The realization stunned me. How had I not realized that he was fey sooner?!

Casting my mind back, I sorted through my memories of the last couple of days. Slowly, it became clear that the reason I’d been so comfortable with Arden right off the bat was likely because he was so fey in nature.

Of course, he’d never outright lied, because he couldn't, but he’d done a very good job of leading us all to believe that he was human without rousing any of our suspicions. He’d implied he was just a human with some experience with fey when he’d told us he’d lived among fey before. Of course he’d lived among fey, he was fey! I’d been so impressed with the young human man who didn’t bat an eyelash at a mermaid…Gods, how stupid of me! Then he’d been so pleasant and flattering!

I tried to think of all the other things he’d led me, and indeed everyone, to believe with just implications or through omitting certain information. But I found that I was so overwhelmed with what had just happened that I couldn't think straight at that moment.

Who was he?! Who was he that he could suppress the runes that kept us beholden to Bellows’ will? It was a strange, powerful magic, as was being able to suppress your own magic so completely that you felt human even to other fey folk. I’d never heard of that before.

I was so absorbed in my own confused thoughts that I didn’t notice that we had reached the eaves of the forest until Rowan gave a sigh of relief. “We made it!”

“Keep going. The binding runes aren’t far enough away to malfunction yet.” Arden grunted, still pouring his strange, powerful magic into the restraints.

I did understand why he’d hidden that he was fey, even from us. Had Bellows caught any hint that such a fey man, especially one as strong as Arden seemed, had been hiding amongst his captives, he’d have stopped at nothing to try to catch him. Bellows was pretty strong, and fought very, very dirty.

That said, if Arden had hidden that he was fey so very effectively, what else was he hiding? I watched him warily as he used magic. Sure, it was decent of him to be getting us out of there. Altogether decent. But did he have ulterior motives? Was his seemingly kind-hearted nature just an act as well? How could I trust anything that he’d said or done up until now?

Rowan managed to keep a swift pace as we made our way, somewhat awkwardly, through the forest. The sounds of the battle going on back at the circus camp slowly began to die away, replaced with the quiet rustling of leaves and the other noises of a forest at night.

But we pushed on, striking out in a seemingly random direction. If we could make it far enough away before we were missed, maybe we could get our bearings and try to get somewhere we’d be safe from Bellows, wherever that may be. Perhaps across several oceans. Because he would not take kindly to having two of his ‘possessions’ stolen from him.

I had been a main attraction for his little circus, and losing me would be a sore blow to his ego, and his pocketbook.

Finally, after what felt like hours, Arden stopped, effectively halting Rowan as well. “We’re far enough away now, the runes that bind you to Bellows’ will are malfunctioning.” he announced as his magic waned.

True to his word, the runes didn’t immediately shock us or send us flying through the air, back towards the camp.

“Well, that’s good!” Rowan sighed.

Despite feeling some relief at being apparently free from Bellows’ will, I studied Arden warily. “Who are you?” I asked softly.

“My name is Arden.” he told me, taking several steps back.

In one swift movement he removed the necklace with its rune-marked pendant. The change was so drastic that I gasped in surprise. Though he had no wings, claws, tails, scales, or any animal-like fey features, from what I could tell, his hair was now a pristine white, and his eyes glowed gold in the night.

Definitely fey.

“What are you, then?” I asked warily.

“Half-elvish.”

“Half-elvish half what else?” I demanded. Although I guess it really didn’t matter. I was just shaken from the realization that he wasn’t what I thought.

“Human.” he replied, dropping his golden eyes. “My mother was human.”

“Oh.”

“I’m able to hide my fey blood and magic behind my human blood. That’s why I felt human.”

“I…see. I think.” I muttered, frowning.

“That’s interesting.” Rowan commented, seeming impressed.

It was quiet for a few moments.

“Can you get these off of us, now?” I asked, meaning the metal band that I still bore. “Cause if Bellows manages to catch up to us, or something, it’ll make it harder for him to subdue us again if they’re off us. And I expect that if he gets too close again, we’ll go flying through the trees and back to him, which would make all of this a pointless effort.”

“So, the thing about that is I can’t.” Arden grimaced. “I could suppress the magic of the runes until they malfunctioned once they were far enough away from Bellows, since they’re way more temperamental and finicky in nature. The runes that prevent them from being broken for removal purposes are just runes of power, and are way more basic and straightforward, which means I can’t mess with them or suppress the intentions like I could the others. Maybe we can get them off later. I know some people who I think might be able to help.”

