Chapter 102:
Elven Witchcraft
Silas weakly looked up, a stream of light coming in through the open dungeon door. A hulking shadow, one Silas had never seen before, entered the room, engulfing the small area in his mighty mass. For only a moment, the shadow’s eyes caught Silas’s, and the two beings stared at each other curiously.
When he stepped out of the way, the small figure of a woman stepped into the room, bringing a flickering torch with her. Her dramatic expression and fine clothing, as well as her sudden visit, stirred an exhausted curiosity from Silas.
She said something, but in his weakness, Silas could not hear her.
She spoke again, her tone stronger, heavier. She was angry. Yet, Silas was too weak and tired to care.
Silas closed his eyes, the light of the torch shadowed with his heavy lids. He leaned his head back, but a few steps and a rough hand grasping his chin forced him to open his eyes again.
A breath away was the young woman, glaring down at Silas’s face, looking into his fatigued eyes. Her shadow protested, but she snapped him away, refusing to move her eyes from the elf.
“You-” Charlotte paused, her expression full of shock, her grip on his chin weakening, “You’re not a woman?”
Her hand fell from his chin, and his head slumped. His chin tingled painfully from the forceful grab. A bruise would no doubt form on his chin.
Silas, having rested his eyes for the past few moments, felt a wave of dizziness overtake him as he quickly sat up from the wall, his green eyes focused in front of him at the sudden intruders. He had long since opened his eyes at their arrival, but the chronic fatigue never faded from his bones as he was stuck in this prison.
“No.” Silas answered simply in a hoarse voice, replying in his typical Yursinean accent, surprising Charlotte as she stared at the male elf with some wonder, curious as to how that animalistic elf had learned to speak so clearly with such an accent.
Hearing him speak in that way, it was almost comical. Did he learn that from Clarence? He must have, seeing as they spent so much time together. Or is this part of the elven witchcraft I’ve heard so much about? Charlotte wondered, but she restrained her wandering thoughts as she began to question the prisoner, wanting to know what the elf had that kept occupying her husband. Bewitching little minx.
“Who are you?” Charlotte asked coldly, trying to rein in her emotions.
Silas fell silent, feeling the pit in his stomach the more the young woman said to him. Silas felt if he gave the woman any information, he would suffer the consequences of both his and her actions. Did Clarence put her up to this? Is he trying to torture me even more? What a fool. Silas maintained his silence, feeling too exhausted to care.
“Basch.” Charlotte said, turning her head slightly to face Basch, who stood at a close distance between Silas and Charlotte, his eyes fixed on the elf.
There was only a short pause before Basch strode over to Silas, his eyes fixed on the weak elf’s figure as he stood, towering over Silas with a heavy air of oppression circling his built frame. As the man stood, he lowered his hands, reaching forward towards Silas as he wrapped his large hands around his neck, his fingers tightening until the skin underneath was pushed down. Silas felt his windpipe tightening, the chain around his throat growing tighter and tighter, until he could no longer breathe. Basch’s grip, as tight as it was, was more than enough to incapacitate him.
“W-what are you doing?!” Silas managed to choke out, his voice scratchy as his face began to turn a splotchy red.
“Answer the question.” Basch said as he turned towards Charlotte, as if urging her to ask her question again, “Or else.”
Charlotte stepped close to Silas, her cold eyes burning into his, “I’ll ask you again, who are you? If you refuse to answer again, my knight will kill you.”
Silas wanted to reach his hands up between the man’s arms, to push his arms away, but his arms were chained to his sides, making it so he had to sit and suffer until the man released his grip on his thin neck. Silas caught his breath, coughing and choking as the color returned to his pale face. His lips were full of moisture as he stared at Charlotte with weak disgust.
“Silas.” He said, his voice thin and scratchy. “That’s my name.”
Charlotte hummed, “Silas? No last name?” She thought for a moment before she said, “Ah, I almost forgot. You creatures don’t have last names. How uncivilized.” She curled her lip, crossing her arms as she stood above Silas. “Why are you here?” Her words were biting, regarding Silas as less than a living being.
“Because I’m an elf.” Silas said weakly. “Ask Clarence.”
Charlotte was becoming fed up with Silas’s words, but she knew his condition was poor. Restraining her growing anger, she asked with a sneer, “You act like the two of you are so familiar, calling him by name like that.” Bitterness still dripped from her words, however.
Something’s not right. The princess thought. To keep him in the dungeon like this, even treating his wounds… what is Clarence doing? There was a growing pit in the bottom of Charlotte’s stomach, something telling her that there was something wrong with this situation, something wrong between this elf and her fiancé.
