The Elven Queen

CHAPTER 6

ITOTIA’S POV

I was never one to not suspect others, I was never a person who believed in benefit of the doubt, ‘suspect the worst and nothing will surprise you, stay on guard and trust no one’ that was the way of the shadow, I’ve had those words drilled Into me since the day I was sent to live by Eztli’s side, I am her Head Shadow, this position wasn’t handed to me, I earned it through blood sweat and tears so you can imagine the shame I am feeling right now as I lay on the cotton spreads of the palace bedroom provided to me in Durhgan.

How could I have been so careless?, Last night Dimitri and I were seated at the bay window in the hallway talking about everything and nothing, the last thing I remember was him telling me about his daily routine as the King’s hand,

while we were at the window, so why? Why am I in bed? In my room? Far away from that window?!! I know why, I fell asleep, ME!! I fell asleep in enemy grounds, in front of the enemy!, truly shameful, I need to get a grip, I was probably just tired from the trip and stirred from what happened in the throne room, there will surely be no repeat of this incident, ever!!.

While getting ready I couldn’t help but dread having to face Shya again, I never thought she could sound so distant and disappointed, either way I couldn't avoid her forever so here goes nothing, after steeling my mind, I swung open the doors of my room only to be tackled into a big hug followed by a shrill squeal,

“Good Morning” chirped Shya with a big grin on her face and the same bubbly smile she had on the trip here, any sign of those cold disapproving eyes gone without a trace making me question if the events of yesterday actually happened, now this is terrifying

“Morning Shya” I managed to say after the shock wore off “Look, about yesterday………….”

“That was incredible!!” she gushed out once again plunging me into confusion

“Huh?” I asked completely dumbfounded

“On the sail here you wore this cold stone mask not giving anything away, even back at home around the castle or at meetings, I’ve only ever seen you wear this mask of impassiveness like you couldn’t feel anything, your poker face was really scary, you know?” she paused to give me a pointed look, as if she was one to talk!! “..but yesterday I saw that there is more to the big bad shadow, she has her own Dam of emotions raging behind that stone wall which was beautiful but, let’s remember we are here on a mission so let’s maybe reel it in a bit, ohkay?” at the end of her speech/ Lecture she squeezed my hand while giving me a smile that said so many things, one of them being that I could do this, oddly enough this gave me a confidence boost, I felt powerful, in return I squeezed her hands as well and we both made our way to the throne room.

You really can’t judge a book by its cover, Shya is once again all smile and rainbows, she scares me a little

“Good morning Ladies, I hope you didn’t have too much trouble sleeping last night” right at the door to the throne was the second person I was dreading seeing today

“Morning Dimitri, I slept wonderfully thank you very much” beamed Shya while on I on the other hand still very much embarrassed only waved in response

“That is nice to hear, the King asked me to direct you to the conference hall so right this way?”

I wasn’t expecting this, turns out his Royalness finally decide to acknowledge us, isn’t that lovely, it is just one shock after another today the biggest being how Dimitri didn’t say a word about last night we just silently walked till we came in front of a pair of Ivory double doors, this man and his needless expenses, still, in contrast to the reddish hue of the castle this spotless ivory entrance, very well embellished, stood out even more, Dimitri pushed them open to reveal a large oak table lined with high chairs, Shya jumped up and down excitedly before making her way to her seat, sitting excited on one seat before running to sit on the next

“Breakfast will be brought to you shortly” Dimitri announced turning to leave, the shame was eating at me so I had to stop him

I squeamishly grabbed onto his sleeve, this clearly surprised him stopping him in his track staring at me then to my hand gripping his sleeve

“Umm, about last night……., I’m sorry if I caused you any trouble, I don’t know what came over me I am so sorry”

“Don’t be” He said as he took my hand that was gripping his shirt and cupped it with both his hands “.. It was truly an incredible sight seeing the infamous head of the Slyphorren Shadows look so unguarded” at this statement he gave me a somewhat of a teasing smile which raised my heckles, what happened? What I do? What did HE do? My lips parted to send him a barrage of questions, as if sensing the incoming onslaught he injected “...You looked beautiful, don’t worry, I didn’t even stare as much as you think because not long after you fell asleep, your companion walked up to me and told me to carry you to your room, her words didn’t leave much room for argument so I carried you back to your room and left, that’s all”