“And you’re taking us to them?” Rowan asked.

“Yes.”

“Who are they?” I demanded.

“My captain. I’m fey military.” Arden replied.

I blinked. “Military?”

“I’m in a special squad that answers directly to the king.” the white-haired half-fey man sighed, shrugging a little. “I was sent on an undercover mission to deal with a human gang who have been causing trouble with some allies to the fey throne in the east.”

Rowan studied Arden thoughtfully. “You’re a spy?”

“Among other things Sometimes I’m an assassin.” Arden’s golden eyes blinked, and then he grimaced. “Gods, I’m not trying to scare you, just so you know. That’s just…the best word for it. And I’d rather not hide anything else from you two, now that you know I’m not human.”

I could only stare at him, feeling confused, angry, and really kind of stupid for not having realized he wasn’t human.

It was quiet for a few moments.

“I’m…sorry I hid it from you, for what it's worth. I’m not really supposed to break cover, and it seemed wisest not to tell anyone, given the circumstances. Getting caught by Bellows would have been an incredibly difficult situation to deal with, I think. I don’t expect any of you all would have told Bellows or Meeks or anything on purpose, either, but accidents can happen. Someone might have overheard a discussion, or something might have slipped out just in passing.” He looked down and kicked the ground, seeming upset. “I made up my mind to travel with the circus because yes, it would help me hide my presence from the people looking for me, since their dogs had my scent, but also because the more time I spent with you all, the more time I had to figure out how I could best help you all.”

“I totally understand.” Rowan said, looking around. “And we can absolutely keep talking about this, but we should probably move on, shouldn’t we?”

“Yes. It’s better we don’t linger. I’m sure Bellows’ isn’t the kind to take you escaping very lightly.” the half-fey man sighed.

“No, he isn’t.” I sighed.

Arden looked up at the sky. I almost commented that what he was doing, staring up at the stars, was definitely not the same as starting to walk, but then it struck me that he was using those stars to figure out what direction we needed to go in.

Finally, he spoke, “We need to head farther north. That’s this way.” Arden motioned for us to follow him. “Come on. Are you good to carry Marrina for a while, Rowan? I can take over when you get tired.”

“Yes. I can go for a while yet.” Rowan nodded, then grinned, “I’m free! I could fly!”

“Well, you have a horse’s ass, not wings, Rowan.” I snapped, irritated with the situation. He was all happy and light-hearted at being free, but I was humiliated, angry, and confused. Arden snorted, which only made me angrier. “Don’t you laugh at me!” I snarled, “I’ve made enough of a fool of myself because of you. I can’t believe I trusted you!”

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Arden shot a worried, sad glance over his shoulder, but kept walking. “I’m sorry, it wasn’t what I-”

But I cut him off, not wanting to hear anymore excuses, tears welling in my eyes as I practically shouted at him, “Gods, you made me look like an idiot!”

“That wasn’t my intention, Marri.” his voice was quiet. “Other than letting you all think I was human, I wasn’t acting. I’m not much of an actor, in all honesty.”

“Well, I wouldn't know, would I?” I snapped, looking away from him.

“I’m sorry, Marri.” he murmured.

I shook my head, but otherwise ignored him.

-

Marrina stared stubbornly out at the forest, refusing to look at the newly revealed half-elf.

Arden met Rowan’s sympathetic gaze. The centaur smiled a little sadly at him, which gave him some hope. Rowan was something of a father figure to the young mermaid, and if he felt positively towards him, then the half-fey soldier felt fairly certain that the mermaid would come around eventually too.

“I’ve got a question.” Rowan asked after a little while of walking in silence.

“Go ahead.”

“Why the disguise pendant? A spell would work just as well, and someone might see the necklace.”

“Other than suppressing my magic, I’m not otherwise very good at illusion magic. Having a pendant with a disguise rune was easier than me having to go ask someone to cast a disguise spell every time.” Arden shrugged. “It lets me operate a little more independently.”

“I see.” Rowan nodded. “And you’re taking us to your captain?”