“What is the relationship between you and my fiancé?” Charlotte’s tone fell cold.
Understanding Charlotte’s position, Silas could not help but crack a smile as he said in a sarcastic tone, ignoring her question, “You must enjoy torturing elves too.” Silas said weakly with a snort, his voice almost inaudible. Charlotte stepped forward, tempted to slap the insolent man before Basch grabbed her hand with some force, his expression hard as he stared towards the door, his brows knitted.
Basch’s words were sudden. “Lady Charlotte, get behind me.”
Charlotte was confused as she asked with a raised brow, “Why?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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“Your highness, please-”
“I said move, now!” There was no mistake, it was Clarence’s voice.
“Please-!” The servant’s voice rang out again, but the prince did not respond. Instead, there was a banging sound, followed by an audible yelp. The footsteps only grew closer, until they were right at the front of the door.
“Open the door.”
The lead knight could only open, quickly unlocking the door without a word. With a creak, the heavy door opened, and Clarence’s tall figure filled the light of the door, his shadow stretching to reach the edge of Silas’s feet on the ground. His face was dark, full of rage as he stepped forward, his gaze never leaving Silas’s sitting figure.
As he approached Silas, Silas sat still, staring forward towards Clarence with a flat gaze as the prince bent down, looking at Silas’s face with a peculiar frown. He lifted his bare hand, raising his fingers until they held the edge of Silas’s chin, where the singular bruise rested. It had already begun to turn red and purple, marring his pale white chin with an injury. Wordlessly, he moved his fingers down, trailing his hand to Silas’s neck.
What is he doing? Silas thought, holding his still pose as he continued to stare at Clarence, whose expression had fallen another degree, his fingers brushing against the dark bruise on Silas’s neck. Feeling the pressure on his neck, Silas grimaced, causing Clarence to retract his hand and stand, staring forward with a still expression, pensive.
“I told you not to come here, yet here you are, disobeying my orders.” Clarence said slowly, his voice oddly calm, slow. “Now you injure my things?”
Basch held Charlotte behind him, his eyes narrowing as Clarence slowly turned on his heel, turning his back to Silas as he stared blankly at Basch and Charlotte. The color in his eyes shone, burning bright in the dim dungeon. His fists were clenched at his sides, yet the expression on his face was strangely calm, his lips flat.
“Whoever harmed my prisoner-” There was a silent pause between his words before he continued. “I won’t forgive them.”
…
“A coffee, please.” Eva said, slowly lowering herself onto a bar stool. The bartender, who had glanced curiously at Eva, then Adora, nodded before he slipped into the back room attached to the quiet, empty bar where Eva and Adora had gone to talk.
Adora looked at Eva wearily, annoyed that she had to wait even longer to hear news of her closest friend as she sat down on the bar stool next to Eva. She waited in silence as Eva sighed, covering her face with her gloved hands before she ran her hands upwards and through her hair, destroying whatever semblance of order her hair had previously retained. Eva did not even fix her hair after, she simply moved the hair that fell into her face behind her ear, sighing again.
Adora opened her mouth to speak, but the bartender returned, placing a steaming mug of dark brown liquid in front of Eva. He glanced at Adora, but she held up her hand, shaking her head, and he moved to the other side of the bar to give the distressed women some privacy.
Adora waited to speak until Eva took her first sip of coffee, sighing in disgust as she did so.
“This needs sugar.” Eva mumbled, reaching towards the sugar container sitting on the bar counter.
“What happened to Silas?” Adora asked, looking forward as she placed her hands on the counter surface.
Eva sighed again, dumping a large quantity of sugar into her drink. The white mound quickly sunk into the steaming drink, disappearing without a trace. As she briskly stirred her coffee with her spoon, Eva shook her head, “We were going to be overrun. Silas didn’t want that to happen, so he led the guards away from us. We set up a rendezvous point, and waited for him for hours, but he never arrived. I had to make a decision, so we assumed he was captured and left. Past that, I don’t know.”
Adora slammed her fist on the countertop, shaking Eva’s drink. As Eva wrapped her hands around her drink, the bartender looked over in alarm.
“I’ll pay for any damage she causes.” Eva said with a tired smile. The bartender wearily nodded, and turned back to cleaning the bar.
“So you just left him?” Adora asked heatedly, clenching her aching fist that she had slammed onto the counter.
“Did you have a better idea?” Eva asked, sipping at her coffee again. This time, her sigh was a pleased one, “Should I have waited around for days, running the risk of being caught or his family dying of their injuries, just on the off chance Silas would find us? If he managed to escape, he knows where to go, and if not…” Eva did not finish her sentence. Instead, she took a long sip of her coffee.
