A King's Ransom

by Lia Black

  "Veyl is the half-blood prince," Engel answered, still glaring at Kaidos.

  The movements paused momentarily; Crow resumed without speaking. He finished applying the ointment and stood up, heading back towards the cupboards. "You should leave it uncovered tonight. It will feel better by morning."

  "Thank you," Kaidos said softly, looking down at his hands.

  "You must know this prince quite well." Crow suggested, returning to sit near the fire.

  "I…yes," Kaidos murmured, feeling a heavy weight hanging over him. He had no idea if Veyl even knew what had happened to him. Were he in that position, it might drive Kaidos mad trying to find out. He swallowed hard and rose stiffly as the walls seemed suddenly too be closing in.

  "Please excuse me, I just need some air."

  It was evening, and a heavy fog had settled below as if the house were being supported by clouds. From the porch that wound around the hut, Kaidos could see the mountains to the east and a sky full of stars. He sighed and stared towards Dandre and wondered if Veyl was looking out at the same sky.

  "Wanderer." Barlan's deep voice rumbled beside him as he joined Kaidos near the railing.

  Kaidos gave him a nod of recognition, staring out over the rolling hills of mist, too nervous about opening his mouth until he got his emotions under control.

  "You are worried," Barlan said knowingly.

  "I'm more than worried," Kaidos' voice was husky as he kept tears at bay. "Everything inside of me is telling me I should be there with him…but me being there in the first place is what nearly got me killed."

  "Patience, my friend." Barlan said, scratching at the mat of golden hair on his chest. He raised his head and sniffed the air, letting out a heavy sigh.

  "Smells good."

  "The forest?" Kaidos asked. It smelled like any other forest to him, though Barlan having spent so much time in the dungeons had probably made him appreciate the open air a lot more.

  "Huh? Oh, yeah. That too. No, I mean the little elf." Barlan grinned wide, baring all of his sharp white teeth.

  "I, uh…I'll have to take your word for it." Kaidos chuckled, glad that Barlan had guided his thoughts elsewhere for a short reprieve.

  "He's pretty, yeah?" Barlan bobbed his head.

  "Yeah. He's quite fetching," Kaidos agreed.

  "Yeah."

  There was an awkward pause where Kaidos nearly slipped back into his dark mood, but Barlan started talking again.

  "I never…I've never thought a male would smell good to me. You don't—no offense."

  "I've had rainwater for a bath. None taken."

  Barlan laughed quietly. "It's not like that. He smells…like something I could burrow into and fall asleep." The big man's face took on a wistful look, a light smile gracing the corners of his lips.

  Maybe it was an elf-thing. Kaidos felt that way about Veyl every time he held him, though he hadn't ever really thought to describe it as such. The feeling was comfort. Veyl felt like home to him. Living such a nomadic life made that something he didn't think he could live without.

  "You are thinking of your prince again," Barlan said softly.

  "Yeah."

  "Do not worry, Wanderer," Barlan patted his shoulder. "The archduke will listen. What more compelling group could there be? A thief, a guard captain, and a bear."

  Barlan gave him a playful nudge with his shoulder as he headed back into the house, which nearly knocked Kaidos off his feet.

  Kaidos was glad that the big man had come with them. On outward appearance, Barlan looked like he was more muscle than intellect, but he had a surprising amount of wisdom in that head of his. He'd unquestionably saved them from being crossbow target practice by their tiny host.

  When he went back inside, Crow, Engel, and Barlan were sitting around the fire. Engel had a piece of parchment and some charcoal and he was drawing out a map. The elf was smoking a long, clay pipe, and the herbal blend filled the room with a mild, sweet fragrance like violets.

  "Tell me of these regions," Crow was saying to Engel when Kaidos sat down.

  "Well the King governs the lower southern tip of this continent of Emariss, excluding the elven lands of the Northern Wind Court. Engel drew a rough partial shape of the continent and used a series of crosshatches and dots to indicate the forest. He drew a circle around that area, then higher up, made an "x".

