Chapter Two

The space was large enough to easily fit twenty, but it was still too small, especially with the lumbering elves scrutinizing her. But it was the shadow behind her that caught Yasmin’s attention when they brought her into the room. It was no simple shadow but a Dark Elf. What was a Dark doing on the surface?

Yasmin tried not to cringe when one guard tossed her bag aside. She thought she heard a clink but knew she had wrapped the glass carefully. But what if she hadn’t? What if she had to find more? It had nearly cost her everything to obtain it, but nothing would stop her from getting more if she had to. That was if she got out of here.

The door opened, and an elegant Wood Elf strode into the room. She had the haughty demeanor of someone who knew nothing but power and wealth. Her navy gown was made of the finest cloth, the stitching impeccable. Her hair was pulled severely back, showing off her pointed ears and the gold tips adorning them.

A man walked in behind her, moving to stand against the wall out of sight. His golden-brown skin marked him as a Sun Elf. Thick, golden-blond hair just brushed his shoulders. It was shoved away from his face as if he had run his hand through it. He stood indifferently, but there was nothing casual about him. He had an air of intensity, a hardness that warned he wouldn’t hesitate to squash her like an insignificant bug. A penetrating copper gaze swung her way.

If she didn’t have such disdain for elves, she would call him handsome. She had heard plenty of women talking about the hard planes of a face, the strong jaw, and a firm body. She knew the Sun Elf had it all in spades.

His burgundy jacket accentuated broad shoulders, while the decorative bands on the sleeves near his wrists put him firmly in the wealthy column. She could just make out the luxurious cream shirt beneath. Her gaze moved to black pants tucked into tall, leather boots that likely cost more than she had seen in her entire life. Which wasn’t saying much. She wondered if he had ever been outside the Geggin Square district. He’d probably never known a day of work in his life.

“Hello, Yasmin.”

Her gaze jerked to the woman. The Wood Elf spoke softly, but her gaze warned against defiance. Too bad Yasmin survived because of that rebelliousness. She knew nothing good would come of this meeting. The truth was, she didn’t care what happened to her. Yasmin’s concern was for getting the bag and its contents to the one who needed it.

“I’m sure you’re wondering why we brought you in,” the Wood Elf continued.

Yasmin decided it was best to keep her mouth closed for the time being. She fought not to look at the bag again. The woman walked toward her, hazel eyes boring into her. Yasmin didn’t look away. Some would probably suggest it would be wiser if she did, but she had learned a long time ago that the only way to survive in Shecrish was to never show fear.

“You’ve been picked up by patrol for stealing before.”

Yasmin thought about all the other times she had gotten away with it. Her gaze followed the Wood Elf as she leisurely walked back and forth in front of her.

“Your last stay was for three months.”

Yasmin tried not to shudder at the memory. She wasn’t sure she’d suppressed it completely. What they did to the humans they imprisoned was inhumane, but it wasn’t as if anyone really cared.

“That was for your second offense. This is your third. That means a…lengthier stay.”

Yasmin thought about the tiny, windowless cell they stuffed the humans into. Not tall enough to stand up in, nor long enough to stretch out your legs. One meal a day—if they remembered to bring food. Three months without sunlight or a breeze against your skin. Three months without feeling water or being able to stare at the moon. She had nearly lost her mind. She couldn’t go back.

She ~wouldn’t~.

“Ah. I see your time there lingers in your memory.” The Wood Elf stopped before her, making Yasmin tilt her head back to look at her. “Theft is a violation of the law.”

The woman motioned to the bag. Yasmin clutched the side of the chair to keep from snatching it from them. The wood bit painfully into her skin. She felt one of her nails bend backward and her skin tear. She couldn’t let them know how important it was to her. Yet she couldn’t look away as one of the thugs brought the bag, and another carried a small table over to place between them. The Wood Elf took the bag and slowly opened it, removing the items inside one by one.

Yasmin bit her tongue as she saw the few meager food items laid out—provisions that were supposed to feed seven. It wasn’t even enough for one person. Then, the elf drew out the bundle of cloth. She weighed it in one hand as she met Yasmin’s gaze. The way she so carelessly unrolled it was almost too much to bear. The small bottle flew out. A shout of dismay locked in Yasmin’s throat as the Wood Elf’s hand snatched it out of the air and set it with the food.

