Chapter 8 - Spy and prisoner

Lacey stretches and loosens her body, stumbling forward as she goes to the bathroom to brush her teeth. After brushing her teeth and taking a shower, she goes to her kitchen to break her nightly fast when she notices Queen Akal sitting at her table. The surprise of seeing the queen in her house makes Lacey take a few steps back. Lacey bends her knee and says, "Good morning your majesty. What brings you to my house this day?" Akal looks around and smiles. "Lacey, I have a very interesting and important mission for you." Akal beckons Lacey to follow her outside and stops at her chariot. Akal opens the chariot door and Alduin lies unconscious in the back seat. The queen had ordered her personal tailors to make copies of Alduin's clothing, so Alduin was fully clothed. The queen picks up Alduin and slings him over her shoulder. Lacey backs away from the queen in shock. Alduin was known as a monster among all the dark elves, only second in notoriety to the Blue Dragon, a man strong enough to rival all of the Royal Pillars. Akal walks back into Lacey's house and sets Alduin down on her couch. Lacey stares at Alduin in disbelief, the thought of Alduin being inside her home almost makes her piss her pants. "Queen Akal, why is that monster in my house, let alone this country? You know he could kill almost everyone in this city by himself before the day is out!" Akal silences Lacey with a stern look and says, "I met Alduin on the battlefield while he was protecting the new hero." Akal stares at Alduin while she says, "Apparently he is the boy's father." Lacey sits down across the room and keeps her eyes locked on Alduin. Akal sighs and says, "I had my best sorcerors bind his mana, so you have nothing to worry about." Lacey relaxes a little after hearing that and looks away from Alduin. "So, what do you need me to do my queen? You must have brought him here for a reason?" The queen takes in a deep breath and exhales slowly. "I'm gonna need you to let Alduin stay here until we are sure he won't try to kill dark elves on sight." Akal gets off of Lacey's couch and walks elegantly towards the door. As she is walking Akal says, "This is your mission, and before you ask, no. No one else can or will take this mission for you, and that is final." Akal turns around to leave but before closing the door says "And when you see him without clothing please try to keep your hands off of him." with that, she leaves her alone with Alduin." As if on cue, Alduin starts to wake up. Lacey goes upstairs to get dressed and get her dagger. When she returns Alduin is sitting on her couch fully awake and is watching her with very sharp eyes. They both just stare at each other before Alduin cracks a smile and gives a small chuckle. "It's ok little lady, even though you're a demon I'm not gonna hurt ya, so you can stop hiding that dagger." Lacey is slightly taken aback at this remark but comes down the stairs and slides the dagger into her belt. Lacey gulps and says, "Alduin, you are here and alive because my queen decided it so. All I have to do is give the word and you are dead so don't try anything." The ropes binding Alduin fall off and he rises from his seat. "I'm not going to do anything. I couldn't even if I wanted to. My mana is sealed." Alduin looks around the room and scrunches up his nose. "So, uh, what's your name kid?" Lacey tells Alduin her name and he looks surprised "Well, Lacey, where is the washroom? I smell terrible." Keeping her eyes on Alduin she tells him, "Up the stairs, the first door on the left." He walks past her and their eyes meet and Laceys's entire body freezes up with fear. His eyes are cold and hard, almost devoid of light. The amount of murderous intent in his eyes stopped her breath. He continued to walk up the stairs toward the bathroom. Lacey sits down on the couch and tries to relax but the look in his eyes rocked her very soul. After about a minute Alduin calls out to Lacey for assistance. Lacey slowly makes her way up the stairs toward the bathroom. Lacey grabs the knife on her side and slowly reaches out for the doorknob. Closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath, Lacey pushes open the door. Alduin jumps back from the dark elf and yells at her. "What the hell woman! I asked for help, not to be murdered in a bathroom!" Lacey lets out a breath and puts her knife away. "So what did you call me for Alduin?" Alduin points toward the shower and says "Back in the human territory we don't have this thing. We have springs but not whatever this is." Lacey's eyes widen in disbelief as she says, "You guys don't have showers!" Lacey facepalms herself while saying, "How primitive." She goes to push Alduin out of the way when she remembers who she is about to push and falters in her movement. She grabs the side of the tub and asks him to move away and he complies. She shows him how the shower works and leaves him to his business. The rest of the day goes by smoothly. Both of them learn that both species write and read in the same language, although nothing else of importance happens. Lacey wakes up the next morning at peace. The world is bright, and only the gentle sound of the wind and birds are heard. Lacey cleans up in the bathroom and heads down the stairs without a care only for reality to smack her in the face. Alduin is sitting in the middle of the floor meditating. He is so still that it is almost unnatural. He opens up his scarred eye and looks directly at Lacey. For just a moment Lacey could see every ounce of hate for dark elves that resided in Alduin's heart. After blinking once, every trace of that fear-inducing hate was gone, almost as if it had never existed. Lacey sits down on the couch and orders Alduin to sit across from her. Alduin moves slowly and sits down. They both stare at each other and after some awkward silence, Lacey finally speaks. "The jig is up. You can stop acting like you don't want to kill me. I've seen the way you look at me, the contempt and hatred stored in your eyes and soul. So all I can ask is why? Why all of this hate for me, for my people?" The smile drops off Alduin's face and his eyes go ice cold. "Fine, if you wanna know so badly I'll tell you. It happened about 10 years ago the year right after the war first started. We had been drafted the year before for training so we could learn the mana cloak. After we learned the Cloak technique we were supposed to go off to war or protect the border. The next day forged my hate for your kind. It was late that night and I had just caught a demon scout and had him cornered right where I wanted him. With each step I took, I could see the brave facade draining out of his face. He was no more than 16 and this was his first time." Alduin stops speaking and takes in a deep breath. His eyes were lost in his past. He snaps back when Lacey snaps her fingers and the cold eyes come back stronger than before. Lacey says, "Well what happened next?" Alduin shoots her a cold glare to silence Lacey. Even though Lacey knows that she could kill him in an instant, she still silences herself. "I let the young demon go. I told him to speak of nothing he saw and let him slip away. I showed him mercy and do you want to know what it got me? When I awoke the next morning I find everyone's necks slit and that little fucking demon twirling the bloodied dagger with a smile on his face. I dropped onto my knees and ever since then I've hated demons. Your very existence irritates my soul." Alduin spat those words at Lacey and let them linger in the air. After hearing Alduin's story, Lacey got up, left the living room, and went straight to her bedroom. The thought of one of her people doing something so sickening made her want to throw up. She could understand his pain and almost wanted to comfort him. Almost. Lacey went downstairs and began to cook. The day passed by as if nothing had, but from then on Lacey kept in the back of her head that she was still dealing with someone who, if at full power, could end her in an instant. This mission was going to be very difficult.