Page 72 of Dark Elves of Ardani

He’d gone completely mad.

She pulled the bucket from the well and washed the blood and dirt from her face, then sat against the wall of the well, peering up at her Paladin guards. Was there any point in trying to talk to them? Could they be reasoned with? Judging by the cold looks they gave her, she guessed not.

She was relieved to see Basira come out of the inn a while later, uninjured and unencumbered by Paladins. But the Paladins stopped her when tried to approach. The same happened to Tahir some time later when he tried to convince them to let him treat her injuries. She was surprised to see him shouting and gesticulating forcefully. It was the first time she’d ever seen him angry.

Others tried to come near several times. An older couple she’d never spoken to before tried to throw something rotten at her. Someone else spit at her.

She had resigned herself to the belief that she was universally hated until the evening, when a few of the regulars from the inn tried to bring her food, apparently having noticed that she hadn’t been given anything to eat all day. Her heart was warmed, even though the Paladins chased them off. Everyone was turned away.

She expected Theron to come back to question her again, but she didn’t see him at all. For all she knew, he’d left the village. To her relief, no one stopped her from getting water from the well, and her guards eventually took her on a trip to relieve herself.

When night fell, one of the Paladins tossed a blanket to her. It did not help much. She shivered through the entire night. She didn’t remember sleeping, but she must have been unconscious at some point because in the morning, she found that someone had drawn symbols of Paladius and Astra in the dirt around her, as if to ward off the influence of any dark gods or demons.

Theron returned with his Paladins that morning. Her heart sank as she saw him coming toward her. There was some kind of greenish salve spread over the cut on his face. It had been neatly stitched together, but it still looked awful. And without magical healing, the scar would be massive and permanent. Zara took satisfaction in that. Even if he killed her, he’d never be able to undo the damage she’d done in exchange.

Naika wasn’t with him, she noticed. Zara hadn’t seen her at all since the previous day. She worried for her.

Theron knelt in front of her, his frown deepening as he looked her over.

“It pains me to see you like this,” he said.

Zara wanted to throw up. She looked away from him.

“I know there is a good person deep inside you. You’ve been led astray by the night elves, but I know you could choose the right path if you wanted to. You have only to reach for the hand Paladius has offered you.”

She understood now why Nero had refused to speak even when they’d tortured him. What was the point? What could be gained from speaking to someone like this?

Theron waited. When she didn’t respond, he stood, his expression hardening. “I want you to ask Paladius for forgiveness, and I want you to tell us what you know about the elves.”

She said nothing.

“Answer me,” he snapped.

She felt the anger building in him as seconds passed. An audience of Paladins and other villagers had gathered nearby, and she embarrassed him by defying him. Even without looking at him, she could sense his humiliation transforming into outrage. She braced herself for the sting of his gauntlet against her face.

But then he walked away. Zara thought she might have been granted a reprieve, but then he came back holding a broom.

“I will ask again,” he said, turning the broom to hold it near the bristles. “Will you admit your sins and ask Paladius for forgiveness?”

Zara said nothing. She gasped as the broom whipped down against her side.

“Speak.”

The broomstick hit her again in the same place, and the sharp pain against her ribs made her cry out. She flinched, holding up her hands to keep the broom away from her, but she couldn’t stop the rain of blows that came. Eventually she lay curled in a ball on the ground, flinching with each sharp impact against her arm, her thigh, her back.

Finally, the blows stopped. There was a ringing silence filled with stinging pain all over her body.

“I will continue asking you every day until you concede, because I know you have it in you to see the light,” Theron said. He sounded breathless, as if the effort of the attacks had tired him.

Zara couldn’t help the fear that skittered through her as he spoke. She had thought he would simply lose his patience and kill her, and somehow that seemed a less terrifying possibility than this going on for days or weeks. How long could she take this before she broke?

Theron left. The small crowd dispersed again at the urging of the Paladins.

The villagers kept their heads down and avoided the well as much as possible. They all stayed far away from the Paladins. It was exactly what Theron had wanted. The entire village lived in fear now. Fear of the elves, and fear of the ones protecting them from the elves.

“Zara?”

She flinched, then opened her eyes. She’d been asleep, she realized, and the sky had grown darker. It was almost evening. Tahir crouched in front of her, frowning deeply. The Paladins were standing behind him, watching.

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