns glanced off Bronwyn before Adanma jumped out of the tree and shoved them against its trunk, trapping them with her arm across their neck.

    "If I say something to you, you respond."

Bronwyn glowered.  The princess smelled like pine and honeysuckle and it was very appetizing.  She pressed her arm a little harder into their throat.  The wolf's eyes flashed and Adanma realized how close they were; bodies touching and faces only inches apart. 

    "I owe you nothing.  No response, no respect, nothing."

    "You owe me your life."  There was a knife in her hand now, and she pressed the flat of it against Bronwyn's throat.  Why was this wolf so damn arrogant and rude and strong and attractive and why wouldn't they just give up?  Why could she feel warmth radiating off of them and why did she want to feel closer to it?

    "Every day you wake up again, know that it is at my discretion.  Your life belongs to me now, and every moment I let you have is a gift."

    Bronwyn's eyes narrowed and they chuckled, deftly knocking the knife out of the Fey's hand, tripping her with their foot hooked around the back of her leg, and turning the tables so the princess's back was forced against the tree by their body.  They grabbed her wrists to hold her in place while they closed their teeth around her throat.  Bronwyn could feel the Fey's breath falter and it sent a shiver down their spine.  They felt predatory and in control and they very much liked it.  After a moment, they released the princess's throat and licked the bruises that were already appearing.

"Someday," they whispered, nibbling the Fey's earlobe, "I am going to kill you."