Naveen

Rina:

My eyes shifted between his for a moment, trying to read him but I couldn’t read the emotion on his face. After a moment I moved to lead the way out of the hall. I was stopped a couple times but only briefly before we were out. I didn’t say a word until we reached my chambers. I turned to face him. “I’m sorry,” I said quietly. It just came out and I couldn’t exactly say what I was sorry for. I just felt guilty.

I thought about my people as we walked, though I kept enough focus on Rina and the surroundings that I wasn't caught up with her brief stops or when we ended in her chambers. "What are you sorry for?" I asked in puzzlement. Did she feel bad about me seeing another elf?

Rina:

I looked down at my deep blue dress. It was more adorned than my normal wear for the occasion. “I suppose it’s on behalf of all my people. I don’t think it’s right the way you’re treated. The she elf reminded me of how your people are treated.” I sighed and looked up to him, shame on my face. I would never had condoned such things. But then, I had brought him here, under the cover of the very same thing. I didn’t treat him as a slave, but everyone else did.

Understanding crossed my face and I bowed my head. "Human's typically aren't like you Rina. Most of them view us like dirt, trash, a sideshow to entertain and use before casting aside. I'm lucky to be here with you where I'm treated well even if the rest of my people are not."

Rina:

“What about the girl? We have to help her,” I said already thinking of how it could be done. It was unlikely that Talon could do it on his own as it would be unusual for him to go out without me. But her captor probably kept her close by.

"We need to talk to her first. That will have to come from you. If she is a slave, she doesn't have to stay in the servants quarters. Not all slaves do." Some humans preferred to keep their slaves nearby. Chained to the floor in the corner, or locked in a cage, or in some cases in a bed on the floor like a dog.

Rina:

“I will talk to her,” I said. I went over and hugged him then. I still felt guilty for how his people were treated, but if I could do good by the other elf it would be a step in the right direction. “Stay here tonight?” I asked softly. I wasn’t exactly in the mood for energetic activities. I simply wanted to be near him.

I was careful to keep my armor from ruining her dress as I hugged her back. Her guilt gave me hope for the future. If Rina could take any sort of power for herself, even if it was a minor position within the courts. Non-humans would have a chance. A small one at best, but one never the less.

"I will." I murmured softly while smoothing a hand down her back.

Rina:

I leaned up, putting a hand behind his neck and kissed him softly. There was a part of me that wondered if the elf being here would change things between us. I liked it just the way it was.

The next couple of days I tried my best to find a way to talk to the elf, who’s name I had learned was Vera. Captain Carroway, her master had her by him except for dinners inn the banquet hall. After diner he usually went to fetch her. There was a two hour window when she was left alone, presumably in his chamber. It turned out that Talon would be the one to talk to her while I attended the banquet alone. Aero and Iris were strapped to my thigh under my skirt.

I kissed her back softly, content with the togetherness we had now.

The halls were empty at this hour, and while I hated leaving Rina alone, this was the only chance we'd have to get a word with her. Stealth wasn't my strongest ability right now. I had spent too much time as Talon and now felt rusty. But before long I was outside the Captains quarters and as I gazed both ways down the hallway I knocked softly.

Vera checked the peephole of the door quietly and gasped when she saw who it was. She opened the door slowly and regarded the elf before her. She had seen him with the princess, even caught him looking at her once or twice, but they had not had a chance to speak.

“Come in,” She whispered, unsure if Fredric would be displeased by her inviting a male of her kind into the room alone.

Talon:

I bowed my head in thanks, stepping into the room. I took a brief moment to look around before I turned to regard her. Since she'd started in common I decided to reply in kind. "It's wonderful to see another of us here." I drew my mind back to the old lessons I'd learned about the different races of elves. "How fares the waters?" I asked using a crude translation of a greeting used by River and Sea Elves.

