Rayla slowly raised her hands away from her mentor's body, not wanting to move suddenly.
Runaan was dead.
Runaan was dead because she'd killed him.
Because she had, quite literally, stabbed him in the back to save a human.
To save a target.
And then she heard a whisper, almost inaudible over the aftermath of the battle.
"Rayla..." Runaan said. "Well done. Congratulations on your first." There was a rattle of breath, and he went completely still.
Her head dropped, as tears rolled down her cheeks. She rested her chin on the flat of the razor-sharp human sword and closed her eyes, waiting for the end.
Waiting to die.
Just as she deserved to.
She didn't resist as a pair of humans grabbed her arms, roughly twisting them behind her back, and snapping a pair of manacles around her wrists. She winced as they closed snugly, almost cutting into her skin. Without pausing, they dragged her to her feet.
The king kept his sword pressed against her neck the entire time.
She could hear Callum talking, frantically explaining what'd happened. The words didn't register.
All she could think about was the sensation of her blade sinking into flesh. Of ribs parting under the razor-honed edge. The almost-resistance as it slid through a lung, then into Runaan's heart. The noise he'd made as it slid into him.
She couldn't stop seeing his body, even with her eyes closed.
"Rayla!" she heard Callum say. "Rayla!"
She opened her eyes to look at him, violet eyes filled with tears.
She wasn't prepared for his arms to close around her shoulders from behind. For him to literally push the sword away from her neck. She could feel the disapproving gaze as he spun her into him, pulling her head onto his shoulder.
And that was when she gave up on emotional control. She sobbed into his cloak, heartbroken. And he just held her, whispering soothing, calm and compassionate words in her ear. She had no idea how long she was crying for, in the middle of the carnage. Only that Callum was holding her, and that she somehow felt safe in his arms. And, for a fleeting instant before she suppressed the thought, almost like she belonged there.
Eventually, she managed to get her emotions under control. Callum released her, and she turned to face the king, as he stood over the body of his court mage.
"Give me one reason, elf, why I shouldn't kill you. One reason."
"Because he was trying to kill you!" Rayla exclaimed. "He was casting a spell!"
"And you think it wasn't intended for him?" The King's foot tapped Runaan's body.
"It wasn't, Dad." Callum said. "I saw him as well. He meant that spell for you."
The King sighed. "He was my friend." He said it almost wearily.
"I know." Callum said, quietly. "There's something else I... we... need to tell you."
"You two are married?" The King said, his tone somehow lighter, suddenly. It didn't reach his eyes though.
"What! No... no no no no no, we only met just now while she was trying to kill Ez... Ok, that came out wrong as well... ok, well, she was, but she decided not to. Because the egg of the Dragon Prince wasn't destroyed." Callum said, talking very fast.
"What?"
"Viren kept it. In one of his storerooms. Ez found it, while he was sneaking around all the secret passages."
The King grinned, slightly mirthlessly.
"Erm... I should probably introduce you two. Rayla, this is King Harrow, my stepfather. King Harrow... Dad... this is Rayla..."
"I wish I could say this is a pleasure, and maybe it would be under better circumstances." Harrow said. "But... you came here to kill one of my sons. You killed my friend. And you saved my life." He bowed his head.
"I was the one the sentry escaped, your majesty." Rayla admitted, quietly. "I couldn't kill him."
Harrow looked surprised at that. "But you were able to raise your blade against one of your own."
Rayla's eyes filled with tears again. "Aye... I was." Her voice cracked as she spoke.
"I need to see this egg." Harrow said, looking away from the elf as tears flowed down her cheeks. He strode off down the stairs, closely followed by Callum. One of the guards grabbed an unresisting Rayla's arm and dragged her down the stairs. The manacles felt slightly tighter as she was marched into the courtyard.
"Ez, you can come out now!" Callum said. "It's... over."
She watched through her tears as the human boy scrambled out of the cart and threw himself at his father's armoured knees.
"I thought you were gonna... die..." Ezran said, sobbing.
Harrow bent down and picked him up, cradling him in his arms like he was made of the most precious material on the planet. "I thought I was too." He admitted, quietly. "But I'm not. Not today, Ez. Not today."
Ezran's head rotated, looking around.
