Kori’s lips were chapped; her legs and arms were sore from hanging over the elf-human’s shoulder. Because she considered herself a dignified lady, she had kindly offered the human-elf a chance to rest his shoulders by suggesting he let her walk with her hands bound like they had for Francis. He declined her offer.
“The elf is complacent. You seem far too hot-headed.” The elf-human concluded. “Besides, if he weren’t considerably heavier than you, we would be carrying him as well.”
“
Considerably heavier
?” Francis was aghast. “How rude.”
“Both of you shut up.” The leader of the elf-humans demanded. “We wouldn’t want that entourage of knights to find you, now would we?”
Francis made a face. “I wouldn’t, but the waif would. It seems like no matter where I end up, I end up miser—”
“Quiet.” The leader said again, but this time, he was far more serious.
Francis and Kori were both silenced.
Kori licked her chapped lips.
So thirsty…
Kori lifted her head a little so she could look at the scenery as it passed. Water drizzled from the sky and bounced off the shrubbery and grass that was being crushed underneath the elf-human’s feet. A billowy shroud of mist coated the land.
Kori smiled with relief.
One of her knights briefly appeared—a silhouette in the white shroud—and then disappeared again.
They aren’t far behind…
Kori relaxed a little.
__
Time passed, however, and her knights still hadn’t caught up. It had been so long that the sun was beginning to set. The shroud of mist most likely obscured her from the vision of her soldiers.
Kori was thirsty beyond comprehension. “Please, I need some water…” Her throat was dry and scratchy.
“Patience.” Said the elf-human.
Kori’s eyes closed. Fear was a cloud in her mind that she could no longer ignore.
Still, rain fell from the sky.
Kori was glad when she drifted off into a light sleep despite being jostled over the elf-human’s shoulder.
When she awoke, she was lying on a soft rug inside of a tent. She blinked a few times, groaning in pain. The elf-human who had been carrying her was holding out a flask of water out for her to drink.
Kori nodded her thanks and took the flask from him. Once she had had her fill, she handed the flask back to the man and asked, “Where’s the elf I was with?”
“Follow me,” the elf-human said plainly and climbed to his feet. He left through the opening of the tent.
Kori painfully rose to her own feet. She took a half-second to glance around the tent for a weapon. She cursed under her breath when there were none to be found and reluctantly followed the elf-human outside.
Night had settled upon the land, and white rain still fell from the sky. Kori sighed.
Nothing makes me miss Trella more than an endless rain shower.
Kori found that she was in a village hidden by trees and other vegetation. There were dozens of tents set up in the village and many of the women and their children were hustling to get inside of them now that the sun had set.
Kori had no time to give the village a thorough look-over, however, because the elf-human was quickly moving on without her.
He was walking toward the most distinguished tent in the village—a tent that had multiple suns lovingly embroidered into the otherwise dull and white fabric—where Kori assumed their leader was holding Francis captive.
It struck Kori that she could attempt to run—as her wrists and ankles were not bound—but she determinedly banished the thought from her mind.
On my short legs, they would most likely catch me anyway. Besides, I need Francis.
Kori reminded herself with some amount of conviction.
She followed the elf-human into the ornate tent.
Inside, she saw Francis caught and bound in the corner, an incredibly indignant expression on his face. In front of her, the leader of the elf-humans was diligently whetting his blade.
Kori stood awkwardly in the opening of the tent for a moment. Nervously, she rubbed her left elbow with her right hand.
Time passed.
The only sound was the
shhk
of blade on stone.
Kori glowered. She decided she didn’t like how rude the man was being. “Well? Are you going to acknowledge me?”
The man glanced up at her and stopped whetting his blade. An amused smile twitched at his lips. “I will give my full attention when I’m ready.”
He went back to whetting his blade.
So disrespectful!
Kori thought to herself. “You’ll give me your attention now! Tell me why you have taken us captive!”
The man raised a quizzical eyebrow. “You have courage, waif, I’ll give you that. But I must also remind you that you have no power here.”
Kori was, indeed, painfully aware of how little power she had. She bit her lip. “Just tell us what you want from us…”
The man laid his sword in his lap. “You’re the Redeemer, aren’t you?”