Companion? SHYA? She walked up to him? Had she been listening in on us? How long had she been there? Did she follow me from my room? And how the heck didn’t I sense her? If I wasn’t already, I am officially terrified of her now, as if to bring me out of my thoughts Dimitri placed another feather like kiss on my fingers and said “I need to go prepare breakfast, excuse me” with that he walked off

Going back to my seat I could feel the eyes like beams peering into me so I look up locking eyes with Shya who was giving me an all too knowing look, a smirk on her lips and glints of mischief in her eyes but ultimately giving noting away, truly terrifying “Gabor is not going to be happy about this” she said playfully, The power this woman has over her emotions is something incredible, I opened my mouth to grill her about last night but was interrupted as trolley after trolley of food was rolled into the conference room, the smell was intoxicating, in order of priority I obviously dropped the matter and focused all my attention on the plate of Durhganii delicacies placed in front of me, Kree bread, Omnar soup and Jezzle jam, remarkable.

We ate in silence the only sound filling the hall was the scraping of utensils, I cleaned out my plate, it was a basic survival skill to eat as much as possible, as the servants cleared our tables Shya got up to talk to one of them most likely asking for the recipe causing me to miss another chance to bring up yesterday, ultimately I gave up, time rolled by as Shya continued to chat with the servants, our guards standing with stoic expression and Dimitri nowhere to be seen

4 hours later the doors to the hall burst open and the king strode in fashionably late with Dimitri in tow, as infuriated as I was, I couldn’t help but appreciate Zassrael’s attire, in contrast to yesterday’s plain white Suite, Today he was dressed in native Durhganii attire consisting of an mute green Tamba wrapped around his waist like a wrapper with the front part going up, and a Kurta which was a very long shirt but the one he was wearing had a few buttons undone revealing his neck and the upper part of his chest show casing his rich Tanned skin, broad chest, his right side covered in a big black tattoo, I could see the Durhgan coat of arms peaking through his shirt, he wasn't wearing the turban he had on yesterday giving us full display of his long rich dark hair, fair to say he was a gorgeous man, a strong face with well sculpted features making him look a little older than he actually is because in truth he is only 3 years older than me, long black hair braided in a single weave and tied up in a bun over his head bunched in between his thick curved horns and a small well trimmed beard that sculpted his face marvelously, truly a sight to behold, if not for his God awful personality I’d say he was perfect, still, my eyes lingered on his physique longer than necessary, I looked away only to catch Shya shamelessly starring like he was a cut of raw beef, I’m sure he noticed because a wolfish grin curled at the corner of his lips,

Arrogant little………………., I nudged her with my foot under the table, her head snapped towards me instantly with hazy eyes, this woman in unbelievable, she’s easily the oldest person in this room and she’s acting like a teenager

Pretty or not he still kept us for FOUR hours, we deserve an apology

“Ahem” Zass cleared his throat after taking his seat at the head of the table “Good morning. I hope you enjoyed your breakfast” he said looking smug as ever, is this man seriously not going to apologize for keeping us for so long?

“Yes it was delicious” Shya said while basically jumping up and down in her seat, Traitor

“Well getting down to business, the list you provided me with the names of Elves that had gone missing recently, I went over it with Dimitri and we managed to trace their last known locations and movements” he said then beckoned a servant who brought in a folder easily 4

inches thick

I was astonished, how did he get the names?, I’m sure Shya must’ve given it to Dimitri cause there’s no way the King did all this, looking closer at him, the dark circles under his eyes said otherwise, I might’ve been wrong about him, never underestimate a King’s information network

Shya grabbed the binder and flipped through it watching the pages flap after each other then closed the binder and pushed it to the side “It looks like these elves had little to no connections with each other, some from Sylphorren others Eadins, some Lumeris but they were all targeted indifferently..." did she seriously read that entire thing in under 30 seconds?!!!! ”..One thing they do have in common though is they all frequented a certain bar at the outskirts of the Bazaar that is known for making Elven delicacies from every country and they all were last seen between roughly 10-12 PM, there is always a 7-12 day interval between the kidnappings, so what does that tell us?” this time she directed this question at me

I couldn’t afford to be outshined by her so I jumped in “Our culprit is in a rush, making him hasty, he doesn’t have a lot of friends so he works at night to avoid being caught meaning he’s most busy in the day making it the best time to corner him, since they mostly disappeared around the edge of the Bazaar he probably lured then their somehow, best case his base is nearby and we can track him, worst case, he’s a sorcerer with access to teleportation magic and his circle is there so either way we need more trackers, can I see the map of that area Your Majesty?”

