Suddenly, Eial eyes glimmered and without a moment of thought, he flicked his head up and agreed, “I will do it!”

Eyes raised and ears perked, the queen and the guard both looked at Eial dubiously, observing his eagerness. After a moment of silence, the queen clasped her hands together and spoke without a falter to her voice. “Eial, you have not heard of what the mission is, why do you accept?”

For a moment, Eial hesitated, the eyes of the queen piercing to an unknown, and then his gaze flinched back down. “I just, I… of course, if it is to gain forgiveness for our misdeeds, I am willing to do anything…”

Biting his lower lip, Eial hoped that was convincing enough. What he had said was the truth, yet there was more that his words held back. Eial had pondered on his way to the elven royal palace of what he would do with his time. Drokn had become king as he had wanted. Eial had made up for taking that away from him and to the best of his ability, had been useful.

Prior to meeting Drokn, his purpose to live was to meet his bonded mate. However, now…? Pausing the use of his air magic on his journey to slowly walk, he had once tepidly looked at the hovering clouds, wondering if again he would spend his days hidden under the roots of trees, this time with the knowledge of his everlasting solitude.

With the queen’s offer, his heavy heart on that regard lightened. Even if it was momentary, he could have a purpose again without aimless feet. So, with honest truth, he would do anything.

And without prodding further, the queen nodded to the guard beside. And without wasting time, the guard and Eial were dismissed.

Leading the way, the guard, Glolieh, led the small elf along a long, windowless corridor. A musty, stale smell saturated the air, the thickness almost making it hard to breathe. The two were followed by a few other guards who walked at an even pace, keeping an eye on the elf, yet maintaining a sort of defensive distance.

Eial saw his own shadow in front of him as it danced awkwardly with the movement of the flames from two oil lanterns held behind. Normally in elven lands, if one needed light, a fire user could use their own magic. However, in this long corridor, no one could use magic. It was evident in the small moments of visual clarity that an iridescent hue painted all the walls— the mixed hue of a magic nullifying coating.

Observing his shadow, the elf could see the chains that led from his hands to the guards behind, keeping him on a leash. But, the elf didn’t mind the restraint. In fact, he thought it was silly and his mind wandered. With the shadow of the chains waving with the flame, his heart skipped and his eyes twinkled. He desperately held in a smile as he thought, It looks like I have a tail!

Eial’s attention suddenly regained focus as he was made to stop in front of a door mildly lit by the excess flame. Opening the door, Glolieh gestured to the elf to walk in, and so he did. His throat ran dry walking into the unknown and his movement was slow. The room inside was pitch black until Glolieh took one of the lanterns from the other guards and walked inside to meet Eial. Finally able to view his surroundings, what Eial saw was just a simple room with a simple bed in the corner.

It was then he understood they were leading the elf to his room. When he had left the attendance room with the queen, all Glolieh had said was to follow him, not telling him where to exactly. Eial thought of his demon and how he would have inevitably yelled, “You could have fucking told me where we were going!” Yet again, he was made to desperately hold back a giggle. Thankful for the dimmed light, he breathed through his amusement and hid his odd expressions among the circumstances.

Glolieh nodded to the guards outside the room and soon, the door was shut, locking the guard and Eial within the small room with only the lantern as their other company.

“Sit,” the guard said, gesturing to the bed as she took a seat on a chair nearby. Or, rather than an actual chair, it was a cube platform bulging from the wall opposite to the bed, as if molded into the wall.

As Eial sat on the bed with his hands still restrained in shackles behind his back, he noticed the firmness of the bed and thought again to how his demon would have complained. He felt a sort of pride welling up, knowing there were such firm beds in the world, yet the beds he had made from his magic for the demon were much softer.

For a couple moments, the guard took time to just stare at the elf, leaning in, observing. Then, she straightened her back. “Eial, this will be your sleeping chambers for the night. For the sake of security, we’ll be keeping your shackles on.”

Eial nodded and gulped heavily. His nervousness wasn’t from having to wear shackles to sleep or that they did not trust him for safety. In fact, he felt rather oddly safe in front of this stranger. However, it was the situation that made him feel awkward. He had never been alone in a serious meeting without Drokn or Vrona to aid him. Antsy that he couldn’t twindle his fingers on the edges of his cape to soothe him, his discomfort only expanded

Maintaining a stern look, Glolieh continued her instructions. “Tomorrow, we will start our mission. I’ll inform you on the details now.”