“Is that what you want, Cayrimsa?”

As his eyes fixed on hers she turned her head and let the bonfires light up the darkened stain glass.

It’s a good question Cay, what do you want, what are you doing here?

She sighed a moment and curled her hand into a fist again, working to dig her fingers into the maw there so that the pain would spark more intensely. If he was watching the knuckles on her hand turn white and next to the scorch mark he had been looking at a drop of her tainted blood hits the tile.

Work with Nyx again? Is that it? Or is it more?

Over the sound of Nyx breathing she could hear the way the stable barn had been shuddering earlier in the day, it was oddly connected with the pain that rove up her arm. She had made a fist then too, desperately trying not to focus on the lustful activities that went on below her.

Why did you try so hard to block out that foolish human girl and her elven lover?

Her lover!

The fires flashed for a moment.

They say the murderer has eyes like yours… another horse elf. Kiki’s voice repeated in her head.

Before she could stop herself her head snapped back toward Nyx and a slight smile played over her lips.

“Aelion… He is not a full blooded Mith’ganni from what I could tell, but he has your eyes. Technically he did not arrive in town for several hours after the murders… but who would believe him anyway? He’s a slave, and with some digging they would find not only who he is sleeping with, but perhaps more… well behaving slaves don’t need their lovers to get the cargo manifests to Avenon now do they?” She licks her lips a moment. “Who knows what I might have heard the two of them talk about in the barn? Say he admits to his love his crime…” She is actually smiling now as the fires dance behind her eyes, and leans closer to Nyx in her excitement, “admits that he poisoned Lady Olsta, too, and that the wench on the street asked him something on his way back… suggested to him that she had seen him around the Olsta house the night of the poisoning… so he acted out rashly… killed the mother and the child to keep them quiet… finally came back to get Kiki to help him escape… I can tell all of this to Dmitrova. And keep the nugget about Avenon to ourselves until we can learn what the little human-loving-elf wanted with the information…”

She was doing it again using pronouns that she would not have perhaps even a few hours ago. It also was not a direct answer to his question, instead it was a possible solution to what she might have given as an answer.

Cay was feeling warm as well, despite the coolness of the stone box they were held in. Unlike, Nyx, her warmth was not the effect of herbs but of his words on her. Since she had arrived at the cemetery her eyes had been smoldering. When he chuckled and picked up that two letter word she had dropped the twin embers flared up, by the time he had gotten to the word ‘melamin’ the fires had risen to the roaring crackles of funeral pyres. Her skin was flushed and warm to the touch and as always the rise and fall of her breast with her breathing gave away the emotions that she managed to almost hide on her face.

When it seemed that he had finished she got back to her feet fully.

“Nyx Shyndyn…” she began by pointing a finger at him as she stepped closer and narrowed those burning eyes on his own. If he was wondering where the Cay he knew and loved had gone she was back now, “let’s start off with this: I am not your melamin.

“I am also not so slow as to be unaware of what you did for me today. I screwed up” the admission brought a twist to her features, “and you covered my arse. Which is why I am here and not sitting in Dmitrova’s office explaining how yesterday afternoon you got me confused with a horse and tried to have me by force in an alley, getting in a few good hits…” and she touched the blossom on her cheek, “before I managed to kick you off at which point you ran off with your tail between your legs like the yellow-slant-eyed elf that you are and that I haven’t seen you since. That I’d like to skin you myself if you were responsible for the massacre down town because it certainly didn’t make my job any easier, with Kharinya holed up in her bedroom most of the day.

“Or, perhaps, why I was not stalking out your little crypt here with half the Imperial Guard at my back. I could be a real hero if I went to the street right now and started screaming ‘Murderer’ at the top of my lungs…” her hand, not her voice, rose to the air to elaborate this point as she spoke.

“I’ve” the finger pointed to her own chest now, “got a lot of choices here Nyx, and don’t think that I don’t know it. I also know that I wouldn’t have any of them if it wasn’t for what you did. I know damn well what you did for me…”

I’m just still trying to figure out why you did it for me

“And I’m not ungrateful for it either, which is why I’m here. Dmitrova would sell me to a butcher if the price was right. Yes I want to be a Hellkite, but very few people have stuck out their necks for me Nyx… You said earlier that this is a business partnership we’ve been forced into. When the moment came you acted like a partner to me… you backed me up… and now I’m offering that in return.

