Page 14 of Triplets for the Dark Elf
But then I find her cottage bare.
Bile rises in my throat as I pound on the chef’s door, then the maid’s. No one has seen her. I head next to the midtown area, hoping that one of my stall workers has seen her. Maybe she ran away out of fear, maybe she ran to one of her friend’s homes to stay safe from whoever destroyed the shop.
But none of my other workers have seen her either. Most of them are friendly with Annalise so they all wear identical looks of shock and worry when I tell them what’s happened. Some offer to go and help me look but I wave them off. I’m worried about her but I don’t want this to turn into a huge manhunt for no reason.
The streets are practically empty but I walk up and down every single one anyway, calling for her. She wouldn’t have left on her own, I know this for certain. It’s not safe out there for a lone human woman, especially this late at night.
Gods! What could have happened to her? The knot in my stomach keeps growing as I search the streets, then head down to the river to check the docks.
Whatever happened to her, it’s obvious that someone came into the shop. Whether to attack her or to cause mischief is unknown. Fuck! I swear at myself again for leaving her all by herself. Why didn’t I have one of my stall workers stay with her in the shop?
Because you wanted her all alone when you got back, the voice in my head tells me. I wanted her waiting for me, all by herself so I could have her all to myself. It’s all my fault.
I keep moving though, keep looking. I walk to the park, searching the trails for any sign of her. Even heading for the high-town area, where the nobles live. I wouldn’t put it past one of those uppity bastards to see a pretty human working in a k’sheng shop and deciding that they deserve to have her, stealing her like common criminals.
But she’s nowhere to be found. She’s not anywhere and I don’t know where else to look.
My entire body is numb. I can’t feel my face. Somehow my feet keep moving forward though. I have to find her! Who knows where she is? She could be beaten bloody, laying in an alley. She could have been kidnapped and sold off to a pleasure house!
The nausea increases tenfold and I have to bend over to retch into the street.Please, I beg.Please let her be safe, wherever she is.
It’s like losingherall over again. Every possible scenario runs through my head but they all blend together into seeing the note…
Oh Inilie, I think.I’ve gone and done it again. When will I learn? I loved you so much and it’s my fault you’re gone too. I’m so sorry. I promised myself I would be careful again, that I would never put anyone in danger like this ever again.
Why can’t I keep my promise to you?
Inilie’s beautiful face swims into my mind.
“Hello,” she smiles at me and hands me the shipment order. “Lovely to see you again.”
Her eyes find mine and I grin. “Lovely to see you too,” I tell her. It’s only been a few months since we met, but I swear Inilie is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen and I think I’ve fallen for her.
“You’ve been gone,” she mentions. I left for a two day trip to Pyrthos and I nod, agreeing.
“I missed you,” she whispers, lowering her voice.
“I missed you too,” I tell her, leaning in close to brush a curl from her face. “But I’m not going anywhere any time soon.”
“Get back to work, slave!” her master shouts. Inilie winces. “Stop fraternizing with the elves like you’re some kind of whore. I paid for you to work forme!”
It was that moment that I doomed her. Because of me, she’s dead.
I went to my father that evening. I asked him in earnest to buy her contract. I thought I could give her a better life. I thought I could protect her from the abuse at her master’s hands. And I thought maybe that if I was good to her, that if I treated her well enough, that maybe she would want to be with me as well.
Because of my stupidity, because of my foolish, selfish desires, I all but killed her myself. I stood there, reading the note from her master, smugly telling me that he would rather have a dead slave than the cost of her, knowing she was working for a disgusting elf like me and something inside of me broke.
I couldn’t do this again,I’d told myself.I would never open my heart to anyone again.
But I didn’t listen. And now I’ve done it again. A sob rises in my throat as I stand up to search near the penthouses. Human-dark elf relations haven’t been great, despite the King trying to make things better for everyone. And the only reason it’s worked for Imris and Charmaine is because they have an entire farm to live on, far from the bustle of the city and far from prying eyes.
No, I can’t be with Annalise anymore. Once I’ve found her, I’ll make sure she’s safe somewhere far from me, far from the city. I’ll provide for her to give her a comfortable life but I can’t keep seeing her if I want to make sure she’s safe.
I’m doomed to keep repeating my past mistakes until I learn from them, apparently. This time, no matter how awful it will be, I’ll let her go to keep her safe.
But I have to find her first.
It’s not until the light is dawning across the horizon, glinting off the river that I realize that my search has been fruitless. I can’t keep wandering the streets like this. I have to go home, to figure out the next steps.