  "This is Parthus. It's a tiny little section that governs the city proper and a few snug villages—it is not controlled by the king. To the east and west beyond Dandre are lands that are currently under the king's rule. The king has used terror to govern these lands in the hopes that they will eventually side with him to swallow up Parthus and, I can only guess, the lands of the Northern Wind Court as well."

  Crow nodded sagely. "This is true."

  "I suspect the archduke is quietly making allies of these other cities. Has he petitioned your rulers for support?"

  "I—" Crow's brow knit and he set down his pipe. "I cannot say, for I know not. I am…no longer so aware of my court's politics."

  Tension settled over the room and Engel exchanged glances with Kaidos and Barlan.

  "I will speak to my queen on your behalf, but you must realize that I am no longer of the Northern Wind elves. I have been…exiled, in a sense."

  "Yet you still have contact with your people and live within their lands…" Engel noted.

  "That is so," Crow nodded, "I pose no danger to them. They are waiting for me to make amends for my sins against the gods and my people."

  "Uh, what kind of—" Kaidos began to ask but a harsh glare from Engel stopped him cold. Engel was probably right to stay his words, Crow might not be willing to share, and currently they needed all the help they could get.

  "My exile will not affect the queen's decision. She is guided by the wisdom of our gods—having the ability to receive their messages is what determines if one is fit to rule, and Queen Sennuwyn has been exceedingly blessed." When Crow spoke of his queen, there was a sense of reverence in his tone, and his dark eyes stared lovingly at the altar across the room.

  Kaidos uncomfortably realized that this could go either way for them. In his limited experience, mixing politics and religion was a bad thing—and to have a culture where the ruler was believed to be the actual voice of the gods could be disastrous. The only small consolation, was that Crow's gods and his queen felt that his crimes—whatever they were--were not worthy of death.

  "Tell me, Dulath—Lucania Barlan, do your kind side with these preschali?" Crow asked, turning his attention to Barlan.

  "Er…" Barlan fidgeted under the elf's singular gaze. "I don't know about my kind. There aren't many Dulath left. I owe these two humans my life, so it is to them that I am loyal."

  "And you two are loyal to the prince-heir of Dandre?"

  "We are loyal to Veyl as an individual," Engel clarified.

  "He must be a remarkable man," Crow concluded.

  "He is," Engel and Kaidos said in unison, then exchanged an uncomfortable glance between them.

  Crow looked at each man in turn. With the blackness of his eyes it was difficult to see where his gaze rested, but Kaidos could certainly feel when it rested on him.

  "It is time to sleep." Crow stood up. "There are mats you may rest on and many blankets in the chests should you require them."

  Kaidos heard Barlan let out a soft huff and noticed him watching Crow intently.

  "Did you see? Barlan whispered to Kaidos when he realized he was being observed. "The way the firelight brought out the color of his skin?"

  His face went red as Crow stripped down to a waistcloth and climbed into his hammock.

  "You've got to be kidding..." Engel moaned, looking between Barlan and Kaidos.

  "I can't help it. I know what I like," Barlan mumbled sheepishly.

  "Well stop liking it until we know whether or not it's going to kill us." Engel rolled out his sleeping mat, shaking his head.

  *~*~*

  The mats were surprisingl
y comfortable, the cottage pleasantly warm, but Kaidos could not sleep.

  He sighed and rolled from his stomach onto his side for roughly the tenth time and finally got up.

  The firepit had burned down to embers, but it was bright enough to see his way to the door. Kaidos checked his pants hanging on the rack near the fire and found that they were dry. He pulled them on and headed silently out to the porch.

  "Why is it that you do not sleep?" Crow's voice startled Kaidos as he moved towards the railing. The elf was sitting on a chair set snug against the beam attached to the house, and had he not spoken, Kaidos was pretty sure he wouldn't have known he was there. It was a wonder why more elves didn't become thieves.

  "I am worried," Kaidos sighed, unable to force a smile and finding it wholly unconvincing to try.

  Crow cocked his head, much like his namesake. "Worried? About your prince?"

