Eli blinked once. She needed time to let the news sink in. Lea, the sweet-taste royalty that forced the information out of Eli while both of them were being finger-fucked was the ambassador of Oxyn in Towj.
No wonder she would come to Malkan for a rubbery. He always did Oxyn's government dirty work.
Eli grabbed the marble edge of the pool fountain and dragged herself up, leaving the healing goldfish behind. Water dripped from her body as she stepped on the icy stone pavement. The weather was freezing to her wet skin. The yard had almost turned dark.
She stood before the mage, looking into his eyes.
"Was she the ambassador when Towj was overrun?" She demanded the truth.
"No, but she got the role soon after." His voice was calm, yet it had an edge of sorrow.
"Was she involved?"
The mage's gaze slipped onto her neck, where strays of her dark hair had stuck to her skin. He was eyeing her mark. "Yes," he said quietly.
Eli wanted to throw up, "And I gave her oral pleasure?"
The mage remained quiet.
Eli went to her pile of belongings on the floor, picked up her woolen cape, and wrapped it around herself.
"They're not done with you," He gestured to the fish.
"But I am."
Eli closed her eyes, her bare feet leaving a wet mark on the ground. She wanted to yell or punch something.
But she stood there, frozen, shivering from the cold. The water was too good for the disturbing fact Eli had just received.
Eli took a few steps toward the mage and stood before him, looking up into his dark eyes. He didn't blink at that. "Were you involved?"
He didn't answer. Eli couldn't read a damn thing on his face. Her heart rate was speeding up, and she was breathing heavily, losing the bit of common sense left in her.
"That's why you knew her, right? That's how you recognized her scent."
"We..." he started, but his voice faded.
Eli's brows raised with realization.
"Former lovers...ha! " Eli couldn't believe it. "So you WERE involved."
She shook her head in disbelief. Even though Malkan had told her before, some part of her didn't want to abide by that. Serving one master of her nation's enemy was enough; serving two only made her question her sanity.
The big picture of a puzzle that the mage could see might not be evident to her, but Eli had some of the main pieces now.
The mage and Lea were betrothed in Towj, feasting when Malkan and other hired soldiers ransacked Towj and created a blood bath. The rest was history. Oxyn's crown never took responsibility, and Towj... well, Eli had little data about the unfortunate destiny of her homeland, and she refused to believe the news that reached her over the years.
It was still unclear what was the fucking mage up to.
His face was grim, as always. Yet, Eli could see a glimmer in his eyes. It vanished before Eli could study that.
"Come inside. Have dinner, and we will talk about our next step. We must be agile before foes plot their agenda."
***
Eli sat behind the wooden bench in the kitchen. The mage closed the back door Eli had used to enter the house the first time she came here.
She tucked herself in her woolen grey and green cape. It was the perfect color to camouflage in a steak out. And it kept Eli warm at night.
The mage went to the pot on the oven in the left corner. The firepit was burning slowly and quietly. Whatever was on the bank smelled delicious. All Eli had in that day was the sandwich she snatched from Baroo. Not that she was complaining. She grew up with less food than that in a day.
The mage poured the food inside the pot into a wooden plate with a ladle. The food was a reddish stew, and Eli could make out chunks of cooked potatoes and carrots in it.
The mage's back was to her, and he seemed to have forgotten Eli's presence entirely. The whole house was silent, and there seemed no sign of his strange army.
Eli hugged herself beneath her cape. Despite the repulsed look on his face when he eyed her scars, the mage didn't seem to mind her naked body.
Eli couldn't blame him. She wouldn't have glanced at any other body if Lea was her lover. Eli didn't know why that created a knot in her chest.
"Still brooding over the fact that we fucked the same person?"
The mage handed her a plate. He had the faintest smile on his face, yet somehow that slight change made him shine.
But if there was one thing Eli was sure about the mage, he was anything but kind.
"How did she know about your ruby?"
The mage sat on the other side of the table with his plate in his hand. He lifted a brow, "Beg your pardon?"
"Well, you think it's complicated, but it's self-evident."
"Oh yeah? Do tell!" The mage was smirking. He sipped from his spoon.
"Alright," Eli sat back, "I know you've been locked up here in your own house by order of the high mage for years now. So, if they knew about the ruby when you were arrested, they'd simply sequestrated it from you. But you probably made the ruby here, in your prison time. And that will bring up my first question: How did she know about your ruby?"
Eli was proud of herself to see she could smite the sneer off of his face.
"You're good, I give you that. That's probably why your gang master sent you to steal the ruby. Though you're still missing so much information."
"Enlighten me then."
"Eat your dinner."
Eli gritted her teeth. She snatched the spoon and shoved it into her mouth. Her eyes bulged out of their sockets. The stew tasted heavenly. Eli gawked at her plate, fascinated. "Why is it so delicious?"
"Why are you surprised?" The mage seemed annoyed.
"I can see your minions have other uses for you." Eli was devouring the stew.
"They don't cook," he was clearly offended, "ever."
Eli paused, chewing. Was he cooking for himself all these years?
"How do you provide supplies? Do you have other people bring food for you?"
"Unfortunately, to my luck, you're the first person I have talked to and laid eyes on in years."
Eli looked at him passively.
"I assume you have noticed my garden at the rear of my house. I grow my own vegetables."
"How about meat?"