Kori was silent for a moment.
“There’s no need to lie. There’s only one waif in this kingdom, and she’s the Redeemer. Why don’t you introduce yourself?” The elf-human suggested.
Kori swallowed nervously.
There’s no point in lying
. “My name is Kori, and yes, I’m the Redeemer. If you have any manners, you’ll introduce yourself, too.”
“I am Hew, the leader of the elf-humans. Your elf friend has told us something very interesting.” Hew said with a smirk.
Kori glanced over to Francis--who frankly looked ill at the moment--with a furious scowl. Nonetheless, she crossed her arms defiantly. “Oh? What’s that?”
“He says you have a little… Crush on your king. No, crush is not the right word. You adore him, and from the sound of it, he adores you, too.” Hew said. “I wager you’d make a good ransom. What do you want to bet your king would trade a lot of land for your safety? Maybe even enough land for us elf-humans to have a small kingdom of our own?”
A despondent frown pulled Kori’s lips down in a worried grimace. She recovered in a moment. “Can you really trust what he says? After all, he is essentially my captive. He wouldn’t care about smearing my name if it meant getting him off the hook, would he?”
Hew searched her face for a clue as to whether she was bluffing. “I think he was being truthful. I’m a great judge of character; it’s true he was getting himself off the hook, but the details of his story were far too precise to be false. Why would he tell such an oddly specific lie if it weren’t true?”
Kori felt betrayed by Francis even though she had no right to feel betrayed. After all, she was little more than his captor. She glanced down with a deep breath. “Even if it is true, do you really think the king would be willing to give you all that land just for me? He’d be more willing to let me die and then kill all of you before he did such a thing.”
Hew nodded animatedly. “Maybe. But this elf has been to many brothels and he has told me that it can help him distinguish who is lying about being in love and who is not. He told me that the love in both your face and your king’s cannot lie. At any rate, it’s worth a try. We deserve our own kingdom. I’m willing to die for it.”
“You don’t understand.” Kori said evenly. “There may be no kingdom left for you to have if you don’t let me take this elf back to his queen. Maribel is deeply in debt, and if I don’t convince the queen to lower the debt, we might be in for a war or an occupation from Alanheim. Please, let me continue on my way!”
Hew lowered his sword to the floor. A little smirk came to his face. “Very well. I’ll ransom you, give you back, and then you can continue on your venture.”
“It might be too late by then!” Kori exclaimed. “I need to go now! I promise I’ll mention your plight to the king—I’ll convince him to give you your own kingdom… I….”
The smirk hadn’t left the man’s face as he pretended to listen to her proposal. “Ah, little waif… Nothing you can say can convince me. What do I care who owns the kingdom—even if you are telling the truth about it being in debt?”
Kori lowered her eyes furiously. “You truly don’t care how much everyone—including you—will come to suffer under elven rule? They will kill you when they rule, or worse, enslave you.”
“Nothing will happen to us if there is a change in ruler. Your king would kill us, too, if he found us. Throw this waif and the elf in a tent, and make sure they don’t leave it without my permission.” Hew ignored her. “Tomorrow, we will take the waif back to her king and we will decide what to do with the elf.”
Kori glared at Hew in disgust. Her eyes did not leave his even as she and Francis were hauled from the tent.
__
Kori and Francis were given a chance to relieve themselves at the edge of the camp before being locked away in a tent together. Kori was embarrassed and averted her gaze as Francis shamelessly disrobed.
One does have to wonder which parts are that of a woman…
Kori thought to herself.
Ah! How rude of me!
She asked the guards who had accompanied them, “Can you all please look away?”
“And give you a chance to escape?” One of the elf-humans replied.
Kori rolled her eyes and then gingerly disrobed and did her business fast.
Afterward, they were given two flasks of water and a meager dinner to eat inside a tent which was heavily guarded.
Francis glared at her as he ate. “You humans are so lax on your patrols. How could you not know that you have an infestation of elf-humans lurking so close to your castle?”
Kori didn’t bother looking at him as she picked at her meal. “I am not a human, and we can’t patrol every square inch of Maribel.”
