Innocents

Falthro examined the human kneeling before him. No sign of the evil flavored the man's soul, but evil always conceals itself well. Two of the prisoner's victims were missing. Children, whose mutilated bodies hadn't been found and who might still be alive. Their families had petitioned for Falthro's help. Falthro had sworn by the goddess Dannu to punish the prisoner. First he needed answers.

Another fae would use glamour to compel truth. Unfortunately, Falthro had... limitations... most fae didn't. Compulsion must remain his last resort. He seized the man's chin, forcing his head up. The human was passive in his hands, but fire lurked in his eyes.

"Take him into the glamourhame and prepare him for me." His collared servants dragged the prisoner away. Falthro turned to the guards who brought the prisoner to him. "My page will show you to the kitchen. I will get the information you need as quickly as I can."

"Yes m'lord."

Falthro entered the glamourhame a few minutes later. The human had been stripped and hung from the ceiling by his wrists. His legs shackled to the floor, stretching his body painfully. Nerve damage to his hands would begin shortly. Left long enough, his own weight would suffocate him. Falthro had no intention of waiting that long.

"Do you know why you are here?"

"No." The curt answer tasted of a lie. Falthro's whip flashed out, laying a searing line on the man's face that stopped a half inch from his eye. The man jerked in the restraints and bit back a cry.

"That was one lie. For the next, I will take your eye." Falthro's lip curled and he fought down his desire to spill blood. "Four children disappeared from Elm Grove. The guard found two bodies. You are a dead man. Your death will be easier if you tell me where the others are."

The prisoner said nothing, staring through Falthro as he struggled to breath. The whip wrapped around his neck. His eyes bulged as Falthro yanked the whip taut, cutting off his airflow. Falthro allowed him to jerk and struggle until his eyes began to glaze, then pulled the lash off. The man gasped, tears streaming down his face. Falthro waited until he quieted. "Where are they?"

The man sagged in the chains, chin dropping to his chest. He reeked of hopelessness and despair, searing Falthro's glamour. He couldn't understand the human's words. The fae lord placed the handle of his whip under the prisoner's chin and lifted his head. "Repeat yourself."

The fire in the man's eyes was gone. Had he broken so quickly? "You won't believe me."

Something in the man's emotions, his demeanor, made Falthro's stomach twist. "Tell me. I will know if you speak the truth."

"I can't tell you where the children are. I didn't take them." The power of the man's belief was a spike through Falthro's mind. Long experience let Falthro to block out the pain, but did nothing to help the horror filling him. He heard only his own silent scream. For the first time since childhood, he came near to cursing Dannu. How had She allowed him to trap himself like this?

The man stared at Falthro. Saw something in his face. "You believe me?" Hope and fear poured from the man in a torrent, battering Falthro further.

Fighting for control of himself, Falthro released the winch and lowered the man to the floor. Undoing the shackles holding the man's arms took only a moment. "I will be back shortly." Falthro grabbed a small chest with balms and bandages and shoved it at him. "Care for yourself."

"What—"

"You spoke the truth." The flavor of it still lingered on Falthro's tongue, taunting him with his own guilt. "You are innocent. I must deal with another matter. I will return."

At the door, Falthro stopped and turned back. "Do you know anything that would help me find the children?"

"No..."

The guards waited in the kitchen. Falthro approached them with an expression schooled to regret. "The prisoner cannot tell us why all the bodies weren't found together. I will speak with your town council and the presiding judge on this matter. They are to present themselves here as soon as possible." He had questioned these two already—they believed the official tale. His answers were elsewhere.

He turned to depart.

"M'lord, we have orders to witness the prisoner's execution."

Falthro faced them, as his expression hardened into a granite mask. "I swore to Dannu I would punish this man for the deaths of those children. You will go and leave the matter in my hands."

They left.

Falthro allowed himself ten blessed minutes alone. Ten minutes where the emotions and thoughts surrounding him did not burn like fire through his mind. Ten minutes to grieve for the children he had failed. Ten torturous minutes to agonize over what he must now do. "Dannu, show me the way. Will you spare me the burden of more innocent blood? Will you release me of my oath?" His hands trembled as he raised them to his face. The lack of Dannu's presence was an empty ache.

He gathered himself and left his sanctuary, returning to the glamourhame. And his victim.

When Falthro entered the room the man stood from a crouch. Falthro stopped and searched his memory for the human's name. It had been part given to him, but he had not paid attention. "What is your name?"

"Dannel." Dannel's face gleamed with a thin coating of one of the housekeeper's creams, something to help the lash heal cleanly. He rattled the ankle shackles, "If you believe I'm innocent, is this necessary?" He tried to sound relaxed, but Falthro's glamour betrayed him.

The fae shook his head, "Perhaps it is not, however I cannot permit you to leave."

The flavor of fear grew stronger, and Dannel's hands clenched. Still, the human managed a chuckle. "Well, I'm definitely not returning to town anytime soon."

Falthro handed Dannel a loose robe and turned his back while the man shrugged it on. "I was a fool, and I have done you great wrong. I am unable to make it right, or change what must happen. I can only tell you that I regret it. If it is within my power both the true guilty party and those who wrongly brought you to this place will be punished."

Dannel stared at him, wide-eyed. "Lord Falthro, I won't pretend this wasn't one of the most horrific experiences of my life... expecting to be tortured to death for something I didn't do..." He stopped, and when he spoke again his voice was a harsh whisper, "I was locked in my own mind, screaming in horror while my body carried me to my doom. You believe me."

Falthro made himself face the plea in the man's eye. "I am sorry. I swore to Dannu I would punish you for the deaths of those children. She accepted that oath."