"Why is Rayla sad?" He asked.
"I'll tell you later." Harrow said, quietly. "Sergeant of the Guard!"
One of the human soldiers rushed over. Rayla noticed that he only had a pair of chevrons on his armour, and several large gouges missing from it.
"King Harrow, Sir. Lance Corporal Japhire, your majesty. I think I'm the senior man left standing."
"Very well, Lance Corporal. Could you see to it that the Emerald Tower is opened, and a guard posted?"
"Yes, sire." The man saluted and started issuing orders.
"I had three sergeants, when the sun went down. And a dozen corporals." Harrow whispered to himself, only caught by Rayla's keen elven ears.
And then he crossed over to Rayla. "I can't forgive you. Not yet. But I also owe you a debt."
He looked away for a moment. "I can't release you. I can't let you roam the castle freely, especially not tonight. Not until you've earnt my trust."
Rayla bowed her head.
"Guardsman, when the Emerald Tower is open, take her there. She'll be sleeping in the guest room. Switch her hands to in front of her, and chain her ankles."
Rayla didn't resist. She didn't care enough to or have the energy to. If he'd told them to hang her, she wouldn't have even protested. Her senses were still replaying the moment she'd killed Runaan, over and over again, on what seemed to be an unending loop.
And then the King reached into the cart and pulled out the egg.
There was a moment of complete silence.
"Viren, you conniving, power-hungry lying bastard." Harrow muttered. "You stole the egg and told me it was destroyed..." And then he kicked himself out of his fugue, as the Lance Corporal returned.
"If you'd like to follow me, your majesty."
With the king still carrying the egg, Callum and Ezran fell in closely behind him, as Rayla was hustled along at the rear, now with her hands cuffed in front of her. She stumbled several times, while trying to adjust to having her ankles chained together.
The Emerald Tower was, as the name suggested, predominantly decorated in shades of green. Rayla found it strangely comforting as she was led along at the rear of the group. The princes broke off first, being guided into a pair of rooms three quarters of the way up the tower. The king was guided into a room on the next floor. Rayla was surprised to be marched through the door directly opposite the royal bedchamber. Inside, she looked around an opulent space that seemed larger than the entire home she shared with Runaan and his husband, back in the Silvergrove.
And then her trained eye began picking out details. All the furniture was solid wood, bolted to the wall. What looked like a wardrobe was an open unit, with no rails, only a shelf. The palatial looking bedstead was flush with the floor, and there were no curtains around it. The windows were no wider than arrow slits.
She was pushed onto the bed and left. When the door closed behind the guards, there was the clatter of a bolt. There was no handle on the inside.
She didn't even bother turning over for a few minutes. She didn't have the energy to bother. She just lay there, reliving the moment she'd killed her mentor.
She didn't even remember crawling under the covers and falling asleep.
She woke up with a start, as the door was pushed open, banging against the wall. She tried to grab for her weapons, but discovered her hands were shackled in front of her.
Looking towards the door, she saw a human standing there, holding a tray.
"Wuu?" She asked.
"I bought you breakfast." The human said, as her brain slowly emerged from sleep.
"Callum, right?" She asked, as various memories of the previous day surfaced. Her eyes filled with tears as one of them hit home. Runaan, with one of her swords buried in his back.
"Yeah. I wasn't sure what you'd like, so..." he placed the tray on a low table, near the bed.
"Thanks." There was a strange smell in the air, as she staggered out of bed, nearly tripping over thanks to the shackles around her ankles, and sat down.
Callum pulled the cover off the tray.
Rayla suddenly recognised the smell.
"Are those... is that made from animals...?" She asked.
Callum looked slightly surprised at her tone.
"Um..."
"I got taught you humans ate animals... but... ugh... being offered them, on a plate..." Her cheeks bulged, as she awkwardly picked up the plate, before suddenly hurling it at him.
Callum didn't manage to dodge the plate, which spattered across his chest.
And then she burst into tears again, pulling her legs up to her chest and sobbing into her hands.
"Ok, right, yeah, no dead animals... got it... can I get you some fruit...?" She heard footsteps, and the door opening and closing.
After she'd spent a couple of minutes sobbing, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Rayla? I've bought you some fruit. Definitely not any sort of animal."
