~~~

It was morning when the locks on the door to the elf’s prison finally reopened and he was carefully led down the dark corridor. He was led, in fact, by Glolieh, the same elven guard whose words rumbled in his mind and thieved him of sleep. His shoulders curved forward, his eyes clenched, and he could only think, How awkward!

The night before, Glolieh revealed to have been the guard who had first been knocked out by Eial during Drokn’s prison escape. After hearing so, the small elf had tensed, his face had paled, then he had apologized frantically when his thoughts had started to flow again. Yet, the guard had only chuckled, accepting his apology before sighing, requesting him not to do that again. Of course, the smaller elf had frantically nodded in agreement.

Sunlight brought his attention back to the present where a crack in a heavy door painted a golden line on the floor. He didn’t actually see that it was a heavy door; his eyes remained glued to the ground, unwilling to look at the guard. But, he could hear the deep creak that screeched past his eardrums when the guard pulled the latch and opened it.

Welcoming sunlight for the fight time after his pupils had become accustomed to the desolate darkness made the elf’s eyes scream. Relief washed over momentarily with his head ducked and his bangs curtained forward to provide some shade against his closed eyelids. However, that only caused for yet another awkward occurrence as he bumped head first against the dense metal of a magic resistant armor in just the split second of distraction. To make matters worse for Eial, he just had to have bumped into the very guard, Glolieh.

The tall guard looked back at the smaller one for a moment and snickered slightly at the face she saw. Reaching behind, she pulled Eial’s cape forward with a rough tug, the excess fabric creating a shield from the above light.

“Alright,” the guard’s voice held a sternness as she addressed the others around. That there were others around, Eial had just noticed. “This is the elf we had debriefed about prior. Don’t worry, for your security will be assured by us.”

Glolieh had turned her body to gesture to the guards behind and Eial’s head turned to follow. He could only see the feet which stood far enough away, holding the chains that stretched from his bound hands. But within that short turn, he noticed the chains tremble a little. Heart beat felt against his chest, his mildly adjusted eyes managed to look forward at the other elves in front.

There were four of them, looking scholarly with books and notes in their hands. And all four, at the little elf’s turn of gaze, looked wide in the eyes- half with an odd glimmer, and half as if looking at a monster.

Eial’s feet remained encompassed with anti-magic cuffs. As for his arms, one of his hands was free and the other was still covered with the shackle, the opposite end tied to Glolieh. The small elf followed as he was told, and they traversed through empty plains of green. Eial would stretch his arm out, feel the air with his palms, and report the varying degrees of each element. Although, truthfully, it was often fruitless and there were no findings.

Now and then, he would catch the four scholarly elves, who apparently were magic researchers, ask about the validity of the small elf's claims. As the small elf shrunk his posture, he would find Glolieh continue to reaffirm Eial’s truthfulness. At first, Glolieh would take a moment to observe Eial before making the claims. Eventually, the guard would sigh and reiterate without even looking Eial’s way.

One of the nights of observation, a lightning bug landed upon Eial’s hand. He wondered if presenting it to the researchers and guards would be a friendly gesture enough to ease their nerves. So, with a pounding heart and dry throat, he pushed himself to walk forward and bring his hand up, displaying the soft light of the bug.

Immediately, the guards jumped a step back, brandishing weapons of magic. The researchers yelped, one even fell backwards to the ground. Startled, Eial also flinched back and the lightning bug left his skin and swayed away from vision.

“I- I’m sorry…,” the small elf automatically said in a quiet voice. “I just wanted to-”

Before he could continue, a large hand patted the top of Eial’s head. It was brief and rough, yet at the same time, it was gentle. Eial looked up to see Glolieh display a light smile. With a half-honest, shy smile back, Eial unconsciously stepped behind the tall guard, as if a cat hiding from view. Unknown to the smaller elf, the tall guard glared at the others, her wrinkles deep against the low flame of their fire magic lanterns.

That night, the light-attuned guard followed Eial into his chambers as she did every night. With a click click THUNK, the heavy clamp around Eial’s secured hand fell. With another round of minute noises that echoed in the small chamber, the chains on his feet followed. All of this was continually accompanied by a series of “Thank you”s from the smaller one.

This had been a pattern of the night ever since his second night in the chamber. Wordlessly, the guard had undid his shackles after the first night of magic investigation. Apparently, Eial was to have stayed bound throughout the nights until further observation. However, the light-attuned guard freed him nonetheless, stating, “It’s fine,” and, “You should have good rest.”

This night, as well, continued like the others. Yet, after the clasps were released, the guard lingered for a moment before opening her mouth.

“I apologize that we still keep you in this room despite all your help the past several weeks.”

The smaller elf tilted his head in confusion. Where else would I be? “I like this!” Eial exclaimed in response. “I have my own space, and thanks to you, I can sleep comfortably!” He displayed his unbound hands, palms forward at the guard, shaking his limber fingers.

“...You’re the mate of a royal. Doesn’t your treatment bother you?”

Eial just blinked. “Should it bother me?”

Glolieh wore an indescribable expression before exhaling a restrained sigh. When she stood up to leave, Eial asked a question that made the guard pause in her step.

“Why aren’t you scared of me like the others? I have even hurt you before…”

Looking back with furrowed brows and a smirk, the guard simply replied, “What’s there to be afraid of?” and left.