by Eric Vall
Aurora and Cayla flanked me while Shoshanne drifted at our backs and admired the valley, and the few elves who crossed our path only bowed to their leader before they continued to disperse for the evening.
“Thank you,” Deya said sweetly to the leader as he led her a few paces ahead of us. “I did not expect to see you as you are, but I am honored to have seen your home with you today.”
“It’s an honor to share it with you,” Luir replied. “I have worked hard to maintain what our ancestors built here. My efforts with the students evolve with each passing year, and their freedom to explore uninhibited has greatly aided in the discovery of so much that has been lost to our race. Innovative minds are truly invaluable. You will tell your brother this, I hope.”
Deya smiled her appreciation, but she didn’t respond, and Cayla casually stepped up to join the pair ahead of me.
“It was fascinating to see your students at work,” the princess mused. “They’re so dedicated to their studies. Do each of them create their own runes as they please, or are you instructing them on the application of the runes your ancestors used?”
“Both,” the leader replied as we began to follow the path with the columns stacked on either side. “There are limits to rune magic that are difficult to explain, but any experimentation has always been done under my personal supervision. Each new endeavor is thoroughly investigated and approved beforehand, but unfortunately, not all things can be understood simply by trial and error. As I mentioned, death is not something I am willing to risk where my students are concerned.”
I knew the limits he was referring to were the unknown elemental lines, but I was curious how many, if any, the head of House Orrel had discovered the use of with the help of his students.
“I’m sure you can probably predict the outcome of most experiments,” I said, “given your years of experience.”
The leader paused at the arching doors opposite the entrance.
“You would be surprised,” he finally remarked and parted the doors to stand aside for the women. “Then again, perhaps you would not be.”
The leader turned to mount the stairs while I remained where I was for a second and considered the statement, but when I arrived at the top of the stairwell behind the leader, all of the women had stopped dead ahead of us.
Then a familiar, inky black figure caught my eye.
“Nulena, my darling,” the leader said as he brushed between my women.
Luir held out his arms to the Baroness, and my pulse hitched as I watched the woman slip her hands into his and send him a smirk I recognized.
Chapter 11
The Baroness spoke tenderly in Elvish as Luir pulled her against him, and all of us stared openly except for Deya. She just looked naturally confused to see a head of House display intimacy toward a human without reserve.
Aurora nudged me. “Looks like you’re not the only mage with a fancy shirt,” she muttered.
The leader turned around abruptly as if he’d forgotten we were there, and he led the Baroness over with her slender arm wound around his own. Her inky legs were exposed from the crook of her thighs down, and she clearly had nothing on except for a shirt quite similar to my own.
I held the Tenebrae Mage’s two-toned gaze while she sauntered over, and there was something cryptic in her expression that hadn’t been there when she stroked my cheek in the jungle after murdering Onym if front of us all.
“Forgive me,” Luir chuckled as he presented the obscure woman. “This is the Baroness Batonova of Rajeene.”
We bowed our respect, and when I looked up, the Baroness’ eyes flicked away from me.
“I recall this group, I think,” she said to the leader with a sultry smile. “These are the ones who came to the hall of the Elven Council, yes?”
“Yes, but look,” the leader replied with half a grin, and he pointed at Aurora. “The mutt’s still alive. Isn’t that astounding?”
Nulena appraised Aurora with an admiring eye before she said, “Astounding.”
“This beautiful woman was not among this group, however,” the leader continued, and he gestured toward Deya next. “She is the nearest thing to royalty I could present you with in Nalnora. Miss Deya Naera of House Quyn.”
Deya dipped her head to the Baroness, but I could tell she wasn’t sure which of the woman’s eyes to look into.
The jet black one or the ghostly white.
The Baroness curled her lip as she eyed the beautiful elf up and down. “A beauty,” she purred, and the leader nodded his agreement.
