16. Opal
It took us merely four days to reach a snow-blanketed Zlosa.
We rode every second the sun was up and slept just long enough for our beasts to rest. Luckily, the motley gang of wolves, bears, and one towering alce didn’t hold us back in comparison with the speed of the glacialmaras.
“My tits are going to freeze right off,” one of the elves says, followed by a round of hearty laughter that I don’t join.
We are positioned on a nearby hill overlooking the royal palace. I should be searching for my wife, but my eyes follow the point of the towers, up to the top room. I stare at the spot where I was subjected to Lijasa’s attention for months on end. It’s insane that I can see the spot where her bedroom once was amidst the massiveness of the city.
When I finally have time to distance myself from the cruel memories, I bottle the torrent of emotions coursing through my body. Too many feelings will only make me sloppy.
The palace seems so big in my mind, but truly, it is small compared to the lumber yards and slave pens that stretch out endlessly in either direction, over hills, and into the trees. They have their perfectly manicured gardens a mere ten paces away from the pitiful gates that hold back their slaves.
I see no woman dragged around on a lease, so I take a moment to gaze into the city. Only a few great manors are in view, surrounded by the dozens of smaller houses for those in the lower classes. I spot the bathhouses, the barracks for the giant warriors, and the dining halls.
It is all unfamiliar to me.
All I know is the palace and all the horrors that went on there.
Is the reason that she’s not out in the open now is because she’s trapped somewhere inside the palace? Is she subjected to Rhokler the same way I was subjected to Lijasa?
It’s almost too painful to entertain.
“You look at trees as if you’ve never seen one,” a voice says behind me, much closer than expected.
I turn around, thinking they are speaking to me, but instead, I see Glyni and Ulla holding baskets full of scavenged food.
I sigh. These elves are not so bad. They have been kind enough on our treks, which is not what I expected.
Ulla shoots Glyni a wary look. “Before this trip, I saw them for mere moments and never so up close. Didn’t you know that most of our cities were underground?”
Glyni laughs. “Yes, I’m very curious as to how you survive without the sunshine.”
Ulla shrugs and taps her crystal. “I’m very curious how you survive without crystals to sing to.”
As if on cue, Niht starts to sing a common working song.
The quartz towers Ulla had set out for goodwill and peacefulness hum back—granted, he’s no Velen, but it’s a pleasant reminder of home. I know that the large crystals will soon reverberate our battle songs, but for right now, I let the elves marvel.
“Ulla, come back, please. He’s got a voice worse than a badger,” Farryn laughs.
Niht stops. “Badgers can’t sing. They just bark and hiss.”
“Precisely,” her twin Elanila says.
“Enough,” I bark, almost guilty for the irritation swimming through my veins.
They quiet and look at me.
“We are here, and now we must find Estela,” I say, practically breathless. As if to soothe me, the song that has been quiet for the last month starts up. It causes my Fuegorra to vibrate and the mating mark on my neck to burn.
I stagger, clutching my stone, and whip around to look back down at Zlosa.
I see nothing.
Estela?
Silence.
Ra”Salore steps out from behind a cluster of trees.
“We have a plan, one that you agreed on last night. Soon, I will go down to collect one of the humans. We can ask him what he knows of Estela.”
Ayla scoffs.
“Where was I when that was agreed upon? We are a part of the sisterhood. Mrath already has humans that she uses for information.”
I tighten my fists, trying to ignore the hum of urgency in the song. It needs me to go to her, but I don’t know where she is.
“Then why have you not brought one of them here?” I hiss.
She raises an eyebrow and crosses her arms. “I sent Taenya a quarter hour ago.”
I grit my teeth. “I suppose it is my turn to inquire why you didn’t tell me?”
“I don’t answer to you. I was called on this trip to help you, not serve you,” Ayla smirks.
“And what would’ve happened if I’d sent Ra”Salore down after you’d already sent Taenya?” I press.
She steps forward and points at me, her wavy brown hair blowing in the winter wind.
“If you want to know my plans, you ask me. I will not make the first move.” Ayla says.
I consider her words and concede. This is the fire I was expecting to deal with.
“Very well. What happens when Taenya comes back with your contact?”
She smiles. “We have fun.”
There’s a darkness in her look, one that I don’t trust. It reminds me that she is an assassin and not a paladin of some sort.
“You will not hurt the human,” I say with finality.
She raises her eyebrows. “He won’t be in pain, he’ll be dead. If we leave him alive, then he can be found and interrogated, and then he will certainly wish he had died swiftly instead of under the weight of a thousand beatings by a giant’s boot.”
I shake my head. “Let him free.”
Ayla scoffs.
“No.”
“We have freed dozens of slaves over the years through trades,” I say.
She appears genuinely amused. “Oh? And have any of them survived?”
I purse my lips. “The humans believe that the elves take them in.”
A few of the women listening to us now laugh.
“And you believed them?” one says.
I take a deep breath.
“When I first heard that you had no humans, I thought perhaps they had died. But I don’t think so—maybe not in your enclave, or in King Arion’s city, but humans are stronger than they look. If they didn’t find some other elvish town to spend their days, they surely would have made a place for themselves.” Saying the words feels good, even if Ayla curls her lip at Arion’s name.
I don’t fault her.
“Have it your way then,” Ayla says at last. “We won’t… dispose of the contact. We’ll let him free.”
Ulla nods approvingly. “I’ll make a pack for the man to take. We don’t need so much, especially since we will return to Enduvida soon.”
Ayla shakes her head and walks away, cursing our bleeding troll hearts, but no one says anything else.
I feel satisfied like a small weight is lifted off my chest. Now, we simply wait for Taenya to return.
Then I’ll be one step closer to tearing Rholker to shreds.