661

A deep pain and humiliation filled her voice was verified by the emotion leaking through our bond as she made the admission.
“… That sounds like a poor title for you.” I told her carefully. “If you wouldn’t find it too revulsive, I would have you use a different title.”
The restrained she-elf tugged hard, trying to pull away from me. Her frustration and humiliation pulsed in my head.
“What would the point of that be?” She demanded. “You can’t change who I am. What I am. I am a slave. Forsaken and cast out of my house.”
“But you are welcomed into my house.” I countered. “So what you are is a member of my house. And I have never met a worthless person. Every person has a use, you just have to find it.”
“What use could I have? I’m worthless… I couldn’t even serve my people by killing one pitiful male.” She griped.
“Let’s make a deal then. Give me a month. One month. If I can find a way to help you be useful in one month, you’ll stay with me and help me. No commands, no coercion. If I can’t find a way to help you be useful, in one month… I’ll let you leave. You’ll be free to go wherever you want, far away from me. I won’t be there to command you, or order you around, so you’ll effectively be free.” I proposed.
“Deal.” She accepted, her glee was evident through our bond.
The acceptance was all too quick.
“I know right now, you’re thinking you’ll lie and accept it, then try to murder me and return to your people.” I guessed, “but think about it. What did your old life really offer you?”
I gave her a moment. Her stubborn defiance sat like a stone in my mind.
“I can feel the barely concealed bruises. The scars…” I told her. “… What did your life with your people ever give you? Give me and the rest of the world a chance and you may be surprised by what you find.”
I decided to give her a chance. I slowly and gently released her. I slowly backed up and sat on the bed, as the shadow elf maiden watched me with intent and distrusting eyes.
“I understand your motives for accepting the deal right now may not be the best, but give it a chance and we’ll see how it goes.” I assured her. “Shall we seal the deal?”
I offered her my hand.
The she-elf slowly sat up. I could tell she was doing everything she could to suppress her emotions. It made reading her almost impossible. She was of a race I wasn’t familiar with, and while wood elven people had been close enough to the humans I was used to that reading them hadn’t been far off, I wasn’t sure reading a shadow elf would work the same way.
Finally, reluctantly, she took my hand and we shook.
“Alright. To start with, I don’t want to call you ‘Clee’-Amura anymore. What are some other titles we could use for you, because I assume you want to still use one?” I asked.
“Well, most titles are related to what you do. The Tarqs are those that lead in battle. Vrith are those that follow a Tarq. A Vor is a mage of battle. Ta are those who serve Ya’av as clerics.” She explained, “I have failed as all of those.”
“What about a student, or an apprentice?” I suggested, “Until you find your purpose, that could be a good way to look at yourself.”
“… I suppose, ‘Ki’ could be an acceptable title.” She admitted.
“Ki’Amura?” I tried.
She struggled. “It feels wrong. I am a failure, not a novice.”
“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” I quoted to her, “You just need to find where your value is appreciated. I hope I can prove a place where that is the case.”
“We’ll see how long your word lasts.” Ki’Amura grumbled. “You’ll show your true colors. Simply a matter of time.”
“I swear, the only time I will command you, is to save your life, my life, or the life of one of the elves we live among. And if you are acting in self-defense, and the only way to save yourself is to kill the offending elf, I won’t even use it then.” I promised.
“… of course, MASTER.” She mocked.
I looked at her, “You can call me that if you want, but you are welcome to just call me ‘Thomas’ or ‘Tom’. As for the rest of the day, I do plan on bringing you to the feast. You are now a part of my house and if you aren’t welcome there, neither am I. I hope you will relax and enjoy the food and the celebration of a moment of peace.”
Ki’Amura looked at me, with suspicion and doubt.
“Now, I want to establish some expectations. First off, I don’t want to ever force you into doing something you don’t want to do, so long as it is within my power.” I told her, “If I ever ask you to do something and you don’t want to do it, please tell me.”
“And if I said I didn’t want to live here?” Ki’Amura mocked.
“Well, if you went back to El’Muth’Ran, they’d probably kill you.” I judged, “And I can’t guarantee your safety anywhere else, so unfortunately that is outside my power.”
Ki’Amura smirked like she’d won something, but said nothing more.
“Do you have any questions for me? About anything?” I offered.
She looked around the room. Her eyes sliding over the bed, the various nooks and crannies with alcoves for storage, and the smooth wooden floor.
