Page 15 of Triplets for the Dark Elf

Deciding to check her cottage one last time, I head there, heart heavy and feet aching from all the walking.

It’s just as empty as the last time I was here. I let out another stifled sob, clenching my fist tightly. Where is she? She isn’t at the shop either, and I ask the maid to fetch one of the zagfer stall workers to come help clean everything up.

Heading upstairs, I grab a glass and pour myself some zhisk, slugging it down in one go before pouring myself a second glass. I stare out the window as I realize that with no note, no explanation that it really means that Annalise isgone.

I have to find her. No matter where she is. She deserves that much from me, at least. After I put her in danger like this...she deserves to be protected.

The only thing that brings me any measure of comfort is the fact that there was no evidence of a fight, no blood to suggest that the perpetrators harmed Annalise before they made off with her.

So whatever they did to her, it was something they wanted her alive and intact for. I don’t know how they got her to go with them without putting up a fight but I’m determined to find out. If they wanted her for their own pleasure, I’ll find her. If they sold her to a pleasure house, I’ll find her.

Wherever she is, I will find her. I will get her back. No matter how long it takes.

And this time I will protect her. From me more than anyone else.

9

ANNALISE

As I get myself up and ready for work, I can’t help thinking about how fast three years have passed for me. Gods, it feels like just yesterday I was working at the shop and laughing and joking with the zagfer and...him.

But I knew I had to leave, to protect both him and myself from the fallout of the attack by Almu.

I brush my hair and the night I left plays vividly in my mind. I couldn’t stay but I had nowhere to go. I didn’t even know anyone outside of the city so I went to the only place I thought a higher caste dark elf 2ouldn’t follow—the lowtowns. I was safest here, tucked away from the eyes of a dark elf.

Of course, despite being safer here, I still had no money and nowhere to go. Forced to live on the streets and eat scraps, it was there that Lucy found me. My best friend and my savior.

She got me set up with Daphne, who needed someone to share the tiny, ramshackle cottage and split the bills with. I could barely afford it with the few coins I took with me but it was better than living on the streets and sleeping in damp, cold alleyways.

Daphne helped me get a job too, at the local mill where she knew some of the workers. No way I could chance working at the shops or at some dark elf’s estate. No, I had to stick to the backbreaking labor of the mill and all that entailed.

Luckily for me it was near the lowlands and I didn’t have to travel far to work. Everything was perfect. At least, as perfect as it could be for me after having to break my own heart and leave without a word tohim.

I tried to reason with myself. Tried to tell myself he would have grown bored of me eventually, would have probably sent me away once he no longer wanted me around. But I couldn’t get over my heartbreak.

And then I started getting sick. I remember how tired and sad I was all the time, how out of sorts and nauseated I felt. I waffled between thinking something was seriously wrong and chalking it up to my broken heart but in the end, Daphne made me go see Lucy, who was luckily the resident Healer.

It didn’t take much for Lucy to realize I was pregnant. The news dropped on me like a hot stone. I had no idea how to cope. I might have cried a bit...or a lot the first few days. How was I going to manage out here, all on my own? How was I going to deal with a baby when I barely made enough to support myself as it was?

And how would I deal with caring for a baby when I worked at a hard, backbreaking job? Before I could go into a full-on spiral, Daphne and Lucy reassured me that they would be with me, and would help me every step of the way through this.

It was so comforting. I don’t think I could have gotten through my pregnancy without them. They held my hand and rubbed my back and got me the foods I craved. And when I was huge and couldn’t work as easily, Lucy and Daphne covered for me. They put their scant wages towards my care.

It was so overwhelming to have a family like that. I could never have imagined how much they would come to mean to me.

And I grew so quickly too. I remember that we were all baffled by how big I got. Lucy did some measurements and concluded I was pregnant with twins, or maybe even more. We couldn’t be sure until I gave birth.

The last couple months were the hardest. I couldn’t even walk without so much pain in my back and the babies were forever kicking me in the bladder.

I went into labor so early. I think about that as I lace my corset on. I was so worried that it was too early but Lucy reassured me that it was normal for multiples.

I never told my newfound family about the father either. So when I delivered the babies, my healthy but clearly half-elf babies, there were some puzzled looks from Daphne and Lucy but they never pried.

None of us could have guessed I would have triplets. Three! It was so hard at first.

I felt even more alone than ever, despite all the help from Daphne and Lucy. But things got better, got easier over time.

My babies are two and a half now and every day they look more and more likehim.