Testing Audio -DK Principessa

by kibass91

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28. Once it gets dark

But he simply nodded and leaned over the table closer to me. "Not only that, my sweet, when Suchil Tem threatened to send me to the capital, Gruber himself was one of the first to openly advocate in favor of the Treaty. He was a congressman of the parliament at the time."

"Ugh," I made a disgusted sound. "I hate the conservative party."

"Tell me what you know about them."

I frowned, trying to get my thoughts in order. I was really not the best resource for information on Germany's political landscape, but it seemed like Vo'ren was more interested in an unfiltered account from a normal person than an in-depth analysis, so I began.

"For a long time, they were the biggest and most successful party in Germany. I think the majority of the former Kanzlers actually came from the conservative party. Then, over the last decade, the new nationalists gained power, and you know what they did."

Vo'ren snarled, showing his teeth, and I continued quickly.

"So I think maybe now, for the first time in years, the people voted for the conservatives again, because they are the old trusted party and they hope they'll fix things. They stand for the traditional family and all that."

Vo'ren drew the corners of his mouth in down disgust. "Is that the tradition you told me about, where the human man needs a woman to clean and cook for him?"

I laughed, "Yes, that pretty much sums it up."

Vo'ren scoffed, and I thought he was kind of adorable in his indignity about unfair gender roles and pretty bold as well, considering what role the Veril themselves had recently assigned to women.

Then I remembered something else, "I think Gruber has a daughter--I saw him posing with her on the election poster."

Vo'ren nodded appreciatively and opened his mouth to remark something else when the fire suddenly flared up, and for a second everything was bathed in bright light. Vo'ren actually rolled his eyes and stood up abruptly.

"Come, sweet. The Counselor has arrived."

Each and every warrior around the clearing was in formation, saluting Vo'ren, as we stepped out into the darkness, and I couldn't help but suppress a little smirk since I suspected this to be less of a polite welcome and more of an intentional show of force in front of his superior.

Suchil Tem was standing a few meters away from our tent, mesmerizing and graceful in his simple black tunic and cloak with the shepherd's staff in his hand and utterly unimpressed by the army around him. Like the last times I had seen him his white hair was shaved on both sides of his head and he wore the rest of it gathered up in a loose ponytail. He seemed too young to be the leader of a whole dimension until you looked into his eyes.

To my surprise, he was completely alone, no guard, not even a car or carriage in which he might have arrived, and I thought that this absolute calmness in the midst of thousands of deadly warriors was maybe an even more effective demonstration of power than all of the whole Kirtim Shenk together. I shivered.

Vo'ren saluted, and, deciding it wouldn't hurt to present myself as a member of his army, a follower of my Shenik, I did as well, earning me what I thought to be an amused twitch in the corner of Suchil Tem's mouth. He and his General exchanged a formal greeting that I only half understood, and after a gracious nod from the Counselor, Vo'ren assumed a more at ease position, with his hands crossed behind his back.

The Veril leader took a few steps forward, and when he directed his cat-like gaze at me, I had to fight the urge to hide behind Vo'ren's broad back.

"Greetings, Shuk Iskich." I was surprised that he spoke in English; his pronunciation had a strong Veril tint, but his words were clear and eloquent. "It is a joy to see you properly dressed for a change and a relief that you are still in possession of all your limbs." He gave his General a pointed look that Vo'ren met with an unmoved face.

The Counselor inhaled demonstratively and said with a sly smile, "Apparently congratulations are in order."

I blushed when I finally understood that he was talking about my pregnancy and bowed quickly to hide my embarrassment, but Vo'ren only inclined his head with a smirk and said, "I hope your summer solstice was blessed by the stars."

The Counselor gave what I supposed was a polite reply in Veril, and Vo'ren responded in English again.

"We did, though our humble celebrations surely do not compare to the bonfires of the Red City."

Suchil Tem smoothed back a strand of white hair that the breeze had pulled loose from his ponytail and said a few words, but the General interrupted him. "If I may give my opinion, Counselor?"

Suchil Tem gave him a tired look that very much made it clear he couldn't care less about his subordinate's opinion, but Vo'ren continued.

"If you wish for my Anna's services as a translator tonight, I think it is only appropriate that we include her in our conversation and speak English."

The Counselor's beautiful face remained motionless, but for a moment his hand tightened around his staff, and I noticed for the first time that the end of its curved black stone tip was shaped like a dragon.

"Very well, we shall speak once we are on our way," he said dismissively.

The General nodded, and a military convoy appeared at his invisible order. He placed his hand on the small of my back, just a little bit above my butt and a shiver of excitement ran down my spine as he guided me over the grass of the clearing towards the first car. It was the official one bearing his glowing symbol, our symbol, on its hood and flanks.

He opened the door for me, walked around the vehicle and took a seat at my side while I buckled my seatbelt. To my surprise, the Counselor got into the car with us sitting down to Vo'ren's right.

We were joined by Vik Ichel, who would apparently be driving again. He gave me a wink through the back mirror as he started the strange whirring engine, and we set off, flanked by a convoy of the Kirtim Shenk's best warriors.

"So is Shuk Iskich up to the task?" The Counselor was leaning against the window, one leg pulled up, watching the streets and trees pass by with a bored expression on his face, his staff resting against his knee.

"She is," Vo'ren affirmed and placed his strong hand possessively on my thigh. "My Anna is an expert in languages."

My stomach fluttered at his praise and I really appreciated that he made a point in using my real name in front of the Counselor, even though I knew it was probably just to piss his superior off.

Suchil Tem looked me lazily up and down, eyebrows raised, and remarked, "It would have served our cause better if you had put her in somewhat more appealing attire than a uniform.

Do not let him get to you. I reminded myself and focused on keeping my breath even and my heartbeat steady.

Vo'ren was still looking straight out of the window in front of us, but bared his teeth just so slightly when he remarked, "If you wish to expose a woman to the humans, you might have been better advised to bring your own."

He turned his head to the Counselor, and his voice carried a hint of malice when he asked, "I hope Shuktish' is in good health."

Shuktish'--your One, he must be talking about Suchil Tem's 'wife', number One of the Twelve. And then I remembered what poor Paul had told me--Vo'ren had been there as well, when the women were distributed like spoils of war.

"She is. Steffitz'in is adapting well," he replied politely, but I saw the muscles in his jaw tighten slightly.

I was starting to wonder if it might have been a bad decision to get into a small enclosed space with the two of them. It seemed like it was only a matter of time until they would drop the pretense of diplomacy and start murdering each other.

"Adapting to the duties of motherhood, I assume?" Vo'ren asked slyly and put his hand proudly on my belly.

For one second the air sizzled with energy. Helpless, I sought Vik Ichel's reflection in the rearview mirror, and it seemed like he was having the same thoughts as I was, since I saw him briefly lift his eyebrows in alarm. He took the next curve a bit too fast, and the momentum would have pushed me against the door had Vo'ren not quickly wrapped his arm around my shoulders and kept me steady.

He hissed something in Veril, and Ichel replied with an obedient apology, but I was pretty sure I saw a tiny smirk as soon as Vo'ren looked away.

Suchil Tem closed his eyes as if he were praying for more patience before he said, "General Tsul, we have read your proposition. And I must say we remain unconvinced about the idea of giving women who work in healing professions an exemption pass."

Vo'ren opened his mouth, but the Counselor held up his hand. "As soon as we start making exceptions, more and more will come forth with their own reasons, and in no time even your soldiers will want permission to prevent pregnancies."

Now it was Vo'ren who looked like he was struggling to keep his composure; all his muscles tensed up in anger, but he remained silent, glaring at the dark road ahead of us.

"This is just another one of those ideas of yours," the Counselor continued. "Just like your TSS checks, and may I remind you that those provoked an attack on the very first week of their introduction?"

My wrist started to burn a bit, and there was definitely a snarl in Vo'ren's voice when he replied, baring his teeth just so slightly.

"If you are unhappy with my way of controlling the human territories, you may order my withdrawal at any time and find someone who fulfills the job more to your liking."

Suchil Tem shrugged and smiled, "Of course we are immensely grateful for your service, General. We are merely noting that as of lately your paranoia about the insurgents and their leader is appearing to cause more rebel activities than it prevents." He rested his left arm on his bent knee, leaned forward, and looked out of the windshield. "Speaking of which," he remarked, and I followed his eyes.

I had been so engrossed in their exchange that I had paid no attention to our passage through the nocturnal capital but now I saw that we had almost arrived at the Government District and were approaching the Brandenburg Gate.

The square in front of the monument, always bustling with a colorful mix of tourists, locals, and activists in pre-Veril times, was empty except for a group of Kirtim Shenk soldiers blocking the passage through the gate. The sandstone pillars were illuminated by spotlights, their beige color a stark contrast against the night blue sky, with nothing hiding the view of the two bloodied bodies dangling from the horse statues on top of the structure.

All hairs on my body stood up. He had left them up there? I realized then that the soldiers were most likely not stationed here to guard the gate but to deter sympathizers from taking the terrorists' corpses down.

And then I saw something else and my blood froze: one of the men moved. I quickly turned my head away unable to look at his contorted face. I breathed in deeply, trying to keep my distress hidden from the Veril around me. But of course they heard the racing beat of my heart and smelled my sweat and panic.

"Yes, Shuk Iskich, they are still alive," Suchil Tem remarked with a sly smile on his lips as he pinned me with his mesmerizing kohl-lined eyes. "General Tsul has those terrorists taken down and healed just enough at every sunrise before he strings them up again."

I was incredibly thankful for Sergeant Chuntek's potion, the only thing that saved me from being violently sick. I avoided looking at Vo'ren; I had been with him long enough to know that I would not see any emotion, let alone remorse or pity on his face. Instead, I held the Counselor's gaze. This was bait and I was not going to bite.

I concentrated on slowing down my heartbeat and kept my face as calm as I could when I replied. "A fitting punishment for someone willing to kill innocents, including women and children of his own kind."

Suchil Tem raised an eyebrow in amusement, "Interesting, Shuk Iskich. Your tongue says one thing, but your body speaks another language."

What an asshole! I scoffed. "The only thing my body says, is that I am not used to seeing something like this up close. And of course I don't enjoy it. It's a natural reaction that has nothing to do with my opinion about the punishment. If you ask me, Shenik Tsul can keep them hanging there until the end of time."

Vo'ren didn't move, but a smug smile played around the corners of his mouth, and my wrist hummed. He was happy with my reply but I had to resist the urge to shove his hand off me.

"As long as you do not have to see it," the Counselor remarked dryly and added. "But I doubt it will be much longer."

He had leaned back again and rested his arm on top of his staff while he looked at the pillars that were still bearing bullet holes from the past World War as our convoy passed through the gate flanked by saluting warriors.

"Magic cannot undo the laws of nature. Their wounds are fatal, and the healing is only delaying the inevitable."

I tried not to think about the two men or their blood dripping down on the pavement below them. He had been covered in it when he came home that night, tasting of it when we kissed. I wanted to reach into my brain and rip those memories out with force.

Keep your breath even. This isn't the moment. Distract yourself.

His touch felt like it was burning into my skin. How many lives had ended by those hands? I looked down and adverted my gaze quickly, and my eyes caught on the tiny scar on my own hand, where Vo'ren had once cut me. I had never thought about it, but the Great Conduit herself had healed me that time, and still, a mark remained. I thought about what the Counselor had just said--that Veril magic would speed up the healing process but still couldn't undo permanent damage. Was that the case for other types of magic as well?

We sat in silence for a while, passing under the dark trees of Tiergarten Park to our left until the gray cement of the government buildings came into view. And, not long after that, Vik Ichel said something in Veril, and our car came to a halt.

Vo'ren let out a colorful curse that earned him a raised eyebrow from Suchil Tem. The open space in front of the modern white stone and glass building was crowded with people--journalists held back by a line of policemen to give our cars enough room to approach the red carpet leading to the main entrance.

Vik Ichel stopped, and the human police force soon became unnecessary since everybody was quick to jump backwards when our accompanying Kirtim Shenk soldiers in their full battle gear got out of their vehicles and formed a lane around our car. Still, I could practically feel the onlookers trying to catch a glimpse through the windows and I was infinitely grateful for the tinted glass.

"Put on your head covering." Vo'ren said, and I took the black scarf out of a pocket on my uniform and pulled it over my face with shaky fingers. And when Vik Ichel opened the Counselor's door, my nerves caught up with me, and my heart started to race in earnest.

While his superior left the car, Vo'ren leaned over me, shielding me with his body from all prying eyes. To my surprise, he swiftly lifted my head cover just enough to give me a quick kiss. And despite everything, I melted into him for a sweet second. When he pulled away I looked at him a bit startled, but my stomach fluttered as I adjusted the fabric again.

He looked at me a stern expression in his golden eyes. "My sweet, these people are of no concern for you anymore."

"It's still kind of intimidating to meet the Bundeskanzler," I whispered.

He scoffed and unbuckled my seatbelt. "You have just been riding in a car with me, Colonel Vik, and the Head Counselor of the Shadow Realm; I can promise you that each one of us is infinitely more intimidating than Gruber."

He paused and gave me a dangerous smile, admiring me as if he had never seen anything more fascinating, and the thought came to me that if I shared the bed with General Tsul Vo'ren himself, bore his name on my wrist, and his child under my heart, I was maybe a little bit intimidating as well.

I inhaled, feeling more sure of myself. Vo'ren patted my cheek before he got out swiftly and walked around the car. And when he opened the door for me, I held my veiled head high; my hands were not shaking anymore.

I was greeted by the clicking of camera shutters, but none of the journalists, all men of course since it was nighttime, dared to say a word when we stepped onto the red carpet. Everybody was holding their breath as soon as General Tsul had left his vehicle, as if they were hoping he would pass by quickly without noticing them.

He closed his fingers around my wrist and assumed his position at Suchil Tem's side, but about one step behind him, guarding his Counselor. I had to hurry to keep up with their long strides and my foot almost got caught on a wrinkle in the carpet. There was a collective inhale from the journalists, as if a gust of wind had passed through the crowd, and the clicking got more intense: My movements had exposed me, and they had noticed that I was human and a woman, and everybody knew what that meant.

I blushed under my veil and as I looked down my heart paused for a second. Shadows were playing around my sleeves, like smoke clinging to my uniform. Had my nerves led me to another outbreak? But when I looked at Vo'ren, he was also framed in darkness, and I realized that it wasn't my magic, but the Shadow Guard giving us a little extra embellishment to intimidate the humans.

Chancellor Gruber was waiting for us underneath a white, elegant canopy in front of the entrance. He was a good looking man and I guessed him to be in his late fifties. His brown hair and beard were peppered with gray strands and neatly trimmed. With his stocky figure he reminded me a bit of a boar. He was wearing an expensive-looking suit and black-famed glasses, behind which small, piercing eyes watched us approach, careful, unsmiling, but also showing no sign of fear.

Another man stood at his side. He looked like an older version of the preppy business students I had grown so used to seeing at my Economics lectures in Heidelberg. He was of course also wearing a suit, but I was sure that in his free time he favored polo shirts in different pastel colors. He nervously ran his fingers through his blond sidepart and then crossed his arms behind his back to hide his shaking hands.

"Willkommen." There was just the slightest hint of tremor in the Kanzler's voice, but he caught himself quickly. "Philipp Gruber, mein Name."