“You should have sent his family here and gone back and gotten him, that’s what you should have done!” Adora snapped, her voice a heated whisper.
“Listen to me, Adora.” Eva said, putting her drink down as she turned to the frazzled young soldier, “When Silas went in alone, using the crown prince’s cousin as his access to his family, he knew he probably would not make it out alive. He willingly took on that risk. And do you know why he did that?” Eva paused, glaring at the young soldier beside her, whose eyes began to mist at the meaning behind Eva’s words, “Because he wanted to save his family. That’s all he’s ever wanted to do. And he did it. So if he did die, he died accomplishing the one goal in life he had. He gave his family a second chance. And he got to see them once more. Do you know how many people would willingly give their lives for such a chance? To see their loved one alive and well one last time? To be able to tell them how much you love them and how much they meant to you?”
Eva’s voice began to strain with emotion, her words not only about Silas, but also about herself. Adora shook her head, looking down, “He’s not dead. He can’t be.” A single tear rolled down Adora’s flushed cheeks, her eyebrows crunching together, “Silas is too strong to die like that.”
“Maybe not.” Eva said, turning her body back forward. She finished her coffee with one final gulp, then placed the mug down, “But there’s nothing we can do right now. My team is fractured as it is. I’ve got to focus on who I can save.”
“So you’re abandoning him?” Adora asked coldly, angrily wiping at the tears running down her cheeks.
“I’m focusing my energy on who I can save. Even if he’s still alive, which is highly unlikely, there’s no way we’re going to be able to get anywhere near the palace for a long while. Long after he’s dead.” Eva sighed again, her chest heaving with the heaviness of her sigh, “I’m sorry, Adora. I wish I could have done more. But I will take care of Silas’s family and make sure they are comfortable. And I’m going to refocus back on my main mission. I know you are grieving right now, but when you’re ready, I would like you to join me. No tricks or manipulations this time. I am sincerely offering this to you, and it is your choice alone whether you join me or not in this fight.”
Adora squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to believe what she was hearing. Even the pain in Eva’s voice had no effect on Adora, who had become numb. Eva glanced over at Adora, then looked at the bartender.
“Could we have two glasses of bourbon?” The bartender glanced at the time on the clock. It was near closing, and usually, he would not serve any more drinks, but the expressions the two women carried was enough for him to nod and grab two glasses.
When he placed the smooth, dark liquid in front of the two women, Eva grabbed hers first. She held it up, the ice clinking in the small glass, and turned towards Adora.
“To Silas.” Eva said wearily. Adora grabbed the filled glass in front of her, holding it up momentarily before she threw back her head and consumed the smooth drink in one gulp. As the drink burned down Adora’s throat, she coughed, and Eva chuckled, tapping her back.
…
A crack of a twig awoke Cordelia with a start. As she jumped up, grabbing a nearby stick as a makeshift weapon, she glanced around her. With the sun now high in the sky, Cordelia could easily see her surroundings. Everything was still and quiet, even her once burning fire had extinguished to a small, crumbling pile of black char. The forest was quiet too, but Cordelia was sure of what she heard.
What was that? One of the men sent to kill me? A wild animal?
Anxiously, Cordelia collected her things, periodically looking around her as her ears strained to hear any odd noises. Her stick never left her hand, and she flung her bag over her shoulder as she began quickly walking north, keeping her back to the river as she watched the forest line.
Another twig cracking almost sent Cordelia into a frenzy. Her heart was racing, pounding loudly in her ears. Her once calm hands began to shake, vibrating the stick she held close to her.
Why won’t it reveal itself? Cordelia glanced behind her, looking at the lapping river that calmly flowed behind her, Maybe I should swim to the other side of the river? I was always a decent swimmer at home.
Bushes to Cordelia’s right, mere feet from where she was standing, began to rustle, and in a panic, Cordelia ran into the river.
I don’t want to die! Cordelia cried to herself, too terrified to feel the sting of ice cold water on her legs as she ran into the river, I don’t want to end up like Annmaria! Then Victoria’s sacrifice will be for nothing!
“Hey! Stop!” A voice cried out, someone emerging from the bushes behind Cordelia. Cordelia, in her terror, was too afraid to turn around, so she kept pushing forward, the water getting deeper and deeper and the current growing ever stronger as her wet clothing began to weigh her down, “You fool! You’ll die if you do that!”
