It would seem that aside from fooling myself about Lin, I have also been getting arrogant. Just when did I start seeing people I don't deal with directly as unimportant? They deserve better from me, but if it wasn't for Athena asking for help, I wouldn't have even noticed.

I can worry about when it started later, for now I should focus on fixing it. So, I not only start trying to memorize the names of the elves, but also learn a little about them. Athena turns out to know a lot about the elves despite only being sentient for a few days.

Then again, if she is aware of everything that happens inside the ship it isn't too surprising. She probably learns a lot just from the idle conversations that she overhears. Just memorizing names and faces is hard, but it gets easier when I know a little about the person.

What should have been a quick walk around the ship ends up taking hours. However, the extra time is worth it since it is making me feel closer to the elves. Everything is going great until we run into Keeble and Neesha, who I haven't seen for a while.

Keeble is friendly and open, just like I remember him, but Neesha doesn't say a word. She just stares at me like she is waiting for me to say something to her. However, I can't remember what exactly I said to her last time, I just remember yelling at her.

I know it was to get her to stop chasing me and that I was mean to her, but I don't remember the words I used. I probably owe her an apology, but if I gave her one she might start up again. I feel pretty uncomfortable about it, but I ignore her until we leave.

Athena says "I am not sure if I understand things correctly, but that seemed rather tense."

"No, you read it right. Neesha was determined that I should be her mate and caused me some problems about it. To put an end to it I was rather blunt with her. At least, as far as I remember anyway."

Athena says "I think I understand. So, where to next?"

"That should be most of the elves, right?"

Athena says "Yes, we have visited all of the elves."

"Alright. Wait, what about the humans? I remember that early on in the rescues I saved some human children as well. They should be on the ship, I pretty much forced the elves to take them in. Where are they?"

Athena says "Yes, there are some human children on the ship. They tend to spend most of their time on the cargo deck."

"Why would they stay down there? Now I feel bad for not thinking to check on them sooner. Let's go, I want to check on them now."

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Athena says "Alright."

With Athena leading the way we take the main stairs down to the lowest deck of the ship. Then we proceed to the bow of the ship, about the most isolated spot you could find. At least the cargo deck is well lit with blue light from the underwater windows.

It would be much worse down here if it was darker, but it still isn't a place for kids. The human kids, twelve of them, are sitting in a circle playing some kind of game. They are not the only ones down here, there are several elves keeping watch through the windows.

They are to keep watch for beast attacks, even though Athena should detect any threats. What bothers me the most is the way the elves ignore the children, it tells me the children are here all the time. The children don't seem to be in bad shape, they are clean and well fed.

However, being physically healthy doesn't mean they are being taken care of properly. If the kids are spending all their time down here, something is definitely wrong. When the kids finally notice me, they all jump up and rush over to welcome me.

They are soon climbing all over me and all trying to talk to me at once, but at least they are not scared. Luckily, as they ramble on I am able to pick out and learn their names without Athena's help. Eventually, I am able to get them to calm down enough to talk one at a time.

From them, I am able to learn that a few of the elven women that were never captured are the ones taking care of them. No one forced them to come down here, they chose to banish themselves. A lot of the elves that I rescued would always give them strange looks.

Some were looks of pain, anger, or even hate, and it would happen all the time. So, the children decided that they should keep themselves out of sight as much as they could. While that is a fairly mature decision on their part, it is the wrong one for them.

A bunch of children giving up playing in the sun just so a few elves don't get upset is too sad. Once they are done explaining, I have them all climb onto my back and carry them to the top deck. I play with the kids until one of their caretakers comes to fetch them for lunch.

The entire time we are playing, not a single elf dares to even look at the kids. In fact, the way they all avoid looking at the kids makes me sure that they are the problem. The elven woman who comes for the kids seems genuinely fond of them, which is something at least.

Once the kids are gone I tell Athena to take me to Stillwater without asking where he is. She leads me to Silverstream's cabin, opens the door, and widens it so I don't have to shapeshift. When I walk in, Stillwater and Silverstream are sitting on the floor at a low table.

They are in the middle of feeding each other slices of fruit when they notice me and freeze. This would be the perfect time to tease them, but I am so angry that I don't even notice. Silverleaf would probably never let them hear the end of it if she saw them like this.

"Stillwater! Do you remember the human children we rescued?"

Stillwater says "Yes, of course I do. Why? Is something wrong?"

"Do you remember what I told you about them?"

Stillwater says "You told me that I should either kill them mercifully or take them in and make sure they are loved."

"And you chose to take them in, but what have you done since then?"

Stillwater says "I found a few volunteers from among the elven women that had not been taken as slaves and didn't have children of their own. I left it to them to take care of the kids."

"Have you checked on the children since then?"

Stillwater says "Not directly, but the women report to me regularly. The kids are well fed and healthy. Is there a problem?"