Page 44 of Dark Elves of Ardani

“The Goddess abhors the forceful taking of another’s body,”the half-elf said coolly. Everyone in earshot turned to give him annoyed looks.

Zara glanced at him again, surprised that he was protecting them from the people he’d just delivered them to. The toneless way he spoke made her think that he didn’t really care what the Goddess said, but he knew the other Varai would. He was using his knowledge of their own goddess against them.

The guard looked amused. He leaned closer to Naika, making a show of smelling her neck, and smirking when Naika turned her face away from him. He pointedly squeezed her breast, looking at Nero.“Who’s taking anything? I’m not fucking her. The Goddess doesn’t care about humanhavni, anyway.”

A muscle in the half-elf’s cheek ticked in response to the slur.“Humanhavnilike my mother, you mean?”The camp grew quieter as the others took note of the exchange.

The guard shrugged.“If you say so.”

Everyone stilled, watching the half-elf. He and the guard stared each other down, neither moving for what felt like a long time.

But then, the half-elf turned away and sat down beside Zara. The tension in the camp dissipated. Naika’s guard flashed a self-satisfied look. Before he could continue groping Naika, an older elf caught his arm.

“He’s right,”snapped the older man.“Disrespecting a woman brings bad luck.”

“The Goddess cares nothing for humans,”the guard repeated.

“You’ll attract Ravi’s ire. We don’t need things to get any worse than they already are.”

The guard rolled his eyes, but he left Naika alone after that.

The rest of the Varai began to discuss how to deal with the Paladins, who had retreated for the moment. Apparently the elves had been planning to run, but their plans were changing now that they’d obtained hostages. Zara turned to the half-elf.

“Lovely friends you have,” she said.

He slowly looked over at her. “We’re not friends,” he said, his voice low.

Her lip lifted with distaste. “Friends enough that you tried to abduct me to bring me here. To these people who call you half-blood and insult your mother.”

“I was not bringing you here,” he said. He seemed distracted, though his gaze was on her. In the darkness, she could see his bright violet eyes shifting slightly as they examined every part of her face.

He’d taken her daggers, but he’d intentionally left her unbound even though she’d just thrashed him in a fight. The way he’d sat down right beside her almost made it seem like he was guarding her.

“Do you come from Vondh Rav?” he asked her.

Zara went rigid. He’d guessed why she understood their language so well. He’d probably guessed as soon as he heard her accent when she spoke Ardanian. He must have realized she was a slave.

Even if he didn’t mean to send her back, if the others overheard, they might try to bring her back to Vondh Rav under a new master. Slaves didn’t escape Kuda Varai often, but when they did, they were usually hunted down and brought back to be made an example of. She might not be able to contact Avan, her only hope at maintaining freedom, if that happened.

“They can’t understand us if we speak Ardanian,” the half-elf said quietly, seeing her glancing up at the others.

She swallowed tightly. “Yes,” she said. Her voice was barely more than a whisper. “Yes, I am from Vondh Rav.”

“How did you escape?”

“I did not. My mother… my master brought me to Ardani several months ago.”

He frowned a little at her slip of the tongue. “Where is she now?”

“Dead.”

Suddenly she felt overwhelmed by the situation. She was captive again, wet and freezing from the rain, and surrounded by people who wanted to kill her. The worst part was that it was all her own doing. She should not have gone with the Paladins. She should not have tried to help the half-elf, or the other Varai. Look where it had gotten her.

She watched the half-elf warily, wondering what he would do with this information.

“So you joined the Paladins to take revenge on the people who enslaved you?”

“I told you, I am not a Paladin.”

---