“So I’m only going to say this once… and since you seem to be a bit slow tonight, I’m going to say it in your guttural tongue.” She leaned a bit closer to him and with the bite still in her voice and her jaw fixed tightly in its socket she spoke, “Lle mema amin tu?”

“Very well,” he responded, his gaze breaking from her again, just long enough to complete a quick scan of the graves between where they stood and the mausoleum… he tipped his head in the direction of that slowly crumbling edifice, “follow me, then.”

Palms still in the air she took a moment to really look him over. His, apparent, willingness to trust her so quickly was not expected and it shifted the suspicion into her court. She had watched him approach her, yellow eyes glowing in the growing dark as he aimed an arrow at her heart. As usual her face betrayed little, but her slow controlled breathing revealed much more, not only about her, but also about him. The events of the day clung to him still, the sweat, blood, tainted water, hay and manure. His gait was slightly off and a tear in his pants suggested the cause. While she had spent the day lounging in a barn he had been running around the city in a fight for his very life. Slowly she lowered her hands and followed him.

He returned the arrow and bow to their places as he guided her to the rear of the crypt but said nothing. Nor did he speak as he set about sliding the stones away from the heretofore secret entrance to the thing. Once the last stone was out of the way, though, Nyx gestured to the hole in the wall… “After you, arwenamin,” he winked as she turned her gaze on him fully, “that way you can be sure I’ll not try and take your head as you crawl in behind me, yes?”

Crouching down she let a small wry smile tug at the corner of her lips, “Taking heads seems to be something you are rather skilled at it would seem.” Then she disappeared into the crypt.

Rising she blinked a few times as her pupils adjusted to the low light. It was a small stone box that she had come out into. A tomb.

Had you expected that he had cleaned it out and put in a decent parlor? I’d imagine he doesn’t have guests often. And is it that much worse than your hovel? You live above a pile of rotting fish, this place at least smells better.

She gave a slight nod to that truism as she stepped further into the room and away from the hole where he would be coming from shortly. To her right was the massive sarcophagus that had held the prior occupant. Human no doubt, for elves would not allow their kind to be interred above ground, and the markings that were not so dulled with age that she could determine them were to Naxir. To the left granite pillars rose out of the floor a few feet before ending in ornate platforms, a bit of broken pottery on the floor suggested they had once supported possessions of the dead. A sturdy iron door that had been installed to keep out vagrants and thieves (a noble but futile attempt) had not been opened since the day of the funeral no doubt, the thin stained glass windows that flanked it had darkened with grime and no longer held the beauty they once had, nothing did in death. Nyx had obviously been living here though. A black mark and ashes on the tile floor suggested a controlled fire, the sarcophagus’s lid had been jarred open and the years of dust that should coat everything was disturbed. It was cold and still in this room, and it fit Nyx perfectly.

Behind her she heard a scuffle and watched as Nyx crawled out of the hole and pulled himself up.

“Well… welcome. Not quite as spacious as your place, yes? The previous occupant did leave it in immaculate condition, though...” he flashed another grin at her before shoving the lid off the sarcophagus. A grating noise filled the space.

What am I doing here?

The smile was not returned to him, instead she raised a delicate brow toward him and took a few steps back until she rested against one of the stone pillars. Things were not going as she had expected them to. Not that she truly knew what she expected would happen. Her decision to wait for him in the cemetery had been rather impulsive and was guided by a voice in her head she rarely listened to. Suspicion, anger, annoyance, or even a strict business professionalism was more what she had expected. These casual comments, grins and even a loose wink she had not expected.

Maybe he fell and hit his head… or maybe he’s simply trying to warm you into a sense of trust and will pounce and kill you as soon as you turn your back.

Silently she watched as he began to pull weapons out of the shadows of his garb. Only when he spoke again did she realize that she should have said something in this space.

“So… what of the Bolstoii girl?” there was almost a laugh in his voice.