Mom! Dad! Save me! Cordelia’s pace slowed, her wet dress feeling like the weight of another person as she dragged her feet. She had not eaten a proper meal in days, and it was only after days of sparse, fitful sleep that she was able to get a little rest. Cordelia already had little energy, and what she did have was quickly becoming drained.
The water was just past her waist, but she found herself already tired. She looked at the other side of the river, the sudden fear of not making it to the other side from exhaustion setting in.
“Stop! You’ll never make it!” Cordelia could hear the water splashing behind her as someone entered the river behind her, but her exhaustion and fear slowed her to almost a stop.
Is this how I will die? Cordelia thought to herself, too exhausted to cry, and too scared to move.
“You idiot! Just stay there!” An angry voice cried behind her, quickly making their way to her. Cordelia could not bring herself to turn around. She was too terrified.
Still, she glanced down at the moving river. The current was powerful enough to take her away if she wanted to. She would most likely drown in the process, but it would be better to die on her terms, Cordelia thought to herself. As she buckled her legs, letting the strength of the current begin to sweep her legs from out under her, a hand grabbed her arm, pulling her back.
Cordelia gasped as a strong hand yanked her backward, knocking her off her feet as another hand wrapped around her waist.
“What are you doing? How daft are you?! You could have died!” The voice angrily shouted, yanking Cordelia back as she used the last of her energy to try to fight off their grip. This caused their grip to tighten, pulling Cordelia against their body as they pulled both of them back to the safety of the river’s edge, “Stop fighting me! I’m trying to save your life!” They cried, but Cordelia was too scared to listen. Her instincts were guiding her as she kicked and hit, scratched and screamed like a wild woman.
At the river’s edge, the person who dragged Cordelia threw her at the river’s edge, then quickly got out, grabbing Cordelia’s hands as she screamed as loudly as she could.
“Stop!” The voice cried, putting a hand over Cordelia’s mouth. Finally, Cordelia opened her eyes and looked at her captor. Looking back at her with disgust, annoyance, and a little fear was the face of a wiry young man, his face flushed and beaded with sweat from dragging a fighting Cordelia back from the river, “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to scare you, and I mean you no harm. If you promise not to scream, I’ll take my hand off your mouth.” Cordelia glared at her captor, her shaky, tired breath blowing out of her nose and onto the young man’s thin, rough fingers. Cordelia nodded, glaring at the young man, so he slowly, carefully released his grip on her mouth.
She remained silent, but she dragged her body away from his grip, her wet dress sinking into the sand beneath her. The young man held up his hands in response, lowering himself to his knees, then onto his bottom.
“You don’t mind if I sit down, do you? I’m kind of tired from having to drag you fighting and screaming from the river.” Cordelia glared at him, refusing to say a word, “Okay then. I’m going to reach into my bag and grab my canteen, okay? I need a sip of water.” He kept his eyes on Cordelia, but reached into his bag strapped to his back, pulling out a small canteen. He sloshed it around, listening carefully to the water slapping the inside of the canteen, then slowly opened the lid, taking a long sip. A stream of water dribbled down his chin as he guzzled the water, sighing with relief as he swallowed the last bit. He looked at Cordelia again, then held out his canteen, “Do you want a sip? It’s just water.”
Cordelia looked suspiciously at the canteen, then shook her head.
“More for me then.” He passed the sleeve of his long-sleeved shirt over his chin to catch the water dripping from his chin, then put the canteen back where he pulled it out from, “So,” The young man began, looking back at the river, “What were you doing in there? It looked like you were trying to run from something.”
“Why were you watching me?” Cordelia asked back, ignoring his question. Her throat was dry, and it made her usually melodic voice scratchy.
The young man laughed, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck, “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to. You looked like you were lost, but you also looked kind of crazy, so I wanted to make sure you weren’t a crazy forest woman before I offered my help.” He awkwardly looked up, meeting Cordelia’s eye, “You’re not a crazy forest woman, right?”
Cordelia sighed in disgust. What an odd man. At least he’s not here to kill me. If he was, he wouldn’t have saved me, or he would have killed me when he had the chance. Cordelia grabbed her stick, then tried to get to her feet. She had no energy in her legs, so she immediately fell back down, gasping in shock and embarrassment. The young man watched this, throwing his hand over his mouth as he tried very hard not to laugh. He shot his eyes away as Cordelia glared at him, her face growing red as a beacon in embarrassment.
“If you have the energy to laugh, why don’t you help me to my feet?!” Cordelia snapped, pushing her long hair out of her face in annoyance.
The young man smiled wryly, leaning back on his hands as he leaned back, “If you don’t have the energy to stand up, how do you think you’re going to be able to walk?”
