"That's what we’ve been trying to find out for the last ten minutes.”
Fira only smiles, then shifts the conversation with a glint in her eye.
"It doesn’t matter who my favorite is. What does matter is what I learned from them. I may or may not have nestled myself tightly inbetween the two soldiers starving for affection. After it was given, they wagged their tongues like lost wolves.”
“You slept with two men at once so that you could get information? You’re a council member!” Ariano says, laughing.
She shrugs. “Most of the council is too busy to answer an old woman’s questions.”
I laugh. “I’m sure they would’ve answered anything you asked.”
“Stop interrupting. In fact, you two should be happiest to hear what I learned. It’s about the elves,” she says. Her eyes linger on me, and she nods slightly. The missive comes to the forefront of my mind again. “Apparently, these soldiers are a part of the scouts that patrol the area. And… they’ve seen nothing. No spies lurking. And when a group of them went to check on Shvathemar, they didn’t see any war preparations.”
My breath catches.
They hadn’t mentioned that in the meeting after my ascension, just explained what we are doing to prepare in addition to expanding and establishing ourselves once again. Perhaps soldiers did know more than I.
And really, I had little against the elves in general. Most of them were kind. And the few transplants in Enduvida integrated well.
But any mention of anything adjacent to King Arion makes my insides crawl. Darkness edges my vision. Soiling the brightness of the room.
Instead of thinking of the elves, I try to grasp at the threads of something else, and that’s when I remember this morning.
In an attempt to calm my racing heart, I remind myself that I lacked for nothing in this moment.
If I chose to believe Fira, then the king’s request for me was just more posturing. I could let it go. I would feel better tomorrow.
“That is good news,” I say belatedly, threading up a new section and letting the rhythm of my loom take me away.
Chapter 7
VANN
Earlier that day,
Iwake at four in the morning, ready to find Daniel before I need to report to Teo in a lower level of Enduvida. The city is still, the cavernous halls bathed in dim combination of crystals, spell lights, and giantlumikaps—massive mushrooms with glowing tops. Each flickers or glows like a distant star.
As I head towards the prison in the forging section, I count my steps. It’s a long walk and my breath fogs in the brisk cave air.
Daniel should be there. I intend to learn what his relationship with Arlet had been and why he is still terrorizing her.
Yesterday, Faol, one of the hunters, had told me that the night Daniel showed up outside Arlet’s home, he’d been detained.
He was supposed to stay for three days, and tonight, Endu willing, he would spend his time in pain.
As I pass clusters of buildings and the Ardorflame temple, I think about how, just a year ago, the caverns didn’t even need a prison. There were so few of us then—just survivors, bound by the simple fact that we had each other. Now, with so many new people, we have one yet again.
It reminds me too much of the past. Of the way things wereunder Teo’s father. Walls, punishments, control—it all served to divide us.
There is war to worry about, but now we must also be concerned about crime creeping in like rot beneath stone.
And I don’t like it. Not one damn bit.
My boots echo against the stone as I cross into the prison corridor, nodding to the guards stationed near the gate. A large, square-jawed ocean-risen enduar—Ce’Olarin—straightens when he sees me.
“Lord Vann,” he greets.
I don’t waste time. “I believe a human man was brought here two nights ago. I want to speak with him.”