Business… yes there is business at hand, best get your mind on that

“Kharinya, Kiki to her friends, kitten to her lover. She’s probably around seventeen or eighteen years old, on the fleshy side, she has high taste in clothing and from what I can gather she spoiled rotten and lacking in intelligence. Apparently she has been trying to gather cargo manifests for shipments in and out of Avenon, although she’s been rather unsuccessful. The wife of a senator died recently, the official story is she chocked during dinner, rumors say poison, she was helping the family with that. Today she was obviously restricted due to the security concerns her father had. She is also working to get a list of guests attending her mother’s birthday party sometime next week. All of this information she is relaying to her lover. A full blooded elven slave belonging to her father; the stable boy. I think he knows something about the death of the senator’s wife by his reaction to the news, he had been out of town until today. They have difficulties getting around someone named Corr in the household, probably another elven slave.” She goes over her findings with the business tone she had expected him to have been using.

“You are wanted by… everyone. Guards are in force, and I’d imagine that they are not the only web that the Empire has set out to find you. Staying in Drasnia could be difficult for you. I’ve been at the Bolstoii manse most of the day, came directly here afterwards…” She paused here.

Ask him… ask him why he did it. Why did he risk his life to kill those people and provide you with an escape when you were acting so foolishly? Ask him!

That twitch in her lips again as the voice rang through her head. Instead she took a breath and spoke the next sentence just slow enough for him to catch that the words she said were not said by accident.

“What do you think we should do now?”

That simple one-syllable, two letter word. In normal conversations it is said without pause or hesitation and is often overlooked. Between the two of them, however, it carries a weight that seems to actually press down on Cay as she settles a bit more onto the pillar behind her once it is said.

A northern wind had picked up as the day faded into evening. The soft purples of sunset draped across the world and made even a cemetery nestled within the dank bowels of this god forsaken city appear beautiful. Against the angular skyline created by the houses of the dead an angel perched upon the corner of a stone casket, tonight a guardian of those buried here. The casket itself had been set above the earth but one corner had begun to sink down into the soft ground below it which caused it to jut crookedly upwards. No doubt the contents had slid to toward the earth and now huddled at the bottom in the dark simply awaiting the passage of time that would someday return them to the state at which they had begun.

Against the purple shroud of sunset the angel’s eyes burned with amber fire as they watched the inky shadows around her. So far the only thing that had moved was the bit of paper smelling of greasy meat that dervished around her feet. A single thought was fueling the twin fires of her eyes, why did he do it?

Her argument with the human woman had been foolish to say the very least. Cay had been hungry, tired and distracted and the woman became an easy target for her to lash out at, and she had done just that despite the fact that it was unwise. That is until Nyx stepped in. The gentle touch of his fingers against her shoulder and then his eyes looking into hers had brought her back to reality.

She could not remember the exact words that he had spoken. She did remember that he had fallen into an act she had seen before, pretending to be a mere slave and in doing so had provided her with an escape. Part of the reason she could remember so few of his actual words was because she had been so transfixed with his eyes at the time.

Those golden almonds had stared into her and what she found there made her knees feel like they were made of water. On their surface swam annoyance and warning which she had expected to find, honestly it was what she deserved to find. Louder than that, however, was a plea. He was asking her to leave, almost begging her to leave for her own sake.

Truly it made no sense. He should have left her there to be consumed by her own irrational hatred and let the cards play out from there. Or perhaps even pulled her off, bowing apologies to the human woman and publicly embarrassing Cay as he promised to chastise her for her stupidity, once again bring her to her knees in some dark alley while berating her. Instead he had supported her and gave her cover to escape from the disaster she had just begun unscathed.

For a moment she had stood there looking into his eyes confused with the knowledge she was being given. When he finally ripped his eyes away her decision had been made. Throwing her nose to the sky she forced her watery knees to begin taking her away from the scene. The last thing she heard with any clarity from it was Nyx.

While she is as beautiful – may she forgive me for saying so – as any of the women of my kind that I have ever seen, she most assuredly is not an elf.

By the time she had reached the little gate that opened to an alleyway between the Bolstoii manse and its nearest neighbor the screams had begun. She never looked back.

It had been nearly two decades since she had last been to the Bolstoii manse, but things were still relatively as she remembered. A loose brick in the wall around the estate provided enough of a foothold to get her over the wall and a few bales of hay on the other side padded her fall. The screams in the street had continued while she found her way from the hay bales to the upper story of the stables.