The two Veril officials were towering over him, and I smirked under my veil as I watched the leader of the German government, not so fearless after all.

I was surprised about my mean-spirited thoughts, but I couldn't help the contempt I felt for those men who had been so quick to betray the women of their country. If they were shaking already during a diplomatic visit with the Veril, how did they think we felt when we were forced to fulfill the Treaty?

Gruber looked like a routined diplomat again when he extended his hand to greet Suchil Tem. The Counselor took it with a sly smile, as if the whole affair were mildly amusing to him, and when he said his name in reply, it sounded otherworldly like a breeze in the grass.

"Reinhold Schneider, Federal Minister for Special Affairs," Gruber presented the man at his side, and I noted by his cumbersome pronunciation that Vo'ren had been right about the politician's bad English skills.

"A pleasure." Suchil Tem inclined his head graciously before he made an elegant gesture towards us. "General Tsul Vo'ren of the Kirtim Shenk

Vo'ren gave no sign of politeness, much less did he bow his head; instead, he lifted his lips just so slightly, showing his pointy teeth as if he were only barely resisting the urge to tear each and every one of them to shreds. Nobody dared offer him a handshake.

"And Lady Tsul Shuk Iskich, the General's..." Suchil Tem made a pointed pause to give everyone enough time to let their imagination run wild about what exactly I was for Vo'ren before he concluded with a smile. "Translator."

The two humans had been too preoccupied by the menacing Veril officials to take note of me--until now, and I saw first surprise and then discomfort on their faces when the realization sank in. They had not expected to be confronted with the consequences of the Treaty in person. And when I looked at Minister Schneider nervously adjusting his tie, I understood why the Counselor had wanted me to come along--and why he would have preferred me in more revealing clothes. What better way was there to show the Germans their place than to bring one of the women they had taken from them and parade her in front of their eyes?

"Willkommen," Gruber's gaze was directed at a spot somewhere right above my head--he couldn't even look at me.

"Vielen Dank." I bowed in Veril manner, ignoring the politician's outstretched hand.

I wanted them to see that I didn't adhere to German rules of politeness and protocol anymore. For a moment, Gruber looked a bit affronted, and Vo'ren hissed almost imperceptibly while Suchil Tem continued to smile like he was starting to enjoy himself immensely.

"Please, follow us in," the other man, Minister Schneider, chimed in and gestured towards the warm lights shining through the tall glass windows of the building in front of us.

The Counselor inclined his head again and handed a knife he had been carrying hidden in his robes to Vik Ichel. I remembered our binding ceremony--a nice Veril custom to leave all weapons outside at an important meeting, but still our hosts looked baffled.

Vo'ren placed his hand slowly on Peace Bringer's hilt, and every human around us, including the police escort, froze. I rolled my eyes. Did they fear he would just start beheading people out of nowhere? Although, admittedly, I myself had witnessed how he could snap from one second to another and what a level of violence he was able to unleash when he did.

I looked at him again. There was no gentleness, nothing of his playful side on his face or in his demeanor. All of his being radiated danger, his power filling the air all around him with tension. It was as if he had shifted an aspect of himself to reveal the pure menace and cruelty that lay underneath. It made a shiver run down my back. He was here as the Counsel's sword, to remind our hosts of the terror the Veril could bring upon them at any moment. Suchil Tem did not need weapons to intimidate the Kanzler at tonight's meeting; everybody knew that General Tsul was more lethal than any blade would ever be.

Vo'ren smiled at their reaction, unbuckled his weapon belt, and handed it to his colonel. I saw the Minister's eyes widen in surprise when I followed suit with my dagger--it didn't align with whatever preconceived notion they had of me, that I was armed as well. I smirked at them underneath my scarf before we entered.

With abstract modern statues, vitrines full of beautiful objects from all around the world, and contemporary paintings on the walls, the air-conditioned foyer seemed more like a museum than a government building, and I had to admit the effect was pretty stunning: simple yet sophisticated.

"Welcome to the Bundeskanzleramt," Schneider said proudly, his steps resounding on the stone floor.

With that, he answered my unspoken question, Bundeskanzleramt, so we were at the official seat of the German Kanzler. I looked around the room while the Minister gave us a little explanation as we walked to the elevators. His clear English pronunciation let me guess that he had been brought in lieu of an official translator and would be, in a way, my counterpart tonight.

He continued, "The building was designed when the government moved from Bonn to Berlin after the reunification of Eastern and Western Germany. The big windows allow views from the outside in and symbolize the transparency of the German democracy."

I rolled my eyes, and Suchil Tem, who had noticed, chuckled almost imperceptibly. I looked at Vo'ren expecting him to be snarling or showing his disdain for our human hosts in some other way, but I was surprised to see him contemplate the displayed art with genuine interest; he looked almost as if he had forgotten to play his role for a moment. The Counselor raised an eyebrow at his General's demeanor, and Vo'ren gave him an almost sheepish smile and shrugged before we got into the lift behind Gruber and his minister.

After an extremely awkward elevator ride, in which nobody made a sound, we arrived at the Kanzler's office on the seventh floor.

The room was spacious and looked quite comfortable despite its bureaucratic flair. My eyes were automatically drawn to the big front of glass windows all around that overlooked the trees of Tiergarten to the one side and offered a breathtaking view of the illuminated Neo-Renaissance building of the Reichstag with its big glass cupola to the other side. The warm yellow light from the seat of the German parliament contrasted with the bluish glow emanating from the Veril embassy in the park. Human hubris, the display of grandeur and power of one of our world's richest nations against understatement and magic in harmony with the nature and trees around it.

In front of a pole with a big German flag stood a large desk, and there were several other sitting areas around the office: a white couch and armchairs and a more formal black conference table at the opposite wall. The Kanzler directed us politely towards it.

The table was tastefully set with an assortment of cups, drinks, and gleaming silver thermos bottles, probably containing tea or coffee. My stomach churned a bit at the thought; apparently my pregnant body had lost its appetite for those types of hot beverages.

"An interesting room," Suchil Tem remarked, looking over at the park as he sat down gracefully.

"We had to do some major redecorating." The Minister seemed happy to talk about his work. "Herr Gruber's predecessor had everything covered in flags and military regalia."

Suchil Tem held Schneider's gaze without any expression, unsettling the politician so much that after a moment he simply stopped talking. Vo'ren took a seat to the Counselor's left and pulled me onto the chair on his other side. He put his arm on the backrest behind me and leaned over,whispering into my ear. I ignored the tingle that ran through my whole body because of his nearness and translated to German just like we had practiced.

"Enough. We have not come to talk about how you decorate your houses." My voice seemed to linger in the silence that ensued.

I suppressed the urge to smile. It was a childish joy to be rude to authority figures, but being Vo'ren's interpreter was giving me the perfect excuse to do so. Everybody except for Suchil Tem stared at me, and I met their eyes with my chin held high, while Vo'ren was lounging in rude disregard of any etiquette at my side, his legs spread and the corner's of his mouth drawn down, while his hand rested possessively on my shoulder.

My General, and he would speak through me tonight, as if the other humans were unworthy of hearing his voice.

I could see how much they hated me for it how the fact that they had to endure such disrespect out of the mouth of a twenty three year old brat made their blood boil. But of course, one look at Vo'ren's scar was enough to make them smile politely. He gently squeezed my shoulder and I shivered.

"Congratulations, Kanzler, on winning the elections," Suchil Tem said softly, his hands folded in front of him, as if his subordinate had not just insulted our hosts. "Your victory is well deserved."

Schneider straightened his rose-colored tie, eager to translate to German for Gruber, but I was quicker. I took care to speak with a loud and clear voice and convey confidence in my role and abilities. The minister tried to interject, struggling to maintain control about at least this one aspect of the meeting, but Suchil Tem raised his hand brusquely in an unambiguous gesture, indicating him to be quiet. Resigned, the minister sank back into his seat, letting me finish, and I smiled under my scarf.

The Counselor continued. "We are looking forward to continuing the fruitful alliance our people have formed over the last few moons."

I decided to make Suchil Tem's double entendre understood by using the word fruchtbar in my translation, which means fruitful as well as fertile. And I was proud to see the Kanzler's eye twitch in reaction and the minister's gaze drop to my belly before he caught himself and looked up again.

Vo'ren squeezed my shoulder just so imperceptibly again--I was off to a good start. Somehow switching from one language to the other came easy to me and now that my nervousness had dissipated,I was actually starting to kind of enjoy myself.

The Germans quickly confirmed their intentions to do anything they could to collaborate with the Veril occupiers, and Suchil Tem nodded almost dismissively.

"Very well, very well. But we do have a few preoccupations concerning the way this country has been operating lately."

Despite the Kanzler's calm face, I could see his fingers tensing up, and the smile in the corners of Suchil Tem's mouth let me guess that the human's heartbeat was most likely accelerating.

The Counselor ran a finger over his forehead, moving a loose strand of white hair out of his eyes, and he leaned towards our hosts.

"The first one would be the lamentable state of your hospitals."

He bared his teeth, the smile not concealing the threat that lay underneath, and there was just a hint of tension in the air, a tiny taste of the Veril politician's own magic.

"We believe we have made it quite clear that the care and wellbeing of the ones who are carrying the fruits of the Treaty is of the highest priority. Thus we are surprised to hear of understaffed medical units and discriminations against the very women who are the root of your country's safety."

"I'm very sorry to hear that," the Kanzler swallowed. "But of course you will understand that a big part of the professional work force is missing." Even though he spoke an eloquent standard German, I could hear a slight regional tint that made me guess he probably came from Bavaria, a neighboring state to mine.

Suchil Tem just smiled at that. "We are confident that you will shortly find a solution; it is, after all, a condition of the Treaty. We have been keeping our part, and we think we can expect the same of you."

Vo'ren was leaning back now, his arms crossed in front of his body, and the Counselor placed a hand on his shoulder. It was a casual gesture, but everybody understood its meaning: Stick to your part of the contract if you don't want us to unleash the Kirtim Shenk.

The Kanzler exchanged a look with his minister and said to us, "Maybe after half a year this is a good moment to review the Treaty, make some adjustments perhaps. We would be more than happy to reopen the negotiations, talk about alternatives."

At that, Vo'ren, who had remained quiet and almost uninterested until now, laughed, a chilling sound that caused everybody, even me, to tense up. He leaned down to my ear and I swallowed when I heard what he said.

"The only alternative to the Treaty would be to wash the streets of Berlin with rivers of your blood."

When I translated, I felt how my voice carried Vo'ren's power--the impact of his words coming out of my mouth making the humans pale instantly. I knew I was wrong for it,but I had to admit it felt pretty good.

"Of course. We are sorry, General Tsul," Gruber was quick to amend.

What a spineless little coward, I thought. One threat and down the drain went the promises that had won him the trust of his people and ultimately the elections.

Suchil Tem kept smiling pleasantly. "Now, that leads us to our second preoccupation: you seem to somewhat struggle with bringing the rising insurgence movement under control." He made a little pause, and the Kanzler was about to say something, but Suchil Tem cut him off. "It is paramount for the peace between our nations that an attack like the one at the beginning of this moon does not reoccur, or else some might get the false impression that your country has not capitulated completely."

Something crossed Gruber's features--was it anger? "I know that our police are doing all they can to find out more information about the Peruvian," he replied. "I'm sure we will be able to give you his whereabouts soon, and then you can arrest him."

I spoke the translation in Vo'ren's ears. Just like he had told me to do, I was whispering--Suchil Tem's hearing was good enough to understand me anyways. When I had finished, my General's whole body tensed, and he slammed his fist on the table. The flare of his power made a vase at the other corner of the room clatter.

"But that is your responsibility!" Vo'ren snarled, not whispering anymore, and the Minister actually let out a little scream. "How can you demand respect for your autonomy if you are unable to ensure the internal security in this country?"

Suchil Tem smiled, amused at the German's panic, and added calmly, "We hope the matter will be resolved soon, or else we will sadly see ourselves forced to take other measures."

I noticed that despite their dislike for each other, Vo'ren and the Counselor worked really well together. It was almost like they were using some kind of good cop, bad cop tactic with the Germans, like a long-practiced team.

The bottle in his shaking hands was clinking against his glass as Gruber served himself some water. "Of course, Head Counselor Suchil." He took a deep gulp and wiped his forehead with a handkerchief. "We have also been wanting to talk about another topic--would you consider loosening the controls at our borders? Permit outward voyages for business reasons, for example? Our economy is suffering, and we have already lost our most important port."

Vo'ren leaned back again and placed his hand demonstratively very high up on my thigh. I tried to ignore it but found his touch terribly distracting. He chuckled quietly after he had heard the Kanzler's demand, and I knew that he would not open any borders anytime soon. Not before the Veril knew more about the children of the Treaty and their implications for their curse.

Apparently not deeming the Kanzler's request worthy of his attention, Vo'ren focused on me instead and started to run one finger slowly up and down the inside of my uniform-clad thigh. I tried not to inhale too deeply at the liquid desire that started to flow through my body at his caress.

He leaned closer. "Your voice in my ear is driving me to madness," he whispered so lowly the humans wouldn't hear, and I swallowed. "As soon as we are alone again, I am going to fuck you so good you will have trouble walking the upcoming nights."

He squeezed my thigh, and I couldn't help but open my legs a bit. I knew that he was using me to show his disrespect for our human hosts, but that didn't change anything about the fact that he still turned my whole body soft with need.

The Minister was staring openly at me, and I could practically see in his face that he was picturing all the things he suspected General Tsul did to me. Even the Kanzler's eyes moved down following the hand on my thigh, then he caught himself trying to pretend he hadn't seen anything.

"Reopened borders would also help to put our friends in Europe and overseas at ease." Gruber's voice had a sharp undertone we hadn't heard from him before, and it gave me an idea about how uncomfortable it must be to have him as a boss. Vo'ren's provocation was having the desired effect.

I frowned. "He is lying," I whispered to him after I finished translating. "The nationalist party broke off all of Germany's alliances in Europe as soon as they were elected."

"Sumik, mishtz'in," Vo'ren chuckled silently. "Tell him: I am afraid your friends on the continent will have to accept the new order of things, or we might feel tempted to cross that river and have a look at the other side."

He gave the Kanzler a piercing look as I translated and added. "But you may transmit this message to your other friend across the ocean. Next time he tries to send one of his flying suns to a country under my control my wind riders will not direct it to the stars again but straight back at that city on his shore."

It was like my veins turned to ice as the meaning of Vo'ren's words sank in, and Gruber's face paled so much, he looked almost as green as the Veril.

"They did what?" For the first time during this reunion, he seemed truly rattled.

"How goes the saying? Careful who you call your friend," Suchil Tem remarked, and there was an undertone of clear warning in his youthful voice. "We would not want for anybody to call you ungrateful for the protection we have been giving you from your allies over the last moons."

"I understand. Of course. Yes, Counselor Suchil, General Tsul." The color was slowly returning to the Kanzler's face, and he had started sweating profusely.

Vo'ren smiled, showing all his teeth, "Detain the Peruvian and eliminate his rebels, and I will consider letting Germany use my city's port for trade."

"That is generous of you, General Tsul." The Kanzler looked unsatisfied.