He gave me a pointed look, I can understand his reluctance to just hand me a layout of his territory but this is serious, he snapped his finger and a slaved scurried off and back with a big map, laying it out I traced the area with my fingers till I came to stop at what seemed to be an entrance of some sort leading to some sort of tunnel system

“What is this?” I asked

“It’s the catacombs, they were built centuries ago in fear of sandstorms so that citizens have a place to escape to, but we haven’t had any of those so they aren’t in use” this time my answer came from Dimitri

“Can we check it out Your Majesty?” I drilled, as if watching a battle unfold behind his eyes, the King’s facial expressions morphed from one to the other before settling

“Alright then, but I will be accompanying you” to this Dimitri shot up in protest

“Your Grace that is highly ill-advised, this is clearly………..”

“This is my country if something is happening I should see it for myself” he cut off Dimitri’s protest

“Very well, I will prepare a team of trackers and have our horses be fed……”

“My horse alone, you won’t be coming with me”

“Your Grace…………”

“That will be final, we can’t leave our guest unattended to” he said glancing over at Shya, Who looked slightly offended at the assumption that she won’t be coming but she covered it instantly as if sensing a hidden meaning, she gave a curt bow of her head, Dimtri gave a defeated sigh then assumed his composure once again

The rest of the meeting was spent talking about other affairs ranging from trade to training regimen, we also decided on the team that will be going with me and the King, we settled on 8 of his best trackers, sorted out the equipment we will use and decided to leave at dawn the next day, best not let the bastard or bastards realize we are on their tail

Everything went at lightning speed from there, the horses were ready, the envoy was set and we were off at the break off dawn, personally I would’ve preferred a less attention garnering approach to this investigation, but it can’t be helped with Zass who to my astonishment kept quiet through out the ride to the entrance even more, he looked deep in thought so I decided it be best to leave him alone

At the outskirts of town it really feels like the bustling streets and busy bazaars came to a halt as there isn’t a person to be seen for quit a distance, perfect location for someone with something to hide, starring at the door that lead to the entrance my heart sank, not sure whether to feel relieved or mortified

“Something wrong?” asked Zass probably alarmed by my silence

“This door, it isn’t as dusty as it should be, someone has been using it” hearing this another wave of emotions must’ve washed over him cause of the crestfallen expression on his face “Shall we?” I asked him while kicking open the door leading downward

Instantly greeted with a smell I knew all too well, the dry air gripping at your throat, the putrid smell of human waste, the metallic stench of blood all mixed up to produce an odor pungent enough to make your eyes sting, the smell of death, not sparing the King another glance I moved down the stone stairway leading into the catacombs, the door closed behind us as if sealing us in taking away our only source of light and plunging us into darkness, I quickly pulled out an ember crystal from my pouch and chanted “T’abik” ignite, and the crystal glowed illuminating the cavern with a dim glow, I looked back to make sure everyone was accounted for before proceeding, with every step I took it was like the smell was only getting stronger

“Everyone split into teams of two and cover as much ground as possible, the king will be moving with me unless one of you thinks they are more capable of protecting him” I said while leaving my statement open for objection, the lack there of spoke for itself, we broke apart after each person took a whisper shell to keep in touch

Deeper into the cave Zass still said nothing, for some reason his silence only made me more anxious, I stopped in my track and turned to face him causing him to look at me questionably, I just gawked at him while thinking of something to say to make him feel better but couldn’t think of anything

“Well?” he asked peering at me, the pompous face I know all too well staring back at me, gone was that vulnerable expression he had on the way here, I should’ve known better than to try to cheer him up, I was about to tell him off when the smell of copper filled my nostrils this time indicating it was close by, I looked around then down to see that we were in fact standing in a small puddle of blood, the King followed my eyes and all the color drained from his face instantly, the blood was fresh, perfect

