Chapter 12 Izzy
IZZY
I disguised myself as an elf, one of the many illicit forms my grandmother had acquired over the years.
This elf was exquisitely crafted to have all the elven traits, without standing out in any way.
Non-elves would see an elf and let them pass, while elves would likely dismiss their rather “mundane” cousin.
That got me to the sigil point in El’Anderyn, and back to campus, travelling with Lhorine and my grandmother, with Safir as our attendant. We’d decided we could all go together since I wasn’t myself and nobody was looking for two elves, a nymph, and a shifter.
Once back on campus, I quickly found Tala in the lesser residence, showed her my true form, and explained to her the plan to have my grandmother look like her for the dominion match.
“It will still be dangerous for you,” I said, “simply by associating yourself with me, and by going against Saldrea in an active way.”
Tala knew this, I could see it in her worried features.
“We can hide you, get you off campus for a while, till things die down,” Grandma Oli offered.
“I will be creating a safe place where you could stay,” Lhorine added.
Tala sat heavily, slumped in her desk chair. I had no idea what she might be thinking. Then her jaw went tight as she drew in a deep breath. She’d reached a decision.
“Many of us have known for ages that Saldrea and her mother are bad for this realm. If there is something I can do to stop them, I will.” She looked at my grandmother. “I’m not strong, but if you could train me… maybe I’ll find some way I can help… eventually. For now, yes, I’ll allow this.”
Then my new friend, whom I barely knew, but who had more of a backbone than I’d thought, turned to me. “And I want to stay. If you have some place you’ll be hiding on campus, I’ll join you. We can train together.” She smiled.
I returned her smile. “Thank you.” I went to her as she rose, hugging her tightly. “I have so few friends in this world, it’s good to know you’re one.”
“After this, you’ll probably be my only friend, so… here’s hoping this all works out,” she whispered. I realized then how much she was giving up: her life, her freedom, going into hiding… all for me.
I embraced her all the tighter.
Olinara took a picture of Tala on her phone, which she’d use to turn herself into my friend later.
Lhorine assured the nymph that she would construct a hidden place off campus for all of us to hide and train.
Though… if we lost the dominion match, Lhorine would take Tala with her when she left campus.
Next, we went looking for Rook.
Once again, I ventured out hidden as an innocuous elf, Safir led us to Svokol’s office. Lhorine knew the dwarf, if only in passing, so she led our little group in to see him.
“We’re looking for a man in your service, the incubus Rook,” she said, voice silken and soft.
Svokol eyed her. “Why?”
Lhorine smiled. Safir had assured us Svokol was no friend of the crown, but this was still a risk. “We’d like to recruit him for the dominion team fighting against Saldrea.”
Svokol’s brows shot up. Instantly his gaze searched the four of us, landing on Olinara and lingering there before he nodded, then looked at me.
“Izzy?”
A keen man indeed.
“Yes,” I said, and let my form return to my nymph self.
“You’ve gotten good at that in a very short time.” His gaze slid to my grandmother. “But I suspect you had a good teacher.” He rose and bowed to Olinara. “Inamora Eofine,” he said with reverence.
“Always nice to meet a fan,” she said, brushing off the formal greeting. My grandmother’s reputation preceded her, it seemed.
Svokol righted himself. “Rook has been laying low in my residence. I’ll escort you.”
The dwarf led us from his office to a moderately sized house in the nobles’ residence area.
I once again hid myself. And while we walked, I marveled at how things had progressed in less than a week.
This man had been the one who’d taken me from the human realm.
It said a lot that I didn’t think of it as “earth” anymore.
I’d been terrified of Svokol then, furious at being kidnapped and taken from my life.
I’d been even angrier — certain Svokol had something against me — when he hadn’t stepped in to stop Saldrea from assaulting me in the middle of his class.
But now… I knew the lay of the land. Svokol hadn’t been able to speak out against Saldrea, no one could, not without repercussions. And from everything Rook had said about the man, he seemed like a decent and fair master, if not one who tolerated fools.
And here he was helping me now.
I shook my head at the strange contradictions of this world.
Svokol’s house looked small, but only a small portion of it was above ground.
Dwarves lived below the earth, and the main floor of his house was a large and well-lit sitting room for receiving guests, but the rest was underground.
We descended into halls exactingly cut from stone, clean and spacious.
We found Rook in a large workout and training room.
He was stripped to the waist, sweating, throwing himself at fire-proof practice dummies, striking with fists and fire in equal measure.
I’d never seen the man fight, and he seemed to be going all out, working out some deep aggression.
When I’d first met him, he’d been steamy and tempting.
I’d learned since then that he could be soft and warm and friendly.
But this was a new side to him: dangerous and deadly… and damned hot!
As an incubus he probably sensed my momentary spike in arousal. He stopped suddenly and turned toward us with a surprised twitch before we announced ourselves.
“Izzy!” he breathed, and his entire aura shifted from sexy, sweating warrior to sexy, sweating playboy.
I’d reverted to myself once we were safely inside, and his gaze landed squarely on me when he’d turned.
A shiver thrilled over his skin, making all the little hairs on his body stand on end…
But then he blinked and growled, mumbling something to himself, before shaking his head and looking away.
When he looked up again, he made a point of not looking at me.
“Master?” he said, addressing Svokol. “What is this?”
I sensed his unasked question: what is she doing here?
“Izzy needs a team for dominion. I know you’ve never played, but she wished for you to join her.”
Rook’s jaw dropped, eyes wide: a deer in the headlights.
When he finally blinked himself back to reality, he looked at me again. “You want…?” He tore his gaze off me, back to Svokol. “Won’t that expose you? I can’t go directly against Saldrea. I… we’ll… it’s a death sentence.”
Thanks for the vote of confidence.
“I can talk my way out of it,” Svokol said. “Tell everyone Izzy seduced you.” He eyed Rook and me. “Something tells me that’s not far from the truth. I’ll have to distance myself from you, but only in public.”
Rook seemed heart-stricken to hear that. He really did appreciate his master, it seemed.
“No… I can’t leave you… you’ve been so good… You’ve done so much for me.”
Svokol’s voice and demeanor turned hard, a default for the dwarf. “I have been good to you, and now I’m asking you to do this. Will you deny me?”
Rook was completely taken aback.
I was surprised myself. I had no clue why this dwarf was putting himself out there for me. Though, from what Safir had told me about the man, he had a good heart. He wanted freedom for the dwarves and other races.
“No… master,” Rook said, defeated. “I’ll do it.”
Wow, what a resounding acceptance.
My anger rose. What was it with Rook? Why was he suddenly so distant? Had I done something? Why did I get the feeling he didn’t want anything to do with me? Had my explosive outburst the other night truly pushed him away? Maybe that was it.
I sighed, frustrated but resigned.
Vyns would help me, which meant I had my team of four. That was all I needed to face Saldrea.
As for whether we could win…?
Rook didn’t seem to think so.