"Welcome back, princess," he said happily, his hands smelling strongly of alcohol and blood. "How are you feeling?"
"Like you drugged me," she said, her voice sounding slurred and tired.
"That's because I did. It didn't last as long as I had of thought. I had hoped you would be out for several more hours but it has only been two," he looked at the book on the table and she was reminded strongly of Epharis.
"Are you related to those two?" she asked, making a vague gesture to Alaric, who was sitting in the corner looking satisfied with the work.
"No," Harla said simply and lifted her chin higher to better see her eyes.
Shifting her feet, she found the floor and stood, deciding that yes the sedative was leaving her system.
"Do you know her species?" Harla asked of Alaric, who was staring her down.
"Winter Fae of some description. There is a rumour she has other abilities and that walking through realities thing is exceptionally uncommon even amongst the fae."
"No it's not," she retorted, jerking her head out of the bony grip and glad for the chain, her body swaying back and she would have fallen if she hadn't been held up by the chains. "Most of them can do it, they just choose not to. Your world isn't exactly desirable and the creatures who populate it are even less so."
That was a little mean but she was smarting over the sheer number of times he had hit her while she was out.
Alaric snorted, amused now that he had worked out his anger.
Getting her balance back under control, she contemplated giving Harla a good boot to the shin, but decided she should keep her feet to herself for the time being.
"What did you do to me?" she asked when she finally looked down. Her clothing had been removed except for her undergarments and blood had dried on her skin accompanied by a significant number of new pink scars.
"Testing your ability to heal," Harla said dispassionately.
"Is it up to your standards?" she looked to Alaric when she started seeing what she thought were patches of dark blood were actually large bruises. He smirked as she glared at him.
"Beyond my expectations really. You aren't a full Fae are you?" he said, picking up the book and adding several notes.
"That obvious?" she wasn't about to tell him anything worthwhile.
"It is if you know what you're looking for," he said, looking first from her to the book and back again.
"You're from one of the hidden Courts right?"
She went still, staring at him with her mouth slightly open.
"What?" she asked, unsure if she had actually heard him right.
"One of the hidden Courts, not Winter or Summer."
She had been floored by this man, even Alaric had sat up with interest.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she breathed, but he could tell she was lying and he smiled.
"Yes you do, you can pretend all you like, but the fact that you can lie at all tells me a lot about you," he said, adding more notes.
Her eyes went to Alaric and she found he was staring hard at her, angry.
"Does Epharis know about this?" he demanded of her and she shook her head.
He seemed placated by her lie and her eyes went back to Harla as he approached fast. She jerked back, but had nowhere to go really.
***
"Which one is it Etani?" he sounded frantic, desperate for the information.
"There are only two," she said, trying to sound convincing but even that he would suspect something like that had thrown her entirely for a loop.
"Several years ago a Fae Lord was capture and tortured," he began, the tip of one long, bony finger tracing the shape of her ear and she tilted her head away from him. "They wanted Faerie's biggest secret. The best secret. Do you know what he said? That there are four courts. No one believed him, thinking it was just a trick and he died swearing to the truth of the four courts," he breathed, his face a mere inch from hers and she could almost taste the sweat from his excitement. "The report was filed away and forgotten, but I have been trying to get into Faerie for years and I found that little report. It got me thinking about Winter and Summer. Why were there two courts when there are four seasons? Why Winter and Summer and not Spring and Autumn?" he was breathing fast, his hands shaking and he spoke in a rapid pace. "Why wouldn't there be four? It was a logical conclusion, one for each season, one court for each quarter of the year. Winter and Summer are significant in terms of extremes but nothing lives without spring, nothing grows, and nothing wilts without autumn. Which one is it Etani? Which one are you from? Which one is it really?"
She had pushed herself as far back from him as was possible given her situation and he had followed after her, breath brushing her face and she was utterly terrified of this man and what he knew.
"Winter, only Winter," she whispered and his face showed first disappointment and then anger.
"Do not for a second think I will not torture the information out of you, Fae," he said in a flat tone and she swallowed, now wishing she only had Alaric to deal with.
"There are only two," she said, her mind racing at how to get out of her situation. This man was dangerous, far more so than any others she had met thus far.
"We shall see," he breathed and moved away from her. The book snapped shut and she jumped, looking to Alaric who was himself looking a little uncomfortable.
"Alaric you have to let me go," she said, looking from the king to the Harla and back again. "Please, just let me go. I won't retaliate, I'll do what you say, just let me go."
He looked at her, seeing the genuine fear in her and then looked to Harla, frowning.
"Harla, I think we are done for today," Alaric said, but Harla wasn't listening.
Standing, the giant king approached and she watched Harla filling a syringe, her head tilting to try and read the label.
"Alaric!" she gasped as she saw what it was, but Harla had already jabbed the needle into the side of the king's neck, flooding the king's system with a strong dose of muscle relaxant and sedative.
The king staggered, his rapidly pounding heart sending the toxin shooting through him and he plopped down on the chair, drunk on the drugs.
Harla turned to her and smiled as he prepared a second syringe, approaching her and jabbing it into her abdomen. She jerked back, her muscles suddenly not wanting to work anymore.
She found herself hanging loose from the chain, her hands still working but her legs were unresponsive.
"Good, now we can have some privacy," Harla said as he pulled the chair up and sat down in it in front of her.
He had a small knife in his hand and she gritted her teeth.
The bite of metal on her skin had her trying to move again, but her legs refused to function and she whimpered softly.
"Which court, princess?" he asked in a calm voice.
Looking past him to Alaric, she found the man awake but mostly unable to move, calm and watching.
"Winter," she said immediately, clenching her jaw tightly to keep from making a sound as the knife drew blood, pressing into her side just above her hip.
"Which court?" he asked again and she shook her head.
She gave a muffled cry as the knife slid smoothly and cleanly into her flesh, her lips clamped shut to keep from screaming.
He looked disappointed, but quickly moved back to the table to collect the syringe.
"Which court?" he repeated, giving the syringe a little tap to check for bubbles but it was a clean draw.