  Kaidos considered the question. It would be easy to say yes without lying, but he didn't want to minimize his feelings for Veyl. "He is my love."

  "Your--" Crow swallowed hard and stood up abruptly. He retrieved his crossbow from beside him, causing Kaidos to draw back and raise his hands.

  "I will get food for the morning," Crow explained as he moved past Kaidos without looking at him.

  Kaidos pursed his lips. He hadn't meant to make Crow so uncomfortable, and had let his heart forget what his mind knew to be true—that many were prejudiced when it came to love expressed towards one's own sex.

  "I'm sorry--I didn't mean to offend you." Kaidos called after him, worried that his foolishness might have cost them a chance to see the queen.

  "I will be back after sunrise," Crow said without turning. He pulled down his hood and disappeared below the canopy of leaves.

  "Damn it." Kaidos reached inside to grab his cloak then followed after Crow.

  The air was cool and humid; still thick with fog. Kaidos was just considering what an idiot he was for chasing after the elf when he realized that he was lost. The elf knew these forests better than any man ever could--regardless of his level of tracking skill—because he could see through the enchantments. To Kaidos, every tree looked the same no matter which direction he turned. Aside from that it was still black as tar outside, the moon was beginning to hover above the horizon, but dawn was nowhere in sight.

  "Why are you following me, preshcali?"

  Kaidos followed the voice up into a tree where Crow sat on a limb, one long leg swinging down. He breathed a small sigh of relief.

  "I...I wanted to apologize if I upset you."

  "That sort of…relationship is something humans must be more comfortable with."

  Kaidos shook his head. "No. I don't think so."

  Crow said nothing, and Kaidos felt the need to go on.

  "I used to be uncomfortable as well. But he—Veyl--makes me brave. I am not ashamed to love him, and I would do anything for him. Even give up my life." Although he'd believed it before, saying it out loud made it seem more real, and it made their separation that much more tangible. Kaidos fought the lump rising in his throat.

  "And this man—this half-elf, he loves you as much?"

  "I believe he does, yes."

  Crow sighed, resting his forehead against the crossbow propped up on the branch. After a moment, he dropped down from the tree, landing gracefully on his feet in front of Kaidos.

  "Tell me, human, if you were forced to choose between love and the acceptance of your people, which would you choose?"

  Kaidos combed his fingers through his hair, grateful for the knots that tugged at his scalp and focused his pain as physical. "Love. Acceptance is fickle in my experience, usually depending on conditions being set and bargains made." He had already given up on the Wanderer's accepting that he would lie beneath a man and refuse to take a wife.

  "Love. That is what I would choose too. That is what I did choose. He, however, chose a wife."

  The last words were spoken quietly; out of shame or reverence, Kaidos couldn't tell.

  "I am a pariah among my kind," Crow stared down at the leaves he turned over with the toe of his boot. "I will not mate because I cannot love a female. I remain here as a scout, because I am worthless to my gods and my kinsmen."

  Crow turned and began to walk and Kaidos followed. It was then that he could see the path, the enchantment disrupted by the elf's presence. After a few paces, a black bird--Crow's namesake--flew over then returned; spiraling down to land on Crow's hood.

  "Is that why you are called Crow?" Kaidos asked as the bird bobbed silently.

  "I am called Crow because my people took my name. To have a name is an honor, and something I am no longer worthy to have. A crow is considered bad luck; a scavenger who sits in judgment of his own kind and would see them dead."

  "So is that last part true?"

  "No," Crow said, "of course not. I accepted the birds as my kin, and they, in turn, accepted me." Crow fished something out of his pocket--a small strip of salted meat--and gave it to the bird. The crow set off making a ruckus of caws, soon attracting others. Most flew after the first bird, coveting his prize, but one landed on Crow's shoulder and was smart to stay put to enjoy his scrap of meat alone.

  "Couldn't you just leave and find a place where you'd be accepted?"

  Crow pushed back his hood, glaring at Kaidos from the corner of one eye, "Accepted as what? As an abomination or as an elf?"