There were several small windows hidden behind old crates and decaying furniture on this level. From one of the corner windows provided her with a view of the main street and the front yard of the estate. The roof of the neighboring estate blocked out the area of the road where she had encountered the woman and her child. The roof was not large enough to block out the crowd that was forming there, however, and the mass of guards that were desperately trying to regain control of the situation.

No where amongst them did she notice the flutter of Nyx’s onyx cloak and she found herself hoping that meant he had escaped. Out of the corner of her eye she did notice movement in the yard. A tight triangle of people were gathered there. Cay watched as the tall elf who made up the point of the triangle called a guard out of the crowd and conversed with him. The other two points were conversing with each other. One was Styopa, even older Cay recognized the broad expanse of his shoulders and the dark sheen of his hair. The woman he spoke to wore a blue dress and had a familial look to her face, she was too young to be his wife, and logic suggested that the girl was Kharinya. Kharinya seemed upset about whatever her father was saying to her.

From this distance Cayrimsa could not hear the conversation going on below, but it ended after a few minutes with the girl turning red and storming back into the house. Styopa consulted with the tall elven man and the guard before heading out into the street while the elf stiffly followed the girl back into the house.

Several hours passed before Cay caught sight of Kharinya again. The time moved slowly for her. Minutes passed between dancing particles of hay caught in band of light from the window. Constellations sparkled in the sun and then fell to the floor like lost dreams. Inside the barn it was quiet save for the noises coming from the horses below her. Outside the barn was another issue entirely.

The whole city was tense. Guards stalked the streets in numbers that were certainly not typical for this time of day. They stopped nearly any elf who had the misfortune of being out, they were questioned and sometimes searched. Cay watched as one, not Nyx she knew by the gait, who had thrown a black cloak over his shoulders to keep the cold out was overwhelmed by three of Drasnia’s finest and drug into an alley. Long after the guards had returned to their patrols the elf had not crawled back out. Her fingers brushed against the blossom on her cheek, and the pit that formed in her stomach was not due to hunger.

In dust constellations continued to sparkle in the sun. Teu’kelytha drifted into sight, the sheen of the merciful blade glittered in her eyes before burying itself in shadows. The sight of it once again filled her mouth with the earthy sweetness of elven blood. The memory she had been trying to avoid rushed back before she could hold it at bay.

Kill him the voice had commanded over the screams.

She shook her head and looked over at her work. Sidhion writhed upon the grass. Starlight had turned his naked frame a bluish white color that contrasted so beautifully with the blackness of his blood as it seeped through his fingers. She imagined that it looked just as black as it dripped down her own chin and onto the milky curves of her own bare body. The blood was seeping from the side of his head, where a few moments ago one of his graceful ears had been. Her eyes searched the grass looking for the ear but she couldn’t make it out of the shadows, likely because it too was covered in the black ichors.

Kill him… the voice repeated as she pulled her eyes off her victim and into the velvety darkness above.

“I’m not a murderer…” she whispered back to it.

He deserves it for what he has done. Kill him. Stop his weak screaming and cut off the pleas for mercy that come from him. Sever his thread, Cay…

Her eyes had closed and in them she saw herself rising up and walking over to Sidhion. He would scream louder as he saw her approach, eyes wide as saucers and reflecting the Threadcutter’s Axe at her. It would not be quick, she would revel in his pain and his death. Baring down upon him as her teeth tore into his throat. Another rush of elven blood accosting her senses as it coursed over her tongue, down her throat and splashed across her delicate skin. His delicate fingers would pull at her uselessly as his screams turned into gargles. As the blood slowed she would rise only to fall upon fresh flesh ripping open another wound and bringing forth the black warmth that awaited her. She would take from him what he had offered, ecstasy, but not as he intended. The final elixir of life would drain from him and with it she could feel Prien caress her, her body shivering as she screamed. When her own scream faded into quiet echoes she would rise and look down at her first kill, only the whispers of her new found lover and God could be heard against the silence of the night. A silence that surrounded her completely.

Her eyes opened and she looked up into the sky, “And what if I enjoy those screams? What if I wish for him to suffer? To remember forever what I have done to him?”

Cayrimsa! I have ordered you to Kill Him! the voice grew louder and more insistent as she defied it.

“No!” She screamed at the stars before rising and moving over toward the huddled elf. A kick into his ribs brought Sidhion’s eyes up to Cay’s.

