A few more days had passed. Mani and Aerendil's unexpected companionship had still not made each other more amiable toward one another. Although, Mani had stopped wearing her mask so often. Her ruby eyes were constantly on display, matching the raven color of her hair. It surprised Mani when Aerendil didn't opt to question her further about her features like he always loved to do but she wasn't going to complain.

Speaking of less amicable interactions...

"I cannot continue to eat this... this..." Aerendil struggled to find words that were able to describe the vile sight in front of him. He gestured to the 'food' that Mani has prepared and placed in front of him.

Mani crossed her arms to seem more offended.

"Eat it or starve. Either way, it doesn't matter to me. Honestly, have you learnt nothing these past few days? Don't knock it 'till you try it." Mani pointed to the bowl of... something--that looked brown and liquidous--placed on their makeshift wooden table. The smell emanating from it was not a pleasant one.

Sadly, she had ran out of beef jerky not too long ago because of the unexpected extra mouth she had to feed. This made her resort to a more fresher menu.

With his injuries and shackles still restricting his movements, she had taken the more physically exerting chores. Another chore added to her daily routine, hunting. Then another chore added, cooking.

Hunting was easy enough, cooking was a different story.

"I cannot possibly... This can't possibly be edible!" Aerendil protested.

"It's definitely edible. I am not that inept at cooking. Elves are truly the masters of overreacting," she said, defending herself. To prove her point, she picked up her bowl and took a brave sip. Aerendil, unamused, stared at her face to gauge her reaction.

Mani kept a straight face until it cracked, she gagged to the side then erupted into a coughing fit.

"Urgh... How does Ma make it look so easy…"

Aerendil didn't even take the opportunity to laugh nor insult her, he pushed his bowl further away from him with a scrunched nose. His chains clinking as he did so.

"Gods above... How did you even survive this long?"

"Luck?"

"Unfortunately, luck isn't going to keep us fed. Where did you put the leftover venison?" Aerendil stood and looked around their campsite. When Mani pointed out the venison wrapped in a bag, he walked over and picked it up with a painful wince.

Mani watched as he took it out and began to prepare it expertly, albeit a little sloppily due to his injuries.

"You... can cook? And you did not think to make this fact known earlier? Are you kidding?" Mani asked in disbelief as he carefully maneuvered around his chains to chop the venison. It looked painful with all his bruises and cuts, the ones that were yet to heal.

"No, I am 'not kidding.' Cooking is easy, you are just stupid," he answered then glanced at Mani's offended glare. "Quit making that face and stoke the fire, would you?"

Mani was about to retort back before just settling on a scoff. She reluctantly stoked the fire but a string of complaints left her lips in grumbles.

The meal was made rather quickly given his condition, venison stew. It could just be the fact that Mani hasn't had a normal meal in days, but it looked and smelled absolutely divine. She would never admit such a thing to his face though.

He took a seat at the makeshift table and started eating, not even bothering to invite her for a taste. Still, there was another bowl set on the table for her. Trying to act reluctant and hesitant, Mani slowly approached and took a seat.

"How do I know it isn't poisoned or something of the sort?" she asked.

"You don't," said Aerendil after swallowing some of his food.

What a bitch. She thought but kept it to herself.

Eventually, she took a few bites. As she suspected, it was delicious. Mani's poker face wavered as she fought the urge to scarf the whole thing down right then and there. She caught his amused gaze on her over his bowl as he took a sip of the stew's broth.

She cleared her throat nonchalantly. "Not bad."

"That's it?" he asked.

"Are you expecting an award?"

"No."

That is how Aerendil became the designated cook.

***

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

A week later and Aerendil could move better. He said he's not as sore as before, which was his first mistake. Mani immediately put him to good use. Together with cooking, he was to fetch the water needed for his cooking. Not only that, he was to pick the herbs himself. At first, he didn't feel the need to voice his complaints but then he soon realized there was no way he could do everything with something so heavy and inconvenient weighing him down.

"Take them off," he said, gesturing to the shackles on his wrists. "At least my wrists. You must be mental thinking I could complete my tasks with these on."

"No. You'll do something stupid."

"Stupid? As in complete my share of the chores within this century and not the next?" Aerendil seemed genuinely confused and irritated.

Mani stared at him for a moment before glancing down at the shackles on his wrists. "You can do magic, no?"

"What is the point of that question?"

"The point is, will you try to hurt me with that magic or even hurt me in general?" she asked bluntly.

"Only if you give me a reason to," he replied just as straightforwardly.

"Pinky promise?"

He rolled his eyes. "You are annoying."

Mani rolled her eyes as well before fishing a key out of her pockets. Aerendil raised an eyebrow at that, he's about to ask but Mani interrupts him before he could.

"Picked it off the nobles that were beating your ass."

"Annoying is an understatement for you."

