Page 10 of Fae Tithe

They turned away from her, the captain shushing the tittering class as he took a long stride forward. Eleanor’s nervous mind, as usual, began to cycle through facts she knew. It was how she tried to gain control of situations that she was decidedly not in control of.

Humans are the dogsbodies. They can turn their hands to most practical trades. Eleanor recited to herself. Faeries have their specific magical talents. Fae though, exist to rule. It’s just the way things are.

She clenched her jaw. That doesn’t make it right.

After seeing how the handsome captain’s presence commanded the room, Eleanor realised that it was true: the Fae were born for authority.

“We, the Portson Guard, are here to carry out the decree of the Fae Lords of the Seelie Court. I am here to collect for the Tithe,” he announced with a velvet tenor.

You’re what?! Eleanor bristled inwardly. What kind of parent would want that for their kid?

“Oh! I am so sorry to have wasted your time,” Miss Taylor said, her false bravado obvious as her voice quivered. “None of my girls would be eligible. You must have the wrong classroom.”

The captain said nothing, but the Fae with blonde hair and pale pink skin flanked him and rounded on the young teacher. “Your own Headmistress sent us this way. Don’t pretend to know better than us, human,” he sneered. “We have one name.”

The captain nodded at his fellow guard and unrolled a strip of paper. “Eleanor Neycur,” he read aloud.

Eleanor trembled as ice-cold fear skittered up her spine. She bit her tongue to fight the squeak of terror trying to escape her lips. Don’t say anything. They don’t know it’s you.

That plan did not last long, as her classmates gave her away by turning to look at her in shock.

“No,” Eleanor said. She gripped the edge of the wooden desk with trembling fingers as she felt a pulse of panic through her limbs. “You’re wrong.”

The captain sniggered and raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. He gestured his head towards the teenage girl. “Get her,” he ordered.

Miss Taylor went to intercept the blonde Fae that had taken a long stride towards Eleanor. “Now, sir. Eleanor does not belong to human nobility, nor has her family given—”

She never finished her sentence. The Portson Guard reached out with one large hand and clasped the young teacher’s neck. He squeezed so hard that a sickening snap echoed through the silent classroom. Miss Taylor’s head slumped at an unnatural angle. For a beat, the class was so quiet that a pin could drop, and Eleanor would hear it.

A girl began to scream, and then another. The Fae released his broad hand and the young teacher’s body dropped to the wooden floor. A sharp crack resonated when her head contacted it.

No. Blood screamed in Eleanor’s ears as she fixed her gaze to the crumpled body of her favourite teacher.

The cries of terror continued.

“SILENCE!” the captain yelled. He glared at Eleanor. “Coming now?”

Eleanor tore eyes away from Miss Taylor’s still form. Her heart hammered in her chest so fast she thought it might burst. She pushed herself to her feet, shaking, the chair screeching over the wooden floor. She took a single step towards the sneering blonde Guard.

“El! Don’t!” Marina cried out.

The Portson Guard who had broken Miss Taylor’s neck rounded on Marina. He strode over to her desk, shoving aside the tables of the other terrified girls.

“What was that?” he growled. He unsheathed his blue hilted dagger and pointed it at Marina’s quivering throat. The teenage girl whimpered, and a stream of urine ran down her leg.

“How disgusting.” The Fae scoffed, shifting his polished boots away from the puddle forming on the floor.

“Don’t!” Eleanor shouted, her voice quivering. “Please…” She put another unsteady foot in front of the other, battling the fearful freeze in her legs. “…just, please, don’t hurt anyone else.”

In quiet panic, clenching her fists, she stood firm in front of the captain. She stared up his massive form before her eyes came to rest on his.

“I’m Eleanor Neycur.”

Aweek or so after Helena had travelled to and from Portson to deliver Eleanor to her boarding school, she finally deemed it warm enough to brave the sea. It had been a long, stormy winter, and she was concerned at the state of the oysters attached to the rocky reef just beyond the shore.

Helena had been working up the courage to brave the steep stone steps carved into the cliff. “I am heading down,” she announced to Rose as she entered the kitchen.

She heard his song again last night. Goosebumps had prickled her skin as the deep notes had thrummed through her, coiling excitement in her belly. He was so close, she knew it.