“What is this?” she asked, her finger on the bottle.

Yasmin simply stared. It wouldn’t do any good to tell them it was medicine or that she needed to get it to someone immediately. The elves didn’t understand human sickness. They had healers for their afflictions. Healers would help humans, but only for an exorbitant price. And currency was never something Yasmin seemed to have enough of—for food or medical treatment.

Even if she somehow managed to convince her keepers to take the medicine to her home, they would discover the children there. Every child was accounted for in Shecrish, where no humanoid could bear offspring. Yet babies continued to arrive in unknown ways. They were quickly brought to the Domestic Ministry, where they determined which family the newborn would be placed with. No one was allowed to remove a child from their home or help one run away, regardless of the reasons. Everything went through the Ministry.

And that was the problem.

Starvation and abuse were reason enough for Yasmin to aid the children in her care. It had begun with sharing food with one and, somehow, had swelled to six. They counted on her. If she didn’t return…

“It would behoove you to answer,” the Wood Elf said, breaking into her thoughts.

Yasmin lifted her chin. “Why? You’ll make up your own answer regardless of what I say.”

“Do you want to go back into that cell?”

The words were clipped and angry, which was pretty much how Yasmin felt. So, she answered in kind. “Why don’t you give it a try and tell me what you think of it?”

The Wood Elf leaned her hands on the table. “I can make these new charges against you go away.”

“In exchange for what?”

The elf smiled confidently, making unease roll down Yasmin’s spine.

“You have something we need.”

Elves needed nothing any human had. Certainly not her. “I highly doubt that.”

“Don’t sell yourself short.”

Yasmin saw the Sun Elf’s gaze narrow as he looked past her—right where she had seen the shadow sitting in the corner behind her. She wanted to turn and look herself. She hated not being able to see it, but that would only alert them that she was aware of another presence. “I’m stating facts. You’re elves. You have magic. There is nothing I have that you could want.”

“Knowledge.”

Yasmin bit back a grimace when the Wood Elf shifted, causing the flimsy table to sway and the bottle to wobble. “Knowledge of what?”

“A location.”

A shiver of dread went through her. They couldn’t be talking about… Nay. They probably didn’t even know about it.

The woman was at her side so quickly Yasmin barely registered it. The elf’s fingers barely touched her skin as she moved aside Yasmin’s braid to expose the skin just below her hairline. Yasmin yanked her head away and got to her feet without considering retribution.

She glowered, her heart racing at having someone inspecting her hidden tattoo. “Don’t. Touch. Me.”

“Easy,” the Wood Elf said. But it wasn’t directed at her.

Yasmin glanced over her shoulder to find that the Sun Elf had come up behind her, his hands ready to grab her. She shifted to keep him in her line of sight.

“Apologies,” the Wood Elf told her. “I wanted to see for myself. You bear the feather tattoo of Shaldorn.”

Yasmin released a shaky breath. They ~knew~. Her mind raced for a way to get out and run. Just as she was supposed to have done four years earlier. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Don’t play stupid. It doesn’t suit,” the female replied. “We need to reach Shaldorn. In exchange for your freedom, you’ll take one of my operatives to the stronghold, get him inside, and bring him home.”

“Nay.”

“That isn’t an option.”

Yasmin squared her shoulders. “I’ve made it one.”

“You’re intelligent. You know how this will turn out. We can argue for days, but I don’t have the time for it.”

Yasmin needed to try another tactic. She kept tripping over the fact that they wanted to go to Shaldorn. She needed a few moments to collect herself. And she knew exactly how to get it. “I suppose the Dark Elf is that operative?”

The Wood Elf’s smile was genuine. She swung her gaze to the corner. Yasmin followed and watched as the shadows parted to reveal the elf. He wore all black. His coat was long and cut into six thick stripes at the bottom. The shoulders had armor plating. He had long, white hair with silver metal around certain locks. Yellow eyes met hers and seemed to see right through her. The gray skin of his face was marred by several scars. One ran from the inside corner of his left eye and cut diagonally down the cheek to his jaw. Another dissected his mouth at an angle, right to left. A third ran from his left temple to his left brow, across his nose, and along the right cheek.