And with that, Mani carefully unlocked the shackles on his wrist. Surprisingly, she kneeled down and tried to unlock the ones on his ankles as well. This took Aerendil by surprise and he took a step back instinctually. Mani looked up at him with furrowed brows.

"What? Have you grown too attached to the ones on your ankles?"

"I--No, you merely took me by surprise. Apologies," he said and returned to his earlier stance, allowing her to unlock the shackles.

Once the shackles were off, he shook out his limbs. Mani caught the rare smile that graced his lips as she stood up. He rubbed at the marks that the shackles left on his wrist and let out a satisfied sigh.

"Much, much better," he said as they made eye contact. In a rare moment, two smiling faces met each other before Mani closed her eyes. Her smile dropped and she pointed to the campfire.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get to work, brat."

"Do not tell me what to do, human."

***

More days passed, three weeks since they first met.

Aerendil was much more livelier with his shackles off. Livelier, not amiable. There were periods of times where he left to do his chores and contrary to what he claimed a few days ago, he wasn't much faster in doing them now than he was before. Mani couldn't care less though, as long as he did them then whatever he did after was none of her concern.

In one of his longer excursions, Mani took the opportunity to head to the river bank for a moment alone.

"Dead end? Can't say I'm surprised. Is Xavier alright though?" Mani asked as she leaned back on a tree, observing the flow of the river.

"Nothing happened. The only outcome was a few angry nobles. What about you? How are you holding up, Mani?" A voice replied.

"Fine... Same old boring days keep going by. I wonder how long they will keep searching though. It's been weeks." Mani closed her eyes with a sigh.

The voice sighed as well before replying. "There has still been some reported activity from them. We're trying our best to root them out. It shouldn't be that much longer."

"Good job. I'm sorry you have to deal with all of this. It must be tiring working two operations at once. You're all getting a break when I get back, I swear. You, especially."

The voice chuckled. "I'm sure we will, Mani. I will see you soon then. Don't die."

"See you soon."

***

With the recent changes, a thought occurred to Mani. She barely knew anything about this man, and he knew nothing about her. Even after living with each other for about a month now. As odd as the situation was, Mani was starting to feel more and more comfortable with his presence. She couldn't tell what he was thinking though.

Another night after dinner, Aerendil lounged around the campfire. Mani walked over and sat across him. They locked eyes for a moment, Aerendil's confused emerald eyes met her own ruby ones.

"What are you doing?" he asked after a moment.

"Sitting," she answered.

"You know that isn't what I meant."

Mani sighed and glanced away. "I'm only curious about you. I mean, we don't get along too often but we've been living with each other for a while now. Where did you come from? How did you end up in Rivane?" she tried to ask casually but it elicited no response. Mani was about to take back her questions but he spoke before she could.

"I would rather not talk about it."

Mani slumped backward with a sigh. "I see."

To her surprise, he continued talking, "Do you have any other questions you wish to ask?"

This was not an opportunity she was going to pass up. She straightened and looked him in the eyes, no beating around the bush this time.

"You're an elf. What kind of magic do you know? Healing? Elemental? You seem like an earth type to me, but I'm only assuming, unless I'm right?"

"Magic? Yes, I know all kinds. Healing and elemental. If you are trying to imply that I might be the incarnation of earth, you're mistaken." His answer was straightforward.

Incarnations.

People who were born with the strongest connection to an element. It's not limited to elves however, the only way a human could possess magic was if they were an incarnation of an element. The main elements included fire, water, air, and earth. There also existed subsets of those elements, incarnations of subset elements were commonly known as 'subsetters.'

His answer caused her to raise her eyebrows. Mani did not expect him to catch on to what she was implying so quick.

"Not even a subsetter?"

"No."

"Aw, unfortunate."

She tried not to look too disappointed by his answer and changed the subject. "Right then. Since you answered a question, it's only fair you get a chance to ask one. I've rarely actually answered any of your millions of questions, huh?"

"You're right."

He paused and brought a hand to his chin to think. When he had decided, he voiced his question out loud.

"How and why are your eyes red? That is quite the unusual color, for a human, of course. I don't suppose you're a half-blood?" He looked at her as if to reconfirm the color of her eyes.

"Not unless I'm adopted, of course. But to answer your question though, I don't really know. It's just that color. It's a nice color though, right?"

He ignored her attempt at fishing for compliments. "You've had them ever since you were born? Do you get looks from people?"

She nodded. "Yes, to both." And with that, she offered no more explanation and he didn't push it further despite being curious.

"Strange."

The conversation continued after that exchange. It was one of the rare moments where there weren't any bickering. It was actually a pleasant evening for Mani, she could tell he was also enjoying himself even if he tried not to seem like he was.

It wasn't long until Mani retired to her tent and he settled into his bedroll.

With the sound of a soft rustling outside her tent, Mani drifted into sleep.