Chapter Three

Tamlin

Lucien settled into the barn as if it was the nicest of accommodations, and I was the best host. I ignored him when he spoke, most of the time walking away when he opened his mouth to speak. I found it almost comical to watch him sweep and pick up broken furniture scattered around the house only to find every last piece back in its exact place once he'd finished piling it up outside to burn. Aggravated as he was, he refused to give up no matter how many times he started over.

When he wasn't playing maid, he spent the first few days scouring neighboring Courts to help him dig out the cave. High Fae refused to get their hands dirty while the lesser faeries couldn't spare the time, not during a famine and drought. From dawn till twilight they worked to save whatever crops and water they could, leaving Lucien to dig out the cave himself.

Having nothing better to do with my time, I sat on a flat moss covered boulder watching him grumble and complain as he hefted large rocks out of the mouth of the cave. My birds gathered round me,and cawed at him. Once this was his home but now they thought of him as an intruder, someone sent to do their High Lord harm, and if I didn't keep them at bay they would've pecked his other eye out and picked at the brain beneath.

"You could help, you know," he grumbled, wiping the sweat from his brow. "I'm doing this for you."

"No, you are doing manual labor for your High Lord and Lady," I pointed out, and glancing up at the rocks perched precariously above the cave, I made them fall into the space he'd just cleared out. "Careful, Lucien. There could be another cave in."

His golden eye narrowed on me, and he swore under his breath. "I defended you, Tam. I told Feyre the drought and famine was our fault not yours, but if you continue to block every effort I make to help you every death will be on you."

"Why should I care about anyone? When I tried – and I did try hard not to be like my father, everything crumbled around me."

He walked up the hill to sit beside me, and wiped more sweat from his brow. "You were the best person I knew once. You cared so much about everyone. You didn't want Andras to cross the wall even though everyone urged you to sacrifice him for the good of all. You could've been cruel to Feyre for murdering your friend, but you weren't, and that speaks volumes about your character."

"And yet, in the end I lost everything." I stood and brushed the dry, brittle moss off my pants. "You've bored me. I'm going to go patrol near the Wall."

"There's nothing there in need of guarding."

"True, but it'll still be more entertaining than sitting here listening to you babble on."

"Ten days," he said, tilting his head to look up at me. "If you want, I'll leave the next day."

"That's the best news I've heard in the longest time," I chuckled, sliding up into the saddle of my horse. "You should get back to work if you planned to have that all cleared out in time."

He cursed and shouted at me as I nudged Thunder into a gallop. Once I traveled far enough away, I slowed to a leisurely pace, taking time to check on the water level of several spring fed ponds, and to see if any of my meager crops had produced vegetables. Even living on my own, not having to divide the food amongst the people of my Court, I'd still have to ration my food stores if no one showed up for Calanmai.

Deep in thought, it took me several seconds to notice a woman with long, silky black hair helping someone else over the Wall. Nudging Thunder into a gallop, we made it to the Wall before she could climb over herself. She hesitated, body tensing, then turned to smile at me. My eyes slowly traveled down the length of her shapely body, taking in her faded blue dress, my gaze lingering on the swell of her firm breasts heaving over the low cut neckline. The dress fit snug, showing off every curve, an open invitation too difficult to resist. Ugly scars made an intricate spider web trailing from her fingers of her left hand all the way up to her elbow. Noticing me staring, she clasped her hands behind her back.

"Good day, your Grace," she said in a soft lilting tone as she boldly met my gaze.

"I believe you are on the wrong side of the Wall." I bobbed my head to the divide between the Fae Realm and the Human Realm. "And it's not your Grace. It's my Lord." I looked beyond the Wall, eyes narrowing on her friend trying to hide under the cover of some scrub brush. "Do you have any idea who owns these lands, girl?"

"Aye," she said, the pretty smile never fading from her heart-shaped face. "The High Lord of Spring."

I gestured to the purplish smudges covering her dress. "You do know that if you eat the berries from this side of the Wall you'll waste away to nothing. Nothing will ever taste as good and as sweet, and you'll live the rest of your short life pining away for more stolen berries." From behind her, her companion let out a pitiful moan of pain. "What is wrong with your friend?"

"It's nothing you need to concern yourself with, m'lord."

As she glanced over her shoulder at her friend, I slid off my horse. I towered over her, forcing her to crane her neck when she looked back and found me standing directly in front of her.

"There are many poisonous plants and creatures on my side of the Wall, and if my eyes don't deceive me, her leg is swollen and her toes are turning black." I breathed her in, stomach muscles tightening at the alluring scent of jasmine and musky spice. "Do they not bathe where you come from? You smell as if you roll around in pigpen all day."

"Aye, there is a stream near my home. If you are going to try to rile me into an argument you'll have to do much better than that." Tilting her chin, she took a long whiff of the air, and scrunched her pert nose. "Perhaps it is you who needs a bath, m'lord." Something poked into my chest, and I looked down to find she held an Ash dagger in her hand. "I mean you no harm, but as you can see my sister is in need of a healer."

"You would stab me when I have done nothing to warrant it?"