“Yes. He lives not too far away from here, though it’ll take us several days of travel, I think, especially since we have to cut through the forest instead of following the road. I was going to wait until we were closer before leaving the circus to make for his home, but I saw how severely Marri had been whipped and couldn't stand it anymore. I’d have just killed Bellows outright, I’ve no problem with that and my captain wouldn't have blamed me either.” He gave a wry half smile, “But the binding runes are made to bind you to the will of anyone Bellows had given authority over you, and I have no idea how many people that was. Nor could I ask to try to figure out who all that might be, lest I reveal my identity sooner than I’d planned, and risk getting caught myself.”

“Ah, I see.” Rowan said thoughtfully. “I expect most of the employees in camp had some authority or other over us. I’m sure you had some, but I don’t know if the order of one person could have overridden the order of any others.”

“Exactly. I’d have had to kill too many people. Bellows and maybe Meeks would be one thing, but all the employees would have been…a bit much, even me. It would have drawn too much attention.” Arden sighed. “This was all I could think of in such a short time.” Frankly, he hadn’t wanted to shed so much blood, either. Despite it being a part of his job, occasionally, he didn’t actually enjoy it.

“It worked surprisingly well. I’m surprised it worked at all.” Rowan snorted.

Arden shook his head, “I’ve practiced suppressing my own magic, as well as the magic of others, and even runes. That’s the only reason I could do it, prior experience.”

They walked on for a while.

Rowan broke the relative silence. “You’re taking us to your captain you said, right?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think he’ll be able to get the bands off of us?”

“If not him, then maybe his wife.” Arden shrugged.

“Is she military as well?”

“No, she’s not even fey.” Arden grinned broadly, thinking of Winna’s stern expression as she’d told him to be careful on his mission. She hadn’t even had her baby yet and she was already fulfilling the mother-hen role for Lear’s underlings.

“Oh?” the centaur smiled a little.

“She’s a human mage. Her family bears a powerful blessing from a goddess. She even has a familiar given to her family by that same goddess.”

It was that very goddess that Arden had been praying desperately to as he’d been pushing his magic into the metal restraints while they’d been making their escape. He’d begged that they wouldn't be seen by anyone who’d try to stop them. So far she’d seemed inclined to answer his prayers, which he was grateful for. Marna seemed very kind the couple of times he’d met her, so he wanted to believe that was true. If she was even hearing him, and it hadn’t just been dumb luck.

“Oh wow, that’s unusual, isn’t it?” Rowan’s eyebrows shot up.

“Very.” he nodded. “Winna is quite the character. You two will like her, I think. You’ll like Lear, too, but Winna is just…very motherly. She’s actually super pregnant right now with her and Lear’s first kid.”

“That’s great.” Rowan murmured, his tone sad.

Arden grimaced. “Sorry, you have a family somewhere, don’t you? I’m being insensitive.”

The centaur sighed and shook his head, “No, don't worry about it. I’m free, so now I can actually go find them! Gods, I bet my kids are so big now! Maybe even all grown up…”

“I want to try to get those bands off you all first, if that’s okay, but then by all means, you can go on your merry way. There’ll be no reason for you to stick around. I’ll even see if there’s anything we’d be able to do to help you. Lear has powerful connections back in the feylands, given his position so near to the king. He even has family connections to royalty, if I remember correctly. And Winna could possibly get in touch with her goddess about it, although there’s no guarantee the goddess will know.”

“She has a direct line to a goddess?” Marri broke in, apparently too surprised to keep up her feigned disinterest in the conversation any longer.

“If she wants it, yes. She tries not to abuse the privilege, though.” Arden shrugged.

“How does that work? I’ve never seen anyone communicate directly with a deity before.” Rowan’s tone was thoughtful.

“She goes to the temple and is like ‘eyooo, can we talk?” Arden snorted, smiling a little. “And that’s a direct quote.”

“She does sound like quite the character.” Marri muttered.

“She is, but so is Lear. The most philandering person I think I’ve ever met, then he met Winna and fell hard. We were really surprised when he came back a little late from a mission and announced that he had completed the mission, but also got married.”

The centaur laughed, “I’m sure!”

“Your captain, is he…an assassin sometimes too?” Marrina’s voice was quiet.

“Yes. It’s just an aspect of our job. I’ve also fought pirates, escorted royalty around, and…ended rebellions, among other things, of course.” He replied. The last one was a bit close to home.

It had been his own father who’d been leading that rebellion, and they’d raided his manor, Arden’s childhood home.