“I am not your kind, nor shall I ever be and never again shall I be confused about where I belong, and who I belong with. Thank you for making it so clear.”

The voice in her head stilled, but the screams continued. They followed her as she got dressed under the watchful eyes of Uelaereene and walked away from the life she had had, and toward the cities of men.

Lost in memories she had not noticed that below her a carriage had pulled into the stables, led by two fine horses and a young man. While it had escaped her attention it had not escaped her target’s attention.

“Aelion!” The girl’s voice brought her back to the now and Cay slid herself toward the edge of the platform she was on so she could peer down at what was transpiring below.

Kiki had disappeared into the arms of a plainly dressed elven boy and the two were sharing a rather amorous kiss. Cay rolled her eyes.

They are in love, but you wouldn’t know anything about that would you Cay? her elven half teased.

A rather familiar snarl was all the reply it got.

The kiss finally ended and with a giggled sigh conversation continued. “Oh… Aelion, I’ve so missed you.”

“And I you, my kitten.”

Oh please… is this to be my punishment? Listening to these two coo over each other?

“I was worried. Coming in the guards stopped me. I heard about what happened… raced the horses back here as quickly as I could to make sure you were alright…” Aelion had continued, reaching out a hand to touch Kiki’s cheek.

“I’m fine. It was awful though. Just up the street. That poor woman and her child. They don’t even know what provoked it. Some crazed point ear…” a pause to bite her lip and lower her eyes, “I’m sorry Aelion… you know I don’t mean that. It was just so shocking! They say the murderer has eyes like yours… another horse elf. And so soon after Lady Olsta’s death too. It’s been terrible Aelion!” Rather dramatically she wailed this and buried her head against her lover elf.

Aelion paused for a moment but then wrapped his arms fully around her. “shhh… it’s alright kitten. I promise, I’m here now. And what is this about Lady Olsta’s death?”

Kiki’s ample form hitched with her breaths, “Did you know her? Oh… it was so tragic! Choked during dinner two nights ago… she’s to be buried tomorrow. And those poor children… Senator Olsta is simply beside himself. Although I imagine that with what happened this afternoon he’s found something to focus on again… I’ve been over at the manse helping with the preparations. Father said it was best that a Bolstoii be present.”

Slowly Aelion nodded and ran his fingers through her hair. “Hmm… that does sound terrible. Kitten?” his voice changed some as he moved on to another subject, “Kitten did you manage to get those manifests?”

Above them Cay perked up some and leaned forward to make sure she catches whatever is being said now.

“Oh Aelion!” Kiki wailed again. “I tried! I swear to you I did. I was headed to the office when I found out about Lady Olsta! I had to go immediately of course, those poor children! And… oh… Aelion please forgive me but I completely forgot about it yesterday. I was at the florist arranging for the flowers all day, it was a mess, simply a mess! And of course I decided to get in the order for my mother’s birthday gala next week while I was there, at least we will have a week to sort out the mess for that instead of two days. They kept putting daisies in the arrangements. Daisies! At a funeral! Can you believe it!? They had to redo half of them to put in orchids instead. Orchids are so much more appropriate for funerals. But… at any rate. I tried this morning too, but then… then those murders! Oh! Aelion I did try! You have to believe me. But father refused to let me out of the house, for my own safety! I would have tried to sneak out, but he told Corr. You know I’m no good sneaking around Corr. I didn’t dare risk it. So I’ve been here all day. Just waiting for you. I’m so sorry Aelion. I know you were counting on me I do… please forgive me!”

By the time Kharinya was done expressing her own incompetence through this dramatic plea Cay was dreadfully bored, and surprisingly it looked like Aelion might be as well. He sighed and patted her back.

“It’s alright kitten. Tomorrow? Do you think you can get them tomorrow? And the guest list for your mother’s birthday as well.”

“I promise. Tomorrow… I’ll get them tomorrow. I am sorry I don’t have them already. I hope it isn’t… it isn’t too much of a problem for you.” She had raised her head and looked at Aelion through her tears.

“I… no… just… I have to have them tomorrow. Anything going in or out of Avenon… I need those manifests.”

“I promise.” She nodded to him.

