A Court of Bastards [ACOTAR]

Chapter 28

The village was blanketed in a thick layer of fog when they arrived. There was perhaps an hour before dusk descended on the Autumn Court, but the shadows were already lengthening, creeping up on the townspeople as they scurried home from work. 

Fiona drew her cloak tighter around her person, following Scilla's lead down a narrow dirt road. The houses thinned out as they approached the peaty ground by the edge of town, until the only structures to be seen were a cluster of homes set on rotting wooden boughs. The two fae came to a halt before a familiar wooden shack, stopping on the doorstep.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come in with you?" Scilla's red eyes were round with concern, but Fiona shook her head. "I'd rather do this alone."

Scilla's parting smile was a comfort in the growing darkness as Fiona took a shaky breath and knocked twice on the door. The scraping of a chair sounded from behind the thin walls as someone called, "Who is it?" 

Fiona was still deciding how best to answer when the door swung open to reveal a blonde girl with a swollen stomach. The mother of Maddock's next bastard.

The girl's eyes dropped immediately to the oak leaf brooch that pinned Fiona's cloak. "I..I've already spoken to the High Lord's men," she stammered. "They came by just last week-"

"I'm not here on behalf of Eris," Fiona assured her, lowering her hood. The maid's eyes widened as she took in the red hair and narrow nose of the fae before her. Her grip tightened on the door.

"Please," Fiona spoke softly. "May I come in? Only for a minute."

A clamour down the street made both the fae flinch. The girl took a peak either side of the door before gesturing Fiona inside. The shack's interior was much the same as in Bethan's home; simple and sparse, a wood fire crackling on one side, a collection of tattered blankets thrown across chairs that sat low to the scuffed floorboards.

Fiona took a seat on a stool as the girl lifted a whistling kettle from its place beside the fire. "You live alone?" she asked.

Her host hesitated, as though unsure whether the lie was worth forging. Fiona glanced pointedly at a the wrought iron frame of a single bed tucked away in the corner, and moment later the girl nodded begrudgingly. 

"Would you like some tea?"

"No, thank you," Fiona smiled, trying to catch her eye as she bustled about the room, busying herself with the kettle and a set of chipped crockery in the corner.

"May I ask your name, milady?" Her focus was fixed determinedly on the act of pouring tea, as though it required every ounce of concentration she had.

"I'm no lady. And I'm afraid I can't give you my name." Fiona answered, shifting uncomfortably on the stool. "I'm here to make you an offer, if you'd be willing."

The girl sighed, clutching at her stomach as she eased into a chair. "I already told you - the knights from the Forest House came last week. I took the sum, I agreed-"

"Not that kind of an offer," Fiona cut in. "My offer will let you keep your child."

The blonde girl stilled. She seemed tense and kept one hand on her bump, as though keen to put something in between her unborn child and the fae in front of her.

"I would like to offer you passage out of the Autumn Court - for you and your child. I'll provide you funds, enough to get set up and stable, and far enough out of Eris' influence that none of his guards could reach you."

"What funds?"

Fiona reached behind her cloak and untied the sack fixed to her belt buckle. She reached beneath the loaves of bread she'd baked earlier, her fingers brushing the smooth bend of polished gold and silver. As she pulled the jewellery from the sack her host let out a small gasp, her brown eyes fixated on the glow of the rubies and emeralds in the light of the fire. Despite her awe, the girl forced her eyes back on Fiona, narrowing them to slits.