Page 8 of Captive

He grinned at her instead of answering.

“Why?” she asked instead.

“Spies are taken to our superiors for questioning,” he said.

Of course that was what they thought. “I’m not a spy,” she said. “I’m a courier.”

“A spy,” he corrected her. “With the Ardanian army.”

She was suddenly hyperaware of her bright red and blue army uniform standing out in the midst of all this blackness. “I assure you, I’m not.”

He gave her an amused look. “Whatever you are, begging and arguing will not help you,” he said. “Be quiet and do as we tell you, and maybe I won’t need to beat the fight out of you again.”

Novikke’s jaw locked shut. She glared at him.

“Yes,” he said, knowing she was remembering what had happened on the road. “You are afraid of that. So be quiet.”

The other one had been watching her impassively during the conversation. She glanced over at him. He said nothing. Both of them went back to cooking.

Exhausted, she curled up on the stone floor, resting her head on her hands. She shivered. She’d left her cloak and her bag on the road miles behind, so she had nothing to keep the cold at bay. Nonetheless, she was asleep before the elves started eating.

???

She awoke to movement in early evening, before the sun had set. She opened her eyes and was alarmed to find herself alone in the cave with Smiler. She decided to pretend to be asleep, but then he looked over at her, as if he’d sensed her fear.

He paused in the middle of packing up the campsite. He looked at her like she was a piece of meat that he was thinking of cutting up into bloody pieces and then devouring. It probably wasn’t far from the truth. She’d heard stories of night elves doing similar things to her people.

Her fingers tightened into useless fists. Her heart crept into her throat. Where was the other one? Had he left to let them return to the outpost alone?

She could have sworn on the goodness of the Five that the smiling one had been about to approach her, when the other one returned, walking in from the trees beyond the cave, and then the tension in the air faded.

She watched them douse the coals of the fire and pack their things. It didn’t take long. They traveled light.

By then, she badly needed to answer the call of nature, and dreaded broaching the subject. Finally, Smiler left to venture into the woods for something. Novikke quickly took the opportunity to approach Serious.

He looked up at her with annoyance when he noticed her coming closer. Leaving the bag he’d been fiddling with, he stood up straight and rested a hand on the hilt of his sword in a warning gesture.

Novikke gave a derisive snort. “What do you think I’m going to do?” she said, motioning with her tied hands.

He just looked at her, waiting.

“I have to…” she began. He couldn’t understand her. If only one of them had had a translation enchantment. She hesitated, then made a very vague gesture that she hoped would communicate her desire.

Unsurprisingly, he did not understand that, either. He raised an eyebrow at her.

Novikke sighed. She made a less vague, more embarrassing gesture. This time, he understood. He considered her, then motioned for her to follow him.

He took her a dozen paces into the forest—not as far as she would have liked—and stopped. Novikke went a few steps farther and hid behind a tree that was also not as broad as she would have liked. She hesitated, looking pointedly at the elf, who was still watching her suspiciously. He rolled his eyes and turned halfway away from her.

When she’d finished, they started back toward the cave. Beyond the trees, Smiler had returned and was waiting for them by the camp. She felt a sudden surge of urgency to make use of this brief moment of time she had alone with the less awful of her captors.

“My name is Novikke,” she said in a rush.

He turned to give her a blank look.

She pressed her hands to her chest. “Novikke.”

He frowned a little. She knew he’d heard the desperation in her voice and seen it in her face. She couldn’t tell if it had made him feel sympathy or if he just found it pathetic.

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