Page 158 of Rogue Elves of Ardani

Aruna sat against the opposite wall, awake. He met Vaara’s gaze and gave him a small nod. Novikke lay curled on her side facing the wall.

Vaara took a steady breath. He tipped his head back against the wall. “Thanks,”he murmured to Aruna. “For coming.”

“Give your thanks to the Goddess. I only do as she asks of me.”

“You go beyond what she asks of you.”

Aruna flashed a smile. “You’re welcome,”he said. “Are you finished trying to get yourself killed?”

“For the moment.”He glanced at Novikke’s sleeping form, then back at Aruna. “I’m sorry you got dragged into this. But we wouldn’t have made it here without you and her.”

“You know,”he said thoughtfully, “Novikke and I haven’t done anything like this since shortly after we met. I can’t remember the last time I used my sword.”A curious expression came over his face. It almost looked like guilt. “I think I’ve missed it more than I realized.”

Vaara was about to say something about what a missed opportunity that was, being in Ardani all this time, surrounded by Ardanians, and never lifting a sword to kill any of them. But just as the words occurred to him, he realized that they were no longer his. It sounded like something his mother would say, but not him.

“Now what?”Aruna asked, his voice low. “Your vengeance has been carried out. You’re free of your binding. What are you going to do?”

Vaara paused. A year and more had passed. So much had changed. Life had gone on without him.

But Aruna was right. He was free. He could start up again where he’d left off. Couldn’t he?

There had been a time when the hope of getting to go home and start over had been the only thing keeping him going. It had been what he’d lived for.

Why did it all seem so hollow now?

“I miss Kuda Varai,”he said. That much was true. He did not think Varai were meant to live apart from the sacred forest. He missed it so much that he physically ached when he thought of it.

Aruna nodded solemnly, but gave a pointed, questioning glance at Crow, nestled against Vaara’s chest.

Vaara felt his jaw tighten. That invisible wound he’d felt in his heart earlier throbbed anew, cut open yet again.

“What about you? What are you doing with her?”Vaara whispered, nodding to Novikke.

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean.”

“Do I?”

Vaara shook his head and looked away. There were plenty of reasons why an Ardanian and a Varai shouldn’t be together. “Is this temporary, or do you mean to stay with her?”

“It is not temporary, Vaara. One doesn’t leave the homeland and take up with an Ardanian on a whim.”

“Are you going to take her back to Kuda Varai, then?”

“Someday, maybe.”

“You’ll be hard pressed to find any community there that will accept a human woman in their midst.”

“We’ll figure it out. We always do.”

“Or will you stay in Ardani for the rest of your life, in hiding? How long can you continue this way? What about children? Will you have half-breeds with her? What kind of lives would you be forcing upon them?”

“Neither of us is interested in children.”

“Humans only live a hundred years, if they’re lucky, you know.”

Aruna narrowed his eyes. It had been too cruel a thing to say, perhaps, but it was true.

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