Suchil Tem inhaled as if he were suppressing a yawn. "Well Kanzler we are sure that you still have your hands full with decorating this wonderful room and we would hate to infringe on your time any longer. It has been a true pleasure to make your acquaintance and this meeting has made us all the more excited to prolong our alliance." He smiled and inclined his head before standing up and grabbing the staff that had been leaning against his chair.

The minister was quick to jump up and rush to open the door for the Counselor and I suspected that he was as glad as I was that we were finally getting out of here. Vo'ren closed his hand around my wrist and rose gracefully, pulling me with him.

"Junge Dame?"

I turned my head reluctantly. Gruber was standing behind me giving me what he must have considered to be a friendly and engaging smile but to me he just looked patronizing.

"How may I call you?" he asked in German. "Lisa? Hannah? Stefanie? Elin?"

He watched me, hoping to catch my slightest reaction or acknowledgment, as he ran through the list of the twelve wives' names. I interrupted him before he could go on.

"My name is Tsul Shuk Iskich, Herr Bundeskanzler." I looked back to see where the rest of our company had gone, but Suchil Tem and Schneider seemed to have already taken the lift downstairs.

Gruber kept smiling while he stood unmoving in front of his desk his head framed by the black red and gold of the German flag behind him. "I would much rather call you by the beautiful name your parents gave you."

He was using the informal du instead of the more respectful Sie addressing me like I was a child or a friend. Since I was neither, I raised my eyebrows.

Before I could ask what exactly he wanted from me, the Kanzler said conspiratorially, "You don't have to translate everything I say back to him. I'm sure he is not interested in our little conversation anyway. Simply tell him the truth later on: that I would just like to get to know you better."

I glanced up to Vo'ren at my side. He was looking over at the Veril Embassy's blue glow that wafted like magic fog over the trees of Tiergarten Park

The Kanzler continued, encouraged by the General's apparent disinterest. "We are all so proud of you twelve girls, and it would mean very much to the people of our country if I could tell them how you have been doing. Keep your family from worrying--it just breaks my heart to imagine how your poor father must be feeling."

His eyes flashed down to my belly and back at my face again. Was he wondering why I was not bigger already? If he assumed me to be one of the Twelve I should at least be the size of the woman I had seen at the hospital by now.

Once again I felt how much I disliked him. He had hit a sore spot with this remark about my family, and I remembered what Vo'ren had told me about Gruber being one of the first to advocate for the Treaty--he was one of the cowards that had sold us out, and now he was feigning compassion for my parents. There was also no doubt in my mind, that he was merely trying to find out my identity so he could get some leverage on the General.

I used my most innocent voice when I replied. "Like I have told you, Bundeskanzler, my name is Tsul."

Gruber cocked his head, about to reply something, but I turned my back at him. "Mishtz'in?" I asked and placed my hand on Vo'ren's broad shoulder. And when his golden eyes met mine, I told him every word the Kanzler had just said to me.

I felt my warrior's muscles tense under my palm, and his gaze grew more and more terrifying the longer he listened. When I finished, he glared at the politician, who took a step backwards against his desk and seemed to shrink to half of his size.

The electric tension of Vo'ren's power grew almost unbearable around us, and for one terrible second I thought he might actually kill the Kanzler, but instead he said, "There are two types of people I despise, Gruber: cowards and hypocrites."

The politician held his breath, and Vo'ren continued. "If you ever bother my woman again, your daughter will be my infantry's next entertainment."

After I had finished translating, the pressure in the air vanished. Vo'ren did not grace our host with another look as he placed his hand on my back and walked us to the lift in long, powerful strides, leaving Gruber at his desk, gasping in shock and anger.

As soon as the doors of the elevator had closed behind us, all the tension seemed to fall off Vo'ren. He spun me around wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me against him and when he looked down at me his face was full of fondness.

"Sumik mishtz'in, my interpreter," his eyes sparkled dangerously. "You did so good; if you were one of my soldiers, I would have to promote you."

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and gently ran my fingers over the back of his neck. His armored chest was pressed against mine and it felt so good to hold his solid body and be held by him in turn.

"Then promote me, Sheniktz'in," I said softly, losing myself in his golden eyes.

He gave me a lopsided smile. "Do you want me to give you twins after all?"

"No," I shuddered. "But I could come and translate for you more often?"

I wanted to take my scarf off but he took hold of my wrist and stopped me. "This cursed place is sure to be full of cameras."

He pulled the veil just a tiny bit to the side and placed a kiss on my temple. It was so sweet that my knees went weak and I was glad that I still had one arm wrapped around him to keep me steady.

"I need to keep you safe, mishtz'in," he whispered. "And bringing you to these types of events makes you a target."

"So that is a no?" It was hard to be disappointed while he held me like this, but I still felt let down after all my effort tonight.

"It is," he remarked, stepping aside and assuming a military-at-ease position before we arrived at ground level and the elevator doors opened.

Disgruntled by Vo'ren's refusal, I got out before him. Right now I was too exhausted but I resolved to bring it up again later.

Suchil Tem was standing in the downstairs lobby, his index impatiently tapping on his staff, while the Minister was hovering behind him close to the exit, probably trying anything to keep the terrifying Veril from noticing him.

The Counselor stepped towards us, and there was no amused smile on his face anymore. "A word in your car, General." He said curtly, and Vo'ren saluted.

When Schneider realized that his Kanzler had not accompanied us, he diligently assumed the role of host and thanked us formally for our visit. The Veril and I nodded respectfully and finally left the Bundeskanzleramt.

We were greeted by the sounds of voices and the clicking of cameras as we stepped outside and I was grateful for the Shadow Guard who manifested at our side and somewhat shielded us from view as I tried my best to look dignified and mysterious while I followed Vo'ren down the red carpet, and back to the car.

He opened the door for me in a quick movement and I hurried to get inside. I relaxed instantly when I finally heard the lock click behind me, and we drove away at a speed that made the journalists jump to the sides in panic. I pulled the headscarf off, took a deep breath, and leaned my head against the window allowing the adrenaline to flush out of my system as the silence of the car engulfed me. I had done my job for tonight.

I was so relieved that I had almost forgotten that the Counselor was in the car with us as well.

He had been looking out of the window, but as soon as we had left the government buildings behind, he directed his mesmerizing golden eyes at Vo'ren and hissed, "Are you the ruler of your own country now, to be making trade agreements and offering the port of Hamburg to the humans?"

Vo'ren's eyes narrowed before he calmly replied in Veril; apparently my language privileges were over now that I was done translating. I watched the trees of the park rush by, too tired to try and make sense out of their discussion. My stomach was starting to feel painfully empty, and I thought longingly about the basket full of croissants back at our tent.

"Compliments on your interpretation service, Shuk Iskich."

It took me a moment to realize that Suchil Tem had been talking to me. I quickly sat up straight.

"Thank you, Counselor." I inclined my head.

"Expect me to use your talents again," he said and gave me what almost looked like a genuine smile.

I bowed once more; I couldn't help but notice how beautiful he was, elegant and dangerous like a lynx. I felt Vo'ren's muscles tense at my side, but he kept staring silently out of the windshield in front of him. I placed my hand on his thigh hoping I could somehow help him relax but at that moment my stomach grumbled loudly. Mortified, I pressed my palm against my belly.

Vo'ren looked down at me and raised his eyebrows.

"I'm hungry," I said sheepishly.

Within seconds, his expression changed from amused to alarmed, but then he chuckled and said in an almost resigned tone, "Counselor, I hope you like pizza

"So, who is winning the dick-measuring contest?" Vo'ren asked, and his low, deep voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up as he pushed open the glass door bearing the white letters Pizza e Basta.

"You, of course, mishtz'in." I turned to him and playfully patted the lapels of his uniform.

He laughed hoarsely, and my stomach fluttered. He looked all dashing and full of dark menace in his armor, with his weapon belt strapped around his broad chest, his deadly blade at his side, and his face covered with the black scarf of the daylight uniform. I was also covered up but had left the uncomfortable leather chest plates in the car with Vik Ichel.

The Counselor, it seemed, had not been too excited about the prospect of pizza, and so we had dropped him off at the embassy before we came here. I was almost disappointed about missing out on Suchil Tem trying his first Margherita, but above all, I was glad to be alone with Vo'ren. One powerful Veril official was more than enough to worry about.

Inside, warm humidity and the mouthwatering scent of garlic and oven fresh dough immediately engulfed us, and I adjusted my head covering in an attempt to get more air. My favorite late-night pizza place was a small takeout restaurant, equipped with four simple tables made out of dark, shiny wood and a big glass counter displaying different kinds of giant pizzas that were sold in separate slices. The place was almost empty, except for three men waiting for their order and two employees--also men, of course; it was as if the Veril invasion had annihilated a whole century of feminist progress. A TV was running in the background--currently the only source of sound since everybody was staring at us silently, frozen in shock.

Vo'ren bared his teeth. "Do not fear, humans. I have come for a taste of your food, not for your blood."

He crossed the room in three long strides, pulling me along, and I shook my head. Somehow I had pictured this whole endeavor as more fun than it was turning out to be. His rudeness had not bothered me with the arrogant politicians--to be honest, it had been amusing then--but these were normal people who just wanted to work or enjoy a midnight snack, and I didn't like that we were ruining that for them.

The men's fear of Vo'ren made me acutely aware of who he was, even though I supposed they hadn't even recognized him under his scarf. I pressed my eyes shut and swallowed, remembering the rebels hanging from the Brandenburg Gate. My heart accelerated, and I breathed in deeply to calm myself before he would notice.

I had resolved to stay with him, I reminded myself, and I had good reasons to stick to that decision.

Firstly, I was pregnant with his baby, and even if I managed to escape--which I wouldn't--and abortions were obtainable--which they weren't--the mere thought of terminating made me nauseous. I was not against a woman's right to choose, quite on the contrary, but ever since I had seen the little heart beating inside of me, I knew deep in my bones that I wanted, needed to see my child grow up. And that meant I would have to depend on his power and protection to keep the baby and me safe.

I watched him approach the counter in silent and inhumanly fluid steps while the employees were looking at him, like they were awaiting their execution. The second reason I needed to stay by his side was that I might actually have a chance to save my fellow humans. I had fancied myself some kind of spy, trying to help my country by finding military intelligence, but in the end all I had managed was to send a useless photo and put my friend in danger. But if Vo'ren really cared about me, which his past behavior let me hope he did, maybe I could make him care about the rest of humanity as well. At least I would have to try and not stop trying until the very end, whatever that might be.

I straightened my back and stepped in front of the counter between Vo'ren and the unfortunate employees; my shoulders brushed against his broad chest, and goosebumps ran down my spine. There was, of course, also the third reason: when he was not scaring me to death, I actually liked him. But that was a different problem altogether.

"One arugula pizza and one..." I turned around and looked at him reflecting for a second before I added, "And one with mushrooms."

I really wanted Vo'ren to enjoy human food, and bread, mushrooms, and cheese were typical ingredients in many of the Veril dishes I had tried at camp, so I hoped he might not find it too exotic.

"To go?" The employee's frightened eyes met mine and I froze.

I knew him--not well, but I used to stop here on my way back from university, and we were on a friendly first name and small talk basis. I nodded and quickly turned my head, hoping he hadn't recognized me under my headcover.

"Vishtersh," Come, I grabbed one of the leather straps of his armor and pulled Vo'ren behind me to one of the empty tables while he chuckled, pleased at my attempts to speak Veril.

We sat down, waiting for our pizza to be heated up in the big brick oven. He looked completely out of place: too massive, too powerful, too deadly for this simple restaurant. It had been a mistake to bring him here; I was putting everybody in danger just for my stupid whims and cravings. A glance at the television did nothing to make me feel better. The screen showed Gruber, who was apparently holding a press conference, but the volume was too low for me to understand what he was saying.

"He has been quick to find his voice again," Vo'ren snarked as he lazily followed my gaze. I glared at him, and he raised his eyebrows and asked, "Is something the matter, my sweetest?"

"I know that might come as a shock for you, mishtz'in, but I don't find rape threats particularly charming. That's not why I told you he had a daughter."

His eyes narrowed, sparkling with mirth at my outrage. "I already knew he had a daughter."

He could be so infuriating, I shook my head in disbelief and hissed in my lowest voice. "Is that what you did with the cashier from that store?"

His face instantly darkened, and I felt a smug satisfaction when I saw him tense up in anger as I reminded him of the evening I had tried to run, and for a second we glared at each other.

"No. That is not what I did with her," he replied with a voice so cold it made all my hair stand up in horror.

"Einmal Rucola, einmal Champignons." The employee's voice was remarkably steady as it cut through my thoughts.

"I need to pay." I whispered, angry at the slight tremor in my voice, and stretched my hand out to him while I stood up.

He directed his golden eyes at me and held my gaze for a second before he pulled a leather pouch, similar to the one he had given me to go shopping, out of his pockets and dropped it casually in my palm. It was tightly filled and heavy, and while I walked up to the counter, I wondered what Vo'ren used all that money for.

I tried not to meet the employee's eyes as I fished out a crisp fifty new mark bill and handed it to him, ready to take the white plastic bag containing the carton with our pizza slices in return. But he hesitated, and I looked up to see what was going on. His gaze was glued to the TV screen, and his face as pale as if he had seen a ghost. I turned around. The news had switched from Gruber's press conference to a recording of us greeting the Kanzler and his minister.

White letters running along a red stripe at the bottom of the screen wrote: Just a translator? Who is the mystery woman at the side of General Tsul Vo'ren?

The employee's eyes flitted back and forth between me and the television; I could practically watch him connecting the dots.

"We leave now." I almost jumped as I suddenly heard his voice right behind me and his hand closed around my arm, sending little sparks of electricity through my veins.

The man behind the counter froze in apparent panic, his eyes dropping to the blade on Vo'ren's belt, now clearly aware who was hidden underneath the head cover. I quickly snatched the bag out of his hands.

"Keep the change," I said softly while General Tsul pulled me out of the restaurant.

Once we were outside again, Vo'ren reached for the handheld radio on his belt, ready to call Vik Ichel with his vehicle, but I placed my hand on his strong arm to stop him.

"Can we walk a bit?"

We were in the beautiful neighborhood of Prenzlauer Berg, not that far from Tim's and my apartment, and I did not want to miss this chance to show him a bit more of normal human life.

Vo'ren seemed unconvinced, glancing back at the light of the television flickering through the shop window, but his eyes softened when he looked at me again.

"Do you feel well enough? Is my child not bothering you?" He gently ran his index finger over my belly and pulled his head cover off with the other hand.

I beamed at him from under my veil. "I would like to show you my city, and we could eat while we take a walk in authentic Berlin style."

He smirked, apparently unconvinced of the capital's appeal, but then he inclined his head. "Very well, mishtz'in."

A gust of fresh wind blew through the wide and empty street; an ambulance siren sounded in the distance, but besides that, the capital was silent. After feeling a little down in the car and at the restaurant, I was now full of adrenaline and excitement. A stroll through the nocturnal neighborhoods of my favorite city--and pizza. What more could the heart desire? For a moment I felt like a child coming from the ice cream store, barely able to stop myself from skipping down the road.

But then I looked at his imposing presence next to me; he was so alien and lethal in the darkness, and suddenly, like droplets of ink in a glass of water, bitterness tainted my moment of joy. He had the power to forbid and allow me even the smallest pleasures, and in reality, my current elation was just the consequence of being granted a little treat after weeks of disempowerment and humiliation.

