Unchained

by Sarah Hawke

  “They don’t know that he’s involved,” she confirmed. “Not yet. But he supports their cause as fervently as you and I do. He sees elven slavery—all slavery—as an abomination manufactured by the Covenant.”

  “I see,” Larric whispered.

  Once again I could feel his mind churning through the possibilities, and mine did the same. I could scarcely wrap my head around Larric having a dark elf lover, let alone him being a member of the Faedari. He had treated every faeyn in Stormcrest with scorn—particularly me! Everyone knew he hated our people, including Master Kristoff…

  “Now that I’ve found you again, we can finally start coordinating,” Karethys said. “This treaty with Darkstone is the perfect opportunity to—”

  She abruptly paused and turned her head. I couldn’t tell if she was trying to listen or if someone was communicating with her through the Aether.

  “Someone’s coming,” she warned. “It’s the Duchess.”

  Larric jaw clenched. “What the hell does she want at this hour? Dammit.” He glanced down at the pieces of armor strewn around the floor “I can try to—”

  “We’ll speak again later,” Karethys interrupted. In an astonishing display of agility, she leapt off the bed and scooped up her discarded armor. The room’s long shadows gathered around her like living tendrils…and then she vanished.

  Larric’s clothing remained behind, of course, and he wouldn’t have an easy time explaining why he’d undressed so frantically. Rebuffing Duchess Cassandra outright would be considered quite rude, and he couldn’t risk upsetting her before such an important negotiation. I had no idea what he was going to do…

  “Elara,” he breathed, abruptly turning on a heel and dashing straight towards me.

  My heart froze in my chest. His human eyes probably couldn’t see me lurking in the darkness, but if he found me crouching here with the door cracked open…

  I lunged back towards my bed, praying to any god willing to listen that he didn’t hear or see me. I dove under the sheets and flung them over me like a child who had been caught staying up past her bedtime.

  “Elara!” he beckoned as he tossed open the door. “Get over here.”

  “My lord?” I asked, leaning upwards and struggling to keep my voice steady. “Is there something—?”

  “Get over here!” he repeated in a stiff growl.

  Even if I hadn’t known what was going on, the tone and power of his voice would have compelled me to obey. I raced over towards him, and he roughly slung his arm around my waist and carried me into his room. With a single, violent motion he ripped open my gown open and then threw me down on his bed. I squeaked in surprise and wondered if he might actually try to mount me…but then a knock sounded from the door, and he reached down to retrieve his trousers.

  “One moment,” he said, injecting his voice with breathless irritation. Once his lower half was covered, he let out a deep breath and strode over to the door.

  “Oh!” Cassandra gasped. I could see her eyes peek past his bicep and latch onto me. “I apologize for interrupting, Captain. I had no idea you were…indisposed.”

  “It was a long trip,” he replied with a grunt. “I just needed to work out certain…frustrations.”

  “I see,” Cassandra said, smiling devilishly. “If you like, I could summon my handmaidens. They’re quite adept at relieving tension.”

  Larric chuckled softly. “I appreciate the offer, my lady, but I’m fine. Besides, this one needs to earn her keep.”

  “She will, trust me.” The Duchess eyed me for a moment before placing her hand on his thick arm. “Again, I apologize for interrupting, Captain. I look forward to speaking with you in the morning. My husband is obsessed with business, but there’s so much of Skyfall you’ve yet to see…”

  “Goodnight, my lady,” he said.

  She squeezed his arm a few more times before she finally backed away and nodded. “Goodnight, Captain.”

  Once the door closed, Larric spun on a heel and let out a long, slow breath. He remained still for several seconds, and I wasn’t certain what I should do. As far as I could tell he hadn’t noticed me snooping, and between Karethys’s revelations and the Duchess’s bizarre interruption, he was probably too distracted to worry about me. Sometimes being invisible was an advantage, just like Master Kristoff had taught me during my avenari training.

  Eventually Larric strode back over to the bed and looked at me like he’d forgotten I was even there. I hadn’t moved an inch; I was still splayed half-naked across the ruffled sheets.

