Chapter 6

Respect

Jasra opened the door and froze. She'd been knocking for a while, and had begun to worry her friend had grown too ill to fetch the door herself. But now, she wished she had more warning. Because, lying flat on the ground in the center of the cabin was a man, bloodied and pale as the clouds. His eyes had been pushed in and crushed. It was a scene that she'd never experienced before. Most of her life, she'd been sheltered from such cruelty and violence.

Eventually her eyes drifted to Raynn, who was also flat against the floor, a dagger in hand. The only difference being that she had her eyes, and her chest was rising and falling shallowly with breath.

"Raynn!" Jasra snapped from her horrified trance, and kneeled down beside the elf. Scooping her hands beneath her head, she laid her down on her lap. Jasra stroked the hair from her face, blood smeared across her golden skin. "Please, Raynn!" She shook her gently, to no success. She shook harder, and harder, until the elf burst forth with life.

The dagger flew from her hand as if it was just pulled from a fire. It rattled to the ground beside the body, which for a moment Jasra thought would also spring to life. But it didn't.

The elf reached for her throat, rubbing it tenderly as memories poured back of the night before. The pain was somewhat gone, but her nerves were shot beyond repair, and suddenly she found herself shaking like a wet dog.

"It's okay! I have you…" Jasra squeezed Raynn, pressing her close. She didn't even care what it was that happened, just that her friend was safe. Pulling her to her feet, she led them out of the cabin and into the carriage that had escorted her there. This time, she had a driver for them.

"Back to Moonrock, now!" She shouted to the driver, who quickly did as told and whipped the horses into action. They sprung off down the dirt road, with Raynn slipping in and out of consciousness in the back. Jasra kept her head pressed against her chest, taking deep breaths as the shocking scene kept playing out in her head.

"What happened?" Killian said, as Jasra led the injured elf to the couch and laid her down. She wasn't even truly aware of what was going on, her hand slipping away from Jasras and bouncing off the ground.

"Father, someone attacked her last night. He's…" Jasra choked on her words, stepping back and fanning her eyes.

"He's what?" Her father pressed, grabbing her by the shoulders. Jasra frantically waved at Raynns hands, which were still coated in a thick layer of dried blood. The answer was clear enough.

"All by herself?" Killian sounded almost impressed, taking a knee beside Raynn and examining her. He reaches for her night gown and starts to lift it up, Jasra is quick to rush over and slap his hand away.

"What are you doing!" She shouted, a look of utter disgust on her face.

"I'm guessing there's a reason you didn't take her to the doctors, she'd not even supposed to be here is she? I have some medical expertise, I need to make sure there isn't any internal bleeding, broken bones. Which, by the looks of it just through the gown alone, she has several of." Her father remained calm, despite his obvious frustration. But, he was right. There was a reason she didn't bring them to a hospital. A year ago, Raynn forced Jasra to promise if she ever got injured, or otherwise incapacitated, to not bring her to a doctor. That didn't leave her with many options, but she often forgot her father had once been a field-medic before becoming the captain of the Mollusk.

He wasn't exactly an expert, but he was better than most had been out on the fields in the River War.

"Let me get her decent first." Jasra grumbled bitterly, before returning with undergarments. She felt silly dressing Raynn as if she was a baby, but she felt that her friend would appreciate it in the end. Now somewhat dressed, Killian felt along the elf stomach, feeling the broken rips as he went. Raynns body twitched in reaction, Killian wincing with guilt each time.

"Hate to see the bastard on the other end of…whatever she used." Killian muttered as he reached her throat. From what he could tell, it hadn't collapsed, as her breathing sounded relatively normal. He sighed in relief, and sat back on the ground. Scruffing his salt-and-pepper beard, he shook his head in disbelief.

"She got lucky. Whoever attacked her seemed to be holding back, or didn't know what the hell they were doing." The news was good enough to bring Jasra to her knees at the foot of the couch, laying her chin down on Raynns legs and sighing.

"I'm…I'm sorry, father." She murmured. Her eyes were closed as she soaked in the warmth of Moonrock. Killian blinked, and shook his head. Crawling over to his daughter on all fours, like a child of sorts, he quickly embraced her.

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"You have nothing to be sorry for. I just…It worries me. A father worries." Killian frowned as he rocked them back and forth gently, Jasra eventually giving in and hugging her father back. It made her wonder though. Pulling away, she gave him a startlingly serious look.

"What do you know about Raynn? What do you have against her?" The question felt silly now, but his judgment hadn't gone unseen long before the current events. A hint of hesitation danced on Killians lips, before he eventually let out a long winded sigh.

"It's not so simple. I don't have anything against her. It's just…I had a feeling this was going to happen eventually." His vagueness was frustrating, to say the least, and Jasra squinted. "Your friend, she's an important person. Or, at least, she was one some time ago. If she was smart, she'd be in Hidrria right now." Killian stood up, bringing his daughter with him. She didn't want to leave Raynns side, and watched as her father paced around the room. He debated pouring himself a drink, but the sun had only just risen.