"B-Brie," her sister cried out, drawing her attention away from me. "It hurts…it hurts so bad."

"I'm afraid your sister won't make it to your healer," I said, acutely aware of the dagger and how easily it could slip if she turned quick. "I could heal her, but it will cost you." Her badly scarred arm came to mind as I spoke, and I added, "I could also heal your arm and make it normal and perfect again."

"My arm is already normal and perfect. As are my breasts as you already know." She winked at me, boldly flirting when she should have been terrified even without knowing my name. "What will it cost me to save my sister's life?"

"Nothing as long as you keep it to yourself." She studied me a long moment, likely trying to decide if this was some Fae trick then she nodded. "My only condition is you need to help her over to this side of the Wall. I will not take a step into the Human Realm."

"You're a strange one, m'lord." She pocketed the dagger, and with grace I didn't know humans possessed, she leapt over the Wall and carefully helped her sister to her feet. Younger and meeker than Brie, the girl started balling as Brie struggled to get her over the Wall. "No tricks," she said as I gently lifted the girl and set her down on the grass.

"It might hurt some," I warned, crouching to rest my hand on the girl's swollen leg. "Those berries you picked, the thorns are poisonous to humans."

I'd scarcely gotten the words out and she screamed. Brie caught hold of her hand, and softly sang to her as I worked to draw out the poison. My head pounded in perfect sync with each scream, and several times she kicked me as she thrashed around desperately trying to get away. Brie gasped at the sight of thick yellowish pus leeching out of her sister's leg, and said a whispered prayer to whatever gods she believed in. Within a matter of minutes the last of the poison drained from her leg, and the swelling receded. As a healthy pinkish hue returned to her leg, I pulled my hand away.

"Your leg is healed." Pushing to my feet, I held out a hand to help Brie up and then her sister. "Do not cross into these lands again."

"Sh-she's really going to be all right?" Brie uttered, doubt and fear marring her beautiful face. "She's not going to die?"

"Your faith in my abilities gets me right here." I tapped at my chest above my heart. "By nightfall she'll be running around as if she never came so close to death." I turned to climb back up on my horse, but Brie caught hold of my arm. "No need to thank me."

"Wait here. Don't go anywhere. Understand?"

I nodded and watched her help her sister back to their side of the Wall. They disappeared into the woods, and the longer I waited for her to return, the more I was inclined to believe she played some cruel human joke at my expense. An hour past and then two, and still I sat there like a fool, waiting simply because a pretty girl asked me to. Another half hour passed before I finally caught sight of her running through the forest without socks or shoes, giggling like a child as she leapt over fallen logs and dodged around trees. She'd changed out of the berry stained dress, and now wore a white dress so sheer, I could clearly make out her rosy nipples and every delicious curve of her body.

A Nymph.

No, she couldn't have been a nymph living in the Human Realm. She probably just didn't realize what a wicked temptation she was in her all too revealing clothes. She bound over the Wall as if it were nothing more than a minor inconvenience, and sauntered to me.

"Show me the beauty of the Spring Court," she said, her unsettlingly beautiful deep blue eyes held mine, and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. "It's always been my dream to see the world from this side of the Wall."

"I can't, Brie. Even though the war is over, humans will never be safe in this Realm."

Her full, lush lips pulled downward in a pout, and after little hesitation I relented. It had been so long since I'd talked to anyone who didn't see me as a monster, I agreed to a short ride. I helped her up on the horse, situating her in front of me with my arms wrapped around her to hold the reins. We rode for a while in comfortable silence. She didn't know anything about me and I didn't know anything about her, and I could forget for a little while about the mistakes I made, and hatred everyone felt for me.

"Everything's dying," she whispered, sadness filling her tone. "What happened? I used to look over the Wall when I was little, and everything was so green and lush. There were flowers in colors I'd never seen before, and I always imagined they smelled like sunshine and happiness."

"I've never smelled sunshine and happiness before," I chuckled lightly, and breathed in the soft, alluring scent of jasmine from the perfume she wore. "Where did you tell your parents you were going?"

"I'd rather not ruin these precious moments with sad memories," she whispered then nudged Thunder into a gallop. "Do you have a name or do you prefer I call you m'lord for the rest of the day?"

My stomach twisted in knots. Undoubtedly even the humans had heard of my name and my alliance with Hybern. "You can call me Tam or Tamlin," I uttered, pressing my eyes shut as she drew in a sharp breath and her body stiffened. "If you would like to go home now, I completely understand."

"The stories they tell about you around the fires at night fail to mention how you help those in need without expecting anything in return." With a curt nod, her body relaxed and she leaned back into me. "If it's all right with you, I'll make up my own mind about the High Lord of the Spring Court."

"You're a foolish girl," I whispered against her ear.

"Not a girl – a woman," she corrected, looking back at me. "Someday you will tell me your version of the stories, and I will recite them at the fires at night. There can never just be one side of the story when two or more people are involved."

