Page 13 of Triplets for the Dark Elf

“He does owe me,” Almu says, a dark chuckle in his words. “No one makes a fool out of me in public. I can’t believe that a k’sheng would flaunt his wealth in front of achivdouyulike that. I saw that bitch in his shop last week. He’s treating her like some kind of worker! It’s disgusting!”

My heart is in my throat now. He saw me? And now he’s back to attack Miothro over it? I knew that dark elves could hold grudges but all this, after an entire year? I’d be amused at him if I wasn’t so frightened.

I can’t do anything, either. I’m supposed to be watching the shop but if I go out there and confront them, who knows what they might do to me? Especially if Almu is as pissed at Miothro as he says.

The sound of breaking glass rips another gasp from my throat. What are they doing? I hear shouts of glee and more loud bangs and noises. Creeping forward, I push the back door open enough to peek out. They’re trashing the shop! I want to sob, to run away and hide but I’m frozen to the spot.

Please, I beg to the gods above.Pleasekeep me safe. I can’t go out and confront them now. They’d kill me, or worse. Tears stream down my face as I listen to them utterly destroy our beloved shop.

They’re breaking windows, tearing pages from books, smashing little figurines that we sell, knocking shelves from walls...it’s so much destruction, and for what? Because he wasn’t allowed to buy a human slave over a year ago?

I hope Miothro can forgive me for not approaching them and forcing them to leave. He will be so devastated to see this mess. They seem to finish whatever destruction they wanted to create and run off, the group of elves laughing amongst themselves.

Waiting in the back until I’m certain they’re gone, I feel my heart hammering in my chest the whole time. Once I know they aren’t likely to come back, I take tentative steps out into the shop to properly survey the damage.

It’s just so much destruction. It’s worse than I could have imagined. The front windows are smashed too, and there’s glass everywhere. An entire shelf of books has been taken down and pages have been ripped from at least half.

Tears are falling freely now, despite my best efforts to calm myself. I have to clean this up. I have to make things right. My body feels numb as I try to sweep up the worst of the broken glass and the broken figurines. Someone will have to inventory the mess, try to make sense of what happened so we can make note of what needs to be replaced.

Dark elf prejudice against humans is still so high. Almu was angry because Miothro bought me from under his nose. As the artisan class, he’s a higher caste than Miothro’s merchant caste so it’s doubly insulting to him.

My heart clenches in my chest. There’s no way I can be with Miothro. Not the way I want. Charmaine and Imris are safe out in the country but Miothro...I could never ask him to give up his shop like that. I don’t want to live in the countryside either.

And if I stay here, Almu will come back. He’ll come back and he’ll try to attack Miothro again. I freeze, broom in my hand as I realize that he’ll never stop trying to hurt the man I love as long as I am with him.

I have to leave. I have to go somewhere dark elves wouldn’t go. Somewhere Almu would never find me. Somewhere Miothro wouldn’t look. It’s the only way to ensure that he’s safe—that he doesn’t have to give up anything for me.

And it’s the only way to make sure that I can protect my own heart. I don’t want to wait around and have Miothro tell me we can no longer be together because of this.

With a heavy heart, I finish cleaning up the best I can and hurry to my tiny cottage to pack my things.

I’m sorry it has to be this way, Miothro.

8

MIOTHRO

Okay, don’t panic. Maybe she’s just in the back.

I step inside and head forward but my foot crunches on something underneath. Looking down to see what it is, I realize it’s more broken glass.

Not only that, but the interior state of my shop is much worse than it appeared outside. A shelf over the wall is hanging by a single nail...there’s a toppled over display near the front that I missed when I passed it…

My stomach starts to sink. “Annalise!” I yell, rushing past a shelf of books that have been knocked down to push the door to the inventory room open.

She’s not in there but there’s no sign of a mess back here when I turn up the gas-lamp either.

I head back into the shop and turn all the lamps on, trying to survey the damage. There’s a lot of it. Shelves tipped over, books with pages torn out...it looks as though the glass has been swept up and some of the shelves hastily fixed but mostly it’s all a big, giant mess.

I fall to my knees, the panic rising in my chest. Annalise! She’s been kidnapped! Or worse! Dammit! I should have taken her with me. I should never have left her here. Gods! I can’t breathe, I can’t think!

The room is spinning around me and I lean forward on all fours, gulping in deep gasps of air. I feel sick, like I’m on the verge of vomiting. What happened? Did someone take her? And why did they take her from me?

Rising unsteadily to my feet, I begin to pace the shop, looking for clues. Unfortunately all I find is evidence that Annalise—orsomeone—tried to clean up a little before leaving. Maybe she’s scared I’d be upset that someone trashed the shop? I would never be, I’m far more worried thatsheis alright.

Deciding I can’t stay here, I head for the back, to the tiny cottages at the edge of the property. “Annalise?” I call out, knocking on her door. It’s dark inside and when I push the door open, there’s no sign of her.

I call out for her anyway, hoping against hope that this is all just a sick joke, or a fever dream, or a twisted nightmare. That I’ll wake up and she’ll be sleeping next to me.