I needed to get realistic about what being and staying with Vo'ren really entailed. The last two nights he had demonstrated that he was willing to make amends for me, and I appreciated that--a lot. But I was under no illusion that some croissants, pizza, and a couple of pleases and would-you-likes during sex meant I was all of a sudden a free person again.

He had a profoundly different concept of autonomy than I did, and just like he belonged to the Counsel and the many other obligations that filled his left arm with countless marks, I belonged to him and was expected to act accordingly. He had told me from the very beginning that I had to obey him, to share his bed and bear his children, and I would be naive to assume that these demands had fundamentally changed.

As if to confirm my thoughts, he placed his fingers around my wrist; his touch was gentle, almost sweet--he was happy with me right now; I had been good at the reunion, obedient, and loyal to my General--but the gesture still spoke volumes. Vo'ren had gone out of his way to humor me, demonstrated that he respected me, cared about my happiness, and understood that it was hard for me to adapt to the Veril life, but in his eyes I was still his possession.

I inhaled the cool night's air, smelling faintly of exhaust fumes and plants. Vo'ren was difficult, easy to anger, and dangerous, but when I had asked for a demonstration of respect, he had given it to me. Now it was on me to accept and live with his expectations as well, if I wanted our relationship to work. And strangely, I was growing more and more okay with that.

There were definitely worse things than having to spread my legs for him, even if it meant I had to unlearn my human notion of pride. I could keep my General happy--it was my duty in the strange new society I was now part of, and I would fulfill it well. I brushed my finger against his uniform-clad thigh and straightened my back in resolve. Besides, if I succeeded in making him utterly crazy about me, I might also have a better chance he would listen when the time came and I had to beg him to spare my people.

I smiled up at him and pointed at the famous Mauerpark on the opposite side of the street. "I'm surprised you haven't turned it into an air base or something yet."

After the wall that separated West Berlin from its eastern counterpart had fallen, the empty strip of death remained, like a scar running through a traumatized city. But here, between the districts of Wedding and Prenzlauer Berg, the people had embraced the free space and turned it into a green oasis with one of the city's most vibrant flea markets and a famous outdoor karaoke show that attracted hundreds of spectators every Sunday.

He drew the corners of his mouth down as if he were debating the idea. "It is a bit small for the wind riders. But it would be well suited for my tanks--I have been wanting to bring more of them to the capital for a while."

I poked him as hard as I could with my elbow, but he didn't even blink. Hoping he had only been joking, I pulled him into a beautiful street filled with little cafés, second-hand stores, and restaurants from all corners of the world.

All around the ample sidewalk, the residents had put up planters filled with flowers and little trees. Fairy lights in different colors hung between vitrines and branches. Some of them were still glowing--the only source of light under a cloudy sky. All street lamps had to be switched off after midnight--per order of our dear Veril occupiers--and everybody was careful to keep their blinds down lest they would attract attention. I thought we were probably pretty safe from onlooking eyes.

My stomach was rumbling, and I sat down atop one of the empty wooden tables outside of a closed restaurant. I stuffed my head cover into one of the many pockets of my uniform, placed the pizza box in front of me, and took a big bite out of my slice. I had been fantasizing about this for days, but it was even better in reality. The crispy dough, the fatty sweetness of the mozzarella cheese mixed with the almost nut-like taste, and satisfying crunch of the arugula leaves were pure heaven. I closed my eyes and chewed slowly to make the sensation last as long as possible.

When I opened my eyes again, I saw Vo'ren looking unconvinced at his mushroom pizza.

"Is that a special dish of your country?" he asked skeptically; his eyes were reflecting the tiny lights from a tree behind me, making him look even more alien than usual.

"No. It's Italian," I said, covering my full mouth with my hand as I chewed.

I could practically hear the smirk in his voice. "Well, that is a relief. I must admit, I remain unconvinced of the traditional food I have tasted in Hamburg."

I chuckled in agreement--as a proud Southerner, I was not a big fan of North-German cuisine either.

He ripped a piece off the pizza and folded it in half with a similar movement he made when he picked up food with the Veril flatbread. When he put it into his mouth, I actually held my breath, nervous to hear his verdict as I watched him chew. For a while his face remained doubtful, but then he smiled.

"Sumik?" I asked carefully.

He inclined his head, eyes sparkling with mirth. "Once more, I see myself forced to correct my former assumptions."

He took another, bigger piece, and I clapped my hands in excitement. Was my plan working? Was he finally warming up to human culture? Voices were yelling in the distance--probably some drunk guys that had been kicked out of one of the few bars that had remained open after Hamburg.

"Let us walk," Vo'ren said with a scrutinizing look at the houses around us.

On our way down the street, I did my best to point out all the beautiful little stores and decorations, telling him that before the Veril war, even under the New Nationalists, Berlin had been a multicultural city that attracted young and creative people from all over the world with its vibrant cultural scene.

"And what is that?" he asked, gesturing towards the other side of the street. "It reminds me of our training camps for new recruits."

I snorted, "That's not a training camp; it's a playground, a place for children to, well, play."

He raised his eyebrows in surprise, but then he said, "I did enjoy those types of training units as well, when I was a child. Of course, we did not use them just for fun."

He looked at the swings and jungle gym, a smile around the corners of his mouth. "I think I would like to see that--children training just for their own pleasure, not because they have to prepare for war."

My heart stung for him, but there was also that bitter feeling again, and I replied, "Well, you're out of luck. Most parents are keeping their kids inside nowadays with your soldiers patrolling the streets."

He tensed and looked straight at me. "The Kirtim Shenk do not harm children."

"So killing their fathers is not harm?" My voice trembled, but I held his gaze.

"Thus is the price of war," he said sharply, and a shiver ran down my spine at the coldness in his voice.

"You killed them all," I whispered, trying to blink away the image of fire and corpses.

It was as if the horror of the fact that I was sharing my bed with the Butcher of Hamburg became more real now that I had dared to speak it out loud, and I couldn't stop the tears from welling up in my eyes.

He shook his head, unmoved.

His tone was curt when he said. "I am a soldier, Anna. It is my obligation to go to war and win. And the faster I win, the better it is for everybody." He drew down the corners of his mouth as he added, "This war has been going on for far too long already."

"But we're not at war anymore." I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, silently begging for confirmation, but his face remained hard and he didn't respond.

"Is there no other way to break the Curse?" I sniffed, grasping at straws. "What about that oracle from the story? Has nobody ever asked them about it?"

Vo'ren gave me a bitter smile. "Certainly, my sweet. There is even a prophecy."

"Really?" I held my breath. "What does it say?"

He made a mockingly ceremonious gesture with his hands. "It says that the Curse will be broken when day turns night and time stands still. " He huffed joylessly. "That means never in the language of oracles. Besides, it is too late anyway. There are no more women of childbearing age amongst my kind."

I swallowed at the lump in my throat. "But there is us."

"Itil, mishtz'in--there is you. A drop of hope in the burning light of our annihilation."

"But we could be more than just a drop. We could save each other if we joined our societies and left our differences behind us." I took his hand and placed it tenderly on my belly. "Wouldn't it be nice if our child could play in a place like this? Among other children, human and Veril alike?"

He gently ran his thumb over my stomach and said softly, "Our children will play in the forests of the Shadow Realm amongst all its animals and spirits."

My heart jumped a bit, and suddenly I felt a deep longing to see this foreign dimension, to walk underneath its trees myself, to learn the secrets it held.

I looked up into his beautiful golden eyes. "But why not both? Our child could have the privilege of knowing two different worlds. Wouldn't that be a wonderful gift?"

He just smiled sadly at me, and I remembered with rising anger that the reason he made me study Veril was because he didn't want his children to be raised in German. I stepped away from him and clenched my jaw stubbornly, vowing to myself I would make sure they spoke my native language as fluently as I did.

For a while I walked next to him, sulking in discontented silence. When we came to a trash can, I stuffed the empty pizza box and plastic bag inside, shoving angrily against them when they wouldn't fit on the first try.

Vo'ren watched me, one eyebrow raised, then he asked me, as if he wanted to make small talk to lighten my sour mood, "Did you play in this little training camp as well, when you were younger?"

With a sting in my heart, I thought of my parents and how I had been lying to them for weeks--because of him. If he wanted to cheer me up, this had been the wrong question.

"Not in this one," I replied irritably, plucked a leaf from a bush, and crumpled it between my fingers. "I'm not from here." I turned towards him and said with as much venom in my voice as I could muster. "I'm actually from Heidelberg, but you wouldn't know that, because you don't care to know anything about me."

He stopped, and for a fraction of a second I thought I saw his eyes widen--was he surprised about the information or angry at my tone?

But then he smirked, pulled me against his massive body, and said with a taunting purr, "Keltz'in, I know everything I need to know about you: I know that you are fertile." He placed his hand firmly on my butt and gave it an appreciative squeeze before he leaned down, a sly smile playing in the corners of his mouth. "And I know that every time I wish to spill my seed into the tightness between your legs, you are so ready to receive me, no matter if you are willing or not."

I bared my teeth and pushed against his hard chest to keep him at a distance, even though my body was flushing in arousal, reacting to him in a way that exactly proved his words right.

"That's charming, Vo'ren. Does that type of talk usually work well for you with the ladies, or is that why you had to kidnap one to keep you company?"

He actually had the nerves to chuckle at that, and I hated how the vibrations sent tingles right into my core.

"I was not finished, my sweet." He smiled, displaying his pointy canines. "I also know that you are intelligent, that you are compassionate, and brave to the point of recklessness." He leaned in even closer; his lips were mere millimeters from mine now, and I could taste his breath on my tongue as he whispered the last part, almost as if he were talking to himself. "And I know that your scent, your body, and your whole being call to me so strongly that for the first time in many dozens of suns, I feel like there might be a different purpose to my life than war and destruction."

Vo'ren had the rare talent of making me want to kill him and kiss him at the same time. He made the decision for me, and when his lips met mine, all my doubts, my fears, and reservations melted away. I slung my arms around his neck, caressing the skin at his nape; for once all his strength and power did not feel like a threat but like safety, like nothing bad could ever happen to me while he held me in his arms.

But then, without preamble, he pulled away, took a step back, and looked towards the end of the street, down at the sidewalk underneath us, and then into the distance again. I wrapped my arms around myself, shivering from the loss of his warmth. At a moment's notice, his whole demeanor changed, as if he had pulled a cloak of harshness over his being, full of tension and the harsh electricity of his power.

"Why are there so many people under that store?" he hissed.

"What?" I had absolutely no clue what he was talking about.

"There are humans underneath our feet." His voice was dangerously calm. "Dancing."

"Oh," I finally understood, and I felt dread rise up my throat. "That's probably an underground rave." He frowned angrily, and I was quick to explain. "It's only a party, probably in the basement of that convenience shop."

His eyes narrowed, he turned, and set off directly towards the store in big angry strides. I rushed to keep up with his pace.

"Vo'ren, wait!" I grabbed the sleeve of his uniform. "They're just having fun; it's not forbidden to have a party now, is it?"

His face was still determined, but at least he stopped. "If they were not doing anything forbidden, then why would they feel the need to hide in the ground?"

"They're hiding because they're scared that your men might come for the women." He looked at me unmoved, and a shiver ran down my spine. "Come on, it's not like that hasn't happened before."

He started walking again. We were now at a crossroads opposite the little corner store that was, if Vo'ren's impressive hearing could be trusted, the entrance to a rave. He pulled his face cover out of his pocket and over his head and unfastened the red band with golden markings from his left arm.

"Ichel will bring you back to the Base." He unclasped the radio from his belt.

"No!" I was desperate now. Was he going to arrest those people? Punish them? Or worse?

"No?" His eyes narrowed.

"Let me come with you." I didn't know what had gotten into me or how I imagined I was going to stop Vo'ren from whatever he planned on doing, but I said. "Let's go in quickly, and you can have a look around, and then when you see that there is nothing going on, we leave again and go home together, kuchun, please!"

The effect of his glaring golden eyes staring down at me was even more intimidating through the slit of the black fabric, but he hadn't given me a straight-out no.

Encouraged, I added reasonably, "Nothing will happen to me while I'm with you."

And to my surprise, after a brief moment of consideration, he nodded.

I reached into my pocket to get the black veil out, but he shook his head. "I think we will attract less attention if I am a simple warrior and you are just my little entertainment for tonight."

He ran his fingers through my hair and shook it loose so that it fell over my shoulder in long, dark brown waves, and I thought I saw a smile return to the corners of his eyes as we crossed the street.

A little bell chimed when Vo'ren forcefully slammed the door open, its silvery sound a stark contrast to his aggressive entry. The place was a remnant of pre-Veril times: a typical Späti, a small late-night convenience shop that sold all types of beverages, chips, candy, cigarettes, condoms, toothbrushes, and whatever else one might need on a night out in a city that had once been Europe's party capital.

The light was dim; the only illumination came from the many tall glass fridges containing hundreds of bottles--primarily different kinds of beers--and a small portable TV with two large antennas behind the counter, on which the shop assistant was watching what appeared to be some type of Turkish telenovela. He hadn't acknowledged us when we came in, and he didn't look up when we approached him.

I put my hand against Vo'ren's armored chest, a silent plea to let me speak first, while he stayed back, and to my relief, he inclined his head. My palms started sweating.

"Hallo," I said in German, trying to sound as relaxed and nonchalant as I could. "To the party, please."

"Password." The man did not move his eyes from the screen.

"Uh, I don't know the password." This right here was probably the reason why I had never been to an underground rave before.

"No password, no party." The shopkeeper still didn't look at me.

I felt Vo'ren tense, and I guessed that he understood since the German word for password was almost identical to the English one. "We do not need a password."

I had to admit that I was impressed by the man's composure, since pretty much everybody would have trembled under Vo'ren's tone--I definitely did. But working in a store in Berlin late at night probably made you immune to all kinds of treatment by crazy customers.

On the little television, an elegantly dressed lady slapped a beautiful young girl in plain clothes. The shopkeeper sighed, his eyes glued to the screen, watching the fictional drama unfold while he slowly reached into a drawer and casually placed a silver-colored pistol on the counter in front of us.

"No password, no party," he repeated in bored English.

Vo'ren closed his fingers around Peace Bringer's hilt and took one fluid step in front of me. I had seen his moves before and knew that he could decapitate a man faster than the speed of any bullet. My hands started shaking--why hadn't I just gone back to the Base? But then, as I stared incredulously at the gun, my eyes caught on something else. Right next to the man's hand there were three letters smeared in blue ballpoint pen onto the wood of the cash register: FMD.

"Wir sehen uns in Hoffnung," I blurted out--it was worth a try.

"Na geht doch," the shopkeeper remarked with a thick Berlin accent, and for a second I thought I had heard him wrong. "Twenty-five marks per person."

I couldn't believe my luck. Open-mouthed, I looked at Vo'ren, but his face remained stern, and I was quick to pull out the leather pouch from my pocket and drop another fifty new mark bill on the counter.

"Behind the bathrooms down the stairwell to the left."

The shopkeeper opened a purple and orange can with some kind of energy drink and leaned back while I quickly followed Vo'ren through a dark entrance next to the biggest fridge. I glanced back at the strange man behind the counter, puzzled and wondering if he had never noticed Vo'ren was Veril or if he simply didn't care either way.