I didn't have the heart to tell her I'd never see her again after she left the Fae Realm. Nor could I tell her she'd granted me the greatest gift by treating me like a person instead of a monster. I wished there was time to show her the starlight pool. I hadn't been there since Feyre left me to join her mate, and every time I thought of venturing to one of my favorite spots in all the Fae Realm, a sickness washed over me. I shared the starlight pool with her out of love for her, and now it felt as if the silvery pool was tainted.

"I've heard stories," she said, interrupting my troubled thoughts, "of Fae having only one true mate. The stories say the bond between mates is so strong a marriage cannot survive if the true mate comes into the picture. Is that true?"

"It's true," I said, circling Thunder around to head toward the Wall. "There is no standing between mates no matter how much you might love someone. They will crush you to get to each other."

"How do you know if someone is your true mate?"

"I don't know." I shrugged. "It's not something you can really understand until it happens to you."

"Do you have a mate?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be sitting so intimately close to someone on a horse, now would I?"

"Probably not."

She fell silent again, and not wanting to spoil the peacefulness of the ride, I refrained from asking her anything about herself. From her earlier comment I surmised that her parents were no longer alive, and I didn't want to pry even though I wondered if the burn scars on her arm had happened at the same time. It wasn't as if I'd ever see her again, and I didn't want her to think I was interested in the pursuit of any sort of friendship with a human. I'd made that mistake once already, and never planned to do it again.

All too soon we arrived back at the Wall, and I slid of Thunder to help her down. My hands spanned her tiny waist, and she placed her hands on my shoulders as I gently lifted her of the horse's back and set her down in the dried grass. She hastily pulled her hands away, likely realizing she'd touched the most hated man in her Realm and mine.

I stumbled back a step, and cleared my throat. "Do not trespass on my lands again. Understand?"

"So grumpy," she chuckled, her eyebrows pulling together as her lush, full lips flattening into a stern expression. "I will be on your side of the Wall every day whether you return or not. Hopefully I won't run into any vile creatures if you chose not to come. Lilianna would be very upset if her sister was eaten by a Naga."

At the mention of a Naga, my eyes narrowed on her. "Did she send you? Is this some sort of cruel trick on her part because I haven't been punished enough?"

"I'm not going to dignify your accusations with a response." Turning her back on me, she nimbly leapt over the Wall. Sauntering away without a backward glance, she called over her shoulder, "I'll see you tomorrow, Tamlin."

XxXxXx

I found Lucien in the barn brushing one of my stallions, and stalked to him with deadly stealth. I swung him around, gripped hold of tunic, and hefted him off the ground. The brush fell from his hand, landing on the ground with a dull thud."What game are you playing at?" I growled, clawed nails tearing through his tunic. "Was this your High Lord's way of kicking me when I'm already down?"

"Maybe if you told me what you're talking about, I could answer you better." His golden eye whizzed down to look at my hands gripped in his tunic then back up to look me in the eye. "You were gone longer than I expected. Did something happen at the Wall?"

"Funny you should ask." My grip on his tunic slackened, and he dropped to the ground. "Two humans crossed the Wall. I've patrolled the Wall every day, and have never seen anyone. You show up, and suddenly two humans cross the Wall. Strange coincidence, wouldn't you say?"

"Are you suggesting I persuaded the humans to – to what? Were they so fearsome the High Lord of the Spring Court cowered before them?"

"One was a woman, the other a girl." My hands balled into tight fists, claws digging into the tender skin on my palms. "The girl almost died on my land. If I hadn't happened upon them, she never would've survived. What I want to know is why you tricked them to coming to the Spring Court?"

"Why would I do that?" Turning his back on me, he picked up the brush and resumed brushing the grey stallion he'd been using since his arrival at the Spring Court. "I know you've had a strong aversion to the humans ever since – I wouldn't do that to you."

"If find out you did, I'll snap your scrawny neck and save your family the trouble."

"These humans really got under your skin, didn't they?"

"No," I answered too quickly, and he pivoted to face me, his golden eye studying me closely. "Why would you think that?"

"Don't cross the Wall," he warned as if he really believed I would step foot in the Human Realm. "I'm serious, Tam. Don't do it. The other Courts are looking for a reason to take you down. They don't have to kill you to eliminate the threat you pose."

"I'm a threat to no one," I countered, rolling my eyes. "I stay on my land, never taking a step beyond any border." Waving a hand over myself, I added, "While I appreciate your assessment that I'm a force to be reckoned with, I'm one man against the entire world. So when you return to your High Lord and Lady, you can assure them they've won."

"The woman," he said, refusing to let the matter go, "was she young and pretty?"

"She was horribly scarred from a fire," I said, refusing to share with him how hard my heart pounded as she sat beside me on Thunder. "In case you were wondering, her sister was several years younger than your High Lady when she first crossed the Wall."

"From now on when you go to the Wall to patrol, I'll go with you."

"You won't get much work done digging out the cave if you're following me around, but if that's what you think you should do, who am I to stop you?"

"That won't be a problem." He grinned. "Rhysand pressured every Court to send as many of the High Fae as they can spare to help prepare the cave. They should be here by midday tomorrow."

Thanks for reading. Although I've dabble at writing this is my first attempt at writing fanfiction for Sara Maas' series, and would really appreciate any feedback...