Page 16 of Rogue Elves of Ardani

“Leave that to me. All you have to do is come with me to Valtos afterward and put a sword through my master.”

“And then what? I take the fall for it and end up back here?”

“I should hope not. If everything goes well, no one will even know he’s dead until long after the fact. You do this, then we can part ways. You’ll be free to go. No strings attached.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“What? Do I not seem trustworthy?” She almost seemed genuinely offended. Vaara waited. “Do you have a better option?” she said finally.

He looked at the ceiling, thinking for a long time. “Why me?” he asked. “Why not ask one of the humans?”

“So he doesn’t get a chance to take the other eye,” she said matter-of-factly.

He stared at her narrowly. Everything she said was the last thing he expected.

At least the other humans made sense. They were simple. Alexei was ego-driven and violent. Felion was so focused on his academic pursuits that he was hardly aware of his surroundings. Callias didn’t care about much of anything except for when his next break was.

They all always did exactly as he expected. There was something comforting in that.

Crow the not-mage was a liar. She’d lied to everyone here. He’d heard her lie to Callias, the first day he’d seen her. That entire meeting had been one big performance. And she was good at it. A person who lied this easily and skillfully was dangerous.

“I know this is sudden, but you don’t have long to think about it,” she said. “If you—”

“I’ll do it,” Vaara said.

He’d let her help him escape, at least. The rest of her plan was of no interest to him. As soon as he was able, he’d run for Kuda Varai.

At least, that’s what he would have planned for if he weren’t nearly positive that none of this was actually going to happen. It couldn’t.

Crow looked relieved, and then nervous. She nodded stiffly. There was a heavy silence.

“When?” Vaara asked.

She lowered her voice to a whisper. “This evening. I’ll come for you after dark. Will you be ready to run?”

“I’ll have to rearrange my schedule.”

She smiled archly. She was even prettier when she smiled like that. He scowled.

He didn’t believe that she’d really just set him free. She’d be a fool to trust him, with no magic to protect herself. There would be a catch. But whatever it was, it would be worth it if it meant getting out.

“They lock me in shackles at night. Not the ones with the clip. You need a key.”

“I know. I told you, it’s all under control. Just worry about keeping your strength up. If things go wrong, we may have some confrontations on our way out.”

She leaned against the stone. He avoided her eyes. He wished she’d stop looking at him like she was trying to read his mind. At least she hadn’t started touching him again.

“We could stay in here a while, if you want,” she said.

“What?”

“If you’d rather be in this room with me than out there with them,” she said. “I saw Alexei skulking around earlier. I don’t really need you for anything in here, obviously, but I figured you might prefer to stay a little longer.”

He couldn’t find a hole in her logic. Except for the fact that he didn’t know why she was doing any of this, and the more he saw of her, the less he trusted her. “All right,” he said anyway.

She frowned down at the table. “This thing is freezing. I don’t believe you’re not cold,” she decided. “Don’t give me any nonsense about Varai resistance to cold.”

He didn’t answer. She was taking the heavy cloak off her shoulders. He frowned as she threw it over him. The fabric closed over his limbs, blocking out the chilly air. It was still warm from the heat of her body, and it smelled faintly like some exotic flower.

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