“Alright…” He kissed her again and when he pulled back she was smiling again. “I should go find your father, let him examine the horse I found.”

“Oh… he’s out. Been out all day. I think this whole murder business has got him tied up.” A sly smile slipped over her, “so… we have some time…”

A laugh escaped from Aelion and he pulled her closer. “hmmm… seems you have missed me.” He leaned in and whispered something in her ear and with a giggle she nodded her agreement to it. The two then disappeared from sight as they walked together under the platform that Cay was secreted on.

With the knowledge she had just gleaned she prepared to slip out of the stable, but was stopped when she realized that the two had not left. Instead Kharinya’s giggles could be heard just below Cay’s feet. Wide eyed she stopped in her tracks and a look of disgust washed over her as the giggles turned into quiet moans.

Oh Dear! Punishment indeed! Wasn’t it bad enough I had to watch them kiss? Must I listen to…this!

Your only jealous love. They say elves make wonderful lovers…

“Aelion…” Kharinya’s voice whispered from below.

Ugghhh… this just isn’t worth it! she curled her hand into a fist again, perhaps the pain would take her away.

Take you away to where Cay? Where do you go for solace? You have nowhere to go. And it really only bothers you because you are jealous. You could have had that…

No! It wasn’t like that. Sidhion was not going to love me, he was going to rape me.

Liar. You went out with him into that field willingly, you let it go so far and then you got scared. He was drinking… he made a move… you never said no… you never gave him a chance to pull back on his own accord… you bit his ear off.

He wasn’t going to stop… she responded less confidently.

To her left she noticed that the outside wall of the stable had begun to shake rhythmically. Her eyes closed to the noises below.

You never gave him the chance. And besides… I wasn’t talking about Sidhion. That is ancient history. If he ever could have loved you that chance was destroyed…

“ehhhh” the noise actually fell from her lips and she could take it no more. From the urgent shaking of the wall and the grunts and moans coming from below she figured the two were well occupied and made for her escape from the stable. On her way out she caught a glimpse of the two. Human and elven flesh pressed warmly against each other in a bed of hay.

That’s how you came to be isn’t it sweet Cay? Some forbidden tryst a few feet from a pile of manure. Likely should have that symbol you brand into others emblazoned on your own skin…

Just let me be! Just… let… me be…

On the street she did her best to avoid the trolling guards.

Where are you going Cay?

Dmitrova. I have a report to give don’t I?

Come now… you can’t be serious. You’re going to betray Nyx?

I owe him nothing.

Her eyes drifted back to where they had last parted. An elven woman crouched on her knees there; a bucket beside her and a heavy brush in her hands, the suds that trailed behind the brush were pink. It would be ages before the cobblestones gave up the blood they had soaked up.

You owe him a great deal Cay… that elven voice whispered.

The truth of that whisper had guided her to the cemetery, and now she waited. The north wind blew through the angel’s dress, but the goose bumps that crawled over her skin were due to the thoughts that wracked her soul.

“Losing your patience with me already, Cay,” Nyx smiled from within his cowl as he emerged from beside the cottage and drew up beside her, “shall we go?”

An amber glare speed his way, naked without the brim of the hat to veil it, “That comment supposes that I had patience with you at one time. I lost my patience with your kind decades ago Nyx. But yes I am ready.” A delicate brow raised as she stopped glaring long enough to actually look at him. “Got enough stuff there?”

She barely listens to his response about being ‘prepared’ as she pulls herself off the column and almost self consciously adjusts the dress before starting away from the cemetery. Surprisingly enough she even takes the lead, if he raises a brow at this she pretends not to notice. 

Drasnia has pulled out of its slumber now. The dark creatures that rule the night have disappeared into their lairs, leaving way for those who hide their villainy in finely tailored dress and between the lines of ledger entries. The scavengers picking at the scraps are always present, however, scrambling between the cracks of both worlds, sliding fingers into pockets while uttering prayers to Naxir for diamonds. 

These two were more likely to belong to the dark than to the light, but their prey had tempted them out from the shadows and now they walked along the roads in daylight. Under them the ground changed from mud to gravel and as they neared their final destination into heavy cobblestones. Brothels and taverns gave way to the palatial columns of state buildings, the high fences of private estates and the impressive façade of storefronts. Nobility brushed past with a cursory look over the tips of their noses before hurrying on. Servants pushed through the throngs with apologies when nothing was even amiss. Peddlers and merchants pawned their very souls to make a sale. The sweet smells of meat and bread curled around the strange couple as they walked. 