  "Oh. Sorry." Kaidos had never developed a prejudice of elves, as it seemed the rest of the world—and many of his own tribe--had. Veyl's reception in Dandre had been startling not because the people hated him as heir to the king's throne, but that they hated him as much because of his mixed blood.

  "It is none of your concern. Still, I thank you for listening." Crow loaded a bolt and shouldered his bow.

  Kaidos remained still, watching Crow edge gracefully, silently, along the perimeter of the path. The crow on his shoulder took flight, then called from across the tree line. Crow let his bolt fly. It wasn't until Kaidos heard the sound of something heavy popping branches and crushing leaves as it went down that he realized that Crow had been hunting a deer.

  "Amazing," Kaidos gasped, "I didn't even see it!"

  Crow looked up at him strangely, as if surprised by the compliment. They went together into the brush to retrieve the fallen animal.

  It was a clean kill, and Kaidos watched the young elf murmur something like a prayer over the beast before he pulled it onto a patch of level earth and began gutting it.

  Kaidos heard the leaves rustling above him and looked up, marveling at the countless number of silky feathered black birds that had gathered around.

  "They are patient. They take the parts we don't need, and accompany his soul to Azaresch."

  "Is that where animal spirits go when they die?" Kaidos took the knife offered to him by Crow and finished making the necessary cuts.

  "That is where all spirits go when they die...well, most."

  Kaidos frowned. "But not yours."

  Crow shook his head. "I have no name, and only those things that are named may enter Azaresch."

  "So is that what you did when you whispered to the deer? You gave it a name?"

  "Yes. I sent it with a name and a blessing so that it might return someday if the gods will it."

  "Seems that these gods are awful picky." Kaidos shook his head.

  Crow looked stricken for a moment, then sighed and stood up. "Perhaps it seems so to an outsider."

  "So what about those who die without names?"

  "They go to the Dark Moors where they wander alone and aimless."

  "Do you know your name?" Kaidos asked, interested in how the strange custom worked.

  Crow's shoulders sank a little lower, "I do not remember it." He crouched and swung the deer up over his back. The buck was nearly as big as he was, but he appeared unaffected by the burden.

  "That hardly seems fair." Kaidos stood with him and they began to walk back towards camp. "Please know that we will not jud
ge you, and we appreciate all that you are doing to help us." He wasn't certain if it was the right thing to say, but he felt it needed saying.

  Crow's body became visibly tense and he paused, turning his head as if to say something. Instead he made a small huff and trudged silently back towards his home.

  CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

  A Bear's Dilemma

  Barlan had seen Crow leave his hammock in the wee hours of the morning and had considered going after him until he saw Kaidos get up and go outside. His first instinct was to follow them, but Barlan was not skilled at sneaking around like Kaidos the thief. He'd never had the need for it; because of his size, people generally gave him what he wanted.

  Right now he wanted Crow. He wasn't certain what had made him take an interest in the little elf. He'd seen plenty before he was captured and got to know a few very well in the weeks he'd been locked up at the castle. There was something different about Crow, however. Something about his smell that made Barlan want to submit without even being compelled by the elf's enchantment to do so.

  Still, every time Crow even glanced at him, Barlan could feel the blood rushing to his face and he suddenly forgot how to speak. Grunting as Baerskein was one thing, but doing so while appearing human made him seem like a dullard.

  When Crow and Kaidos had returned, their scents were their own, meaning they hadn't left to engage in any sexual acts. Barlan wasn't sure why he would worry about such a thing—the Wanderer claimed he was in love with another, acting as if he were already mated, and the little elf gave no indication that he had any interest in much of anything. On top of everything else, Barlan had never had an interest in a male's scent before…but Crow's smell was very interesting.

  "Ahrn, can I speak to you for a minute?" Kaidos asked softly after they had finished eating their breakfast of fresh venison.

  Barlan watched Crow worry his lower lip but he didn't raise his head as Engel stood up.

  "Please excuse my companion's rudeness, Crow," Engel dipped his head in respect then followed Kaidos outside.