She looked up to see Callum offering her a basket of fruit.
"I didn't know what you'd like, so I just grabbed a whole bunch."
"Can you take my handcuffs off? My wrists are well sore. How tight do they make these things?"
"I don't have the key. And they shouldn't be tight..."
"Not what I was asking."
"Sure, I'll ask Dad if I can take the handcuffs off the elven assassin who snuck into the palace with the intent of killing my little brother. Just because she says they're tight."
"Fine!" Rayla retorted, grabbing the fruit basket out of his hands.
Callum left, and she heard the bolt shoot home. The noise seemed to carry a finality to it.
"What've you done now, you daft ejit?" Rayla muttered to herself.
The fruit was... different. She had trouble deciding if she preferred the hairy fruit consisting of black clusters, or the one of red clusters better, although the red fruit with green leaves and yellow seeds was also delicious.
After gorging herself from the fruit bowl, Rayla was surprised to hear the bolt being drawn back. As she spun round, two armoured men stepped through the door, then another two.
"I understand that your handcuffs are painfully tight." Harrow said, as he stepped through the door. "Corporal, examine her restraints."
A guard with three chevrons stepped forward and took her wrists with surprising tenderness. He ran a finger inside of her cuffs, all the way around.
"There's nothing wrong with them, your majesty." The corporal reported. "But there are some ribbons underneath them."
Rayla blinked. "My bindings? They're magical, but..."
Harrow muttered several human words she didn't recognise, but his tone was enough translation.
"What do you know about those bindings?" Harrow asked, after a moment to collect himself.
"I know that they're part of some sort of magical ritual, and they're supposed to come off after you kill... your target. But if you don't, they grow tighter and tighter... until you die. Oh Moon..." She turned pale, the colour rushing out of her cheeks.
"Corporal, please fetch..." Harrow pinched his nose. "Dead less than day, and I'm already missing the insufferable arse."
"I can ask the guard to look for Lady Claudia."
"NO!" Rayla said, suddenly realising what they were planning. "I won't let you use that on me. Dark magic is an abomination!"
"It's an abomination that saw one hundred thousand people survive a winter not too many years ago."
"At what cost?"
Harrow sighed. "The lives of three queens, twelve soldiers, and a magma titan." Looking away from Rayla, he continued. "It left three children without their mothers, and fifty missing fathers. Callum and Ezran lost their mother that day."
She could sense the grief, sadness and pain in his voice.
"I traded those fifteen lives for one hundred thousand lives."
Harrow turned away, for a few moments. "That is what being king means."
"I understand. But I'd rather die than have dark magic used to save my life."
Harrow bowed his head. "For what it's worth, Rayla... I completely agree with you."
She shook her head, startled.
"You just tried to persuade me to let you use it on me." She started counting on her fingers.
"Did I?"
Rayla looked away.
"Rayla... I want to offer you a deal."
"I'm all ears." She responded.
"Will you give me your sworn word that, while you are a guest under my roof, you will not raise your hand, by deed or omission, against any member of my family, staff or household, except in defence of your own life or that of another? And that you will not leave this tower without permission from a member of the royal family?"
"I, Rayla of the Moonshadow Elves, daughter of Tiadrin and Lain, pledge my word that, as long as I am a guest under your roof, I will abide by your conditions. So I swear."
"Corporal, release her."
Rayla felt as if the world was lifted off her shoulders as her hands were freed, then her ankles.
And then one of the guards held out her weapons.
She reached for them, but as soon as she touched the hilt of one of the blades, her eyes filled with tears. She heard it punch through Runaan again. She felt it.
She dropped her hand away from the weapon.
"For now, put them over there." She gestured to a low shelf, mounted next to her bed.
Once the humans had filed out, she noticed that a handle had appeared on the inside of the door. After that observation, she collapsed onto the bed, hauled the covers over her head, and burst into tears again.
Runaan had been like a father to her since she was a wee elf.
And she'd killed him from behind to save a stranger responsible for the death of the Dragon King.
AN: I'd like to thank TheFranninator, Wolf 16 moon, and Blackdragon829 for their responses to the last chapter. Wolf 16 moon, this story will feature Rayllum in due course.