Page 10 of The Daughter of the Scarred Elf

Kolfinna almost laughed. “The Royal Guards paint everything in shades of gold and silver. And I mean that literally.” She pointedly glanced at the plain gray walls and the stone-tiled floors. Even as they walked down the stairs and beyond the bends of the hallway, the brutally simple building design left much to be desired. The Royal Guards’ headquarters had paintings on every wall, plush rugs and runners in every hallway and room, fancy carvings in the trim, and so many little ornate things that seemed unnecessary. Seeing this place made something sink in Kolfinna’s chest. It almost felt like a prison.

Inkeri turned a corner just in front of her. “The Royal Guards might have more wealth and prestige, but the job sounds … unappealing. Patrolling the city, catching criminals, and enforcing the law? Boring.” She shrugged, and they passed a cluster of male soldiers hanging in the wide hallway; their laughter and conversation died down, and they stared at Inkeri as she passed by. “I prefer fighting magic beasts and exploring underground tunnels and running through beast-infested forests.”

“It’ll certainly be a new experience,” Kolfinna said, glancing over her shoulder at the men. Had they not noticed her, or were they too entranced by the beautiful woman by her side?

“Oh,certainly.” Inkeri smiled and this time it seemed to reach her eyes, as if passion was lighting her up. “It’s incredibly fun, I think, the exploratory part of what we do here. I assume all the other military bases are different because they focus on different things, like protecting the border or hunting particular magic beasts. But since we focus on the border between Rosainand the Mistlands, we see so many strange creatures.Especiallythese past few months.”

Kolfinna thought back to her last mission, where she, Blár, Magni, Eyfura, Nollar, and Yrsa were exploring the forest of Great Divide in order to find the origin of strange magic beasts encroaching onto the lands. She thought of the horse creature, the Nuckelavee, they had faced, and how monstrously powerful it had been and how they had almost died.

She didn’t find anything fun about that.

Even as she spoke, the Nuckelavee’s heavy hooves sounded in her mind and its ghastly, skinless appearance made her shudder. “How has that been, by the way? Facing new creatures you’ve never seen or heard of before?”

Inkeri paused for a moment and her strides slowed. “It’s unsettling, some of the things I’ve seen, but fascinating at the same time. I really do wonder why these creatures are suddenly coming out now.”

It was still a secret that there was a rune barrier between Rosain and the Mistlands, and that Kolfinna’s party had found a broken section of the barrier.

“But”—Inkeri tucked a strand of hair behind her ear—“it’s fun discovering things no one has ever seen before. Like just last month, I saw a skeletal monster that wasmovinglike it was alive.”

“Oh. You mean a draugr?”

Inkeri’s eyes widened and she stopped in her tracks. “You know what it is?”

“Yes.” Kolfinna moved out of the way as soldiers passed them by, seemingly headed in the same direction as them. “When I went to the Eventyrslot ruins, I faced them and there were writings about them in the ruins.” She shuddered to think about when she had faced those undead creatures and how she had seen them again during the West Border mission.

“See. That’sfascinating.” Inkeri shook her head. “I’d love to hear more.”

As they entered a dining hall, Kolfinna noticed a few soldiers—particularly the men—glance at Inkeri surreptitiously from time to time, and it confirmed what she had suspected—Inkeri was probably the most beautiful woman in the military base.

The dining hall was similar to the canteen in the Royal Guards’ headquarters. Neat rows of tables filled the majority of the room, and it was completely packed with a sea of gray uniformed soldiers. They talked and laughed and ate, their conversations humming through the room. Inkeri guided her to the front of the hall, where cooks were ladling food into bowls and handing them to soldiers. A cook ladled a brightly red, steaming stew into a bowl, where chunks of beef, carrots, and beets floated to the surface, and handed it to Kolfinna and then another to Inkeri.

“The only downside to being here is having to work with certain people,” Inkeri said as she grabbed a plate full of crusty bread, white cheese, and sliced strawberries from another cook, who handed Kolfinna a similar platter.

“I think that goes for every profession,” Kolfinna said, thinking of the few times she had to work with Farthin and Gisela and the many times she had to work with guards who clearly abhorred her.

“Hm. I suppose.” Inkeri maneuvered through the crowds of soldiers and set her food down on an empty section of the long table. A pitcher of water was already placed on the table, along with a few upside down cups. Inkeri flipped two, filled her cup, and then did the same with the other. “We’ll be working together a lot in the future, since we’re in the same little group.”

Kolfinna took the spot across from her and sat on the worn, wooden bench. There were various people on either ends of the table, but they weren’t close enough to be actually sitting withthem, even if they were on the same bench and table. “By groups, do you mean like a unit?”

“Sort of. So we’re all one big unit here since we’re under Lieutenant General Bernsten. This is the main base for the western border, but there are two other forts the Lieutenant General is in charge of. We’re the main force or the main unit. But within this unit, there are smaller groups that he has assigned us in. We don’t move as a giant unit for every mission. Most of the time we go on missions with our small group.”

Kolfinna tore a chunk of the bread and dipped it in her stew; the bread soaked up the oily red liquid instantly and when she ate it, the salty, meaty flavor exploded in her mouth. She stirred the stew with her spoon, her stomach growling. She had, admittedly, expected the food here to be bland, boring, and unable to compete with the delicacies the Royal Guards had, so she was pleasantly surprised to find it suited her palate.

She reined herself back into the conversation. Groups. Units. Being under Sijur Bernsten. “Are the groups designated by roommates?”

“Again,sorta.” Inkeri folded cheese onto a piece of her bread and nibbled on it. “Our roommates are decided based on our group. So we’ll only be roomed with our group members. Once again, it’s not like an official group, so people get moved around all the time.”

“Like Brenda.” The woman Kolfinna had supposedly replaced.

Inkeri sighed. “Yes, like Brenda.”

“She’s still …” Kolfinna lowered her spoon. “She’s still here, though, right? Like, I didn’t completely replace her, did I?”

“Oh, yes, she’s still here.” Inkeri waved to the room. “Somewhere, but she won’t be working with our group anymore.”

That was a relief—she didn’t want to be the reason someone was kicked out. Not that it was even logical to think like that; the military wasn’t like the Royal Guards, who limited who could become a guard. The military accepted just about anyone.

“Who is part of our group?” Kolfinna gave a sweeping glance at the crowds of soldiers milling about.

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