“Well, if you boys won’t be needing me.” Claire stood up and brushed the leaves from her pants.
Bren had asked Aeron to show him some archery techniques. Much to Claire’s dismay and very much to Aeron’s delight, he gladly obliged. Wanting to observe, Claire stuck around, watching quietly from the sidelines while being almost wholly ignored. Boys and their toys.
Archery not being her primary interest, Claire dismissed herself, garnering only a nod from the men. Now would have been the perfect chance to escape if only the other elf was thrown into the mix.
She made her way through the thinning forest back to the camp they’d set up earlier. Much to her surprise, the elf in question sat on a log in front of the fire as he unwrapped the bandage on his left arm.
She hesitated, heat slowly rising to her cheeks. After their little talk the other night, she had a hard time facing him, only doing so once to return the small silver flask. The fact that it was half empty by then only added to her embarrassment. But why was she in the first place? It was only him. Though some of the things he said to her that night weren’t entirely bad. Unexpectedly sweet really, filling her head with unnecessary thoughts. Scary thoughts. The Ice Prince was melting, and she wasn’t so sure she hated what she saw.
With a deep breath, she stepped forward. He didn’t look up, but she was sure he knew she was there.
“I can help.” She smiled broadly and straddled the log next to the elf. Mother definitely wouldn’t approve of her seating preference.
Farron glanced at her, eyeing her with suspicion. “I think I got it.”
Claire knocked his hand away and grabbed his arm. “I have to start repaying my debt somehow.”
He studied her for a moment, then shrugged and looked away.
She began to unwrap the bandage but realized she had no idea what to do. The most she’d ever had to deal with was a cut finger occasionally in the bar. Mother always called for Mr. Shubert, the town’s doctor, for anything serious, or just took care of it herself if it wasn’t.
“Well, that doesn’t look so bad.” She examined the shallow cut just above his elbow. The wound had scabbed over but had opened up a little from exertion. “What happened to that salve you used that one time?”
“It seems we lost more than the paddles down the river, my lady.” Farron looked sideways at her, an eyebrow slightly raised.
“Oh.” Her shoulders slumped. She supposed that was her fault as well. After glancing around the camp, she jumped up and grabbed a canteen and the shirt they had used to help hide the mark after the thieves attacked. “I knew I saved this for a reason.” She sat back down, grabbed his arm again and stretched it out. “No use crying over it now, right?”
Farron winced slightly as she poured some water onto the wound. It seemed like elves didn’t heal any faster than humans. That was interesting to know. All those stories about them being special, but really, they seemed no different than humans. However, that could be the result of losing their magic. If they were to get it back, would they be any different? It could explain why the elves were so anxious to discover what her powers really were.
“Come to think of it, I’m surprised you could get injured at all.” She began to wipe the wound dry with a corner of the shirt. “I mean, you’re the toughest person I know.”
His gaze remained on the fire in front of him. “Yeah, well, even I can be caught by surprise sometimes.” A grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Three against one just isn’t fair, you know?”
“What happened?” Claire gripped his arm, fingers digging into his skin. “You didn’t kill them, did you?”
“Was I not supposed to?”
Her hands squeezed his arm tight as her stomach dropped along with her jaw. Farron flinched and quickly pulled his arm from her grasp.
Then a smirk stretched across his face.
She sighed, took his arm again and began to wrap the shirt around it. Nothing fancy, but it would have to do.
“I almost believed you for a moment.” She jerked the bandage tight around his arm, making him flinch again.
He was quiet for a few moments and then asked, “Do I frighten you, my lady?” His voice held a rather sad note.
Claire smiled and said, “I’m shaking in my boots!” But the look he shot at told her he wasn’t joking, and the amusement quickly faded from her face. She hadn’t thought he was serious about the question. “Honestly,” she began, “you do sometimes.” He tensed slightly, but before he could say anything she continued, “But I’m more afraid of what you can do, what you’re capable of, than who you are. I don’t believe you are a bad person at all, even though you seem to want others to see you that way.”
“I wouldn’t hurt you, you know that, right?”
She looked at him for a moment, studying his profile as he stared into the fire, finding only a hint of uncertainty on his carefully controlled face. A slight smile spread across her lips and she looked back down at the task at hand. “I know.”
She could almost feel his tension melt away. She wasn’t sure why he cared enough to ask, or why it would even matter. Wouldn’t it be better for a prisoner to be scared of their captor? Besides, she already knew he would never hurt her, not on purpose anyway.
They grew quiet once again. Now that she had the elf alone, it would be the perfect time to ask him about the bracelet. But given his affinity for secrets, she may have to wait until she had some more leverage. Then she could pry the truth from him. So instead, she remembered something else that Fran had spoken of that night.
“Who was she, Farron?” Her eyes concentrated on her hands as she tied the bandage off.
“Who was who, my lady?”
“You can relax. Fran told me about her already.”
He looked at her, eyes slightly wide, before a smug expression slipped into place. “That woman always did have loose lips.”
“So there was a woman!” Claire exclaimed, her back sat straight in excitement. She knew it! She couldn’t believe that trick would work.
Farron sighed, picked up a stick at his feet, and started to poke at the fire. “My lady, you’re starting to get rather sly.”
“So, what was she like? I think she’d have to be quite the woman to put up with you.” She leaned back on her hands, pleased that she’d found out one of his precious secrets.
“That she was, my lady.”
Claire waited for more but he remained silent. “Is that all?”
“What else is there to know?”