“Where will I sleep?” She asked, her eyes on the floor near the corner.
“There should be a bed for you in one of the other rooms.” I told her. “I would prefer you either have your own room, or if you have to share, Lymarith is the only one I’d really want to share with you, as she seems the most okay with you.”
Ki’Amura turned to look at me, “A bed… for me?”
Her face brought to my mind many who I’d helped before. Children with their ribs standing out, disbelieving that there was food for them. Youths that couldn’t meet your eye.
“Yes. You’ll sleep in a bed, be clothed, eat three meals a day and be cared for. I won’t let anyone lay a hand on you to hurt you.” I assured her.
Her face narrowed in suspicion.
“I won’t just let you breed me, just because you gave me a bed and some food.” Ki’Amura retorted.
“Wasn’t my intention.” I assured her.
“I want to see my… bed.” Ki’Amura declared.
“Alright, if you have more questions, just let me know that you want to talk.” I told her, grabbing my rifles. “Let’s go find Lymarith.”
Lymarith was fairly easy to find as she was helping Diamiutar in the kitchen.
“Hello,” I called to get their attention. “We’ve talked and Clee’Amura will now be known as Ki’Amura. I believe we have enough rooms that she can have her own room, right?”
“That seems like a good idea.” Diamiutar agreed. “Second room, in the east wing?”
“Yes, that would be good!” Lymarith concurred with a smile. “Would you like me to show you your room?”
Ki’Amura looked at both me and the matrons with apprehension, then nodded.
Lymarith wiped the flower from her hands and led us through the halls to a room.
I hung back and let Ki’Amura follow Lymarith into the room.
“Lemius.” Lymarith called, lighting up the room.
Windows were the only thing that were really lacking in elven homes. There were three beds in the room, with plenty of alcoves with baskets for storage, with additional dresses, as well as what looked like brushes and such for self care.
Ki’Amura stepped into the room. Her head swiveled as she took in her new room.
“Whose beds are those?” The elven maiden asked.
“Currently, they are vacant.” Lymarith answered. “Master Thomas is still building his household. Perhaps one day the house will be so full as to require each bed to be used, but that will take some time.”
“So, I can have any bed I want?” Ki’Amura pushed.
“Pick whichever one you want.” Lymarith verified.
I just leaned back against the wall in the hall as my matron and the shadow elf interacted. Lymarith made sure to show her the features and contents of her room. Ki’Amura’s face was skeptical, but she couldn’t hide the fact that she was struggling to believe this turn of events.
“… and if you need anything, just let anyone know.” Lymarith concluded her introduction to the room.
“And this is all for me?” Ki’Amura verified.
I could feel her confusion and conflicting emotions of hope, anger and sadness.
“Well, I’m going to get back to helping Diamiutar, she has a lot to do in the next hour before we head out to the feast.” Lymarith excused herself.
I gave her a quick kiss as she squeezed past me in the hall.
Ki’Amura stood in her room. Unmoving and numb looking.
“When you are ready, I’ll be in the kitchen helping the others.” I told her. “I can tell where you are with our bond. Please don’t try anything stupid.”
I left her.
It was definitely a gamble. It always was. Ki’Amura had trauma, it was so easy to see. People who had been through things as traumatic as Ki’Amura’s life must have been could reacted in a variety of ways. There were the standard adrenaline responses, fight, flight, or freeze. Some regressed, some had PTSD, and others channeled it to become better. I had to give her space. If she was going to flee, It was better to have her try it now, where she’d be fleeing into a city of (hopefully) friendly individuals, instead of fleeing the next time we left the city.
I couldn’t just leave her here. X’Thallion had expressly told me to keep her close. I needed to know what her trauma response was going to be. I paid close attention to our bond.
It was odd to me, how quickly I’d gotten used to the lines of… feeling? Emotion? I didn’t know how to describe the distinct connection I felt to each matron, and the shadow she-elf. Each felt different. When I wanted Lymarith, her happy, bubbly bond was easy to pick out. Each Matron’s bond was as distinct as the elf was in person. The smooth, and generally pleasant bond to Diamiutar was easily distinguished from the steely, cool bond of Tavorwen, and the wild and dynamic bond of Creadean. Narusil’s bond’s current pulse of life from her pregnancy, even just days after her conception, was so easy to separate from the others. Heilantu’s soothing bond was always nice to note.