Page 59 of Sun Elves of Ardani

“You’re worried about her?” He had gotten the impression she wasn’t popular in town. Ardanians, in their typical foolish way, didn’t like mages. It had been a surprise when so many people had come to defend her after she collapsed.

They hated Ysurans more than they feared mages, apparently.

“It’s not right for her to be punished,” the man said. The anger had slowly gone out of his expression, and it had been replaced with something almost imploring.

Neiryn finally dropped his guard. This man understood, he realized. He understood that Neiryn was on her side, and he was asking for reassurance that he would take care of her.

“I’m only taking her home,” Neiryn said. “She will come to no harm. You have my word.”

The man said nothing. Neiryn turned and kept walking. He glanced down at Kadaki again. She looked sick. She still showed no signs of waking.

“Kadaki?” he said quietly.

She gave no response. The collar gleamed on her neck.

* * *

Neiryn avoided the dig site,instead going to the front of the house and entering without alerting anyone, and brought Kadaki to her room. He was about to lay her down on the bed when he realized her eyes were open. She was looking up at him, her gaze heavy-lidded.

He stopped mid-step. He had been dreading her reaction when she awoke. He had known she would blame him.

“Take it off,” she said.

His throat felt tight. “I can’t.”

Her face broke. He could see the betrayal and hurt in her eyes.

He set her down on the bed. She covered her face with her hands, but he could see the pain consuming her.

He looked away. He felt disgusting. He wanted to crawl out of his skin.

The collar would be even worse for a mage than it had been for him. Magic was a part of them from the moment they were born, and the collar’s enchantment forcibly separated them from it. It would feel like starvation. Like unquenchable thirst. Like being deprived of breath. Like being trapped in a tiny cage with no key. It was a horrible device.

“Take it off,” she said again. “Please.”

“I can’t.”

“Neiryn, please. I can’t take this.”

He had anticipated her being angry. This was worse.

He sat on the edge of the bed, wanting to reach out and touch her, and at the same time hating the idea of laying a hand on her. He didn’t deserve to touch her. She would probably recoil from him. “Kadaki, think for a moment. Even if I had the key for the collar and were able to remove it so you could run, the others would not tolerate a loose rogue mage. They’d come for you and arrest you and send you back to Ysura to be imprisoned or executed.”

Her chest was rising and falling quickly with panic.

“It gets better,” he said. “I promise. It will never be pleasant, but you’ll get used to it. The first day is the worst by far.”

“How long must I wear this?”

“I don’t know. Perhaps until we finish with the ruins…” As he said it, he realized how unsustainable the situation was. They would neverfinishwith the ruins. They were too big. The axis required too much maintenance. It would be an ongoing project forever. There was no way she could wear a collar for that long—for the rest of her life, possibly.

It was too much for him. He felt like he was going to vomit. He got up to leave.

“Wait,” Kadaki said quickly. “Don’t leave me alone.”

He paused. “Should I get Roshan?”

“No,” she said quickly. She looked up at him with tired eyes, her face pale, her hair dark and drying in waves. She looked awful and beautiful. He wanted to hold her.

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