The following chapter contains disturbing content that some readers may find unsettling. Discretion is advised.
Bianca ran wildly, blindly, away from the Heartland Fae village and into the forest. Trees and rocks blurred past her, finally bringing her to a small river that cut through the most remote part of the woods. She followed it, nearly blinded by tears and her own anger, until she came across a waterfall basin that sat overlooking the village. She walked past the cascading water to a small cavern that lay tucked away within the stone behind.
Her own personal hideaway. A cave that sat within the cliff face. Bianca angrily threw a bolt of fire towards a makeshift wall sconce and illuminated her home away from the village. A small bed, roughly carved table with several coin purses stacked atop it, and books that littered the cavern floor. Academic texts such as Theory of Magical Artifacts and History of Elbafas lay with unassuming covers of their respective titles and not much else. Another book lay on her bed, Forbidden Desires of a Al'Maran Prince, depicting a tall, muscular Al'Maran man surrounded by women and nearly nude save for a white sheet draped across his lap. What could she say? She had a taste for all sorts of literature.
She stomped across the floor of the cave, making her way to her bed and all of her clothes when she stopped by a mirror fastened to the stone wall. Bianca looked at herself, dressed in the ceremonial garb of a Faerie. Her, a human and Elf hybrid, a mongrel, wearing clothing sacred to a people not her own. Scanning her appearance, raven black hair with a few golden bangs that hung in front of her green and gold eyes, pointed ears, and exposed skin showing several scars from various battles.
Bianca of the Heartland Fae tribe? You've got some fucking nerve, mongrel.
"Fuck!" She screamed, and tore her dress off of her body and threw it across the cavern until it struck the wall. Now she stood in front of the mirror, gazing at her naked body. Teeth marks ran along the left side of her stomach, a deep scar ran across the middle of her left breast, various arrow and sword wounds that had never healed properly from her thighs to her flanks and collarbone. It sickened her. No doubt Kotaro would take one look at her and run out of the bedroom before the loving began, she thought as she felt ill.
Quickly she pulled on an old brown tunic and trousers. She gathered what few things she owned: a satchel to keep all of her gold, a small hunting knife, a few of her books, and a small armband Sha'ani had made for her at her last birthday. The only one to remember, she mused.
"You're not seriously going to just run off." Sha'ani's voice came from the entrance of the cavern.
Bianca sighed, and sat down on her bed. "You should be in Konalan's embrace, Sha'ani. Not stumbling into some mercenary's hideout."
"Konalan has waited a year and a day to share my bed, sister. He can spare a few more moments." Sha'ani made her way to the bed and sat down beside Bianca, putting her arm around her. "I am going to cut that damn Kalara's tits off and feed them to her, that bitch. How could she--"
"How did she know?" Bianca asked. "How did she know I've been working for the Elvehn Republic?" She stood up.
Sha'ani just shook her head. "I don't know."
What was Bianca doing? There was no way Sha'ani would say anything about it. Even so, there was no going back. They knew. They knew, and they would not look past it. Republic. Empire. It made no difference. To the Fae, the only good Elf was a dead Elf. Sha'ani stood up. "We're going back to the village. I'll keep you safe, and I'll demand Verathorn change his mind."
Bianca blinked. "I'm banished. They'll kill me if I set foot in there."
"Not if you're with me."
"Why are you doing this?!" Bianca shouted. "You're a Faerie, I'm a human and an Elf. We're not related by blood, and your people despise me! Why do you always come to my rescue?!"
Sha'ani breathed deep, and looked into Bianca's eyes. "You're my little sister. It's my job to look after you."
"But you're a Faerie! You're supposed to want to kill me!"
"What would that solve?" Sha'ani asked. For once, Bianca was stunned into silence. It was a question she'd never pondered. "Elves tortured, raped, and enslaved us many years ago. We survived, and now we outnumber them here in Elbafas. If we did the same, sooner or later our roles would be reversed, and the cycle would just continue. When would it end?"
"Being a slave isn't just a position in life, Bianca. It's a mindset. Are we meant to be slaves to the cycle of hatred and violence, or not? Can we seriously say we live unshackled if we thrust our own misery on others? Others that may have had nothing to do with it? I choose to end the cycle, Bianca. One day we all will, but I choose to do so now." Sha'ani finished, and Bianca sat back down. She looked at the floor, at a loss for words.
