Page 25 of Triplets for the Dark Elf

MIOTHRO

Idrag a hand down my face as I stare up at my office ceiling. Night’s approaching and the shop has been locked up but I can’t sleep. Can’t bring myself to go home, either. I haven’t in days, actually, nor have I managed to eat.

I am back on my…liquid diet, if you will. It’s the only thing that makes me feel better, and with the help of enough wine, I can stomach the conversation that keeps replaying in my mind.

She told me I saw her as a toy. I used her for sex. She was so disgusted she refused to look at me, her eyes focused on anything else while she clenched her jaw.

Groaning, I shift. I wish I could forget that it even happened, but it seems the effects of zhisk and wine are temporary no matter how much of it I drink.

And what’s worse? I still want her. My heart pounds over and over again,she’s alive, she’s alive, she’s alive.Not just that, but I know where she is.

Yet I am hiding in my office while she is out there.

My arms ache with the need to hold her and my lips crave her taste. I want to feel her fingers tugging at my hair while she whispers in my ear. I’m dying to see her cheeks flushed while I tease her.

But I can’t have any of that. I just don’t know how to get my heart and mind on the same page. They are both screaming different things, and my body is taking the beating of their battle.

I turn again. It’s no good for me, I know, but my mind is turning over the conversation again. All this time I thought something terrible had happened to her. I was searching every elf holding for her that I could, thinking that she was out there in need of my help.

I had been sick with worry for so long. My mind had gone to the worst scenarios. Maybe I am foolish, but I would have believed Annalise died before she would have just…left.

But that’s exactly what happened. She made me believe she was happy and wanted me, and while I was gone, she disappeared without a trace.

A fool once again. That’s all I am.

I went in search of her hoping for closure or to get her back. Yet, I’ve got neither. I know she doesn't want me, and I can’t let her go. I should be out in the city right now, replacing her face in my mind with someone else’s.

Instead, the thought nauseates me. She’s the only woman I want even though she clearly doesn’t want me, too. I can’t get her off my mind, and if I wasn’t already going crazy before, I think I might now.

As I roll off the couch, I know that I must be. That’s the only thing that could motivate me to slip on my shoes and head downstairs. Any elf in his right mind would head south to the bar district or east to the red district.

But me? Well my crazy ass is headed east into lowtowns to get a glimpse of a girl that hates me.

My own self-deprecation doesn’t stop me, though. I slink down between the houses, hiding in the shadows as I watch Annalise pass. It’s the first time that I fully take her in, too. Before I was so shocked that I couldn’t think much beyond that.

Now, though, I am able to fully take Annalise in, in all her beauty. When we first met, she was so thin, but now I can see that her figure is fuller. She looks damn good with the curve to her hips and toned legs. Gods, she was beautiful before, but this woman…

I want to marry her.

The thought comes unbidden, and I shake my head. It’s foolish, I know, considering all that she had to say to me. But that’s what love is, right? Foolish. At least in my experience.

As she disappears down the alleyway, I hold my breath, drinking in the sight of her as much as I can. And when she is finally out of sight, I feel that pang through my chest. It’s like she took my heart with her all over again, and I just feel foolish.

I really thought we had something. How could I think that, though? I should have seen that I was nothing more than her master, another elf holding her contract. Why would she want me for more than money and a good home?

That really should have been my last night, but the next, I find myself staring out my window at sundown. I try to convince myself to go home, but the second I’m out of the shop, I turn the opposite way.

For four nights, I just watch her. It’s enough just to know she is safe and healthy. She looks good and that is all I needed to know.

But on the fifth night, longing strikes hard. As soon as she disappears out of my view, I need her desperately, and I take my chances. I follow her.

With just enough distance that she doesn’t spot me, I move through lowtowns until I see her come to the front door of one of the little shacks.

That’s when it hits me. What if she has someone else? What if that’s why she ran from me? I don’t know if I can stomach the sight of another man waiting on her. And the thought of her rushing into someone else’s arms…

I’m suddenly nauseous. No, this was a bad idea. But just as I start to turn away, the door swings open and I’m staring at the door frame that has now revealed the last thing on my mind.

Three little faces. They all smile up at Annalise, clamoring for her attention.