Cay appeared to give it all little notice. The smells teased her stomach, which groaned at the memory of the refused orange. At no point did she stop to grab something though. Instead she seemed completely intent on where she was headed, or would have if it were not for the fidgeting. The scarf tied around her ears was checked and checked again to make sure it was in place; the tresses of her hair were smoothed over her shoulder then flung over it onto her back, only to have the process repeated; a seam on her left side was felt several times as the threads had worn thin there and seemed to threaten bursting; skirts patted down and the pockets checked; the high collar of her bodice fingered even as the elven symbols embroidered their soured her face. 

She could feel the entire street looking at her, including the yellow eyes just to her left. She also knew that dressed like this she could easily be mistaken for a full blooded elf, whichever parent had bestowed the elven half of her blood had indeed passed on many of their physical traits to her. Only a second look at her, something she was certain most here would not do, would reveal the more rounded attributes that spoke of her human background. It seemed to consume her thoughts.

So greatly that at first she did not notice the human child who darted out from his mother’s skirts and into her path. The small boy collided with her legs and would have perished under her boots if the surprise had not made her take a step back.

“Oh! So sorry Miss!” The tiny voice attached to the green orbs staring up at Cay muttered and scurried back towards his mother.

“Sasha!” his mother squealed as her hand tightened around the boys wrist. “Oh Sasha dear! Tell mommy you are okay! You can’t go running off like that Sasha!” she had bent down to bring her concerned face closer to her son’s.

“I’m alright Mommy… I ran into that lady. But I’m alright.” 

“Lady?” Still gripping her son’s wrist the woman stood up and finally looked up on Cay. 

The two women took a moment to look each other over. The human stood a few inches shorter than Cay and had put great work into her appearance; a complicated hairdo pulled her black hair from a cupid shaped face that was heavily painted, layers of fine attire in brilliant colors curved and pushed her body into a shape she felt was most pleasing. Her round blue eyes took in the sight of the taller woman, her dress was old and thin showing off not the curves that were created by it, but the curves that were there naturally, her face bore no makeup unless one counted the blossoming bloom under her eye and the pink caused by the swollen lip, her ears and her hair were largely hidden by a scarf and she had a strange smell about her. Yet the human knew somewhere deep down that she could not hold a candle to the woman whom her son had just bumped into.

“Lady?” she repeated once her examination was done. “Sasha… that is no lady. That is an elf. An elf who nearly trampled my son due to her inability to watch where she was going! Vile creatures the lot of them! Don’t you ever apologize to an elf Sasha, they should apologize to you.” 

The hand not holding onto her son’s wrist propped itself on the hip her skirts had created for her and she stared at Cay expectantly.

Grumbles that had started as hunger now churned into a pit of lava that boiled deep in Cayrimsa’s stomach. Her injured hand curled into a tight fist and she tried to focus on the pain, the woman kept staring at her though. 

I’m not an elf you damned human! Not an elf! the voice screamed through her head over and over. 

Than what are you Cay? the other voice whispered teasingly.

“I won’t apologize for something that is your son’s fault…” she grimaced through a wall of teeth.

“You won’t!? You insolent point eared hussy! My son did nothing wrong, it was you who tried to walk right over him. You could have nearly killed him! Apologize to my son or I’ll drag your low-born slant eyes back to your master and let him whip you in front of your tree hugging whore of a mother, that is if she can even be found, likely she is too busy spreading herself for some dwarven scum near the docks!” 

The lava boiling down in her gut suddenly ruptured, the violent sparks flitting across the amber of her eyes. “Master!? I’m a free woman and not an elf. I will not apologize. As for my mother, you should ask your husband, for humans can be found buried inside an elf more often than dwarves can. Perhaps that is because under all of those dresses and makeup you are nothing but a shapeless hag who is incapable of bringing a man to arousal!”

Cay took a step closer and stared down at the woman. The mother pulled her son closer to her skirts and held her ground for the moment but fear was starting to edge in those dark blue eyes.

Around them the thong had paused and was watching, not that Cay had noticed.