“Truly,” he mused, then he leaned to speak more privately to the Baroness. “She’s the one I mentioned.”
The Baroness raised her brows only slightly, and I could have sworn she flicked her eyes toward me for the briefest second.
“You are determined?” she asked carefully.
Luir cocked a brow and challenged the Baroness with a greedy grin. “You doubt me?”
“Never,” Nulena purred and melted into the leader’s arms.
Deya blushed deeply while the two spoke quietly about her, and the leader chuckled when he noticed her reaction.
“We’ve embarrassed the sprite,” he muttered to the Baroness, before he laid a kiss on her inky cheek. “I will be in momentarily. There is something I must attend to.”
Baroness Batonova curled her lips once more and turned her back on us without another word, and the leader enjoyed the view as she sauntered off and disappeared through a door at the end of the hall.
Then he let out a low sigh. “Your quarters are just this way,” Luir informed us and led the way to an alcove of spiraling steps. “I will have your meal brought up to you since I’m sure Deya would only despise me if I arranged a feast for her.”
He sent a wink over his shoulder as we came to the floor above, and the place was barren except for the vines that crept through the large opening at the end of the hall. Luir stopped at a dark wooden door with a single torch mounted outside, and this time, he took Deya’s arm himself to wrap it in his own.
“Mason Flynt, ladies,” he said with a broad grin, and he pushed the door open for us before he patted Deya’s hand affectionately. “And you shall have my own mother’s old room. It’s just this way.”
Deya smiled, but her free hand reached out and looped Aurora’s fingers with hers.
“Defender Solana stays with me,” she told him sweetly.
“You keep her like a pet,” Luir said. “How adorable.”
I half-expected Aurora to light his silver hair on fire right then, but she sent the leader a coy smile as she pulled Deya from his arm.
“Meow … ” she murmured.
I snorted so loudly the leader jolted a little, and he cocked a brow at the pair of women when the half-elf slid her arm around Deya’s waist.
“Which way?” Deya asked with an innocent smile.
Luir cleared his throat and sent me a look of concern. “Qiran is aware the mutt is travelling with you?”
I flashed the leader a grin as charming as the ones he’d been donning for us all day.
“Certainly,” I assured him and clapped him hard on the shoulder. “I should have mentioned … Defender Solana is Deya’s personal guard. I’m sure you can understand. You did have your eyes on House Quyn the other night.”
Luir’s serpentine eyes glinted with recognition. “Ah yes … ” he mumbled, and he furrowed his brows slightly as he studied the chilling look Aurora was sending his way. “Follow me, I suppose.”
I watched the two women sidle off behind the leader, and he moved almost mechanically as if having Aurora at his back finally shook his confidence. He led them to a small archway near the stairwell, and Aurora flicked her emerald eyes my direction before they disappeared down another hall.
Cayla and Shoshanne exchanged a glance. “She’s not going to … ” Cayla mumbled before she trailed off.
“I doubt it,” I muttered, but I waited there for a moment to be sure I didn’t sense any sparks in the
air.
When we entered the chamber, I was relieved there wasn’t a speck of velvet in sight. The same dilapidated stonework comprised the entire room, and an alcove cut out from the wall housed a large bed with pure white silken sheets.
Two torches flickered from their mounts on either side, and a small stone seat sat at the base of the one circular window.
“He may be creepy,” I mused, “but he’s got a damn fine house.”
“You caught that, too?” Cayla muttered as she slid her rifle off and propped it in the corner.
Shoshanne placed her bow beside it, but she kept her pack of shuriken strapped to her thigh. “I thought he was nice.”
“It’s Nalnora,” Cayla reminded her.
“Right?” I snorted. “I can’t decide what he’s got in mind, but there’s something up his sleeve.”
I glanced out the window across the bluing valley, and there were still a few white-robed elves crossing the footpaths in the grounds down below.
“Wasn’t he just showing Deya around?” Shoshanne asked as she crinkled her brow.