"I don't eat meat," when he saw the questioning look on Eli's face, he added, "Meat will mess up my senses. Weighting my head."
"I didn't know you'd cook and follow a hermit's diet." Eli finished her plate and eyed the oven, checking for more food.
"Well, there's a lot you don't know about me. I believe we both agree that is an established fact."
Eli narrowed her eyes, "My apologies; all those tortures, bullying, investigation, and enslaving had got in the way and distracted me."
The mage chuckled, "Fair enough," he finished his food and wiped his mouth with his napkin, "Although your master could give you a heads up."
Eli went rigid. The thought of Malkan sent a cold sweat over her spine.
"He's not my master," she said coldly.
The mage didn't even blink at that. As if he purposefully planned to bring that out of Eli. "What is he then?"
Eli stared down at her empty plate. She had many answers to that, and yet none of them seemed to be fitting.
"Speaking of the devil, did you talk to him?" he pressed harder.
"Yes," Eli's tone was bitter.
"Care to elaborate?"
"You've seen my bruises, didn't you?"
The mage huffed, "Talk to him again."
"I can't. The next time I mention leaving, he'll kill me right then. He won't hesitate." Eli felt the harsh truth in her words.
"Did you mention the ruby price as I suggested to you?"
"He won't let me go. Period."
"I already told you he doesn't own you anymore. I do." The mage was irritated.
"Well, tell him that yourself. For all he knows, I still wear the brand marks he gave me when I was twelve." Eli jabbed her finger at her neck. "You didn't liberate me from his leash; you just added to my chains."
"Need I remind you what you have around your ankle is far more than the branding on your neck? You'll die the second you defy me. Even I can't break that spell."
"Did I ask for it?" Eli was pissed. "He owns me. He had spent years trying to make sure I got his point."
"All the more reason for you to leave him as soon as possible." the mage raised his voice.
Eli raised hers even higher, "Who the fuck said I wanted to?"
The mage growled.
He looked agitated. "I don't quite understand you. Wasn't he the one who enslaved you? Emprisoned you? Tortured you? And now, you won't leave him when I give you the opportunity. Instead, you come back, filled with his scent all over you." He wrinkled his nose, "You make me nauseous."
You're nothing to no one...
That's what Malkan had said to her.
It wasn't the first time somebody was disgusted by the sight of Eli or her living situation. Over the years, she had learned to accept her destiny. She had heard the mage's harsh words many times. Regardless, They stung her heart every time. Especially since it took the mage little time to reach the same conclusion as anybody else.
But the mage was not Malkan.
She could fight back. Or at least try to fight back, as long as the bounding spell around her ankle would authorize her.
"He knew you," Eli's voice was grim. She looked up into his eyes.
The mage frowned. "Malkan said you were so young when everything went down at Towj. He said you were a powerful mage. And you know what else he said? He said you were the mage who aided them in raiding Towj."
The mage went rigid at Eli's words. As if she had stabbed her in the heart. He wasn't blinking. He didn't even seem to be breathing.
Eli was satisfied. She even pressed harder. "Was he lying?"
There was a long moment of silence before the mage responded, "No."
His voice was quiet. He didn't look away, and Eli could search into his dark eyes. Her verbal attack had cracked the impenetrable barrier he had mastered that made him impossible to read.
And then, Eli could see his tortured soul trapped in him. As if he was grieving. There was bottomless sorrow in his onyx eyes, like a dark ocean.
That could be how the mage could detect Eli's despair earlier. Maybe her eyes gave all that away.
Eli leaned forward. Her cape slipped away from her shoulder a bit. "Who are you?"
The mage blinked. The barrier was back up. He studied Eli for a second before answering. "For you, I could be your path to salvation or total destruction. There is no in-between."
He sat back. "Wash the dishes."
"Come again?" Eli thought she had misheard him.
"I cooked; you clean up." He pointed at the stone sink beside the oven with his thumb.
"I'm not your maid."
"Technically, you're bound to do as I say. But that's beside the point. Bound or no bound. Food is not free. Now make yourself useful." He was serious.
"I'm not wearing any clothes. I left them by the fountain."
"You mean them?" He looked at a stool by the kitchen door. All of Eli's clothes were on top of the seat, folded. Her belt and blades were placed on the ground beside it.
"How did you...?"
Eli didn't even want to know.
She got up, leaving her cloak on her seat at the table, and went to the stool naked. Her skin was dry.
She felt the weight of the mage's look on her. This time, he didn't look away. Instead, he watched her as she walked, picked up her underwear, and put it on.
Eli turned to him as she wore it. They locked eyes.
There was no sound in the room but the rustle of Eli's clothing and the mage's breathing. Even the fire had died to embers, crackling silently.
His gaze slid down her body, from her face to her bare feet. His eyes darted back up unhurriedly, staring back at Eli.
She picked up her white cotton top and wore it, not breaking the staring contest.
She could feel the heat from his eyes, gawking hungrily.
Eli grabbed her pants, but she didn't wear them. Her heartbeat was speeding up, and she knew the mage could feel that. Eli could feel her pulse in her neck, hands, and groin. She felt her nipples hardening.
Eli was wet.
Fuck
She parted her lips slightly since breathing was somehow tricky. The mage's nostril flared.
He knew.
For a second, nobody moved.
The mage suddenly stood up. "Meet me at the hall upstairs when you finish the dishes. We've got work to do."