Verange

Chapter 9

Hayden faded into sleep rather quickly. The cloak she gave him smelt faintly of pine trees and summer flowers, even though it was fall. He assumed it was because that’s how Elis smelled. 

It kept him warm and comfortable even though the cave was cool, despite the fire. His occasionally glanced over at Elis’s form, leaning against the black stallion that had carried them through the forest. He was curious how Elis stayed warm when he got so cold. He had a thicker form than she did. But along with every other oddity about her, he took it as her elvish nature. When he finally drifted to sleep, Elis was still awake, speaking quietly to her horse in a language he didn’t understand.

When he woke it was still dark, but the rain had slowed to a light rain. He stood up and moved closer to the fire. His clothes were dry so he pulled them on and walked over to Elis. She glanced up at him briefly before looking back out the cave entrance. “I could take over if you wanted.” He said quietly. He couldn’t have been asleep for more than 2 or 3 hours but it only seemed right. 

She shook her head but stood up and walked around the cave a few times. “I can do it. You need sleep more than I do.”

He opened his mouth to protest but thought better of it. “Alright… Can we talk for a little while?”

Elis looked at him for a long moment and he grew uncomfortable under her steely gaze. “You won’t go back to sleep until we do, will you?” She sat back down with a sigh and leaned against the side of her sleeping horse. She sat cross-legged and looked up at him expectantly. They talked for several hours of nearly nothing before he spoke the question that had been bothering him.

He forced a slight smile and moved closer to her, their knees nearly touching.  “Elis, why didn’t you stay with the elves?”

He smiled when she groaned and muttered something in Elvish. He noticed she shifted her position, creating more distance between them. “You ask far too many personal questions.”

He shrugged. “I am a curious person… Could I at least know how you got all those whip marks?”

Her expression turned dark and her forehead creased when she frowned. It was a long while before she answered him. “I haven’t spoken to anyone about what happened yet.”

Her eyes were cold, calculating, but very wise. “Very well. I will tell you what befell me three months ago.”

Hayden smiled happily and leaned back against the cave wall, ready to listen to her story.

“I had to have council with a few people I assumed were friends of the Verange. Turns out I was wrong. They slipped the drug that takes your magic away into the drink that night. And after I thought everyone had retired and went to sleep myself, they snuck 20 men into their house to capture me. I killed 12 of them before they stripped me of my sword and killed another before they subdued me.” He was leaned forward, listening carefully to that she said.

She closed her eyes and shook her head. He watched as her anger seemed to only grow. 

“They took me to the King’s castle and locked me up. I couldn’t very well not eat. The little I consumed was heavily laced with the drug. Every day, he would come see me personally and attempt to… break… my mind. For 69 days I was trapped in his domain unable to do anything but… endure.” Her voice broke and she stopped for a moment. He frowned and scooted closer, waiting for her to continue. 

“Each day, one of his men would whip me. At first it was just 10 or 15, but then it grew. The last day I was there… I received 61.”

“Each day I refused to talk, the madder he got with me and the more brutal he became. He would use hot irons and burn me, or use other tools to mutilate me. Some days… Some days he would just let his soldiers do as they wished with me.”