Francis snorted. “Elves would never allow this.”
Kori tried not to bite back with sarcasm.
I need him on my side. I need him on my side.
She repeated it to herself as if repeating it would make being kind to the elf easier. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m sorry about
all
of this.”
Francis looked up in surprise—unable to hide his genuine shock at her apology—but then cleared his throat and put on his arrogant façade. “You should be! I’m glad to know how ashamed you are! I came here as a guest, only to leave as a captive!”
Kori reached deep inside herself and found compassion for the elf who had been nothing but a nuisance to her. She reached out with her special magical power to soothe. The magic creeped up on Francis and made his stiff shoulders relax and his heightened emotions even out.
Kori conjured up some tears. “I really am sorry. All of this has been so unfair and awful for you. Guests are supposed to be treated like kings; we’re supposed to show foreigners how polite and accommodating a kingdom Maribel can be, but instead we showed you that we’re just a bunch of savages!”
Kori forced more tears out of her eyes and wiped them away with them away with the back of her hand. “It’s just been so hard lately! First, I learn that you have been treated so unfairly and captured unduly, and then I learn that our entire kingdom is in debt and that we could entangle ourselves in a war with your people if we don’t return you safely. And then, I lose the friendship of the king and… and Eory… I feel like this is all my fault…”
Francis had a look of pity on his face that Kori did not expect. “Oh, come now, Little Waif. You have no need to blame yourself. The only person you need to be blaming is your king. You have done nothing egregiously wrong. In fact, you have only tried to right the wrongs of your king. If it weren’t for you, your king would have strung me up or beheaded me.”
Inside, Kori was beaming.
He has the ability to see my side of things!
On the outside, however, she kept her wrinkly cheeks fairly damp, and sobbed all-the-harder.
“But even if we make it out of this mess I’ve gotten us into—even if we make it to Alanheim—you’re still going to tell your queen that we kept you captive. She’ll probably behead me on the spot!” Kori wept.
Francis bit his lip and held up a hand in such a way that it looked like he wanted to put it comfortingly on the waif’s shoulder. Instead, he merely said, “I won’t do that, waif. I would have nothing to gain from it, other than your pain and suffering, and I’m not that cruel…”
Kori leaned her face into her palms to hide the grin that she couldn’t help.
Even if he’s lying, at least I’ve given him something to think about!
She uncovered her face when she was ready with a convincing frown. “Truly? You are so kind, Francis.”
Francis looked flattered for a half-second before regaining his arrogant composure.
He gazed up at the ceiling of the tent—holding a piece of chicken in his fingers—and asked her, “I don’t suppose you have magical power enough to burn all these people to death so we can escape…? The Redeemer should have some amount of magical power, yes?”
Kori nodded—her eyes still wet with tears. “I do… But not enough for us to escape alive. Besides, I generally don’t like to burn people to death if I don’t have to.”
“I suppose we’re doomed to be prisoners to these savages.” Francis sighed. “Doesn’t make much of a difference to me, I suppose.”
Kori felt ashamed of herself for manipulating him. She was reminded of how she genuinely felt sorry for the position he was in.
I suppose I see his side of things, too.
“I’m sure my knights will find us.” Kori said it more to convince herself than Francis.
The elf curled up on floor of the tent and closed his eyes. “I hope so.”
Kori finished her dinner and then drifted off into a fitful sleep, as well.
Or were they memories she had drifted off to?
__
“Kori,” her mother told her sternly as she dressed her six-year-old daughter in a modest dress. “Your father will not always be there to walk you to the school. Your brother will have to take you on occasion.”
“Okay, mama.” Kori murmured meekly.
“Don’t make eye-contact with any of the men or boys you see on the way there. Keep to yourself and make sure your dress is buttoned all the way up.” Mother said as she knelt and made sure the bottom of Kori’s dress dragged along the floor as societal norms dictated it do. Next, she made sure that Kori’s arms were entirely covered with the dress’ sleeves, and when she was satisfied, she sent Kori off to the school with her father.
Nobody looked at her on the way to the school.
Nobody looked at her at all.