Page 16 of Sun Elves of Ardani

Over Rhian’s shoulder, Kadaki caught sight of Neiryn, who had turned to watch her. The stripes of clay on his face made it difficult to read his expression.

“The war is over. We’re all on the same side now, aren’t we?” Kadaki said tonelessly.

Rhian’s smile broadened slightly. “Very well-put. But I know you were in the army. It’s not so easy to go from fighting to working together with your former enemies.”

“I haven’t been in the army for a long time now.”

“Yes, you are technically a deserter, aren’t you?”

Kadaki’s jaw tensed. Rhian’s voice wasn’t quite loud enough for the others to hear, but it was still far louder than Kadaki would have preferred.

“Don’t worry,” Rhian said. “I don’t report to Ardanian generals, and I don’t have any interest in delivering deserters back to them. I’m not going to turn you in.”

Kadaki peered up at her, trying to determine whether there was a threat intended in those words, or if she was being sincere. In the end, she couldn’t tell. “Thank you,” she said flatly. “May I ask you something, Commander Rhian?”

“Of course,” she said, but there was a hint of warning in her tone. Kadaki pressed on anyway.

“Are you aware of the situation in town? The conflict between the locals and the soldiers? The war may be over, but there are still incidents every day.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Incidents?”

“Ysurans harassing and assaulting Ardanians. Especially women,” she added, thinking that might elicit more empathy from her. Even if she didn’t care about Ardanians, perhaps she could be persuaded to care about other females. “People are afraid to walk alone in town anymore. Just the other night a girl was attacked by two soldiers. Some people say she’s just lucky they didn’t kill her.”

At that, Neiryn looked up again, and now he was definitely frowning, as if offended by the accusation. Kadaki glared at him, unflinching.

Rhian’s expression remained neutral. “I haven’t heard anything about that,” she said with a shrug.

“Well, now you have.”

“Perhaps the girl exaggerates.”

Kadaki gritted her teeth. “And if it wasn’t just an exaggeration? Would you do something about it?”

Rhian took a breath and exhaled heavily, seeming slightly thrown off for the first time. “The soldiers you’ve seen in town for the past year are Commander Caradoc’s, not mine. I have no authority over them. But fortunately, all Ysuran soldiers are very well trained and of a high moral caliber. As long as you’re following our laws, you have nothing to fear from them.”

The hole in the ground slowly grew as Neiryn continued to point the miners toward the source of the magic with his seeker. By the time evening came, it was a dozen feet deep at its lowest point, and many paces across.

Kadaki had not planned to stay and watch the entire process, but there was something mesmerizing about it, and she couldn’t bring herself to look away. The more they dug up, the more she wanted to know what they would find beneath the earth. And was it her imagination, or was she beginning to feel a hint of magic energy emanating from the ground?

As the miners put away their tools and left the site for the day, Kadaki climbed down into the hole. She lowered herself to the ground and pressed her cheek to the damp soil. She listened. She let the heat of the evening sun and the smell of dirt and the nearby voices and the singing of birds and insects fade away as she redirected her focus to the metaphysical.

And there, coming from the ground, there was a soft, barely perceptible pulsing that hinted at something stronger, deep below.

A frisson of excitement went through her.

Chapter 5

Refka was a small but lively town of stone streets lined with timber frame houses and shops. As Roshan and Kadaki made their way to the tavern that night, the town was loud and busy. Music, voices, and bursts of song and laughter emanated from doors and windows. Despite the loud atmosphere, Kadaki had heard that it had been mostly safe here before the elves had arrived, aside from the occasional drunken fistfight.

As she and Roshan walked down the main street, people occasionally waved and greeted Roshan. As one of the wealthiest people in town and a member of the town council, he was known by nearly everyone. So was Kadaki, for different reasons, but she received no greetings, other than the occasional cursory nod from someone who had already acknowledged Roshan and didn’t want to appear rude by ignoring her presence.

She knew what people thought of her. Too serious, too awkward, perhaps even too mean. She was off-putting. Abrasive. Roshan said she was merely straightforward, which seemed like a polite way of saying the same thing.

And on top of all that, she was a mage, which made her untrustworthy at best. To most Ardanians, especially those living outside the capital, magic was strange and dangerous. People didn’t like to look at someone and know they could kill with the flick of a hand. That was the sort of thing that made people uncomfortable.

The local fortune teller, Kleo, was hovering outside her shop, waiting for customers. Her expression soured as Kadaki walked past.

Shortly after Kadaki had arrived in town, she had accused the woman of fakery, rather loudly and in front of a crowd. Kleo had been white with sublimated rage when Kadaki had even started to explain her false reading techniques to the crowd. Kadaki noticed the incident didn’t seem to have impacted her business though, so the grudge seemed rather pointless.

---