I was missing something.

I knew that Starna’s mother had been an Elf ambassador to the Mebope Queen and that she had connection to Ammabus, but I didn’t know much about her parents other than that. The concerned look that Alessa gave Starna told me that there was a lot more to that story.

“Write up everything you know about the door and I’ll send it to the Queen and see if she will pass along what happened to the Remnant.” Alessa closed her eyes like she was fighting off sleep before refocusing on the person who hadn’t spoke.

“Starna. What’s wrong?” Concern filled my cousin’s voice.

“Nuh-nuh-nothing.” Starna blinked as if she’d been snapped out of a daze. “Just tired.” She forced a smile that even a blind person could tell was fake.

“O-kay.” Alessa turned back to me. “See what the Dwarves know and report back… Where’s Vin?”

“The Dwarves are really prejudiced towards Camadt.” I sighed. “So we left him in the mine.”

“You left him?!?”

“He kind of volunteered.” I waved at her. “Don’t worry, he wanted an excuse to flirt with a Silver.”

“He…” Alessa shook her head, then what I said must have registered. “A Silver?!”

I shrugged. “Don’t know what to say other than there's one who is registered as a ranger.”

“Just…” My cousin shook her head. “Just try to wrap this up before he causes an incident that makes things with the Dwarves worse. I’ve got a few things I want to look up in the library, but that will have to wait until later tomorrow. Contact me again tomorrow night.”

I nodded, which was all the confirmation that she needed. She turned to Starna and winked. “Have fun.” The connection died before either of us could respond.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

The silence that followed was so tense that I was feeling more awake by the second. It didn’t take a genius to know what my cousin was insinuating, but one look at my travel companion screamed that there was no chance. I’d seen that look on many animals before they bolted, so I wasn’t going to do anything to spook her.

I tossed one of the pillows on the floor, then kicked off my shoes. “I’ll sleep on the floor.” I stood up and motioned at the bed for her.

She bit her lip as she slowly moved towards the bed.

“Why are you so nervous?” I eyed her. It wasn’t like this was the first time we’d been alone together, though we’d never been alone for long.

“I-i-it’s nothing.” Starna slid under the fur and quickly rolled it all around her almost protectively.

That unease from my cousin’s comment earlier was still lingering and I wasn’t going to fall asleep any time soon, so I began trying to solve why the usually confident Elf was acting so frightened.

I wasn’t an idiot, I knew there was some chemistry between us. Alessa had made a point of emphasizing how Starna was perfect to join Vin and myself because she was the only mage that my cousin trusted, but I knew that wasn’t the case. We could have made it work with a lesser mage.

What I knew about their history started to snap into place, but there was one thing that I needed to verify. “How often did you and my cousin leave the palace?”

Stanra rolled over and scrunched her brow almost like she was insulted that my question was over that topic.”The first time we left without an army of guards was when we snuck out to run with you.”

“Did you ever go out on your own?”

Starna glared at me. “I was Alessa’s companion. I was with her every minute of the day and at night, my room was connected to hers. The only time I ever got for myself was when Ammabus taught me magic, and even then we were where I could see her.” Her eyes narrowed even more. “Why?”

“Just wanting to confirm something.” I grinned as the scowl vanished and her face turned a deep blue before she rolled over so I couldn’t see her.

“Would you turn out the lights?” Her voice cracked as she spoke. “I need to sleep.”

I chuckled as I walked over and waved my hand over the glowstone to dim it to almost nothing. I laid down on the pillow that I’d thrown on the floor and stared up at the ceiling until long after her breathing had leveled out. The first chance we had at some freedom, I’d be sure to take her somewhere nice. My mind kept going over all the possibilities until it finally drifted off.