Sha'ani sighed. "I'm going to be right outside. When you're ready, we'll head back to the village and give Verathorn a piece of our mind." She departed, leaving Bianca sitting alone in the cave. Lost in her thoughts, Bianca buried her head in her hands. Moments passed, and she began to muster the courage to face the village again. She would explain her reasoning, explain as best she could, and gather what few allies she had. Surely Konalan would vouch for her, as would Kotaro. Segala had taken a liking to her, and perhaps if Senhua and Tillian finally showed up they would as well.
Bianca rose from her bed and wiped her eyes. Didn't want to face the village teary eyed, after all. Not again. "Alright, Sha'ani. I'm ready,." Bianca called out, but Sha'ani didn't answer. Bianca walked towards the entrance a bit more. Perhaps the waterfall was drowning out her voice. "Sha'ani?" sShe called again. Still, no answer.
An arrow pierced the waterfall that guarded Bianca's hideaway and lodged itself in her left shoulder. Painful, yet not strong enough to knock her back. She grunted as she removed the tip from her skin, surprised to see that it had barely entered her body.
She snorted. "Training arrow? That's hilarious," she said as she observed the small, barely sharpened arrowhead. "Who's--" As Bianca took a step forward, pain wracked her body. Forcing her to her knees, searing heat and agonizing pressure rocketed through her limbs and stomach. She retched, spilling the ale she'd previously consumed at Sha'ani's wedding party on the cave floor.
Bianca touched two fingers to the wound, bringing back a translucent, sickly fluid that mixed with her blood. Poison. She dropped the arrow as her body grew heavy, and the sound of footsteps rushing into the cave filled the air. Swords were drawn, bowstrings were pulled back, and through her blurred vision Bianca could see no less than ten heavily armed Elves. All with weapons trained on her.
"If I recall, my dear," a familiar voice came from the entrance of the cave. A voice that made Bianca's blood boil. Verunil Osselus emerged into the hideout, dressed in hunting leathers and carrying a bow across his shoulders. But as Bianca's eyes traveled down his body, her heart dropped as her once boiling rage turned ice cold. In his left hand, being dragged along the rocky ground, was Sha'ani. Her head bleeding, her dress torn, and a look of hungry, sinister desire plastered on the Elf's malicious face. "I said that you would regret not doing as I asked."
"Sha'ani," Bianca said in a hushed tone.
Verunil smiled smugly as he lifted Sha'ani up closer to his face by one of her antlers. His eyes creeped up and down her body as he licked his lips. "So, you do know this one. Makes this easier." He held Sha'ani's neck in his arm, issuing a small gasp of pain as his hand ran across her face. "You recall how you spilled wine in my face? How you kicked me to the ground and laughed at me? A Tribune of Aldhicus?" His hand ran lower, grasping Sha'ani's chest as she grunted and gasped.
"Who's laughing now?" He must have derived some sick pleasure from this act, the way he violated Bianca's sister before her very eyes.
Bianca's anger turned to sheer loathing as she struggled to charge the Elf when two men grabbed her by the arms to hold her down. "Don't you dare touch her!" Bianca screamed, then felt a wave of nausea crash into her and caused her to retch once more.
"Oh, you win. I'll not touch her again." Verunil dropped her to the ground, the Faerie woman still unconscious. He pointed to three of his men and gestured towards the bed. "Have some fun, my friends. Not every day you get a turn with a Faerie bride."
Bianca's blood turned to ice as the men began approaching Sha'ani. She had to do something. Anything. They were moments from doing the unthinkable, right there in Bianca's own bed, on what was meant to be the happiest day of her sister's life. "Wait!" Bianca shouted. "Wait, please!"
Verunil smirked as he strode over to Bianca, a look of sheer superiority on his face. "Yes?"
Bianca gasped. "Please, I'll do anything. Whatever you plan to do with her," Bianca said, and swallowed hard as her voice trembled. "Take me instead. Please. Don't do this to her." She could endure it, or at least that's what she was trying to tell herself. So many times Sha'ani had come to her defense. Taken beatings for her. Saved her life on more than one occasion. She had to take this. She had to.