"I can't hear anything." I didn't know why I was whispering as we made our way down the dark stairwell.

The walls were made of raw cement, and it smelled like dampness. I couldn't shake the feeling that I shouldn't be here and reached nervously for Vo'ren's arm. Down and down we went, my own breath sounding eerily loud in the silence. I was infinitely grateful for my night vision, the only thing that kept me from missing a step and tumbling into the darkness below us.

"I can hear them," Vo'ren said simply. "It is the right way."

He was concentrated and alert, and he kept looking up and down the walls, sometimes stretching out his fingers as if he were counting or measuring something.

When we finally reached the bottom of the stairs, I stopped in front of a thick, unmarked metal door painted in gray utility color. Doubtful, I looked back at Vo'ren. He elegantly stepped down the last stair, reached around me, turned the handle without even a second of hesitation, and pushed the door open.

All of a sudden we were engulfed by the thrumming beats of techno music and blue and white strobe lights cutting through the darkness, flashing to the fast-paced rhythm of the song. The air was dense with the heat of dancing bodies. So many vulnerable people. I froze.

"Okay. Yay! It really is just a rave. Nothing illegal going on. Let's head back now." I said with fake cheerfulness to Vo'ren, who was looking up, his eyes running around the perimeters of the room's ceiling as if he were trying to estimate its whole extent.

He didn't reply, but the fact that he closed the door behind us was answer enough. He laid his strong arm tightly around my waist and led me into the crowd, still looking at the ceiling.

"I feel we should stay just a short while longer, my sweet," he said into my ear and pulled his head cover up to his forehead so it almost looked like a type of turban or bandana. "Did you not say you wanted to show me your city?"

I gritted my teeth as we squeezed past the dancers. This was definitely a very typical Berlin experience, but I had not wanted to expose so many of my fellow human beings to the fickle whims of General Tsul.

"Sick outfit, man!"

I turned my head. The crowd was packed with partygoers wearing all kinds of outfits imaginable, from simple jeans and t-shirts to full-on latex fetish gear. To our left, a topless guy with feathery angel wings was giving us the thumbs up. I looked at Vo'ren; he towered over most of the people, but in the diffuse light, with his ears covered and in the constant movement of the crowd, it was unlikely anybody would pay enough attention to notice who or what he really was. Apparently the half-naked man assumed we were wearing some kind of Kirtim Shenk-inspired costume.

Vo'ren gave him a bloodcurdling smile, inclined his head graciously, and proceeded to maneuver us across the dance floor. For some reason he kept looking around, and I followed his gaze. The room was surprisingly wide, with a relatively high ceiling covered with thick black foam insulation. The raw cement floor was sticky with spilled drinks and sprinkled with all sorts of things, from plastic flower necklaces to used-up glow sticks. Except for a DJ booth on the opposite side of the room and an illuminated bar to our right, there were no installations, leaving ample space for the ecstatically swaying dancers.

We had crossed the room, and Vo'ren stopped next to the wall. What was he doing? He had allowed me to come along, which was a big success, and I didn't want to damage the tender new-found trust between us, but I couldn't shake the feeling that I had just brought a hungry tiger into this crowd of innocent partygoers. My resolve was threatening to slowly melt into panic, and I decided it was time to lighten the mood--to cheer myself up and to distract him from any murderous thoughts he might be harboring.

I turned to him and slung my arms around his neck. The bass was reverberating in my chest, and slowly, I started moving to the rhythm, holding my body tightly against his and letting my desire for him guide my pace. His grip on me tightened; he put both arms around my waist, and when I got up on the tips of my toes and gently brushed my lips over his, I felt his growl vibrate under my fingers.

I winked at him, and my voice came out more hoarse than I intended. "So nice of you to take me out, Vo'ren. I thought you didn't like to dance."

He moved a step backwards, leaned his shoulders leisurely against the wall behind him, and gave me a sly smile.

"I may not be fond of dancing myself, but I have no reservations against you dancing for me, mishtz'in." A blue strobe light sent a glowing reflex over his face--his irises were darkening. "If anything, it should make the time I have to spend in here more bearable."

I frowned, not sure if I liked the idea of being his personal little lap dancer. He made an inviting gesture with his outstretched palm, his mesmerizing eyes holding me captive, and I felt just the slightest pressure in my mark.

"Go ahead, keltz'in. Dance for me. Keep me entertained."

What an asshole. I smiled back and slowly undid the fastening of my uniform shirt; his eyes narrowed, following my fingers down and down, revealing more and more of my naked skin until the cleavage reached almost between my breasts. I brushed them casually, causing my nipples to harden under the light fabric.

I saw the muscles of his jaw tense. It made me infinitely happy to know that he was torn between arousal and annoyance about the improper style of my uniform. I held his gaze and gave him my most innocent face, biting my lip as I grasped the lower hem of the black shirt on both sides, bunched it up, and knotted the ends together, revealing my waist and belly button. He showed me his teeth. It now looked like I was wearing a sexy Halloween version of the Kirtim Shenk's daylight uniform.

I stepped closer to him, laid my hand on his shoulder, and softly kissed his cheek. A shiver ran through his body, and I slowly started moving my hips against him, my mouth still pressed to his skin. His smell was making my head spin and my core melt. He inhaled shakily, and I tried to move as softly and fluently as I could, not caring that the rough materials and clasps of his armor were scraping the exposed skin on my belly and chest. I let my uniform-clad thigh run up his leg, gyrating against him until I felt him grow unmistakably hard, and as always, my body responded automatically, getting wet and soft, preparing for him. I knew he could smell my arousal, and I smiled while I clung to him, knowing that the scent was driving him insane. His fingers dug painfully into the ample flesh of my hips, but I kept dancing and let my tongue run slowly over his cheek and down his neck, tasting the salt on his skin. He shifted his position just so slightly, and I knew that he was about to spin us around and pin me against the wall.

Quickly I stepped backwards and away from him, trying not to laugh at his open-mouthed expression.

"Entertainment is over." I blew him a kiss and gave him a little wave before I turned around and sauntered just a few more steps into the crowd.

The music resounded in my veins, and the rapture of the people around me was contagious. Fuck Vo'ren, he could keep himself busy looking at the ceiling, for all I cared. I closed my eyes and let myself get carried away as I started dancing,my former arousal melting seamlessly into the sound. The fast rhythm was running through me; the beat turned into my pulse, and I moved to it as if my body itself had become part of the music, part of the people around me. The heat of their bodies mixed with mine, and it was like we were all connected through the invisible strings of the sound, breathing and dancing in unison. And for a while I was wholly at one with myself, letting the fear and tension of the past weeks flow out of my body, forgetting about the passing of time.

Then he was behind me, wrapped his strong arm around my waist, and pulled me against his hard and massive body.

"Do you remember what I once told you about letting other men touch you?"

The heat of his uniform-clad body enveloped me, and the air was getting heavier. His mouth was right against my ear and he ran his hands roughly up the sweaty skin of my belly until he cupped my breasts.

"Nobody touched me." I said out of breath.

I felt like I was burning as I molded into him. Little beads of sweat formed all over my skin.

"Make sure it stays that way," he growled into my ear. "I can smell those people all over your skin already."

You wanted to come here, I tried to reply, but I was getting dizzy, and for one second my knees buckled.

"Ch'ish." Instantly, he was alert again, holding me even tighter so I wouldn't fall before he pulled me in the direction of the bar. "You need to drink water."

The barkeeper was a good-looking man in his mid-thirties. His athletic figure was illuminated by a backlit shelf behind him, containing many colorful liquor bottles. He had an impressive full beard and wore his long blond hair tied into a ponytail. Expensive-looking black tattoos covered his muscular arms and disappeared under the sleeves of his black t-shirt. He was almost as tall as Vo'ren, and I thought I saw a flash of displeasure in his ice blue eyes when he noticed my clothes.

"Hi," I smiled at him and ordered in German. "One water and..." I glanced at Vo'ren, who was looking back and forth between the door and the DJ stand. "What's the popular drink tonight?"

After a moment, the barkeeper returned my smile, and for some strange reason I was relieved, as if it mattered if he liked me or not.

"Vodka Mate," he replied, and I thought I noted a tinge of a foreign accent in his voice.

"Dann ein Wasser und einen Vodka Mate, bitte."

I paid and quickly took a few deep gulps of water, relishing the feeling of the cool liquid running down my throat while the barkeeper was mixing the liquor with mate ice tea. When he was finished, I handed the drink to Vo'ren, who downed it in one go, grimaced, and banged his glass so loudly on the counter that the blond man shot us an angry glance.

"Are you trying to poison me, mishtz'in? That is by far the most repulsive concoction I ever had the misfortune to taste."

I smirked and opened my mouth, ready to give him a tart reply.

"Don't call her that." The barkeeper was facing us now, and his expression darkened even more when he saw Vo'ren's uniform.

I held my breath, but Vo'ren only raised a bored eyebrow at him. With the self-esteem of a tall, strong man, the barkeeper stepped closer to our side of the counter. It seemed like he wasn't finished, and I wanted to scream at him to take a better look at who he was talking to, but to my shame, I remained silent.

He frowned. "And that's a really stupid ass outfit as well. I have a friend who had to fulfill the Treaty. Do you think that's a joke?"

I swallowed, as a feeling of warm sympathy for the man flooded my body. I tried to position myself between the General and him, but Vo'ren moved me aside, stepped up to the bar, and leaned one arm casually on the counter.

The yellow light behind the cupboard illuminated his green skin and golden eyes. He gave the barkeeper a joyless smile that displayed his sharp teeth while he pulled the head cover he had been wearing like a bandana off.

"Veril." The man took one step back; his eyes were fixed on Vo'ren's pointy ears, and then slowly moved to the scar running across his face. He paled even more and mouthed the word Butcher.

I had to give it to him; he took it a lot better than most, steadying himself quickly after the first shock and not averting his gaze.

"A pleasure, human," Vo'ren hissed. "And what is your name?"

"Elis," the barkeeper replied, narrowing his eyes and holding on to the counter with white knuckles. "This place is full of innocent people who only came to enjoy some music. What do you want here, Veril?" By now I was pretty sure that his accent was Scandinavian of some kind.

"Just some information," Vo'ren remained inhumanly still, deadly, like a tiger about to pounce. "What are the exact coordinates of this room?"

Elis looked confused. "The fuck do I know?"

Vo'ren curled his lips. "I will give you one more chance with one more question, Elis." This time there was no smile on his face when he bared his teeth. "What lies underneath this room?"

Elis looked almost annoyed at that. "This is the basement, man; there is nothing underneath us. Just earth and worms."

He hadn't even finished when there was a loud, crushing sound, and I pressed my hand over my mouth.

Faster than the eye could see, Vo'ren had kicked down the counter and grabbed the barkeeper. He pulled him over the remnants of the bar, took me by my wrist with his other hand, and marched us towards a door marked with a unisex sign. He pushed it open with his boot and threw Elis in before following, with me in tow.

Everything was a blur; there were screams, and I was shoved into a corner.

"Stay!" Vo'ren hissed.

My pulse was beating so loudly I heard it in my ears, and my wrist was burning. Elis lay curled up on the floor as if he had been punched in the stomach.

"Everybody out! Now!" Vo'ren growled, and his voice carried through the whole bathroom, while some people hastened panicked towards the door.

With Peace Bringer drawn, he checked each of the stalls before he sheathed his blade, grabbed the massive ceramic installation with five sinks, where the partygoers were supposed to wash their hands, ripped it straight out of the wall, and blocked the door with it. Water gushed out of the pipes onto the floor. He hadn't needed to use even the tiniest spark of magic, but the brute force of his strength was enough to make me tremble, and I pressed my back against the wall.

The bathroom's design did nothing to help me calm down. It was like we were inside a disco ball; everything--the walls, the floor, the ceiling--was covered in mirror shards, forming a strange mosaic of insanity, reflecting the fractured images of the three of us back and forth. I closed my eyes and forced myself to breathe deeply in and out.

"Now, dear Elis, we are nice alone and undisturbed."

Vo'ren's calm voice made me look up again. He had kneeled down, one arm resting on his knee, and watched the barkeeper, who was moaning as he tried to straighten up, and sank down again, his shirt and jeans soaking up the water from the floor. With an impatient sound, Vo'ren grabbed him by the collar and pulled him to his feet. Elis coughed and had to hold on to one of the stalls to steady himself.

Vo'ren watched his attempts with a smirk. "You are lucky, human. I am in a particularly benevolent mood tonight, so I will give you a third chance to answer one of my questions: Where is the other entry?" Another entry? I pricked up my ears.

"I..." Elis started, but Vo'ren stopped him with an outstretched palm.

His voice was low, ringing with menace. "I warn you, human. If you lie to me once more, I will not be as lenient as I have been up until now."

Elis straightened; seemingly he had somewhat recovered, and then, very fast, he balled a fist and pulled his impressive right arm back for a strike. There was a sickening sound, and he let out a bloodcurdling scream as Vo'ren caught the hand and crushed it. I was sure that at least one of the fingers had been broken, and nausea rose up my throat.

Vo'ren didn't let go, grabbed the man's chin with his other hand, and shoved his head backwards so it hit the stall hard.

"Last chance, terrorist," he growled while tightening his grip around the mangled hand until I heard another crack and Elis roared in pain; his contorted face was reflected and re-reflected in the mirror shards all around me, like in some kind of drug-induced nightmare.

"Stop," I whimpered, but except for a sharp sting in my mark, Vo'ren ignored me.

"In there." The barkeeper was barely able to bring the words out; his jaw was clenched in pain, and he looked towards the last stall next to the wall.

"You first," Vo'ren let go, pulled Peace Bringer out of its scabbard, and made some type of military beckoning gesture with two fingers behind his back, indicating I should follow behind.

Elis retched a couple of times before he was able to straighten up enough. Vo'ren had apparently been right in some of his assumptions about this rave, but it was hard for me to believe that this hipster barkeeper could really be a terrorist.

"Hurry, human." The General gave his captive's heels an impatient kick.

I glanced desperately at the blocked exit. I wanted to get out of this chamber of horrors, but the only way led through the mysterious second door with Elis and Vo'ren. I followed them on wobbly knees, making little steps, careful not to slip on the wet mirror floor.

There was a jangling sound. Elis' hands were shaking as he tried to insert an old key that looked like it was still from GDR-times into a hole in the wall behind the toilet. With the reflective shards covering every surface, it had been impossible to see the low and narrow door until he pulled it open, and a waft of cool air smelling like earth and something metallic brushed our faces.

"Go," Vo'ren snarled, and Elis' hunched back disappeared without further protest through the small exit in front of us.

The cruel expression in his black eyes made my throat close up in fear when Vo'ren finally looked at me.

"Go before me, mishtz'in." His order was short and his tone detached; I obeyed quietly--there was no room for protest when General Tsul was in this state.

All my hairs stood up as I looked through the door and inhaled a breath of its damp darkness. There were stairs, after stairs, after stairs, made out of metal grating screwed into the raw cement walls along the steep shaft. Every cell of my body wanted to turn around.

"Follow my orders, and nothing will happen to you." His deep voice right next to my ear let ice run down my spine.