“Well, was she a human? Where was she from? What happened to her?” She leaned forward toward the elf.
“I’d rather not talk about it.” He threw an unhappy glance her way. “Why are you so interested, anyway?” He leaned in close, studying her face.
Heat flushed her cheeks. Why was she? “I’m not.” She swung her leg over the log to face the warm glow of the fire. She hated that she was becoming increasingly curious about the damn elf’s past. Why did he try so hard to hide it anyway? Was it just plain curiosity? Or did she really want to know? “Tell me about Rodem,” she said, changing the subject.
“You’ll find out soon enough. We should arrive there the tomorrow.”
“Already?” She quickly looked back at the elf. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You’ve been rather hard to find lately.” He broke up the stick he’d been playing with and threw it into the fire.
She had been avoiding him recently. In fact, she’d almost done it earlier when she saw him sitting by the fire. She opened her mouth, but didn’t know what to say. So, she settled for silence instead. Then her stomach fell as she realized that their journey with Bren would end in Rodem. The fire offered an entrancing distraction as she delved into her thoughts. What would happen then? Would she have to say goodbye to him forever?
Millions of questions seemed to race through her mind at once. “Fare,” she said, her voice a little breathy. She didn’t like to think too much about their mission and the fac
t she was a prisoner, but maybe, just maybe she could finally get some answers. “What do the elves plan to do with me?”
“I don’t really know, my lady.”
“Am I going to be a prisoner for the rest of my life?” Just thinking about it was enough to make her nauseous. “What can I do for them that someone like you can’t?” She held her right hand up between them. “It’s all because of this thing, but what if it’s not what they thought it would be? Then what? Am I just going to be cast aside like some sort of useless object?”
The elf looked at the mark, his eyes avoiding hers. “I don’t know, Claire.” He gently lowered her arm.
Claire dropped her gaze. Worry sat heavy on her shoulders. That’s what happened when she ignored her problems for so long. They start to build up and gather dust, waiting for her to open the door again. They don’t ever really go away unless she faced and dealt with them.
“Would it make you feel better if I let you beat me up?” Amusement laced his voice. “I know how much you’ve been wanting to.”
She looked up at the elf, surprised at the sudden change in subject, and laughed softly at the ridiculous offer. “Why, how did you know?”
Farron shrugged. “Just a hunch. I’m very perceptive, you see.”
Claire lowered herself to the ground and leaned her back against the log. “You may regret those words one of these days. I just might take you up on your offer.”
Exhaustion hit her hard. It was strange how stress could do that. She stripped off the purple over-shirt, folded it up and stuck it between her head and the rough bark of the log. Farron’s soft laughter followed her down into sleep. Yes, he’d regret that offer.
Rodem was unlike anything she had ever seen before. High sandstone walls filled with carved reliefs of people and animals surrounded the city within. A majestic square gate opened up to the main street, paved with flat gray stones. Streamers hung across the thoroughfare in every color, the strips of fabric blowing in the breeze.
Merchants were everywhere, shouting out their goods to be sold. Most of the men and women wore colorful tunics, draped loosely around their bodies. The rest were a mish-mash of different styles, each belonging to a different region, long sleeved and furred from the north to light linens from the south and everything in between. Everyone had gathered for the tournament it seemed.
Claire rushed ahead of the group. The energy of the people crowding the streets filled her up to the brim. Never before had she seen so many different kinds of people gathered in one place. It was overwhelming, and a little exhausting, as well.
Great, rounded, sandstone columns lined each side of the wide street leading into town, the tops carved into some sort of flower she didn’t recognize. The brick buildings were low, one or two stories, with terracotta roofs. Colorful tile mosaics decorated their walls and seemed to sweep from one structure to the next in a wave-like design.
A massive round building dominated the end of the road, like a centerpiece to the city. Columns and arches made up the walls, with glints of the same colorful mosaic work. That had to be the coliseum.
“Miss Claire.” Bren grabbed a hold of her wrist before she could disappear behind another group of people. “Please don’t wander too far off.”
“I’m sorry.” A flush crept up to her cheeks. “I’ve never seen any place like this.” She glanced around in awe before she took off again, dragging Bren along with her.
She stopped on a bridge spanning a river and leaned over the railing to look down at the water rushing by underneath. Small canals branched off the main one to carry water deeper into the city, something she’d never seen before.
“Miss Claire.” Bren turned to her and took her hand in his. “I’m afraid I have matters to attend to.”
“Of course.” Claire beamed up at him, but her stomach sank. “I hope your journey with us wasn’t too unpleasant.”
“Well, I’ve arrived in one piece, haven’t I?” He smiled back at her, but then his face grew more serious. “Miss Claire, I would like to see you again, if possible.”
Heat rushed up to her cheeks again. “I would like that too, General.”
“Then meet me tomorrow in front of the coliseum. It seems we made it just in time for the opening games. I would very much like to accompany you.” He lifted her hand up and laid a soft kiss on it.
“Of course, Bren,” she squeezed out, her throat suddenly tight. “I will see you then.”
Claire watched as Bren disappeared through the crowd of people. Would tomorrow be the last day she would see him?
“My lady, you must be tired,” Aeron said from behind her. “Shall we find a place to stay for the night?”
She spun around, her hands on her hips. “Aeron, I didn’t travel all this way to spend my time in an inn.”
Aeron chuckled. “Well then, my lady, lead the way.”
He held his arm out and she took it before she pulled him into the crowd. There was no point in sulking in an inn all night. She might as well make the most of her situation.