"She was smart not to tell you everything."

"Father." She urged, to which he threw his hands in the air.

"Mirthorn. Her name is Raynn Mirthorn. You don't travel to Torchill as much as I have and not learn the Noble family names. Her family was a particularly wealthy House, and thus were targets for all sorts of things. Partly due to her father, who was infamous for buying up unique relics at auctions at egregious prices that no one could match. That pissed a lot of people off. And I'll tell you from experience, some collectors are willing to go leagues outside their comfort zone for something they really want. All it takes is forking over a few gold to get an entire Noble family wiped out. And that's exactly what happened." Her father looked at Raynn to make sure she wasn't awake. Though he still worried she was faking sleep in order to listen in. Regardless, the truth would come out once she was awake, and thus he continued. "It was her wedding day, her entire family was there when the attack began. Witnesses say her lover protected her long enough to escape on a boat before being shot down by the group of assassins. That fact she only went as far as Fernwrath was rather foolish. And it seems it's finally catching up to her." He sat down on the chair adjacent to them and pondered.

"Though, I'm curious why it's taken them twenty years to finally find her." Her father said, itching just behind his ear. Meanwhile, Jasra was still trying to compute what exactly her father had just told her. It in no way changed how she felt about her friend, of course, but it sure brought up a few questions worth asking.

"Maybe it wasn't that. Perhaps it was just a robbery." Jasra slowly turned to look at her father, who didn't seem all too convinced.

"I'm not so sure, darling. But we need to get her somewhere safer, not Moonrock." He said softly, eyeing the sleeping elf with a pained expression. Killian had recognized her the day Jasra introduced her. At first he wasn't sure what to do, as she wasn't necessarily wanted by the law. If anything, she deserved justice and protection. But he also knew she meant danger. He was foolish himself for thinking she could avoid it.

"But Moonrock protected those people in the Green War! Maybe it'll protect Raynn too." Jasra frowned, hugging Raynns legs.

"I'm afraid people can be much worse than monsters sometimes, darling."

Arethor awoke in an unfamiliar room. It was a tad bit smaller than his, and smelled strongly of incense. And he'd certainly never lit a stick of incense in his life. Naturally he was tempted to sit up, but felt a weight across his chest, and as his eyes cleared it all made sense.

Tolo was draped across him, skin to skin. Memories of the night before came flooding back to him. The two had a lovely walk back to her house, where she somehow convinced him to share wine with her. It didn't take long for them to become utterly inebriated. The rest from there was a mystery, unfortunately.

And before Arethor could ponder more, Tolo's eyes sprung open. Therein lies a similar confusion, but quickly faded into satisfaction. She produced a sly grin before turning her head to chuckle.

"Are you serious? You're going to act like this was your plan all along?" Arethor teased, curling up and pulling Tolo close to his face. Her long silver hair fell into his eyes, which he hastily batted away.

"Maybe." She shrugged, before leaning down and kissing him gently on the lips. All his thoughts melted into nothing, and he quickly slid his arms around her waist and pulled her in even closer. Eventually, they had to breathe.

"Did your plan need to take twenty years?" He frowned, wiping her lips with his thumb. Tolo rolled her eyes, and laid down beside him.

"I know you don't mean that, I know you understand." She said confidently. And though it still hurt, waiting so long, she was also right. He did understand. Because even when his mother was begging him to come home, to not leave for Everdale in the Green War, he knew he just had to.

"I just feel like we could've made it work. One on, one off."

"I've seen too many horror stories, Arethor. It would've torn you apart if something had happened." Tolo looked away, not upset but simply overwhelmed by the concept. But Arethor was quick to grab her hand, interlocking fingers.

"I would've been torn either way." His earnestness was startlingly convincing. She wanted to detest, to justify her own insecurities, but she knew she couldn't. Sure, she wouldn't want to leave Arethor in such a state, but she had also been worried about her career. She was almost never out on the field, or in immediate danger. In the back of her mind, she knew they could've made it work. Tolo always wondered if that was selfish of her or not.

"Perhaps. But it matters not, now." Tolo placed her free hand on top of his, feeling along the ridges of his skin. "I missed this, Arethor. I missed you." She whispered. There had been days like this. Where the both of them threw caution to the wind and spent one lovely night together. It was few and far between, the rest of the days filled with lustful glances from across the palace.

"My whole life has been waiting for you…" As soon as the word left his lips, he wished he could take them back. It wasn't that he hadn't meant it, but rather, he'd meant it too much. Tolo's eyes lit with emotion, too many to count.

"What a foolish wait. What if I didn't love you back?" She teased.

"Don't be ridiculous." Arethor smiled, grabbing her by the face and kissing her one more time.