I quickly adjusted my uniform, opening the knot in my shirt and covering my belly. I had wanted to come along--a terrible idea as I now knew--but I made a decision, and now I had to see this mission through. I tucked my head in and followed Elis, trying to ignore the voice in the back of my head telling me that maybe supporting Vo'ren in this might not be the right thing to do.

The barkeeper must have pressed some kind of switch; there was a click and humming as a dozen lightbulbs whirred to life, illuminating the tunnel, as we started our descent. So he did know his way around here after all.

For a while, the only sounds were Elis' and my shoes clanking on the metal stairs and his occasional pained inhale echoing deep into the shaft below us. I tried my best not to look at his right hand that he held pressed in an unnatural angle in front of his body.

The lights kept flickering on and off with an eerie whirring noise--the cables were likely damaged by the humidity, and the deeper we went, the more I felt like it was getting harder to breathe. I tried not to think about the old structures and whether they were still reliable to keep the tons, and tons of earth and cement above us from caving in at any moment, burying us alive.

After what felt like an eternity, we reached the bottom of the stairs, where the rectangular tunnel took a turn to the left. Pipes were running along the walls, and a dark slimy mold had formed in the dampness dripping from several leaks. What was this place?

Elis turned around with a stumped look, but Vo'ren bared his teeth and snarled, "Go ahead. Lead the way, human; I do not wish to stand here all night."

In the flashing artificial light, with his leather armor and arsenal of weapons, Vo'ren looked more demon-like than ever as he escorted me down the tunnel. His massive size was all the more apparent in the confined space, but even more disturbing were his silent, inhuman movements. A part of me wanted to touch him and make him soften again; another part wanted to run.

I did neither; instead, I followed Elis' blond ponytail along the seemingly endless shaft. He was walking straight with the unfaltering stride of someone who knows his way. Who was our involuntary guide, and where was he leading us? Something dripped into my collar, and I looked up, shivering in disgust; a leak of calciferous water had formed real thin stalactites on the ceiling above us, like a monstrous type of upside-down coral. We passed two crossing tunnels that led even deeper down into the ground, and my hair stood up. I was slowly getting the feeling we were inside a giant burrow, inhabited by some kind of ancient horror.

After a while, the placement of the lightbulbs became more and more spaced out, forcing us to go through pockets of dim twilight in between the lamps, and then they were gone completely. Elis stopped.

"Do not feign confusion, human. The next time you stop, I will cut off your feet and leave you here to see if it is your comrades or the rats who find you first."

Elis twitched. "One second," his voice was hoarse, and he reached into his pocket.

There was a flash of metal as Vo'ren drew Peace Bringer and pointed its blade at the man's neck.

"Please, I'm only looking for my phone--for light." Both of the barkeeper's arms were lifted up, and he tilted his chin as far away from the scimitar as possible. His breath came in ragged gasps, undoubtedly caused by the pain of his broken hand.

For one second, I caught the expression of pure terror in his eyes--the look of a man who believes he is about to die. And, as if it were contagious, his fear gripped me as well. This was wrong--I was wrong. What was I doing here?

Vo'ren gave a gracious nod but didn't move his weapon while Elis fumbled around with his good hand until he had fished out his phone and turned on the flashlight. I peaked over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't filming or recording, but the screen was black.

We were passing from one underground system into another. Instead of raw cement and pipes, the walls were now made out of bricks, and the tunnel had a round tube-like shape. I watched my steps carefully, trying not to trip on the uneven ground--how long had we been walking already? I didn't like the thought of going deeper and deeper into this underground labyrinth.

"What is that?" Vo'ren gestured towards a round metal door at the wall ahead of us.

"A bunker, there are many of those down here, from the Cold War and the World Wars." Elis seemed to have caught himself; his voice was calmer and had almost regained a hint of his former confidence.

My stomach twisted at the thought of being locked in here, waiting in the darkness, while the bombs fell above, hoping there would still be a way out when it was over. I felt myself getting slightly dizzy. Was there enough oxygen down here? I wanted nothing more than to get out, breathe fresh air, and see the sky.

Then, all of a sudden, the light went off. The darkness was so dense that even with my enhanced vision, I could only see gray shapes and shadows.

"Battery's out." Elis remarked, and I thought there was a strange note to his voice. "Follow me. This is the right way."

He lowered his head and got into a narrow tunnel to our right that I hadn't noticed until now; it was about the height of my shoulders and seemed to have been dug directly into the earth. I froze, not daring to make a noise. All I knew was that every fiber of my being was telling me to stay out of that hole. I felt a slight pressure in my wrist, and Vo'ren casually touched my back.

"Stay," he whispered almost inaudibly as he passed by me and gracefully bent down to enter the tunnel, silently like a ghost on Elis' heels.

I was alone, surrounded by silence and darkness, and while my eyes slowly adapted, all I could hear was the sound of water drops somewhere down the shaft and my own panicked breathing. Minutes passed and nothing happened--where were they? What was going on? Slowly, I approached the tunnel and looked inside; it was made of raw earth and took a sharp turn a few meters down, impeding me from seeing any further. Then I froze. Something had been sprayed on the caked earth of the wall in front of me: Wir sehen uns in Hoffnung. I took a few steps back as a terrible fear gripped my heart. What if this was a trap? What if he didn't return?

I looked behind me and closed my fingers around the hilt of my dagger. I suddenly got the feeling that someone else was down here with us. What if this someone came for me next? My mind was racing, and then I caught a movement in the corner of my eye. I tried to pull my knife, but a big hand covered my mouth, muffling my scream.

"Quiet, mishtz'in. You have to get out of here." His voice was barely a whisper.

Swiftly, Vo'ren grabbed hold of my belt and ushered me along in front of him. I had to run to keep up with his long strides.

"Where is Elis?" I whispered, trying to catch my breath, but I received no answer.

"What happened?" I asked again.

His reply was a low growl, and the tone confirmed my terrible suspicion. "That was not the right way."

After a sharp turn, the tunnel ended, and we stood in front of a brick wall. Vo'ren gestured to a ladder made of metal bars that were screwed into a long chimney-like duct to our left, running up and up.

"Go before me."

My throat tightened; I was scared of heights, but by now I would have done anything to get out of here as fast as possible. Determined, I grabbed the metal and started my ascend, followed closely by Vo'ren. Surely he would catch me if I fell. I tried to reassure myself as we climbed higher and higher up. I didn't want to think about the dark depths beneath me or the claustrophobic narrowness of the shaft as I concentrated on each step that brought me closer to the surface.

And then, finally, I reached a trap door at the end of the ladder. Relieved, I pushed against it. Nothing. I tried again, this time with more fervor, but the door was definitely locked. Disproportionate panic gripped me at the thought of having to return all the way back into the suffocating tunnels.

Vo'ren climbed up behind me, pushing his massive body between me and the wall, and I was squeezed painfully against the metal bars. He lifted his arm, and with one well-aimed punch of his elbow, he broke the door in two pieces. I closed my eyes and tilted my head to shield myself from the dropping wood splinters. With two more punches, the exit was big enough, and in an inhumanly acrobatic leap, Vo'ren jumped over me and out.

I opened my eyes--a mistake; without him behind me, I had a full view of the deep, deep shaft below. Panicked, I quickly stepped on the next bar to reach the exit and finally leave this nightmare behind, but my movement was too frantic and my boot slipped on the damp metal.

A desperate scream escaped my lips as I saw myself tumbling down into an untimely death. But before I could blink, he had grabbed my forearms and pulled me against his strong body.

"Thank you!" My heart was pounding wildly, and my knees were so wobbly I had to hold on to him for a moment longer until I could take a look at our surroundings.

It seemed like we were in some type of basement with different storage units, but Vo'ren grabbed me by the elbow and left me no time to get my bearings. He kicked open a door that led to a short staircase, and then we were finally outside.

I stopped and leaned against the wall behind me, inhaling a deep lungful of fresh night air. It seemed like we were in a patio or courtyard between four tall apartment buildings that formed a rectangle around us. I tilted my head up; above the roofs there was the dark, starless sky, and it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. I closed my eyes and made a vow to myself never to go so deep under ground again.

Even before I opened my lids again, I felt his presence, the warmth of his skin. He was propping himself up with one hand against the wall; his eyes were completely black, and a wild expression lay in them. He leaned in; his face was only centimeters away from mine, and I felt my heart tremble. I pushed my back against the wall.

"Are you hurt?" His voice was ragged--I hadn't noticed until now how out of it he was, his whole body radiating tension.

I had seen him like that before; that doomed night I tried to run, and he had...

"What happened? Where is Elis?" I whispered.

He bared his fangs in a blood-freezing expression. "It is not of importance; you are safe now."

He put his other arm against the wall, closing me in. My pulse was hammering in my ears; he scared me in this state, and I tentatively laid my palm on his broad chest to keep him at a distance, but he didn't even seem to notice. He dug his hand into my hair and pulled my head back; his lips were almost on mine.

"Do not fight me now." There was a slight edge to his voice, and I understood the warning--he was merely millimeters away from snapping.

This was it, my duty, to leave my notions of pride and my human understanding of relationships behind to meet him somewhere on new ground. No matter that right now he was a nightmare incarnate. I softened my push against his chest and dug my fingers into the lapels of his uniform as he sealed my lips with a rough kiss. I was his.

His passion pushed like a tidal wave against my unprepared body. He was burning my wrist, crushing my mouth, and I tried my best to respond to his demands. Maybe he would be satisfied with making out, and then we could get out of here and continue when we were back in the safe comfort of our bed.

Or maybe not. He fumbled with his belt, and my heart started racing with a mix of fear and desire. The horror from the tunnels was still nestled deeply in my bones. I was not ready, and I knew it would hurt if he fucked me now. I felt his rock-hard erection spring free, pushing against me, its heat burning through my clothes.

"Take me in your mouth." His black eyes burned into mine.

I swallowed, my gaze darted over the dark windows of the surrounding houses, and my face heated up. He bared his teeth, and I dared to give him a tiny glare before I sank to my knees in front of him. I felt the gravel poke through the fabric of my uniform and was grateful for the cover his massive body provided from the eyes behind the windows. The quicker I made him come, the quicker he would let us get out of here and back home.

His cock stood proudly in front of my face. I wrapped my hand around it and started stroking him back and forth. He shivered under my touch. Thick veins were bulging under the astonishingly soft green skin covering the iron-hard core, and I used my other hand for help so I could completely encircle his impressive girth.

He had only partially opened the fastenings of his uniform pants--just enough to free his erection framed by the black curls of pubic hair. He growled, and I looked innocently up at him, teasing him some more, one hand massaging the hard gland that was hiding his stinger, the other caressing the slightly darker-colored mushroom-shaped tip of his cock until it was glistening and leaking drops of precum.

He hissed impatiently, and I felt an excited tingling at the thought of making the powerful General Tsul come undone, but before I could decide how to proceed, he dug his hand in my hair; it was a slow, leisurely movement, as if he were relishing the feel of the dark brown strands between his fingers.

He pulled my head back gently, forcing me to look him in the eyes, and bared his teeth, snarling. "Open your mouth, keltz'in."

Warm arousal pooled in my core and flowed right between my legs as I obeyed his order, kneeling before him, my mouth dutifully open. There was definitely something wrong with me for getting wet from this, but I would need to explore that side of me at a later point in time.

He held my head steady and moved his hips forward while he kept himself propped up against the wall with the other hand. When he pushed into my mouth, I tried to relax my jaw enough to accommodate his impossible size. His tip slipped past my lips, and I circled my tongue around it, teasing the little hole in its center, sucking at the salty taste.

He moved my head forward in a gentle but insistent pace, and I could feel every bulge of each vein on my tongue as his penis filled my mouth. I was still kneeling in front of him and had to hold on to his uniform to keep myself steady. He kept me in this submissive position for a moment; it should have been humiliating, but somehow I liked to completely give myself to him.

I tried to suck on him, to create friction by moving my head back and forth, but he was controlling the movements now, and it was clear that he wanted me to take him deeper. My heart twisted in apprehension at the thought of how big he was.

When his cock reached the back of my throat, I inhaled deeply through my nose and tried to relax as much as possible, bracing myself for what was about to come. He pushed in and held, careful despite everything, not to hurt me. First I struggled a bit as my esophagus was stretched to its limit, but after the first shock of his enormous size had faded, I was actually starting to like the feeling of having him so deep inside of me. His taste was making my mouth water and my body tingle all over, and I started letting my tongue glide up and down his shaft.

He gave a little sound that made my heart jump with triumph and pulled his cock back just when I was running out of air. I breathed in and then took him all the way into my mouth and throat again, proudly managing to swallow about a third of his length.

His hold on my head softened as he allowed me to proceed at my own pace, and I started moving up and down, letting him slip in and out, remembering to breathe before his size blocked my airways again and again. I got hard at work, sucking and licking him and milking his cock with the muscles in my throat. For a while the only sounds were my slurping and his accelerated breathing, and I tried not to think about how many people might be watching us from behind their curtains.

"Sumik, mishtz'in," he murmured, and I looked up at him.

His eyes were closed and his mouth open, and I thought that there was no sight more beautiful than Vo'ren lost in pleasure.

I could feel his arousal rising and his muscles tensing, and I prepared myself to make him finish and swallow the copious streams of his hot seed. I untangled my right hand from his pants and started massaging his hidden stinger while I kept him in my mouth. He growled, grabbed on strongly to my hair, and pulled me off his cock and to my feet again.

I gasped for air, slightly dizzy and disoriented, and wiped the saliva from the corners of my mouth with the back of my hand as I looked deeply into his black eyes.

"Did you not want me to make you finish?" I asked innocently.

I was playing a dangerous game, teasing him. With a movement faster than I could see, he had pinned me, his strong forearms holding mine almost painfully up against the wall, and I gasped. His eyes burned with his need, with desire for me. Reflexively, I wanted to take a step back, but I was trapped between the solid stone and his equally solid body. I shivered; despite my trepidation, it felt good to be so close to him, his broad chest pushing at mine and the heat of his breath on my face.

"Oh, you will make me finish, keltz'in." He pulled my leg up and ground his hardness into my core.

I could feel the friction on my clitoris even through the fabric of my uniform. His mouth was right next to my ear, and he pressed into me again. "You will make me finish when I am buried deep inside your womb."

He let go of my leg. "Undo your pants."

I looked at him open-mouthed, and his eyes narrowed--the General did not take it well when his orders weren't obeyed right away. I quickly used my free hand and started fumbling with the clasp. He was watching me with a burning expression, his face so close to mine.

When I finally managed to open their fastening, the loose-fitting pants dropped to my ankles, and I awkwardly stepped out of them, my boots catching in the fabric. The gust of fresh air created goosebumps on the exposed skin of my legs, and I looked up at him with trepidation. He was so beautiful in this wild state, and I wanted to give myself to him, to fulfill his needs, to have him spill himself inside my body, but I really wanted to do that out of the sight of the uncountable windows around us.

I wanted to say something, but before I could open my mouth, he seized my short underpants and cleanly ripped them apart by the seam. I made a little sound of surprise when he lifted me, as if I weighed nothing, holding me up with his strong arms hooked under the hollows of my knees, my legs spread wide open around his massive body.