  “Were you asleep?” he asked. For the first time I could remember, he looked genuinely concerned about my well-being.

  “Yes,” I lied.

  His blue eyes studied me carefully, and I wondered if he had belatedly realized that my door had been cracked. If so, it wouldn’t take him long to figure out what had happened, and I didn’t want to suffer through the interrogation of a former Inquisitor…

  “D-do you wish to have me, my lord?” I asked, pulling open the rest of my tattered gown and slowly sliding off my knickers…

  His hand flashed out and grabbed my wrist. In that instant, the old Larric returned. His expression and voice hardened, and he looked upon me with disgust rather than curiosity.

  “No,” he said. “Return to your room. You’ll attend the Duchess’s breakfast with me in the morning.”

  “Y-yes, my lord,” I replied, swinging my legs off the bed and scampering away without another word. This time I shut the door behind me, though I didn’t bother to slip on another gown. I let the scraps fall to the floor, and by the time I curled under the sheets I was almost naked. I closed my eyes, but I knew there wasn’t a chance in the void I’d actually fall asleep with so many revelations looping through my mind.

  The Emperor was working with the vaeyn. Larric sympathized with the Faedari Rebellion. Everything I thought I’d known had suddenly been turned on its head. I didn’t know what to think, and I certainly didn’t know what to do.

  So instead I cried. I cried until my pillow was soaked, and when I tossed it aside I cried until the next one was too. Over the last few months, I had learned more about Imperial politics than I’d ever dreamed possible. The lurid affairs, the petty backstabbing, the grandiose themes—I had seen them all in the minds and memories of noblemen and noblewomen across Sanctum. But this was different. These weren’t the type of secrets that could bring down a random noble.

  They were the type of secrets that could bring down an empire.

  Chapter Three: Agreements

  I only managed an hour or two of sleep by the time the first rays of dawn finally pierced the curtains. Larric woke early—or perhaps he also didn’t sleep—and he ordered me to wash up before he escorted me down to Duchess Cassandra’s overly extravagant breakfast gala. She silenced anything resembling negotiation or serious conversation, preferring instead to coerce her guests into trifling small talk. The result was one of the most awkward social experiences I had ever been a part of despite the fact everyone seemed content to ignore me.

  Everyone, that is, except for Lady Karethys. The vaeyn woman asked for my opinion on virtually every topic, though she demonstrated little interest in my actual words. She merely enjoyed watching the faces of Darkstone’s court nobles as they were forced to listen to the opinions of a slave. Under different circumstances, I might have found her behavior amusing…but my stomach was too twisted into knots for me to take joy in anything.

  Once the negotiations restarted in earnest, Duke Darkstone cleared the room of all servants and associates. His guards escorted me back to my room, and I spent virtually the entire afternoon curled into a ball trying to figure out what in the void I was going to do next.

  If I told Larric that I’d overheard him, he would respond in one of two ways: either he would relax his cover and attempt to convert me into joining the Faedari with him…or he would kill me. I couldn’t imagine any other likely incomes. Once I had some more time to deliberate, however,
I decided that the former was a much more likely outcome than the latter. Larric must have cared about the plight of elves in Calhara, otherwise he wouldn’t be involved with the Faedari. The rebels’ entire purpose was to end Imperial bondage and destroy the Covenant, and my powers as an Unbound would obviously be very valuable to them. Under this theory, Larric’s frigid attitude towards me over the years must have been an act. Some of his off-handed comments actually made more sense now than they had at the time…

  But logical or not, I couldn’t bring myself to see Larric as a potential ally. If he was working with the Faedari, that meant he was working against Master Kristoff. If I could just keep this secret until we returned to Sanctum, I could warn master about this conspiracy and perhaps avert disaster for the entire Empire.

  And betray your own people in the process, I scolded myself. What other slave would pass up the opportunity for freedom? What other Unbound would pass up the opportunity to flee the Covenant?