Vera took a few steps back and stood with her hands grasped behind her back. She studied him closely and didn’t respond to his greeting. It was rude, she knew, but she was too nervous. Finally, she said, “How did you know I was here?” It was surprising to see an elf in the castle, and she had been worried ever since that he had been sent here after her, despite not being of her own kind. He could have been a woodland ambassador. No. She eyed the lines on his arms. He was something else. She wasn’t as familiar with those.

"I was at the banquet when you came in." I dropped my gaze to the floor. Her not greeting me had been rude but I didn't blame her. She seemed nervous. Folding my arms I kept my gaze on the floor. "Since you didn't seem to be staying in the servant quarters it was an easy guess that you would be staying here."

Raising my gaze finally my lips quirked into a faint smile. "I wanted to talk with another elf. I've been here for a couple months and you are the first one I saw. Not only that...I wanted to make sure you were safe and happy." I nodded my head towards the bed. I was sure she'd heard the rumors of what people believed, and I wasn't going to bring them up in a question.

"I came here with Rina, the princess, to try and make a better life among humans for all races. So far we haven't had much luck." I was talking too much I felt but I wanted her to feel at ease.

She looked at him sideways with a slight frown. "Who are you?" she asked in elvish. She had heard of elves like him, but never seen one, and she didn't know exactly where they came from. His assumption of her made her uncomfortable, but then it was true. She had run away with a human man. It was a disgrace, but she wouldn't be going back. That he had possibly done the same thing, did make her feel somewhat better.

Twisting my hand over my breast I bowed to her, "I am Talon, Lord of the Elves of the Moon who inhabit the Mountains of Mist." Straightening my lips curved into a faint smile. While our accents were different, and the usage of words slightly different. All elves had a similar tongue.

“Oh!” Vera gave a curtsy and bowed her head. “I am Vera, daughter of Amule and Drani of the eastern river clan,” she said softly. She looked at him differently now. Perhaps he truly was here to make a difference for non-humans. “Please don’t tell anyone that I am here.” She looked at him with pleading eyes.

"The Eastern River clan...I haven't had the pleasure of visiting your clan. I will have to make the journey myself sometime soon." My gaze softened at the pleading look in her eyes. "I wont tell a soul that doesn't already know. The princess already knows. But I'm working with her, she is a good person. For a human at least."

“Thank you,” She murmured. She tilted her head at his description of the princess. “Are you… with her?” She asked curiously. Her manners, for an elf, were not highly developed. Neither was her sense of dignity, which had lead to her current situation with the captain.

"I'm..." I trailed off for a moment and looked away for a moment. "In what way are you referring?" I kept my tone careful but also questioning as I followed it up with, "Do you mean in the way you are with the Captain?"

“He loves me,” she said defensively. She knew what the humans believed. That she was a slave and a mistress to Fredric. They didn’t know that he would have married her if she accepted. Marriage wasn’t as important for her people. And it was unheard of for an Elf to marry a man. She had that much pride at least.

"But how do you feel for him?" This time I dropped the act of diplomacy. This was the information that I'd wanted to gather. If this was what she wanted too, then I could relax. Even if she dropped the language of our race, I kept it.

“I love him too. I left my people for him. I did so willingly, not captured like the humans believe,” She said it while looking him in the eyes, waiting for him to tell her she did the wrong thing. Her clan had been furious. They said they would disown her if she left, yet they had sent people after her when she actually did it.

Searching her eyes I nodded slowly. "I believe you. I do not judge you. My own people would frown at such a relation, but none would dare wish you ill. The heart is a thing to be protected and treasured, and it goes where it pleases. So too should it's choices." My lips curved into a soft smile and I bowed my head her way.

She gave a shy smile.  “You are not like my people,” she said, but then her people had to deal with the racism of the humans far longer than the elves of this land did.  That’s why the only way to reach her clan was by river.  The wilderness was too dense to get through.  

“How do you bare them?” She asked, meaning the humans.  She loved Fredric, and she would endure much for him, but the way the humans treated her was hard to manage.