I had to wrap my arms around his neck to keep myself from hitting my head against the stone, and I felt him shift just so slightly, positioning himself. The tip of his cock slipped between my labia, spreading his precum between my wet folds, and my whole body contracted as he rubbed over my clitoris and slid down where he found his mark. He paused a moment, resting with slight pressure at the entrance of my vagina, his juices mixing with mine in this moment of anticipation.

Breathing heavily, I looked up at his harsh, regal face. He was going to fuck me now, and he wouldn't be gentle, and as much as my body sang with desire for him, I had to admit that after everything that had happened tonight, I was scared.

His fingers dug deeper into my thighs, and then he pushed in, and even though I had expected it, I was still surprised by the pain. Maybe it was the unfamiliar position; maybe it was the lingering tension of the tunnels and everything that had happened tonight; maybe it was the feeling that dozens of eyes were watching my humiliation from the houses around us, but the discomfort of being relentlessly stretched by his girth made me grunt through my teeth.

I sank my nails into his shoulders while he kept forcing himself deeper and deeper, claiming me--his toy, his possession. He was filling me so tightly that I felt every ridge and vein under the velvety texture as his penis slid into me, aided by my own wetness. I sobbed and let my head sink to the nape of his neck, inhaling his intoxicating scent, utterly helpless against his power.

His cock pushed against my cervix, sending a sharp jolt through my body, but he was not all in yet, and the discomfort intensified as he kept going. I groaned, trying to make myself as soft as I could to relax into the pain of being taken, like I had learned in the past few weeks.

Finally, he bottomed out, and I felt his heavy testicles coming to rest on my butt crack as our bodies were pressed flush together. For a moment he held still and let his eyes trail over my face, baring his sharp teeth as he watched me struggle to take him. I was panting heavily and tried to shift a little to alleviate the pressure, but it was impossible to move. I was pinned against the rough wall, his armored chest digging into my skin. He filled me completely, stretched me over my limits, and for some twisted reason, it felt incredibly good to be helpless and at his mercy.

Then, without a warning, he pulled back and slid even deeper into me than before, crushing my naked butt against the wall. The insistent pressure against my cervix made me grunt, and I turned my head away.

"Mine." He pressed his mouth against my ear, grinding himself into me in little movements, and I could hear the arousal in his accelerated breath.

I felt my swollen vagina lubricate around his cock. I belonged to him--the truth of it resonated in every cell of my body, and I dug my face into his neck, trying to muffle my screams against his skin, as he started to really fuck me.

My back was scraping against the wall, and his uniform chafed the insides of my thighs. He filled me over and over, and I felt the strong muscles in his shoulders tensing and relaxing under my arms as I held myself wrapped around him. I had wanted to keep silent to not alert the buildings' inhabitants, but it was impossible. His pushes were too rough; the feeling of him was too intense.

First I was grunting in discomfort, but as the thick tip of his cock kept rubbing over my swollen g-spot again and again, my noises quickly turned into moans of pure desire, the pain and pleasure mixing in such a delicious way, filling my whole core with a need that made me feel like I was about to burst.

I whimpered and pressed my head against the cold stone behind me. His face was right in front of mine, his eyes closed as if he were completely losing himself in the sensation as he pumped into me. I longed for him, for his essence, for the release that only his body could give me. He growled, and I tightened my inner muscles, trying to squeeze his cock while I sank my fingers into his hair and pulled him down into a rough kiss.

The taste and feeling of his soft lips on mine made my head spin, and the taut pressure in my core was getting more and more unbearable as he kept taking me in strong deliberate strokes.

I wrapped my legs around him, trying to gain enough leverage to meet his movements sliding in and out of me while my mouth was devouring his. I wanted to have every part of him inside of me, to feel him all over my skin, to taste him while he fucked me, while he came inside of me. He gave me a particularly pointed push, and the pleasure and need were so unbearable that I sank my teeth into his lower lip and bit down, trying to channel my desperate longing until I tasted blood.

He didn't twitch, but when I let go, he gave a low, dangerous laugh, his breath tickling my mouth. The pressure in my mark was so strong it numbed my whole arm.

"Do you wish to play rough with me, mishtz'in?"

I directed my eyes up at his and let my tongue run over the cut on his lip. He had started fucking me at a more gentle pace--the calm before the storm--and I was panting in need.

He smirked, and his gaze darkened, and had I not been already half out of it in a pre-orgasmic blur, his expression would have alarmed me. Without preamble, he pushed himself completely inside of me, crushing me against the wall. Holding me in place with his weight, as if I were a butterfly and he were the pin.

He took one hand away from my leg, dug it roughly into my hair, and pulled my head to the side with one practiced move. Chuckling at my helpless position, he kept pumping into me in little movements, keeping me pressed against the cold stone, making me moan desperately at the friction between my legs and the exquisite pain of his cock against my womb.

"Brace yourself, sweetness," he breathed into my ear and let his tongue trail down my exposed neck, making tiny goosebumps run over my body.

When he had reached the sensitive part, right above my collarbone, he gave it a gentle kiss and started sucking on my skin while still holding my head in his iron grip. The contrast between his soft mouth and his rough fucking made all my nerves stand on edge, and I sighed in pleasure, squeezing my legs around him and digging my hands into his black hair. And then he bit down.

First there was an almost arousing pressure, then I felt my skin rip under his pointy canines, and I squealed in shock. For a moment my vision went blurry, the sharp bruising pain was too strong, and I struggled, trying to get him off of me. I pushed at his shoulders and flayed my legs, but of course he was impossible to move, and after a while I gave up, hurting and sobbing in despair, and pulled myself closer against him instead, searching for comfort in his strong body.

And when I finally relinquished control, surrendered to his strength and power--to him--it was as if my body rewarded me with pure bliss. The tight knot of need in my core untangled into a deep, all-encompassing pleasure. I sobbed while the muscles of my vagina contracted around his pumping cock. Jolts of electricity were spreading from my swollen clitoris through my core into my limbs, making me twitch. My orgasm was so intense, I hardly noticed his sting, and when he came, I was still riding my own high, pressing myself against his hard, wonderful body with all my strength while he coated my womb with his seed. He let go of my neck and leaned his forehead against mine, his eyes pressed shut.

We remained like this, coming down from our respective frenzy, a moment that could have lasted an eternity or the blink of an eye; it was like time had stopped existing for us.

At some point--I didn't know when--a soft rain had started to fall, and the cool drizzle felt delicious on my overheated skin. When he let me down, my knees were so shaky, I had to hold on to his muscular shoulders for a moment.

He gently cupped my chin with his hand. "Are you well?"

There was a hint of a tremor in his voice, and his once more golden eyes mustered me with uncertainty.

"I'm great." And as the words left my lips, I realized that they were true.

He had been rough with me, but we understood each other betterthan we had in our first nights together. And if this was what he needed from me, I knew now that I could give it to him; besides, I would be lying to myself if I pretended I didn't like it as well when he took control.

He smiled, leaned down, and gave me a gentle kiss, pulling me softly against him.

"You did so well, my sweet." He brushed his thumb over my cheek, and I wondered if he was talking about the sex or my contribution to tonight's missions. "You are a true miracle to behold."

"I'm sure the whole housing complex thinks the same thing." I blushed again and nestled more into his uniform to cover my partial nudity.

He shrugged dismissively. "Nothing for them to see, but the Treaty being fulfilled. Those humans are inconsequential to us, mishtz'in."

When I turned my head to look at the dark windows, I felt a sharp sting in my neck, and I remembered.

"You bit me." I glared at him and gave him a playful shove; he responded by baring his teeth.

"You bit me first." He smirked as he ran his tongue over the cut on his lower lip, but then he leaned down to take a look atmy neck. "You will be fine. I shall have Chuntek examine it when we are at the Base. As well as your backside."

He chuckled and gave my scraped butt an appreciative squeeze. I winced and looked around the courtyard--it was empty except for a few garbage cans and a couple of bicycles leaning carelessly against the wall.

"Please, let's get out of here." I bowed down and picked my pants up from the ground.

They were damp from the rain, stained with dirt, and felt cold and uncomfortable when I pulled them up and strapped them in place with my weapon belt. I shivered. My thin daylight shirt was partially ripped from being rubbed against the wall and getting wetter and wetter in the drizzle.

I grabbed Vo'ren's sleeve, wanting to pull him towards the door behind which I suspected the street exit, but he remained where he was frowning down at me. In a quick and practiced movement, he unstrapped his chest armor and pulled his uniform shirt over his head.

"Put that on."

I did as told and chuckled; it was so long on me, I could have worn it as a dress. I smirked at him. He looked almost indecently good with his muscular arms exposed and the marks glimmering in the darkness. His short hair stood up in different directions, and he was now only wearing the shadow-gray sleeveless undershirt over his military pants, the weapon belt strapped to his side, and his leather armor slung casually over his shoulders.

"I don't think that's the correct way to wear this uniform." I said in a low voice and let my fingers run casually over his shapely bicep. "I've heard that Shenik Tsul has his soldiers whipped for infractions of the dress code."

He laughed and placed his hand on the small of my back, guiding me towards the door. "He might make an exception tonight. Unless you insist on my punishment, Lady Tsul."

The street outside was empty. At first glance, it was similar to the one we had passed earlier, with its wide sidewalk, small restaurants, and colorful lights. I looked farther down and saw that it led to a big square with a little park and playground in its center. I needed a moment to get my bearings, but I knew this place. This was Kollwitzplatz, almost a kilometer away from the convenience shop.

"Those tunnels stretch out really far." I remarked.

"They sure do." Vo'ren's face clouded with anger, and I swallowed as I remembered what he had probably done in the darkness deep below our feet.

"How did you know Elis was working for the rebels?" I asked carefully, not really expecting an answer.

"The markings on his arm."

His tattoos? I hadn't even thought about taking a closer look at them, and I couldn't help but admire how keen an observer Vo'ren was. I knew that about him already, but he had amazed me tonight, and I felt a slight unease as I thought about the secrets I was keeping from him.

I pushed my worries to the back of my mind and leaned my head against his shoulder while we kept walking down the street in direction of Volkspark Friedrichshain. Fortunately the tunnel had brought us a good way in the right direction.

"Impressive," I said, and he chuckled.

"Of course that password was also an indication for whose benefit the event was held. You did very well with that, Annatz'in."

"You see--that's why you should change your mind about bringing me along." I tried to give him an innocent smile, but my body tensed with hope.

I didn't know if tonight had really helped to make him see the good in humanity, thanks to that doomed rave, but I was not going to stop trying.

My stomach flipped a bit when I met his golden eyes, and he said. "Maybe I should; there are clear benefits of having you close at all times."

He lowered his hand and squeezed my butt. I was about to give him a rude answerwhen a rustling voice sounded from the radio on his belt.

"Ch'ish!" Vo'ren stopped, cursed again, and replied something so quickly that I was not able to discern a single word, but it sounded like an order

He yanked me back as about six cars came speeding silently down the street and stopped abruptly at our side. I gasped; they had been so fast I had only seen a black blur, but the glowing blue sign was clearly visible, before Vo'ren opened the door and pushed me inside.

"What?" I looked back and forth between him and Vik Ichel on the driver's seat.

The General's second raised an eyebrow as he saw our attire, and the two started speaking rapidly in Veril. I could tell that Vo'ren was seething.

"What happened?" I asked carefully again, after a moment had passed and we were rushing with lightning-like speed down the road that led towards the park, making the guards at the checkpoint jump out of the way before they could salute.

The General remained silent, but Vik Ichel pressed a button on the car's dashboard, and the unfamiliar voice caught me so unprepared that I didn't realize it was a German news broadcast at first.

An anonymous tip has reached us: the mysterious translator who accompanied General Tsul Vo'ren and Head Counselor Suchil Tem at tonight's meeting with Bundeskanzler Gruber is most likely Anna Neumann, a twenty-three year old student at Humboldt University. It is still unknown what connection...

Vo'ren leaned forward and switched the radio off with an angry push. I looked at him frozen in shock, a million thoughts running through my head at once.

He grabbed some kind of device from the driver's side and handed it to me.

"Call your parents

"Mama?"

"Anna? Do you know what time it is?"

"It's late; I'm sorry."

"What's that noise? Are you outside? Get back to the apartment!"

"No! I mean yes, but here's something I wanted to tell you.

...

Are you still there?"

"Is everything alright, sweetheart? You're scaring me."

"I'm fine. I just wanted to tell you that I'm not going to uni at the moment."

"What? Anna, we told you several times..."

"Stop. I'm not going to uni because I'm working as a translator for... for General Tsul Vo'ren.

...

Hello, are you still there?"

"Are you drunk? No call from you for weeks, and now just for a sick joke in the middle of the night! Are you taking drugs?"

"No! Switch on the news. Everything is okay; I'm good. He's treating me well."

...

"Anna-Mäuschen..."

"I have to go, Mama. I'll call you again tomorrow night."

I woke up with a start. The drawn-out blaring of a siren reverberated through the entire camp, and, for a second, I thought that it was the alarm system back at my parent's house that I was still in my dream replaying that phone call from two nights ago. Then I remembered where I really was.

Panicked, my eyes flicked around the tent while they adapted to the dark night around us, searching for him. A flash of blue light illuminated the tent as the fabric covering the exit was pushed aside and Vo'ren stepped in, dressed in full battle gear, weapons--knives and firearms--strapped to his belt.

I jumped up. "What's happening? Are we under attack?"

I felt the unshakeable urge to nestle into his strong arms for protection, to close my eyes, and lock out the entire world while he made everything right again. He stopped midway towards the wooden chest, where he had stored Peace Bringer when we went to sleep last morning, and turned towards me.

"There has been an attack, but not here. You are not in danger, sweetness."

I exhaled shakily and took a few steps towards him. "What's going on?"

"The Counsel has finally approved my request to use full force against the insurgents." He smirked, almost as if he were happy. "We are deploying south."

My heart stopped for a second. "South? Where in the South?"

"Baden-Württemberg." He said casually and added, when he saw my widening eyes, "It is where the attack happened, so we will take down the rebel cells there first."

"I'm coming with you." I grabbed my uniform from the floor next to the bed and clumsily hopped up and down as I tried to pull the pants over my butt; my heart was racing.

Vo'ren let out an amused huff. "You are, most certainly, not."

I tried to simultaneously put on my shirt and glare at him. "You said yourself that there are benefits to having me close."

"There are, but not in war. You are staying here." His tone was dismissive, and he didn't even look at me while he strapped the scimitar around his waist with a quick and practiced movement.

"Make me," I hissed, tied my boots, picked up my own blade, and set off to walk towards the exit. I would not, could not stay locked in here while he let destruction rain down over my home state.

He was next to me, grabbing my arm tightly, before my hand even touched the door flap.

"Oh, I can make you, Annatz'in. I can have you tied to this very pillar with two dozen soldiers watching you night and day, if that is what you want." He pulled me closer to him. His strong fingers digging into my skin and his breath on my face were making me want to close the remaining centimeters, lay my lips on his, and feel his body against mine. "Or you can promise me to behave and wait for my return with all your current freedoms and comforts. But you must have turned insane if you think I will take my untrained, pregnant woman into open battle with me."

For a second I held his glare, looking at his hard, beautiful face, but then my shoulders dropped. He was right, of course. I nodded, and he ran his thumb gently over my wrist before he let go of my arm. I felt a lump growing in my throat as I watched him step out of the exit, and for a second I just stood there in shock, staring at the emptiness he had left behind, before I braced myself and followed.

