Mated To The Cruel Prince-Chapter 37: Expose A Fae

They walked back to Marcus’ wagon with Islinda trailing after him and watching him cautiously as if expecting him to attack her any moment. It crossed her mind that this man might be a swindler and was trying to fool her into buying a weapon from him. But for some reason, she trusted him. He was speaking the truth.

When they got to the spot, he began to rummage through his things for a while to the point Islinda became impatient and was thinking about being done with him when he exclaimed, "A-ha! Found it!"

Marcus was all smiles as he lifted the arrow in the air proudly and Islinda looked at the weapon eagerly. What was so special about it?

He handed the weapon to her and Islinda took it from him as she began to feel it. Unlike her arrows made from strong, lightweight woods, this one was indeed different and seemed to be made from iron as he mentioned.

She first of all traced the smooth shaft which was longer than her normal arrows before moving to the slightly cold arrowhead, wondering how such a small weapon would be able to pull down a Fae. She winced slightly at the gory image of Valerie being felled by an arrow and wondered just how many hunters have a weapon like this.

"How many of this is left?"

"You mean, the arrow? Just one. I told you that you’re lucky to encounter me. Iron is lethal to Faeries, of course, they would try to get rid of it. But the human realm has much of Iron and those in authority forge enough to protect themselves. Your village is peaceful, Islinda. It’s no wonder you don’t know much about it. "

However, how long would that peace last? If Valerie was able to cross over the divider, how long till another of his kind comes through? She wondered if people knew not all Fae were tricksters and some were kind enough to have relations with. They are prejudiced against Faeries the same way Valerie had been against the humans. freewebnσvel.cøm

Someone had to stop this, but Islinda was not going to be the one. She wouldn’t risk Valerie’s life for anything. The notion ingrained into them from birth that Fae beings were evil would not just vanish overnight and might take years before its eradicated. She has never been a fan of politics and would not start one.

Islinda stared at the arrow once more, it had bright orange and green fletchings. For a weapon forged from iron, it didn’t feel as heavy as she thought it would be. She tested the weight in her hand.

"How much is it?"

"A hundred silver coins."

"No way," Her jaw dropped to the ground from shock before her gaze hardened, "That is daylight robbery."

Islinda shuddered, recalling that Belinda had said the same thing moments ago except that in this case, she was the one being ripped off. Was this the universe paying her back?

Marcus told her, "This is nothing compared to how much I would have sold it to the noblemen. However, I took pity upon a young lady roaming those woods alone and who needed to protect herself. Do not mock my kindness." His voice was firm in the end.

If this man was a swindler, he was a pretty good one because he did not let in space for weakness and seemed to be confident of his goods. Islinda felt the headache return again, knowing she had to make a hard choice. She couldn’t let the arrow fall into the hands of another.

"Eighty silver coins." She bargained, staring at him with puppy eyes and hoping that would change his mind. She hadn’t even bought Lillian’s boots and Madam Alice’s jacket yet. At this rate, she might have to take a bit from her savings because there was no way she was returning to that house without their request.

"You can forget about it then," Marcus was about to snatch the arrow from her, not that she let him. "Fine, a hundred silver coins." Islinda agreed through gritted teeth.

With a deep sigh, Islinda had no choice but to pay Marcus that huge amount of coins for one arrow when it could easily fetch enough arrows to fill her quiver. Islinda felt a sense of loss but she encouraged herself in the end, this was for Valerie and to protect herself.

"Another thing," Marcus told her just as she was about to leave. He said, "Fae creatures are good at hiding but you can change that by nipping a suspect with the arrowhead. If the wound burns on contact, you have your Fae."

At those words, the first person that came to her mind was Eli. No, she shook the thought from her head with abject horror. To nip him with that arrowhead, she would have to draw blood and that meant hurting the child. Would she harm a child to clear her suspicion just because she found him in the woods close to the border?

"Big Sister!"

At first, the name sounded distant in her mind and she thought it was a figment of her imagination until the voice came a second thought and she knew it was reality. Eli was here.

She turned around to see the young boy coming towards her with Remy trailing behind him as if she was his guard. Realizing she had company, Marcus exchanged one final look with her and left with his cart.

"Big Sister!" Eli hugged her waist when he got to her, glancing up at her excitedly.

However, while Islinda smiled at him, she turned to her stepsister with a furious gaze, "Where have the both of you been?! Where did you take him?! Do you know how worried I was thinking that you ...." Islinda calmed down knowing that she was about to accuse her of something she didn’t do in the end.

Remy answered, "I gave Eli a tour of the market. The child was beginning to get bored, nothing else."

Still annoyed, Islinda stared down at Remy until she realized how childish it was and broke the store.

"Big Sister, what is this?" Eli pointed innocently at the arrow she held in her hand and was just about to touch it when she pushed the arrow behind her defensively.

"It’s nothing."