  The questions echoed through my head all day, and I never reached any satisfactory answers. I had avoided thinking about the Faedari for most of my life. The Empire considered them criminals, and the Covenant considered them heretics. Even Master Kristoff, in his most generous mood, had never voiced a word of support for the rebels. He had no love for the Emperor or the Hierophant, but he considered slavery an integral part of the Empire. The nobility could survive without avenari—there were no shortage of prostitutes in Calhara—but the Imperial economy would collapse without the labor of groll and orcs.

  Eventually I pushed the questions aside and convinced myself to focus on my original duties. Master Kristoff had sent me here to learn whatever secrets I could about Darkstone, and I had already done that and more. I just needed to keep my fears under control until I returned to Sanctum. Then I could tell Master the truth, and he would protect me from whatever chaos followed…

  One of Darkstone’s guards came to fetch me about an hour before dusk, and he escorted me down to the dining hall where everyone another evening of food, drink, music, and verbal sparring. Karethys spared me unnecessary public attention this time, though after dinner she did manage to confront me alone while the others were locked in conversation.

  “Elara,” she said with a nod. “I wanted to ask you something while we have a moment to ourselves.”

  “Of course, my lady,” I replied. “How may I serve you?”

  “You don’t need to call me ‘lady’ and you certainly don’t need to serve me.” Her violet eyes studied me for a moment before she sighed. “It makes me ill to think what they’ve done to you.”

  I swallowed heavily and struggled to hide my growing anxiety. “I don’t understand.”

  “That’s what is so disheartening,” Karethys murmured. “Do you have a surname?”

  “I…have never been given one.”

  “So you probably never met your parents or your siblings.”

  “I have no memory of them if I did.”

  Karethys nodded and glanced back over her shoulder. “One of these days, you will. You and all the others like you.”

  “My lady?” I asked, confused.

  “Forget it,” she said, smiling and touching my arm. “We’ll speak again soon.”

  She stepped away and returned to her vaeyn comrades, and I couldn’t help but frown in confusion. I was surprised she was willing to openly display her disgust at my bondage, though I probably shouldn’t have been at this point. She had made her feelings on the matter perfectly clear to everyone in the palace.

  The rest of the evening passed without incident. Larric and I returned to our chambers about an hour before midnight, and once we were alone inside he let out a deep breath and turned to face me.

  “Did anyone bother you this afternoon?”

  “No, my lord,” I told him. “I was left alone in chamber all day.”

  “Well, expect that to change tomorrow,” he said. “The vaeyn will be departing in the afternoon, and Darkstone has assured me that we will have a ‘proper’ celebration tomorrow night once they’re gone. I suspect he’ll have something special in mind for you.”

  I nodded and thought back to Lord Varyl’s visit the previous night. “His son seemed more interested in me than he did.”

  “Yes, Varyl is a wretched little thing. Half his father’s cunning and twice his depravity, if rumors are to be believed.” Larric’s face twisted in disgust. “Though frankly, his wife concerns me the most. I’m not sure I even want to know what she’s planning.”

  “She seems…young,” I said. “I don’t know any noble in Sanctum with a spouse the same age as their children.”

  “The priests would object, and the Hierophant would throw a fit. But he’s effectively pushed the Covenant into the countryside and out of Skyfall.” Larric pursed his lips and paused a moment. “If you prefer, I could tell him that you’ve taken ill until we’re ready to leave.”

  I struggled to keep the surprise off my face. This was the closest Larric had ever come to sounding genuinely concerned about my well-being. “Master Kristoff sent me here to entertain Grand Duke Darkstone. He will be disappointed if I fail to obey him.”

  Larric stared at me for a long moment, and I wondered if he might chastise me again like he had on the road during our trip here. “We both know he sent you here to extract information with your magic,” he said eventually. “Darkstone has plenty of secrets for you to find, but don’t underestimate him. He’s a channeler himself, and a powerful one if the stories are to be believed. I’ve also learned enough already that Kristoff will have his hands full.”