I shrugged. “He was,” I allowed, “but I got the feeling he was nearly as focused on me, which is a new one.”
“He did say you were one of the most interesting things to arrive here,” Cayla pointed out.
“Exactly,” I said as I leaned out the window to look along the stonework of the building. Then I came to the bed and lowered my voice as I settled in beside Cayla. “I’m only interesting to the elves who want something from me. Everyone else settles for trying to kill me.”
“He doesn’t seem to want to kill you,” Shoshanne mused.
“Not yet.” I grinned. “Look around for a rune on the wall, it has two perpendicular lines running horizontally and a few spirals coming in from the top and bottom.”
“What’s it for?” Cayla asked as we stood and began scanning the stones.
“It keeps any sounds inside this room from being heard by others,” I explained. “The windows are open here, and there’s four others surrounding ours.”
“Does the rune work with windows?” Shoshanne asked more quietly.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “We’ll have to ask Deya when she gets here.”
We finally found the rune chiseled into the bottom corner of one of the walls, and a few minutes later, a light tapping echoed at the door.
I opened it to find Aurora and Deya waiting, and the two quickly slipped into the chamber without a sound.
“Don’t speak,” the beautiful elf whispered at once, and she flicked her eyes toward the window.
“That figures,” I muttered.
“Are we being listened to?” Shoshanne mouthed.
Deya shrugged, then she leaned a little to whisper in my ear.
“Luir’s room is directly below this one.”
I sighed and considered the open window once more as I nodded.
Then I pulled the beautiful elf in for a kiss before Aurora took her hand to lead her back to the hall.
“Sunrise,” the half-elf mouthed, and the two women left as quietly as they’d come.
Cayla looked at the bed. “Now it’s too big,” she sighed with a sad little smile.
After a white-robed elf delivered two heaping platters of exotic fare for us, we ate and curled up together in the silken sheets. The two women tossed restlessly in the large bed, and I couldn’t help but feel like it was way too empty as well. Eventually, they fell asleep with their legs knotted around mine, and I lay awake for another few hours listening to the owls hooting out in the valley.
Somewhere near midnight, I heard the murmur of the Baroness’ voice from the window, and I silently crawled out of bed.
I leaned out the window a ways and recognized the timber of Luir’s voice speaking quietly below, but I couldn’t make out the words from where I stood. The two conversed for only a few minutes before the Baroness gave a seductive moan, and I shook my head.
Another owl hooted from the rooftop as I returned to the bed, and just as I was drifting off to sleep, I wondered if the leader would still be alive when we woke up.
Cayla and Shoshanne were already dressed with their weapons strapped to their backs when I managed to get my eyes to open again, and as I groaned and rolled over, I smelled a familiar pine scent drifting around the room.
“Meow,” I muttered with a grin as I scruffed my hair and worked to get my limbs going again.
Aurora chuckled and laid herself against me to curl in my arms.
“I missed you,” she mumbled with her lips tucked against my neck.
“Did you kill anyone last night?” I yawned.
“No, but I broke into the library with Deya,” she giggled.
I opened my eyes. “What?”
Aurora sat up, and Deya perched herself in the half-elf’s lap with a mischievous grin. “We weren’t tired,” the beautiful elf said. “So, we stole some stuff.”
I sighed. “You didn’t think those eyes of his might be watching?”
“No one saw us.” Aurora shrugged. “Watch this.”
Deya slid her necklace off and wound the chain around her wrist before she shackled the half-elf to her in the same way.
Then the two flickered and vanished from sight, and I heard Aurora give a giddy giggle.
I smirked. “What’d you take?”
“Books,” Deya said as she reappeared, but Aurora was invisible until the elf removed the chain from her wrist for her.
“Many books,” Aurora clarified. “Although, I don’t know why you’re bothering with his lineage. The rune books seemed way more useful.”
