Page 6 of Dark Elves of Ardani

So it wasn’t these humans who had killed Kashava. Merely other humans like them. That wasn’t entirely comforting.

“There’s a village not far from here,” Theron went on. “Our home base for the moment. We’re heading back there after this. We’ll take you with us and find you a place to stay. You’ll be all right. We’ll take care of you.”

Her heart clenched. She didn’t know these people, but everything they’d said so far seemed genuine. She was a stranger to them, but they wanted to help her. “Thank you,” she said uncertainly, because she didn’t know what else to say. She had a hard time reconciling this kind treatment and their jovial demeanor with the way they’d ruthlessly killed all the Varai. The elves’ blood was still flecked on their armor.

Theron smiled, giving her a reassuring nod. “Is there anything you need? Medical attention?” As he spoke, he beckoned one of the others. Zara recognized her as the scowling woman from before. She was still scowling.

“No,” Zara said quickly. The last thing she wanted was some strange doctor touching her. “But…”

He looked up at her. “Yes?”

She almost stopped herself, but he seemed eager to help. “My…” She paused. He would be confused, and perhaps angry, if he realized she considered a Varai woman to be her mother. “...my friend, one of the elves, was killed the other day. I want to take her body back to Kuda Varai.”

Theron stared at her. He exchanged a look with the scowling woman, who narrowed her eyes.

“It’s a long way to carry a body,” he said diplomatically.

“Perhaps. I would still like to go back to Kuda Varai so I can tell her family of her death.”

“You want to go back?” Theron said slowly. “To the people who enslaved you?”

She glanced away, biting the inside of her cheek. He didn’t understand. “Someone must tell her family,” she insisted. “If you could please give me some directions, or maybe a map, I would thank you.”

The scowling woman crossed her arms, glaring in Theron’s direction. Theron’s expression was more neutral. “I think it would be for the best if you came to the village with us,” he said.

Zara lifted her chin as she eyed them both, trying to work out whether she was still a captive.

Theron came closer and knelt in front of her. He rested a gloved hand over hers. “I know this must be difficult and confusing for you. I have no desire to cause you more distress, or to force you to do anything. But please, come with us. Stay in the village for a few days. Get some sleep and some hot food. Give yourself time to think.” He smiled up at her. “Does that suit you, Lady?”

She found him hard to dislike. “All right.” By then, the others had finished searching the camp and were gathering to leave.

“Come. We’ll go to the village,” he said, pulling her up. She followed him to a deer trail that led down the mountain.

Chapter 3

The sun in this part of Ardani, which was a rare enough sight in itself, was weak and cold. She shivered, and Theron removed his red cloak and draped it over her, on top of her own ragged, thin cloak. She clutched it around herself, wondering if he was about to demand something in exchange, like Jura had. But he only smiled at her.

She could feel the other Paladins’ eyes on her as they walked. But when she peered around at them surreptitiously, their expressions held only sympathy and interest, not animosity. Except for the scowling woman. She was still watching Zara like she thought she might bolt at any second. Zara didn’t dare, if only because of the way that woman was glaring at her. She looked strong. She looked different from the others, of Uulantaavan ancestry, with golden-brown skin and ink-black hair falling to her shoulders in unkempt, stringy waves, framing a soft but severe face. Everything about her was intimidating in a wild, quietly aggressive sort of way.

“That’s Witch-Paladin Naika,” Theron said.

Zara gave the woman a guarded nod. “Well met.”

“She doesn’t speak, so you needn’t try to talk to her,” Theron said. “She won’t take offense. She’s used to it.”

Zara glanced up at Naika to see what she thought of that, but the woman gave no reaction.

“She does not speak?” Zara asked.

“She contracted The Withering in childhood. She’s not had a voice for twenty years.”

They had a different name for the disease in Kuda Varai, but everyone knew it—a sickness that affected the airways. It killed many who contracted it and left others with broken lungs and voices. “How does she communicate?” Zara asked.

“She doesn’t have much to say, fortunately,” Theron said wryly. “But she follows orders very well.”

“Is she a slave?”

Naika gave her a sharp glance, exhaling hard. Theron’s eyebrows climbed.

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