All was quiet, and then Verunil held a hand up to tell his men to stop. The Elf Tribune approached Bianca slowly, and retrieved a small vial filled with green liquid from his jerkin. He knelt down, looking into Bianca's eyes as he smiled. That damn smile. Elves truly loved to think themselves superior. "The mongrel finally learns her place before her betters." He flipped the lid from the vial and poured the contents into his hand.
"On her knees." He splashed the liquid into her face, and the world began to grow hazey until darkness finally overtook her.
---
The world slowly came into focus, and a dimly lit pale white room greeted Bianca as she slowly rose. Her eyes stung, but as she rubbed them her vision began to return. She looked around, taking in three walls with dimly lit sconces filled with magical, golden fire, and a wooden door with a small, barred window in the upper center. A Faerie woman sat on the wall to her right, braided black hair and clutching a bloody wound in her side. Another woman, sides of her head shaved and blonde hair parted to the left, was screaming obscenities out of the barred window and kicking the door.
"I'll cut your fucking cocks off and hang them around your necks, you knife-eared bastards!" Bianca recognized the voice as that of Senhua, one of the Faerie hunters who had gone missing just that morning.
That meant the woman clutching her wound was Tillian, Senhua's wife and fellow hunter. "You've been saying things like that for the last two hours, dear. They've still got their manhood attached." Tillian chuckled.
"Give me a fucking knife and I'll see it done!" Yep, that was definitely Senhua's usual temper. Her rage seemed to cool as she turned to see Bianca now standing on her feet. "Friend Bianca! You are awake!"
"Good to see you well, little one. Glad you're on your feet." Tillian grunted.
"What happened?" Bianca asked, stumbling over to Tillian and examining her wound. A knife must have pierced her lower stomach, pretty deep from the look of it.
Tillian breathed in deep, then breathed out. "One of the guards who brought you and Sha'ani in came to grab her. I tried to go for his neck, but.," Sshe gestured to the blood soaked loincloth she wore.
Sha'ani! Bianca's eyes shot wide open as she looked around the room. "Where's Sha'ani?"
"Don't know. They came in to get her while you were out. That was roughly two hours ago. The three of us have been waiting since then."
The three of them?
Bianca looked behind her to a wall with a small window. There, holding herself up against the wall and looking out, was another Faerie woman. This one was different, however. Small, short antlers protruded from a head of green hair. Rather than the usual loincloth and chest wrappings, she wore a skirt made of animal skin and leaves with a vest. Muscular and bearing the same knotwork tattoos of the other Fae, she didn't look like anyone Bianca knew from the Heartland.
"Don't bother. She's been staring out that window for the past hour." Tillian grunted. "Senhua, see to your wife, yeah?" Senhua left the door and knelt down beside Tillian.
The moments grew longer and longer, and the dread of what may be happening to Sha'ani grew more cumbersome. It gnawed at her, keeping her on edge. Bianca hit the wall near the window and turned to the strange green-haired Faerie. "What are you even doing?!" Bianca shouted.
"Keep your voice down," the woman said.
Bianca shook her head and growled. "Who are you, anyway? What tribe are you from?"
"Name's Bree, and I'm not from a tribe. I'm with a guild. Keep quiet, okay?"
Who does she think she is?
Before Bianca could question any further, Bree fell back down to the floor and turned. She held a finger to her chin and looked up to the ceiling. "Every thirty minutes another Elf comes in that service entrance. The moon's a bit higher, so we're approaching midnight. Shift changes usually happen every half-day according to Mag's intel." The Faerie woman was muttering to herself.
Bianca sighed. "Can you please make sense?"
"You, bleeding lady. Sorry in advance." Before anyone could say anything, Bree darted across the room and rubbed a hand across Tillian's open wound.
Senhua jumped up and started towards Bree with a scowl on her face. "Hey, what did you just do to my--" She was stopped in her tracks as the strange Faerie tore a part of her vest, exposing the upper part of her left breast and began smearing blood along her neck and down her chest. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Weird 'not a whole Elf' girl, look out the door. Tell me when you see a guard coming," Bree said, and grasped one of the sconces. She tore it from the wall effortlessly and smashed the glass containing the golden flame, dispersing the light and taking a long, dagger-like shard of glass in her hand.