That manor had been where his mother had been imprisoned for most of her life, as an enchanted member of his father’s harem, which was just a nice way of saying she was a sex slave, kept subdued to his father’s will by magic, much the way Marri and Rowan were subdued to Bellows’ will with the bands they still wore.

As much as Arden had wanted to just kill the filth that had fathered him and be done with it, he’d let justice take its course instead. His birth father was now rotting in the depths of the fey palace, never to see the light of day again, thanks to his inclination for treason.

Gods, that had been satisfying. His mother and father’s roles had been reversed. The enslaved freed and her enslaver in captivity, though a just one, given he’d had a trial and everything.

The elf who’d sired him had never dreamed that the unwanted half-human son he’d never had any time for, who he’d always treated like a piece of trash, would be the one who locked him away forever.

Instead, he’d always just assumed his son would never amount to anything, and had ignored his progress in life until he realized he recognized the face of the soldier who was slamming him bodily to the ground while his manor was being torn apart by soldiers. It resembled his own face enough that he ought to.

Lear had given Arden the honor of leading that raid, and of breaking the enchantment that had kept his mother enslaved as well. But it had hurt so deeply when the horror of everything she’d been through was finally allowed to crash down onto her. She was far older than she looked, kept young by the spell on her. It was a curse, really.

So many years had passed since then, and his mother had since been able to age properly, then go on to her eternal rest, but it often hurt like it was yesterday.

“Sounds like you get into a lot of trouble!” Rowan laughed, drawing Arden from his melancholy.

He shook himself, smiling slightly, “Only sometimes! Sometimes I’ll go on diplomatic missions, have to help train new recruits, or even do paperwork.”

“That must be boring.” the centaur commented.

“I actually don’t mind. All the going and doing can be exhausting. It’s nice to just be able to be home sometimes.” He was really something of a homebody, but work was work, and often required him to be away from said home. Although lately, Lear and Winna’s cottage had felt more like home than the feylands.

“Home.” Marri murmured.

“We could both go home, now.” Rowan smiled broadly.

“I have no idea where my home is.” The mermaid’s voice was incredibly soft. “My parents were nomadic. I was so young when I got taken, too, so I don’t even know any of the areas they used to go through regularly.”

“There will be people who will be able to help.” Arden told her, keeping his tone firm and encouraging, “Other merfolk, who are familiar with the seas and the various cultures of their people. We’ll ask for their help, and we’ll get you back to your home and to your family.”

“I…I guess.” she murmured. Something was still bothering her, Arden could see, but now wasn’t the time to press her, or he’d risk angering her again. Not that he blamed her for being angry, he had tricked her, and all the captive fey folk, into thinking he was something that he wasn’t.

They walked along in silence for a while.

Arden was the first one to speak. “Are you still doing alright carrying Marri, Rowan?”

“Yes! I can go for a while longer.” he nodded. “I expect it’ll be good for us to just keep going until morning, huh?”

“Yes, I think that’d be wise. We need to make as much headway as we can. Do you feel like you can run with Marri on your back?”

“I can, but not for long.” Rowan shrugged slightly.

“I weigh too much.” Marri muttered.

“No, sweetie, you weigh a perfectly acceptable amount.” the centaur snorted, shaking his head, “I’m just not very strong and don’t have much stamina, given I’ve not been allowed regular exercise for the last…I don't even know how many years, but it’s been far too many.”

“Well, let me know when you feel up to it, I’m sure whoever comes after us will travel with all speed available to them.”

“It’ll be Bellows himself who comes after us. He might have others with him, but he’ll be there.” Marrina’s tone was devoid of emotion. “That’s just how he is.”

“Luckily, dwarves aren’t exactly known for their speed.” Rowan sighed.

“That’s true.” Arden nodded.

“I don’t know who else he’ll have with him, but at least he won’t be able to travel as fast as any fey person he has with him, and he won’t want them getting too far ahead of him. It would feel too much like they were trying to butt in on his authority if they did. He has such a fragile ego.” Marri told them.

“You would know best.” Rowan shrugged, nodding a little, “Given you’re the one that’s been here the longest.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s right.” the mermaid sighed, she thought for a moment. “After he sold off Kirt when he got so badly hurt he couldn't do his trapeze act anymore, that made me the longest lasting member of his stupid circus.”