Deya shrugged once more and strolled over to the window, and she leaned far out to breathe the cool air of the early morning.
“You might want to take a walk,” she said to the pale orange sky.
“Yeah, we need to talk,” I agreed, and I got up to pull my clothes on.
“Not with us,” the beautiful elf clarified, and she came over to hold her necklace out to me. “Luir has visitors.”
I furrowed my brow. “Who?”
“Aeris and Pyrs arrived before daybreak,” Deya said quietly. “They’re waiting for him right now.”
“Son of a bitch,” I growled, and I grabbed the necklace as I strapped my holster on. “Meet me in those gardens.”
“No,” Deya warned. “There was a transmuter in the back corner. We’ll wait west of the lagoon.”
I nodded and kissed the women before I slipped the pendant over my head, and as the colors of the world faded, I silently left for the hall and made my way back toward the entrance of House Orrel.
I took the back way around the grounds to the chamber where we’d waited to speak with Luir the day before, and I found Pyrs and Aeris sitting stock straight on the stone bench side by side.
It was hard not to chuckle at their livid expressions while they waited to be seen, and neither of them said a word to one another for nearly a full hour.
When the doors at the top of the staircase opened, the same two guards emerged and beckoned the Elite leaders forward, and Aeris let out a tense sigh as he brushed some flecks of moss from his robes.
Then he adjusted the diamond chain around his waist, and Pyrs straightened his golden rings as they mounted the steps.
I followed only inches at their backs, and when we entered the towering chamber, the aged leader of House Orrel was wheezing from his place at the stone table with the Baroness at his side.
“Hello again,” Nulena said with a slight bow.
Aeris looked down his nose at the woman with disdain and nodded curtly.
“Baroness Batonova,” he muttered. “I did not realize you would be joining us today.”
“Luir is not well,” she told the Elite leaders.
They exchanged a brief glance, and the head of House Orrel gave a raspy cough that seemed to rob him of every bit of breath.
Once he’d recovered, he swayed with exertion, and then he took a long and rattling breath before he sp
oke.
“Gentlemen,” he wheezed. “What can … I help … with?”
“Thank you for receiving us,” Pyrs said with a deep bow. “We came as soon as we were informed of the mage Mason Flynt’s arrival. He is currently in residence at House Orrel, I believe?”
Luir swayed gently and nodded.
“My dear friend,” Aeris sneered as he stepped forward a few paces. “It seemed prudent we travel to meet with you immediately for the good of your household. This may shock you, and I do apologize for causing any disappointments to you at such a difficult time, but I must inform you Mason Flynt has been deceiving us all.”
Something haggard tried to work its way from Luir’s dried lips, but it was unintelligible, and the Baroness leaned in before she spoke for him instead.
“Explain yourselves,” she commanded, and Aeris clearly disliked her lofty tone.
I furrowed my brow and posted myself against the side wall where I could observe everyone at once, and not even a shadow shifted around me while the rising sun illuminated the chamber through the many circular windows.
“I am sure you are aware I received Mason Flynt at House Aelin only a week ago with Miss Deya Naera,” Aeris began. “He arrived under the guise of being her head guard, and I kept a close eye on him while he was with us there. Not only did he lie about this position as Deya’s guard, but he entered into a contract with myself, which was thoroughly breached shortly after.”
Luir stared listlessly at the tabletop. “What … contract?”
“Mason Flynt and I reached an agreement regarding my guards,” Aeris explained. “I am sure you have trouble recalling, it was many weeks ago, but the mage demonstrated a lethal weapon within the hall of the Elven Council, and I commissioned him to create a few of these weapons for my personal guards.”
I cocked a brow and wondered if a few usually meant a hundred and fifty in Nalnora.
“Why?” Luir wheezed, and Aeris shifted slightly.
“There was a threat made against my life,” he replied vaguely. “I believed the only proper measure was to prepare for the worst, but I am certainly not the first among us to employ the mage.”
