I sigh, then continue my inspection of a nearby wall before rising to get a closer look at an ax I don’t recognize. “Is this one new?” I ask as my finger reaches out to test its edge, drawing a drop of blood. It’s every bit as sharp as it looks.
The responding sigh is tinged with anger. But she also expects this. It’s been many years since I cared what she thought about me. Or wanted anything from her. She’ll tolerate this and more and it’ll help convince her I don’t care much about the request I need to make.
“Sit,” she demands, frustration echoing in her voice.
I turn to see a finger pointed peremptorily at the chair I vacated, her back straight. Nodding, I stroll back toward her, plopping down to extend my legs again.
“You know you can have no secrets from me? Here or anywhere.” It’s phrased as a question but we both know it’s a statement.
“I would not keep a secret from you. I have nothing to hide.” Lifting an ankle to drop it over the other one, I stretch my arms to link my hands behind my head.
“You didn’t think I would care about your … tryst … with the elf?” She gets right to the point, as always.
“Why would you care? I found the rogue elf who’d managed to kill a trainer and subdue one of our most powerful—and stubborn—dragons. I’ve never had an elf before.” My shoulders shrug, the height of indifference. “I decided to fuck her before I turned her in.”
The Dróttning’s lips curve down, her distaste at my declaration drawing a sneer.
“How is an elf walking this world?” I add in a tone tinged with curiosity. It’s what she’d expect me to ask, even if she’d rather discuss other things.
She takes a deep breath, making an effort to hold her temper with me. She hates how quickly I can draw her ire. For a woman known for her stoic behavior, the Dróttning’s always been surprisingly emotional about me.
“We don’t know,” she says at last, her eyes looking past me toward the shackles Sifa wore when she arrived. They’re unlike anything we have in Vanatia, proof of another world—where this odd metal exists—that the Dróttning hides from her subjects. Only her most trusted soldiers enter these rooms, so she’s displayed them here for the past decade.
“Those cuffs,” she tells me, “bound an elf who appeared ten years ago with a troll and something else.” She rises to wander in that direction as if they’re drawing her toward them.
“She’s been here that long? Where has she been? And where’s the troll … and the something else?”
The Dróttning laughs, a dry sound that has nothing to do with humor. “So many questions. Perhaps you should have asked the elf before you tried tofuckher.”
She’s angry. She doesn’t often cuss, but when she does, she’s ready to draw blood from someone. I wonder if this time it’ll be me after all.
“I’ve never been one for talking first,” I respond, rising to stand next to her. My physical presence calms her. It will help me navigate this rope I need to walk. “I did intend to ask her a few questions, but we were interrupted, as I assume you’ve learned.”
Turning, her eyes sear into mine, fury sparking at me. “I shouldn’t have learned this from anyone but you. This is why you must come to me when I arrive here or anywhere. I wasn’t prepared to learn what I did.” Pausing, she places a hand on my arm, her gaze softening. “I can’t protect you if you’re not honest with me.”
I nod, resting my hand on hers for a moment before they drop away and to our sides. Physical contact is strange and uncomfortable for both of us. I’ve never been able to tolerate her touch for long.
“I apologize,” I intone at last. “I didn’t think it would cause problems for you.”
“Perhaps if this were any other elf, but this one is different. She’s dangerous.”
“Different, how?” This may be the opening I need to protect Sifa long enough to save her.
The Dróttning looks again at the shackles as she seems to ponder her response. “Ten years ago, the elf and troll arrived with some vast power source that disappeared within seconds, leaving them behind. They just appeared in an empty room. They’d been tortured—badly from what we can tell—but were alive and strong.”
“Where did they come from?”
“That we do not know. We held them for weeks and they tolerated … intense questioning … but they gave us no answers. The troll was not as defiant as the elf, but he knew nothing. The elf alone could give us information that she refused to share.”
“Why is she alive and free?”
“You recall hearing of the escape a decade ago?”
“Of course.” Until the recent one, a single prisoner had escaped from these caves. She’d expect me to remember that. “Was that the elf?”
“Yes. The elf controlled a guard’s mind, convinced him to release her and the troll.”
“That’s an unusual power for an elf.” I know Sifa’s powers well, but the Dróttning can’t realize that.