I bent down and pulled out a Quill feather from my bag dipping the end into the pool and recited “Kaxan” seek, causing the feather to suspend in mid-air for a few seconds, this was an old Sylphorren tracking spell, the fresher the blood the better, after spinning around like the arrow of a compass the feather settled on a direction then shot off, “Quick so we don’t lose it” I rushed out then darted after the feather

Left, Right, turn after turn we raced down the corridors chasing after the feather causing us to go deeper into the catacombs, we had no idea where we were going or even who the blood belonged to, what the blood belonged to, but a lead is a lead, we have to keep going, occasionally I’d turn to check on the king, despite the somewhat mortified look on his face, he was handling this really well, I’m sure his pride would never let him show any weakness in front of me, oddly enough, I can respect that, finally the feather looked like it was slowing down, then came to a stop in front of a steel cage like door then dropped to the ground, holding up my ember crystal I looked in through the bars of the door and my heart plummeted, when I find the bastard that did this, I’ll tear them apart with my own hands

Zassrael walked to my side and looked into the cage this time his face gave nothing away, I guess with everything that happened recently this must’ve finally broken him, inside the cage were Elves from all 3 countries, men, women, children, not just Elves though, there were also Ogres, all of them mutilated one way or the other, cuts, gashes, open wounds, horns torn clean off, eyes sunken, cheeks hollow and skin pale, sitting in pools of their own bodily excrement, some in worst state than others, probably been here longer than we could imagine, none of them even acknowledged our presence, whoever did this had no intention of killing them so why?

“Wil”Dim, I whispered and my ember crystal instantly went out, I grabbed Zassrael, dragged him to a corner and pushed him down so we were both out of sight, someone is coming

Not long after a burly looking whatever that thing was, I couldn’t tell cause of the large cape it was wearing, came into view, a torch in one hand and in the other he was dragging a bloody half-conscious female Ogre by her hair, it unlocked the cage and threw her in like a rag doll, I was seeing red at this point

“AAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!” what the hell was he thinking? I barely had time to process what was happening as Zass pulled out the saber on his side and charged at the unknown assailant, as soon as he was within reach he swung at it, the thing jumped back causing Zass’s blade to swing and embed itself into the steel frame of the door, the monster took this chance to make a run for it, it threw it's torch at us and bolted, as if I was going to let it

I sprung after it “call the others and get these people out of here” I said as I ran past his Royal Suicidalness and after our perp, I’ll try to bring back enough of it for us to interrogate

This rat clearly knew its way around the tunnel as it weaved from left to right, turn after turn trying to evade me but that wasn’t going to be easy, I’m a shadow, the dark is where I belong, I could see in the catacombs just fine I only used the ember crystal for the sake of the Ogres, I pulled out a dagger and aimed at it in hopes of incapacitating it but my rage made me hasty causing me to miss it's neck by a few inches, what a relief, I almost killed it, instead, it nailed the monster's robe to the walls, he tugged at it and the robe tore off, judging from his shoulders it was a man, he didn’t stop and kept running, the back of his head and horns now in full view, I realized he was an Ogre

I steadied my breathing and threw another dagger as he was making a turn hitting him in his calf pinning him to the stone support pillar beside him, without hesitation he pulled out the axe on his side and cut his leg clean off, then hopped off frantically on one leg.

Monster or not his dedication was admirable, even if it was stupid because now I was closing in on him, sensing this he brought the axe to his throat the man was going to kill himself, death is too merciful for him, I threw another dagger that flew through the air and slashed his wrist causing him to drop the axe and lose his balance, I took this chance to summersault onto the side of the corridor and launch myself at him, tackling him to the ground straddling him, I immediately pulled out two daggers and nailed his hands into the ground, I brought out another and stabbed through his jaw prying it open in case he decided to bite his tongue, he finally looked at me with eyes filled with hate and malice, a look I’m sure I was mirroring, on closer inspection I thought he was an Ogre but the horns were the only ogre like-thing he had, his skin was a dry pale patchy grey, his teeth were jagged, his pupils a pitch black and his hair a color I couldn’t point out because

of the dirt, but seriously, what is this thing?