Behind her, she heard a soft curse. Yasmin held the Dark Elf’s gaze, even when she wanted to look away. Dark Elves showed no mercy. Their brutality was legendary. Only a rare few showed themselves aboveground. The rest preferred their underground homes.

“I am not,” the Dark stated.

Yasmin backed up until the wall was behind her. She wanted out of the room and to get as far away from the elves as she could. She’d had the chance once, and instead of getting away, she had shared her bread. Now, she was in a predicament she never thought to find herself in. Both would achieve the same result—her death.

“Perhaps an incentive is in order,” the Dark said.

A muscle in the Sun Elf’s jaw jumped. Yasmin looked at the table and the medicine. Such a small bottle, the glass so thin it amazed her the liquid stayed confined. Within the constraints of the glass was an elixir with the ability to heal.

The Wood Elf stepped back, allowing the Dark to speak. She caught the furious look on the Sun Elf’s face and the Dark’s answering smirk. There was something between the two. If Yasmin thought she could use it, she would do it in an instant.

The Dark walked to the table and looked at the food. He began returning each item to the bag. Until he came to the medicine. He palmed it, pretending to put it with everything else. Yasmin’s heart skipped a beat. He was up to something, and whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. She watched him carefully, waiting until his eyes met hers. She hadn’t dealt with a Dark Elf before, but their reputation preceded them.

“You’re in a unique position,” the Dark said as he set her bag aside. “You have information we require.”

“Then I’ll draw you a map.”

He grinned. “It isn’t that easy, and you know it. We can get to the stronghold. It’s getting ~in~ that is proving problematic.”

“If you know Shaldorn as you say you do, then you know you ask the impossible,” she retorted.

He released a slow breath and came around the table. “Will it be difficult? Dangerous, even? Without a doubt. Impossible? Nay.”

Yasmin glanced at the Wood Elf. Her gaze then moved over the three bullies who had dragged her into the room, stopping at the Sun Elf. He had backed up, but he hadn’t returned to his position in the corner. He stood with his arms crossed and feet wide as if waiting for her to do something reckless.

He wasn’t wrong.

“You don’t understand,” she said, sliding her gaze back to the Dark. “None of you do.”

The female shrugged. “You’re right. We don’t. And it doesn’t matter. The fact is, we have to get inside. You have a choice. The cells, or a trip to Shaldorn.”

A place she swore never to return to. She knew what went on behind those high walls. The misery, the pain, the horror. She had lived it, breathed it. She had barely gotten out last time. There was no way she could return. She would take the cell. She could do it. Prison was better than Shaldorn.

The Dark moved his arm. As he did, he flashed the bottle in his hand. “What would you do for a life?”

She met his gaze, her hatred for elves growing to new heights.

The Dark raised a brow, waiting. He knew the vial contained medicine. His threat was clear. Help them, and he would get the treatment where it needed to go. Refuse, and she would be locked away, the bottle destroyed.

Yasmin wanted to scream at the gods for putting her into such a predicament, but it wouldn’t do any good. The only one who could save her was herself. That was how it had always been, and it was how it would always be.

She had stolen and saved to scrape up enough coin to buy the medicine. Little Jaya was counting on her. All the children were. She had promised to always be there for them. She couldn’t turn her back on them now. Even if it meant going back to Shaldorn.

If she survived this…nay, ~when~…she would get as far from Shecrish and the elves as she could. It didn’t matter what she might run into somewhere else on Zora. Anything was better than elves.

Yasmin turned her head to the Wood Elf. “Take the bag where I need it to go, and I’ll do what you ask.”

“Give us the location,” she replied.

The moment Yasmin stated the locale, the Dark grabbed her bag and walked out the door. The Wood Elf was next, followed by the surly Sun Elf, and then the trio until she was alone. But she wasn’t really. They were watching.

The elves were always watching.