Disclaimer: See last chapter

SilverWolf7: See they're cuddling! I thought about taking it further, but I guess in that kind of situation they would have other things on their minds. Pity isn't it:-)

To everybody else who's reading this, thanks for the reviews and encouraging words.

C

Blackberries

C

When I wake up the sun is setting in all her red and pink glory. The feeling in my left arm is gone and the reason for that is the peacefully sleeping Drow who has apparently felt the urgent need to cuddle up to me sometime during the last few hours. Why am I not surprised? I don't really mind, in fact I quite like being close to him, but I dread the possibility of getting "caught in the act". There's nothing more embarrassing and pitiful than being surprised with your head between somebody else's legs.

I try to get up without waking him, but the second I move he opens his eyes and a mischievous grin spreads on his face.

"See, you slept perfectly!"

I can't deny that, so I keep quiet and concentrate on the uncomfortable tingling in my arm go, which has started now that the blood is flowing again. I wish we had more food, but there's only the stale bread we managed to grab while making our hurried way through the camp and we don't have the time to go hunting now. Maybe the attempt to pry more information from Andy will take my mind off this unpleasant lack of nourishment. He's been amazingly uninformative so far and it certainly wouldn't hurt to know a bit more about our current adversary, seeing how dangerous the guy probably is. There will be nothing else to do anyway besides the riding and watching the dark forest glide by. I get bored easily. When we're on our way once again I start asking questions.

"So, does he have any weaknesses?"

I can't see Andy's face as he's sitting behind me, but I can feel him tense instantly. This doesn't bode well for us. I mean he didn't even blink when the dwarfs attacked, so in order to produce this kind of reaction Enzageyn must be scary as hell! Suddenly I'm not sure if I want to hear more about him. I'll probably just find out that he doesn't have any disadvantageous traits at all.

"He is very arrogant." Andy says in a halting voice. "But since he has the power to back it up this won't be of much use to us."

"Nothing else?" I ask hopelessly.

"No. There's nothing we can do."

Ah yes, I think I'll leave it at that. Why upset myself further when there's no chance of improving the situation?

"How did you become a slave?"

Morbid curiosity must be the reason for this question. It's probably inappropriate and insensitive, but hey, that's how I am. I've never cared too much about the rules for polite conversation and I'm not going to start now. Andy doesn't seem to mind though.

"We didn't have anything to eat, so my mother sold me."

He sounds very matter of fact, so I assume this is a common practice among his people. I remember my own mother and the terrible grief in her eyes when I was cast out as a murderer. I felt guilty then for hurting her so much. She was one of the few who still believed in my innocence.

"How old where you?"

"I was twelve when my Master bought me, but I spent some time before that being trained for service."

"Oh."

In my opinion twelve is an awfully young age for becoming a pleasure-slave! It seems like the Drow are just as ruthless in dealing with their own kind as they are when it comes to others.

"You sound shocked. Don't your people have slaves as well?"

"No. We believe that nobody has the right to claim another being as their property and use them at will. I must say I agree with that. I do value my own freedom."

Now that I consider it, the thought of really having or being a slave appears quite abhorrent to me. I've known about the theoretical concept for some time, but it always felt so alien and distant to me, I couldn't picture myself as neither a slave nor an owner. I still can't, but in the light of Andy's presence the whole thing starts to trouble me a lot more than it used to as does the prospect of being caught by the mage.

"Fine then, value it as long as it's still yours."

Shit, I've probably hurt his feelings now. He sounds so glum and miserable that I start to regret bringing up such a depressing topic and shut up because I can't think of anything else to say. We spend the next hours in a heavy, sullen silence each of us unable to ignore the fact that the odds of pulling this through successfully are ridiculously slim. So many things can go wrong! And of course I have to torture myself by thinking about all the possible outcomes, each one more horrible than the last, while there is absolutely nothing I could do to influence things. The woods seem dark and forbidding to me and I start seeing hidden attackers in every shadow. If I feel that way, I who have been born and raised in surroundings very similar to these, it must be worse for Andy. Even Susie is affected by the depressed mood we're radiating and loses some of her carefree energy, or maybe it's just me being upset.

When we slide off her broad back at dawn we're both too tired and worn out to do more than lie down and sleep. This time I don't protest against Andy's silent presence next to me. I need the comfort his warm body provides too badly to worry much about losing sleep.

For once I'm not the one to wake up first. I open my tired eyes to see my Drow-companion emerge from behind a scrawny bush with a very satisfied expression. Upon noticing my questioning glance he smiles and shows me the reason for his delight. Blackberries, a lot of them and just a few feet away. I love Blackberries!

"You're great! For this you'll forever be my favorite Drow!" I say before wholeheartedly committing myself to the task of eating as many of them as fast as I can. If I'll die today I'm determined to do so with a full stomach. This is so delicious. Andy seems to be amused by my enthusiasm and giggles, but I don't mind, as long as I can have the berries I'm perfectly happy with anything he does.

We leave our little camp with juice stained fingers, a bit more relaxed and happy to have discovered such a treat. Funny how a thing as small as a blackberry bush can change your whole perspective by simply existing at the right place in the right time. Well ok, the fact that we should reach Giciel's tower sometime tonight probably does contribute a bit to my recovered optimism. I even catch myself humming some half forgotten childhood tune somewhere along the way and Andy starts complaining about the sore feeling the unusual exercise has given his muscles, which is probably his way of relaxing. At least I hope so for his sake, but with him I can't really be sure.

After a few hours we have to leave the broad and well kept road in favor of a narrow path, which if I'm not mistaken, should lead us directly to the mages home.