“Don’t worry about it!” Cordelia snapped, shakily putting weight on one leg. The young man quickly rose to his knees, putting out a hand to stop Cordelia. To her surprise, he did not touch her at all, just held his hand out towards her. It was now that she noticed the young man had rather small hands for having an athletic build.
“You’re not going to get anywhere being this tired, so just sit down and rest for a few minutes,” The young man said, noticing Cordelia’s stare as he pulled his hand back to his side, “I’m tired too, so I won’t do anything to you. So just rest for a while.” Cordelia glared at the young man. Though she did not want to show any weakness to this strange man, with her adrenaline finally waning, fatigue ran through her body. With one last glare, she lowered herself onto her back, looking up at the blue sky above her. Though she would never say it aloud, she was so happy, even for now, that she was alive.
“What’s your name?” Cordelia weakly asked, her voice coarse.
He did not answer at first, surprised by Cordelia’s question, “It’s-It’s Kivah. My name is Kivah.” Another moment of silence, “What’s yours?”
This time, Cordelia was silent, closing her eyes for a moment as she said, “Patricia.”
“Can I ask what you are doing out here, Patricia?”
“No.”
“Fair enough.” A chuckle, “Do you have anywhere to go?”
Cordelia thought of what to say, then answered, “I’m trying to get home.”
“Through the forest? I don’t mean to offend you, but you don’t seem like the type to travel through the forest.” Kivah tousled his short black hair with his hand, his almond-shaped blue eyes moving to the side as he stared at the forest then back at Cordelia with a frown on his pale lips. He was tan, most likely from walking outside in the sunlight for prolonged periods of time. Cordelia did not think he was the type to be a forest dweller, after all.
“You ask a lot of questions.” Cordelia twitched her fingers.
“Well, I was going to ask if you wanted to join me for the rest of my journey, but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to ask a madwoman.” Kivah said with a laugh.
“Where are you going?” Cordelia asked, honestly curious, though still suspicious of the odd young man. Though she was exhausted, she rose up on her elbows to stare at the young man.
“I’m heading to the village just a few miles north of here. I’m meeting an old friend there.” He looked at Cordelia, and his face softened slightly with pity as he stared at her, “I don’t know where you’re going, and I probably can’t help much with getting you there, but I can help you get back to civilization.”
Cordelia looked away, annoyed by the look of pity as she lowered herself back down. I can’t trust him, but I’m not making much progress. I don’t even know where I’m going anymore. Though it is odd that he’s in the forest all alone, I don’t know if I have much of a choice other than to follow him.
“Alright. I’ll come with you. Only until we reach the village though. I can get myself home from there.” Cordelia felt some strength return to her with this newfound hope, however faint it was. She sat up, groaning as she did so.
“Let’s eat first, then we can start moving.” The young man said, rubbing his stomach as he pulled his bag in front of him. Reaching his hand in, he pulled out a small loaf of bread. A small pull ripped the bread in half, and he held out one half to Cordelia, sinking his teeth into the other half.
Begrudgingly, Cordelia took it, chewing on it silently.
“Thank you.” Cordelia whispered, looking down at the quickly diminishing bread.
“You’re welcome.” Kivah said, stretching his legs out as he looked over the river.
…
Note: While Kivah (Kee-va) can be a masculine or feminine name, using this spelling is traditionally masculine. Caoimhe is the traditional girl’s spelling (pronounced Kee-vah in my family :D). Kivah was a character Hunny and I discussed a week or so ago, and we liked him so much we decided to add him with Cordelia, as it would have been unrealistic for her not to meet anyone as she tries to get back home.
Huge thanks to Hunny for all her hard work. This is another 10 pages down. Next week will focus on Clare’s ultimate tantrum and Malcolm’s moment with Alywin (spoiler, but no mature content). Very much excited to share it, even though it’s not typed up yet ;A;
And just a short personal bit, I’ve come to the realization I may have ADHD (fun times, I know), so I’m in the process of getting a specialist for a diagnosis. It’s going to be a tough road to figure it all out, but I’m excited to finally understand symptoms I thought were just annoying personality traits ;; It should not affect our upload schedule, but I will let you all know if it does D: I’m relieved to have good insurance, but let’s see if it will really help me……… ==; Love American healthcare! /s
Thank you all for reading and leaving lovely comments! I’ve been off social media to focus on Misted Winds (onto chapter 13!), so I apologize if I’ve missed anything…. I appreciate you all, and have a safe weekend >u< See you all next week~!
Thank you for the chapter.
Hm, a very possessive gong, not even his wife can touch his plaything.