  I nodded idly and wondered what he meant. He hadn’t given any other signs that he knew of my eavesdropping, so I could only assume he was referring to the negotiations. “I will be careful, my lord,” I whispered. “Thank you for your…concern.”

  Larric grunted and turned away. “I don’t think I’ll ever understand you. How can you stand there and submit with a smile?”

  “I am a slave. The Triad demands my obedience.”

  “Right,” he muttered, pacing across the room and dropping down at the end of his bed. “If all goes well, we’ll be returning home soon.”

  I shuffled in place. My brain was screaming at me to retire to my room lest I reveal my secret, but as usual curiosity got the better of me. “I did not expect the negotiations to conclude so quickly.”

  “Neither did I. There’s a lot more going on here than Kristoff expected. Than anyone expected.” He sighed again and glanced back over to me. “Go ahead and get some sleep. If you change your mind by morning, just let me know.”

  “Thank you, my lord.”

  I turned around and retreated into my chambers. This time I made certain the door was closed behind me. For a while I laid atop the sheets in the dark, once again deliberating the true nature of Duke Kristoff’s bodyguard. My lingering doubts about him were starting to fade at almost the same pace the lingering doubts about myself were gaining strength.

  Later, once I’d forced my mind to settle, I felt a ripple of power shudder through the Aether. Standing, I crept over to the door and pressed my ear against the wood to confirm my suspicions. Karethys had definitely returned, and the two of them were once again speaking in hushed voices. This time I avoided temptation to snoop, however. Instead I returned to the bed and slipped under the covers. Whatever happened tomorrow, I knew I would need a full night’s sleep to be ready for it.

  ***

  By midday, the vaeyn envoy had gathered at the palace steps in preparation to depart. Duchess Cassandra had spared us another of her awkward breakfast gatherings, fortunately, and her husband had taken the time to finish up their negotiations instead. I didn’t know the exact terms of their deal yet, considering I had once again been left out of the proceedings, but judging from the tension in Larric’s expression I suspected he wasn’t particularly happy about the details. What that meant, of course, was anyone’s guess.

  While her men finished loading supplies on their hors
es, Karethys stepped over to Larric to say her final goodbyes. “I hope we’ll have the opportunity to work together again, Captain,” she said with a fractional nod. Her hood was back up now that we were outside, and I could barely make out the thin smile on her lips. “Hopefully this time the Covenant won’t be able to punish you just for speaking with me.”

  “If all goes as planned, they’ll have much bigger problems to deal with,” he replied mildly. “Assuming we can trust you to keep up your end of the bargain.”

  “You have my word as a Shadow Knight.”

  Larric grunted. “Not many Imperials would take such a pledge seriously.”

  “No,” she conceded. “But then again, you are not most Imperials.”

  They stared at each other in silence for a moment, and I marveled at their ability to project an aura of cool suspicion anytime they spoke in public. I could see the truth behind their eyes, but I doubted anyone else would notice.

  “Thank you again for your hospitality, Your Excellencies,” Karethys said, offering a formal bow to the Duke and his family. “The Vale is every bit as gorgeous as we’d lead to believe, and Skyfall is a testament to your wise and enduring leadership.”

  “Your honor us, my lady,” Duke Darkstone replied. “Once the darkness of the Covenant has been lifted, I hope to host your people again in the future.”

  “I look forward to it.” Karethys eyed each of the Darkstone’s one last time before she stepped back over to me. I wondered if she would intentionally make a scene again, but instead she merely smiled and placed a gauntlet-covered hand on my shoulder. “Tenna lye ento omenta. desh'iriai.”

  I smiled. I was always surprised when anyone spoke faeyn in public, but her words were pleasant: “until we meet again, sister.” I wondered if she meant them literally or as a simple polite parting. Either way, I could tell that her compassion—and concern—was genuine.

  With a final pat on my arm, she stepped away and mounted her steed. We watched in silence as they ambled down the palace steps and out into the street through a procession of royal guardsmen. Once they vanished from sight, Duke Darkstone immediately released a long, drawn-out sigh.