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again, but he couldn’t risk being seen, so instead, he suffered the pain in silence until sleep finally took him.
    ****
    Gwyn was gone longer than she would have liked. Freeing the slave had been a pleasure, though seeing the gentle fae woman so much in love with her human savior had reminded Gwyn of everything missing from her life. Lily was one of the lucky few who had found happiness and a life after slavery, but Gwyn knew how rarely such things happened. Countless slaves had come and gone from this place over her time here, and most of their stories ended with suffering and death.
    The master wanted a full recounting of her day, and by the time she had finished her report and presented him with the king’s payment, the last rays of the sun were fading from the sky.
    “You may go now. Once you have eaten, I want you to check on the new arrival and continue his instruction. The apprentice’s report indicates he is an excellent fighter.  He will be sold to the fight pits. You will teach him what he needs to know and then deliver him to his new master once negotiations are complete.”
    She nodded, careful to keep her voice and expression neutral, hiding her relief. “Yes, master. I will see it done.”
    Despite being hungry, Gwyn decided to check on Vamir before eating. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him all day, and she knew it was more than just her hope that he could give her the answers she sought. Learning about her family and home had nothing to do with the comfort of being in his arms or the deep rumble of his voice.
    His cell door was locked, but there wasn’t a lock in the citadel resistant to her magic. She opened it with a simple wave of her hand. “I’ve been sent to continue your education, Vamir.”
    Silence answered her, and she pushed the door open a few inches wider, revealing a smeared pool of blood on the stone floor. Gwyn didn’t bother calling out again. She threw open the door and rushed inside. Vamir was sprawled facedown across his pallet, and the damage she could see made her gorge rise in her throat. His was covered in bruises and cuts, some of them still bleeding. His shirt was gone, and the pants he wore were tattered and bloodstained.
    “The master is going to be furious,” she muttered as she crouched beside Vamir’s still form.
    “Not really happy ’bout this, either,” Vamir muttered thickly, startling her so much she nearly lost her balance.
    “You’re awake?”
    “Sadly, yes.” He cracked open one swollen eye to look up at her. “I’m starting to hate this godsforsaken place.”
    It amazed her that he could crack jokes in his current state. “Testing is not normally this…intense. Unpleasant, yes, but the master will be livid when I tell him what the apprentice has done.”
    “He doesn’t like it when his merchandise gets roughed up?”
    She ran a gentle hand over his back, taking inventory of every welt and bruise. “No, he doesn’t. You can’t be sold until those wounds heal. If anyone saw you right now, it would decrease your value. I don’t understand how this happened. I thought you had the ability to harden your skin so it acted like armor.”
    Vamir couldn’t be sure, but he sensed real concern buried beneath Gwyneth’s blunt words. “I can, but that nasty little apprentice fellow was playing games. Sometimes he ordered me not to shift. I guess this means you’re stuck with me for a few more days, huh?”
    “It would appear so. I must tell the master what’s been done to you. After that, I will gather up a few ointments and return to clean you up as best I can.”
    “That would be appreciated,” he said.
    The thought of her returning to tend to him did more to ease his pain than any ointment ever could. Her presence soothed him, and her delicate perfume wrapped itself around him, transporting him to sun-kissed fields and the safe havens of his childhood.
    A puff of warm breath caressed his ear, and she whispered to him in his own