Of Her Own - Tales from Aleyi: a short story about Lallie

Of Her Own

Rancid breath soured her nose while muscle pressed her face-first into the wall. “You’re a pretty little one.”

And you be a pervert. Lallie Nonsire shoved her elbow into the man’s firm stomach, getting nary a grunt for her effort. She grit her teeth and dropped her elbow a handspan.

Curses exploded in her ear, and she broke away. Lallie glanced back at her assailant. The bronze badge of the Queen’s Own adorned his collar.

She bit back curses of her own and fled, blinking away tears. Of course Headmistress Darra would’ve reported her after kicking her out. The reward money—

Lallie ducked into an alley to catch her breath. I have to warn Wight. If the Queen’s Own were bothering to come after her, a young ward of the state, Wight’s patron would be in greater danger. He didn’t hide what he was.

But how to get there without tipping off the Queen’s Own? Lallie couldn’t hide her magic, not yet. It still ignored her and would until womanhood. She couldn’t force it to hurry. That way lay insanity.

“Clancestors an’ earth,” she whispered, then glanced around to make sure nobody had heard her. She had to stop saying that.

Lallie studied passersby while she hid behind an alley dustbin. Yes, ignore me—just one more street urchin with nowhere to go and no folk who care.

Her isa cared, after his fashion, but she was probably the child of whoever stole his wife. And she was female. Female was the wrong gender for a montai.

Her life kept coming back to that. She sighed.

If she could find some way to be safe from the Queen’s Own, she would argue with her magic until it listened to her, she swore. If it drove her insane, so be it—but surely even that would be better than getting tarred and burned because somebody had decided human rights didn’t apply to elementals, those born able to use magic instead of having to wait until puberty.

Now, how to warn Barun? Wight’s patron owned a few establishments in Saf, but he’d recently acquired a riverside inn and restaurant. The water elemental liked the river. She’d probably find him there.

Lallie swallowed. The royal guardsmen patrolled those streets more heavily, too, since the castle was just over the river and hill. They liked that gate and bridge. Not all of the royal guardsmen counted themselves the Queen’s Own. The king didn’t approve—but he also didn’t approve of his wife’s attempts to kill him, and that didn’t stop Her Majesty from trying.

If something happened to Barun and Lallie didn’t try to warn him, she would never forgive herself. Wight wouldn’t forgive her, either.

Lallie took a slow deep breath. You be human, she lied. Just a girl going to visit her friend. Not that she and Wight were friends, really. Allies, maybe. Sometimes.

But that cover story would work. She wouldn’t let her capture betray anyone else.

Like Headmistress Darra betrayed me.

Lallie shook her head. Thoughts like that would only make her angry and bitter, which wouldn’t help anyone. Her isa hid his temper well, but if he happened to catch a spy and had somewhere private to interrogate him… She shivered.

To the river, then.

Lallie glanced around the street as she trudged into traffic. She didn’t see the Queen’s Man who had attacked her, but if the headmistress had given Lallie’s information to the Queen’s Own…