Page 147 of Rogue Elves of Ardani

“Don’t call me that.”

“Yes, uh… okay.”

Chapter 40

Callias guided Vaara through the mazelike building, stopping to let pairs of guards pass every so often. Vaara was glad he’d taken the boy’s help. He knew paths Vaara would never have thought to take. Vaara would have attracted attention much sooner had he tried to navigate alone.

The prison was bigger than he’d ever realized. All he had known of it was the hallway between his tiny cell and the mage’s laboratory. To think that there had been this much space, this much activity, just beyond his perception this whole time, was a little disconcerting.

They stopped in an alcove across from the guards’ quarters. Only a few men and women remained in the room, frantically strapping on armor and swords. They’d probably been asleep when the alarm went off.

“I’ll be right back,” Callias whispered, pulling away from Vaara’s hand.

Vaara clamped a hand around the boy’s arm. “What are you doing?”

Callias looked up at him with wide eyes. “Gonna ask them where the warden went, sir…?” He gave an inquiring look, asking if it was a more appropriate honorific than ‘lord’. Vaara just gave him a disapproving look. He certainly didn’t want to be put into the same category of address as the human guards who had imprisoned him here.

“I thought you knew where he was,” Vaara said.

“How would I know that? He’s got feet, doesn’t he? He won’t just stay wherever you last put him.”

Vaara gave him a look. Callias had a sharper tongue than he’d expected, when given the lenience to speak freely. “You’re just going to ask?”

He shrugged. “How else would I find him?”

Vaara reluctantly released him. “Go, then.”

There was a good chance, he thought, that Callias would betray him as soon as he got close enough to the guards to feel safe from Vaara’s blade.

But Callias did have plenty of reason to hate Alexei. Vaara had witnessed Alexei order physical discipline upon many of the workers in the prison, including Callias. Vaara just hadn’t imagined any of them would ever have the courage to do anything about it.

And he hadn’t imagined he would ever find himself entrusting his safety to a human-Ashara woman or to a human boy he hardly knew, either. These were foolish risks—ones that the old Vaara would never have taken.

If his past self could see him now, would he even recognize himself?

As he hid in the shadows across the hall, Callias approached the guards at a run.

“Where’s Lord Alexei?” he said, feigning breathlessness. “I’ve got a message for him.”

One of the guards nearly fell as she tried to put a boot on while standing on one foot. “Shouldn’t you know?”

Callias shrugged.

“He was heading toward the front gate,” said another guard.

Callias nodded vigorously. “The night elf was seen at the back door. I’ll bet he’s trying to escape again,” he added for good measure. Vaara was beginning to wonder whether it wasn’t just Crow, but all humans who were such good liars. Maybe it was in their blood.

“What in Astra’s name is he doing here in the first place?” asked the female guard. Callias had already run out of the room to catch up with Vaara again. They rounded a corner, moving out of hearing range.

Callias just gestured down the hall. “The front door is down there. Go left, then take the third right, then follow the mage lights until you see the door,” he whispered. “I… I shouldn’t go any farther. If they see me with you—”

“I know. Go on.”

The boy gave a quick, grateful nod. He turned to leave, then stopped short. Vaara looked up.

At the end of the hall, Alexei had just turned the corner with a retinue of guards trailing behind him.

Vaara’s heart did a sort of stutter, like it had tried to race and stop at the same time. Time seemed to slow down. For a moment, he could not think, let alone move.

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