Page 12 of Rogue Elves of Ardani

It had rained hard all day. By the time she reached the abandoned farmhouse down the road, the hour was late, and she was soaking wet. A lone horse stood under the eaves, and smoke rose from the chimney.

The door to the place was unlocked. Shivering, she slipped inside and took off her cloak, which had done little to keep the rain off. The house looked to have been abandoned for a long time. The room she had entered was small and dark and cold, and smelled of damp earth.

When she’d closed the door behind her, she stood still, peering into the darkness. She didn’t care for the dark, or for enclosed spaces, or for the smell of stale timber and dirt for that matter. She wouldn’t put it past Patros to have chosen this location on purpose, just for that reason, just to remind her of her weaknesses, though he’d never admit to it.

“In here,” came Patros’s voice from beyond a door. She followed the sound into the next room, where she was relieved to find a fire roaring in a fireplace. Patros was lounging in a chair across the room.

Crow shivered again as she moved closer to the fire. Then she noticed the figure lying in the middle of the room.

It was an old woman, sprawled on the floor, her hands bound in front of her and a blindfold covering her eyes. There was dried blood on her forehead. She groaned softly and shifted a little as Crow entered, as if she wasn’t quite fully conscious.

Crow swallowed, steeling herself as she held her hands out in front of the fire. “This couldn’t have waited a few days?”

“I wouldn’t have come all the way out here if it could wait, would I?” Patros said. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a small, metallic object. “This is for you.”

As soon as she’d taken it from his hand, his eyes returned to the woman on the floor, like he was immediately bored with Crow already.

He was not one for prolonged social interactions.

So much so that he had gone to great pains to structure his life in a way that allowed him to avoid contact with other people almost always. He had sealed himself into his house in Valtos, rarely leaving, never taking visitors. She could count on one hand the number of people who even knew what he looked like.

He had purchased her long ago—forever tying her fate to his—for her magic, just like he’d have purchased any other tool for his business. But Crow sometimes wondered if, deep down, he had also been purchasing a companion—another presence to exist in his house with him. No creature could stand to be completely alone, could they? Not even someone like Patros.

She had the dubious honor of knowing him better than anyone else in the world. And so she knew him well enough to know that her hatred of him was boundless.

She looked down at the object he’d given her, turning it over in her hand. It was a thin bracelet made of an unidentifiable metal, very plain except for the hundreds of tiny enchanting runes that covered every inch of it. A chill settled over her. Her eyes widened at Patros. “A soulbinder?”

He nodded. “Use it on Toreg, if you feel you must.”

“Where in the world did you get this?”

“Does it matter?”

“I’m curious.”

“A mage at the Conclave owed me a favor. A large favor.” He glanced up at Crow again with an impatient glint in his eye. “It was not cheap.”

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “I understand. It won’t be wasted.”

“It isn’t solely for your benefit,” he admitted. “I had been considering using it anyway. I understand he is a difficult man to lock down. He prefers to freelance.”

“You want him working only for you,” Crow summarized.

“I want to be assured he won’t cause problems. This is the simplest way to achieve that end.” He gave her a sickening smile. She scowled. He nodded to the bracelet in her hand. “Do you know how to use it?”

“Yes.”

“Then we need not discuss it further,” he said, directing his attention to the old woman again.

Crow followed his gaze. “You could have put her in a chair, at least. There’s no reason not to let her be comfortable.”

“Does she look as if she is concerned about chairs at the moment?” He crossed his arms. “Are you ready to read her now, or do you have more foolish questions first?”

Crow slowly approached the pitiful woman on the floor. She was dressed in torn and dirty clothes. Crow wondered whether she simply couldn’t afford better, or if she had just ended up this way while in the hands of whoever had brought her here.

There had been a time when she had always asked Patros who these people were and why they’d ended up here. She’d since stopped asking for details. It didn’t matter. It wouldn’t change anything.

“What do you want me to look for?” she asked.

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