Not understanding what was going on, Bianca decided to do as she was told for now. She held an eye up to the bars and looked out, seeing a long hallway made of cobblestone and bearing several crates and barrels along its walls. Elves definitely loved corridors, she thought. Just then, an Elf dressed in armor turned the corner, holding a set of keys in hand. "He's coming!" Bianca shouted in a hushed voice.
Bree was beginning to lay down, holding the shard of glass close to her neck, but not close enough to cut herself. Smearing it with some of the blood for good measure, she lay on her side and began to breathe slowly and shallowly. "Listen closely. Surround me, and whatever the guard says to do, do it. As soon as he gets close enough, hit him hard over the head with that metal sconce over there. Got it?" Bree explained her plan.
"What in the name of the Ancestors?!" The guard's voice came from the door as a set of keys jangled. The door opened, and the guard drew his blade and pointed it towards Bianca and Senhua. "Up against the wall, both of you!"
Bianca positioned herself right beside the fallen sconce and gingerly moved it closer to her with her foot. The guard looked away and sighed as he sheathed his sword.
"Poor thing. Must not have wanted to risk the stories being true. Can't say I blame her." He bent down to grab her by the ankles and slowly dragged her towards the door.
Now!
Bianca bent down to take the fallen sconce and swung wildly towards the guard. He didn't have time to react. The metal clanged against his helmet and sent him collapsing to the floor. Not dead, but knocked out for a long while, Bianca assumed.
Bree sprang to her feet and used the Elf's robe to wipe the blood from her chest and neck. "Go team!" She exclaimed. "Alright, all of you head down the hallway and to the right. Judging by the time it took him to get here, it shouldn't be a long trek out of the manor. If you make a break for the western forest, you can circle around and get back to your village."
"How can we trust you?" Senua asked, clearly skeptical of just being rounded up by a patrolling guard again.
Bree pointed to the window. "I've got a good handle on their patterns. We're in a small, underused portion of the manor, so its security is a bit of a joke. Only one guard patrols every half-hour, so you have maybe twenty-six minutes to get out and head for safety."
"Let's go," Tillian grunted as she hauled herself up.
"I've got you, my love." Senhua picked Tillian up and draped her over her shoulders. The two wasted no time exiting the room, leaving Bianca and Bree alone.
Bree turned to Bianca and nodded towards the door. "Well, get a move on. You wanna be here when they find this guy knocked out?"
"I have to find my sister," Bianca said, panic still filling her voice. "I won't leave without her."
The strange Faerie sighed and placed her hands on her hips. "Look, kid. I'm gonna level with you, I'm not here to play rescue. I'm on a very different job. Having someone who may fly off the handle…" She sighed and looked up towards the ceiling. "You really don't wanna know how deep the cruelty of Elves runs, okay? I'll find your sister if I can, but you're gonna be a hindrance if you--"
Bianca grabbed Bree by the vest and slammed her against the wall. The strange Faerie gasped, her eyes widening as Bianca gritted her teeth. "I'm not. Leaving. Without her."
Relenting, the Faerie threw up her hands and Bianca let go. "Sure, okay. You can come along. Grab his gear and let's go," Bree said, opening the door to the cell and heading out into the corridor.
"Hold on, Sha'ani." Bianca grabbed the Elf's sword and his vambraces and greaves, strapped them on, and followed the Faerie to find her sister.
***
The Elvehn Republic was founded over twenty years ago by Lentilus Batiatus, the current Senator of Aldhicus and a former general of the Elvehn Empire's army. His first act, and nearly his last due to numerous assassination attempts, involved pushing the freedom of the Faeries from slavery in Elvehn and colonies of Elbafas and Forswaron. Some say he was moved to do so by a calling for justice. However others prefer a more scandalous, more intriguing rumor. Lentilus Batiatus is, to this day, married to a Faerie woman. A metaphorical bridge of sorts between the two races, the pair attempted to set an example for peace and bring the Elvehn people to an age of unity and prosperity. What they got, however, was a civil war.
-From the desk of Lambur Stonetooth of the College of Autumn's Gate