Life itself seemed to flow from the young man's face, a death of the spirit far worse than death of the body. "You can't... you can't, you know I am innocent. You know!"

"Yes." Dannel's shock and horror ripped through Falthro's mind. Falthro forced himself to show no sign of his own pain. His pain was not important. Dannel stared about the shelves lining the glamourhame, at the many tools Falthro could use to tear him apart. Killing by inches. "What kind of monster are you..."

"Not quite as much of one as you think." Falthro allowed himself a small sigh. "I have prayed to Dannu to release me of my pledge, but she does not answer. I do not know why. I do not know why she accepted such an oath. I do have some discretion in how I fulfill it."

"Discretion? You offered me an 'easy death' if I gave you information. Is that your 'discretion'!"

Falthro took a deep breath. "Dannel, formerly of Elm Grove, falsely accused and falsely condemned. Your punishment can take three forms, I offer you a choice. You may be given an easy death, to fall asleep and not wake up. No pain, no suffering. If you prefer, I can castrate you, brand you and exile you from these lands. You will live, and you will have your freedom."

"And the third choice?" The question tried to be challenging, but the anger and despair filled Fathro's senses like thick clouds of smoke.

"You may choose to become one of my slaves, bound to obey by my sigil. Once a week you will come to this room, and I will torture you to feed my glamour; no permanent harm will be done to you, but you will suffer greatly. The rest of the week you will have duties throughout my manor. Your needs will be supplied, and you will be witness to what punishment I can craft for those who accused and condemned you."

Dannel remained silent for a long moment, then asked. "And what is your punishment, Lord Falthro? What of my executioner?"

The rapid shifts in the human's emotions made stars explode behind Falthro's eyes. The fae smiled grimly. "If you become my slave, your presence will be my punishment. If you stay, and only if you stay, you will learn why. Suffice to say I do not speak of anything so ephemeral as guilt or shame."

Dannel looked skeptical but allowed the question to drop. Staring at his hands, he asked,"Must I choose now?"

"No." Falthro pulled a bell rope. "Rest the night. Sleep, as best you can."

The door opened and one of Falthro's slaves entered. "My lord?"

"Escort Dannel to one of the guest rooms. Bring him anything he wishes."

"Yes, lord." She undid the shackles then gestured for Dannel to precede her from the room.

"I offer no apologies, for they are meaningless. You may speak with any of my people and explore the manor as you wish." He reached deep into himself and summoned his glamour, imposing his will on the other's mind. "You will not leave this building, nor seek to escape." Dannel rocked on his heels as the force of the order went home. Falthro turned away. He managed to lean against the wall until the door closed behind him. Then the ripping pain of using his glamour added to the agony of enduring Dannel's emotions brought him to his knees.

Falthro stayed up through the night, praying. Dannu ignored him, responding to neither his pleas for absolution nor demands for an explanation. Finally, as dawn broke the east, he braced himself for the day to come.

Breakfast was an ordeal, but he was used to choking down food—both physical and spiritual—no matter how much he suffered. On this morning, Dannel's suffering would be far worse than his own.

Almost as if the thought summoned him, Falthro's personal servant escorted Dannel into the room. Before either said anything Falthro asked, "Have you eaten?"

"No, Lord Falthro." Dannel swallowed, hard.

His servant... was this one Beattie? No, Beattie had been the last one. Regardless, she knew his ways. She set a second plate on the table and filled it. Falthro pointed at the dish. "Eat. No matter how badly you feel, no matter what you face each day, unless you wish to die, you eat. Food is life, and not eating makes death that much more likely."

Dannel glared at him, but Falthro didn't notice. Dannel's emotions lit a fire behind the fae's eyes, a fire only partly eased by his servant's soothing presence. Falthro chose his people for that quality.

One bite at a time he forced himself to finish his pastry. When the last crumb disappeared, he shoved his plate away. Across the table, Dannel half swallowed, half choked on, a mouthful of eggs. After a few more bites, he set his fork down and met Falthro's eyes."I can say nothing to sway you? No plea, no argument?"

Falthro looked away. "I cannot break my oath to Dannu. Not will not, cannot." The last of Dannel's hope died, but the man only nodded.

"They say there is a special black stone fae are helpless against."

Falthro sat back in his chair. The anger and hate pouring of Dannel told him where this was going. Other emotions flickered behind them, but Falthros lost the subtleties in a haze of pain. "Starmetal. I have seen none since we came to this land. If you did manage to find any and use it against me, I would call it justice."

Dannel's eyes widen. "Would you?"

"The crime you were accused of is so very heinous, no lesser punishment will fill the terms of my oath. And yet does that not make my crime against you just as heinous?" Falthro shrugged. "Note I do not say I would stand still while you plunged starmetal into my heart or any such dramatics. Only that if you managed to do so, I would call it justice." Closing his eyes, Falthro foresaw the horror to come. Dannel had chosen exile. To fulfill his oath, Falthro would mutilate an innocent man. Then Dannel would seek revenge, regardless of what it cost him.

The taste of determination overwhelmed that of hate and anger. Determination and... respect? A rustle of cloth broke the silence. Falthro opened his eyes. Dannel knelt before him, hands fisted and face strangely calm.

"Lord Falthro, I doubt I will ever forgive what you do, but you have been honest with me. Of the choices you offer me... I will be your slave." Falthro gripped the table with trembling hands and whispered a prayer of thanks. The next several decades would be pain-filled, but his hands would not bear more innocent blood. "So be it."

For the first time in his long life, the fae lord bowed to a human.