Outside, I was blinded by the blue glow of the magic dome around our tent--it was the new ward, installed on Vo'ren's orders two nights ago, when we had come back from the tunnels--a kind of compromise so he wouldn't feel the need to have me permanently surveyed by guards. It had been chilling and fascinating at the same time to watch the technicians set it up by channeling the magic out of the surrounding air and anchoring it into the ground around our tent using bones--of what or whom I didn't want to know--that had been sprinkled with drops of his and my blood, making us the only two people able to pass.

I felt the slight electric pressure of the force field as I stepped through it and onto the fresh, windy air of the clearing. The whole base was in motion, with soldiers in full gear loading trucks and taking down tents. The siren had stopped, but my ears kept ringing and my head felt fuzzy; I still hadn't even started to process what was happening.

Like a statue, he stood not far from me, unmoving in all the bustle, a commanding figure overlooking the preparations, his arms crossed behind his back and his feet slightly parted in an at-ease stance, sizzling with power. I wanted to go over to him, grasp him by the uniform, pull him back into our tent, into our bed, and kiss him and let him fuck me until all that pent-up tension left his body. But with the position as his consort also came the responsibility to behave myself, to have my General's back and not embarrass him. He would not allow me any other behavior either way. So I just walked up to him silently and took my position, standing chin up and outwardly calm slightly behind him at his right hand side.

"Kirtim Shenk," he said, and even though he was not shouting, his voice carried effortlessly over the whole clearing--a natural leader.

My hair stood up, and all his gruesome warriors fell into formation in a synchronized and unsettling movement.

He started speaking, some motivational words, I guessed, and remembered that Suchil Tem had once made a snide comment about how Vo'ren's eloquence was wasted on a soldier--he could not have been more wrong.

As General Tsul stood in front of his men, ready to lead them into battle, he spoke so naturally, so full of conviction that even though I only caught snippets of its meaning, I could feel the power of his speech resonate inside my chest.

I listened to him, marveling at his magnificence, the clarity of his pronunciation, and the unbendable strength of his conviction. He didn't need binding marks; I was sure each and every one of his soldiers would have followed him to their deaths based on the power of his will alone. I wished I had been able to understand it all. Where was Paul? My eyes scanned the crowd for my translator. Vo'ren had finished raising the morale and battle spirits and started giving what I thought to be strategic instructions about how the operation was going to be carried out. I would have really liked to hear more details, but the interpreter was nowhere to be seen. I cursed my deficient knowledge of the Veril language as I tried, and failed, to learn my General's plans.

"Rushushvesh tsirununveshich!" he concluded, and all of the Kirtim Shenk repeated his words, their united voices echoing as one over the park and the city around us. The leaves of the trees rustled in the wind, and like icy water, cold fear ran down my back.

For trees and stars. Such an unfittingly romantic battlecry for an army of demons; I would have expected something more along the lines of your worst nightmare, or the terror in the darkness. My whole body clenched in panic as I imagined them unleashed on the beautiful hills and river valleys of my home state.

The soldiers started mounting their vehicles--vans and trucks--they were armed to their teeth with assault rifles, guns, bows, spears, and magic, glowing around their weapons, their cars, and between their fingers. There were so many of them on this base alone, and I was sure they would be joined by more troops as well as the General's tanks and aircrafts down south. Using the full force of the Kirtim Shenk against the rebels seemed like shooting a bazooka at an ant hill. He would crush them under his boots. And with a sting in my chest, I thought of Elis, who had seemed like a decent man, fighting bravely against the unjust Treaty and our oppressors.

I looked over to Vo'ren, the oppressor himself, still supervising the preparations. He turned around to me, and when our eyes met, I was suddenly gripped by a pain so big, I thought my heart had stopped beating as my conflicting feelings were threatening to overwhelm me. This was all happening way too fast, and now the father of my child was leaving--going to war.

I knew I was expected to be strong, to encourage my warrior to fight bravely and give him a reason and return in victory, or some chauvinistic bullshit like that. But all I wanted was to scream.

I sobbed and turned away quickly so he wouldn't see me cry, but he tenderly placed his finger under my chin, lifted my face, and wiped away the wet trail my tear was leaving down my cheek. In his dark battle gear and weapons, he looked once more like war incarnate, and his gentle demeanor stood in a strange contrast to his monstrous appearance.

"Stay inside the tent, mishtz'in. I will see that the matter is resolved as swiftly as possible, and then we shall finally be able to return to my city."

I opened my mouth, but the lump in my throat was so big, I was unable to say a single word; instead, I dug my fingers into the pockets of his uniform as if I would be able to hold him back, to keep him from leaving. I could feel the familiar warmth of his skin underneath the coarse fabric; the pull towards his strong body so near me was unbearable, and I couldn't help but to give in, to lean against him, and bury my face in his shoulder, deeply inhaling the comforting smell of leather, and plants, and him. He laid his arm around my waist, and for a moment we just stood like that, holding each other.

I let his scent and his warmth envelop me, and slowly his presence calmed my panic, just like it always did, and all that remained was an ache so deep I felt it in the marrow of my bones. I tried to seize this final moment to keep it from passing and make it last for an eternity. But his muscles tensed, and I felt him slightly retreat. I instinctively tightened my hands into his clothes, but then I let go, realizing how childishly I was behaving.

I inhaled shakily and looked up at him. "Don't get killed," I said, wanting to make light of the moment in an ill attempt at cynicism, but when I heard my own words out loud, I flinched at their brutality.

"I will try my very best." He gave me a lopsided smile, and right away my tears started flowing again.

"Don't kill anybody else either," I sniffed.

He huffed joylessly. "Unfortunately, that is not how battles work, my sweet."

The ache his words caused was physical, piercing my skin like little daggers. I closed my eyes, and for the first time, I realized with all clarity that it would break me if he didn't return.

I inhaled a couple of times before I looked up at him again, grasped the straps of his leather armor, and pulled him towards me. "You have to stay safe, Vo'ren. Promise, you'll come back to me!"

The pain in my wrist hit me so hard, I gasped.

He bared his pointy teeth, but his eyes, deep and golden, had a sad look in them. "I have gone to war so often, I lost the ability to count, and every time I went to battle, I was prepared for it to be my last." He shook his head almost incredulously. "I am a soldier; it is my fate to die in combat, but tonight, for the first time, I depart hoping that the goddess will grant me one more return so that I may look upon your face again."

"That's not very encouraging," I whispered, and he chuckled.

"Do not despair, my sweet. I command one of the mightiest armies in the realms. I have fought and won against much more formidable enemies--it is unlikely that a few human terrorists are the ones who will finally do me in."

I wiped my cheeks and nodded, then I remembered something and began digging around the many pockets of my uniform until my fingers touched a choppy surface.

"I never gave you a present for our binding," I said, my voice trembling as I handed him the carved figurine I had made sitting in the sun two nights ago--a small wooden bear with chubby paws, round ears, and a button nose.

It was far from perfect, but I thought it had turned out pretty good.

He looked at me in complete surprise, swallowed, and inclined his head deeply before he took the little animal delicately with both of his hands, as if it were alive, and gently put it in his front pocket. I thought that maybe this was the first time I had seen Vo'ren truly at a loss for words.

"May the strength and courage of the great creature enter your body and bring you back to us unharmed." I gave him a shy smile and placed his hand on my belly.

Vo'ren let out a surprised laugh, and it made me feel as if a thousand suns were warming my heart from within. In one fluid movement, he slung his arm around my waist and closed my mouth with a bittersweet kiss of goodbye. As I pressed my lips against his, I felt the rough cut where I had bitten him, and I realized that for some reason, unlike the bite wound on my neck, he had never made the medic heal it.

He pulled away; his eyes were running over my face, as if he wanted to memorize every detail of it. "Anna, I..."

"Sheniktz'in." Vik Ichel, a rifle strapped to his back, had stepped in front of us, saluted, and the thunk of his fist hitting the leather armor on his chest burst the little bubble around us.

Vo'ren instantly straightened up and gave a short nod to his second in command, then he bared his teeth, grabbed my hair on the back of my head, and pulled me into one more rough and quick kiss.

"Stay in the tent," he ordered, before he turned and left towards his vehicle.

I watched him go to war against my people. For a second, I had to lean down. I pressed my eyes shut and held my belly in a bout of nausea and despair. There was a sudden pressure in the atmosphere, like a shiver that went through the very roots of the universe, and when I looked up again, they were gone.

I took a tentative step back towards the glowing dome around our tent, but then I changed my mind. Before retreating into the lonely confinement of our empty bed, I had to warn my family. Maybe there was still time to get out of state or at least take safety precautions. I set off and walked with long strides towards the opposite end of the clearing, heading for the tech tent, from which I had called them last night after we had gotten back from our appointment at Doctor Günaydin's practice.

So far, I had spoken with them twice. The first time had been in the car two nights ago, right after we had gotten out of the tunnels. My heart broke for the repeated time as I remembered the tone in my mother's voice when she had finally understood what I told her. I had tried to soften the truth, of course, saying that I had been employed as a translator, but my parents were no fools.

Anna-Mäuschen, it was the endearment she used for me when I was a child, and there had been so much pain in those words that I'd had to bite down on my knuckles to keep myself from crying. Had I stayed on the phone for a second longer, I would not have been able to keep my sobs at bay. At that moment, I had hated him with all my heart.

The second time I called them had been last night from the very tent I was heading to right now. It had been my dad who answered. Without a word, he had passed the phone to my mother, and she had been brief as well, just a few reminders about staying safe and trying not to anger the General.

"Don't read the news," she had added before we hung up.

My stomach clenched. He would see to their safety, Vo'ren had told me, but now I regretted never asking him what exactly he had meant by that. What measures was he taking? And were those measures still in place now that his primary mission was to eradicate the rebels for once and for all?

The grass on the clearing had been flattened from the steps of thousands of boots, and on many parts I could feel the raw earth that lay bare and uneven under my soles as I picked up pace. Despite the fresh wind, I was sweating. I had never seen the camp so empty. Except for the sentinels watching over the base, there were only a few scattered soldiers carrying boxes to the center of the clearing. In the distance, I already saw new vehicles approaching us on the road coming from the main entrance.

Suddenly there was a distortion in the darkness as two unknown Shadow Guards manifested in front of me. They were carrying swords and rifles, and both of them wore their hair in shiny braids, only half the length of Ichel's one. I stumbled a little as I stopped abruptly to keep from bumping into them. They were here to bring me to the tent, and a few weeks ago they would have simply grabbed me and yanked me back with them, but, somehow, in a process that I didn't really understand either, my position in the Kirtim Shenk and their respect for me had grown over the last nights. So instead, they just saluted and blocked my way--maybe that meant they could be persuaded to let me make a quick phone call before I would be a good little wife and retreat to my room, warming my warrior's bed for his return.

I straightened my back and tried to channel as much of Vo'ren's commanding demeanor as I could muster, making sure my left sleeve was pulled up just enough to reveal my mark, their General's name--my name.

"Ruk'iltz'invun rimin."--I speak with my family. I gestured towards the tech tent; it was an order, not a question. I directed my gaze slightly over their heads as I spoke to them and kept my tone low but firm.

And, to my surprise, it worked. They gave a quick nod and stepped to my sides, flanking me. Fearing they could change their minds, I walked us off with long, self-asserted strides, having to hold myself back from straight-up running.

The tech tent was smaller than the ones used for housing. Its interior was stuffy, dark, and filled with the low whirring that I had come to associate with magic-powered appliances. Just like their cars, the Veril technical equipment was strangely familiar and alien at the same time. A large black console with many buttons and speakers stood on a low table in the center of the room. The intricately carved wood of the furniture made an absurd contrast to the hard-edged, unadorned metal, as if they belonged to two different worlds--none of them from this dimension.

There were human gadgets as well--of course they needed to be familiar with the tech their enemy was working with. My eyes scanned the room until I finally found the phone I had used last night, plugged into a strange glowing device that I assumed was some kind of generator. I quickly picked it up and dialed my parents' number.

Beep--beep--beep.

My heart was hammering in my ears as I tried to put together what I wanted to say while I listened to the drawn-out sound repeating over and over again. They were not picking up. I could feel the dread starting to push down on my skin, tightening up my chest. It was after sundown--they should be at home. I tried again.

Come on! I twisted my fingers into the cord while every ring made my imagination run out of control, alternating between anger when I imagined them not answering for some stupid reason like watching a movie and sheer bottomless panic at the thought that it might be something more terrible. The thick air and constant humming were starting to give me a headache. I hung up and tried my mom's cell phone--nothing, not even the voice mail. I cursed myself for not knowing a single other family member's number by heart and called the house again.

After what must have been about a dozen attempts, I had to admit to myself that it was futile. I hung up and plugged the phone back into the generator with shaky fingers. Where were they? Had someone targeted them? Were there battles going on already? The Kirtim Shenk could not have arrived in the South yet, could they?

I decided to go back to the tent and search the internet. Now that I was alone, I would finally be able to use my phone for browsing and messages, but with the Veril's keen hearing, I still couldn't risk making calls on it, so I would have to try and return in an hour. After all, Vo'ren had said I would retain my current freedom to move around the camp--but then, of course, he had also said I should stay inside.

Worried, I looked back at the alien generator; it was so out of character for my family to risk being outside at night. I tried to calm down, telling myself that there probably was some simple explanation, but as I reluctantly moved the flap covering the exit out of the way, my thoughts were spinning out of control again.

I didn't even flinch when two strong hands seized my arms as soon as I stepped outside. I must have taken quite a while and had overtaxed the warrior's patience. Frankly, I was used to being pulled around after almost a month with Vo'ren--though it was unusual for his soldiers to touch me.

Lazily, I looked up--and froze. The two Veril holding me wore a dark green uniform under their almost medieval silver armor. Their olive-colored faces were hidden by scary-looking helmets that were made out of ornately forged metal and covered a good part of their nose and cheeks--they were no Shadow Guards; they weren't even Kirtim Shenk. The one to my right snarled and showed me his sharp teeth while he tightened his grip.

I let out a scream of surprise, but Vo'ren's soldiers were already in front of us, barking a warning at my captors, their hands on their weapons, in an unmistakable threat, shadows clinging to their dark uniforms. I knew none of the warriors, I realized, and supposed that all the usual guards must have deployed south to the mission.

The green-uniformed Veril to my left gave a calm-sounding response, unmoving as more and more Kirtim Shenk arrived around us, arms at the ready, some of them drawing swords. I exhaled in shaky relief as the grip on my right arm loosened. But instead of letting me go, the foreign soldier just pulled some type of scroll out of his pocket and shook it open with a flick of his free hand. My heart stopped, because for a second, I was sure it was going to be the doomed map that I had photographed.

My captor bared his teeth, hissed something, and I thought, I heard Isklilthe Veril word for Counsel, as he held the parchment up next to his head and showed it to the soldiers around him: a few vertical lines of writing and in its center two half circles around a dot, glowing like blue embers on the sepia-colored background; no river, no castle--no map. My shoulders relaxed a bit.

For a moment, the Kirtim Shenk soldiers stood undecided, snarling with grim expressions, not attacking and not retreating either; it almost seemed like they didn't know what to do. Then one of the Shadow Guards that had accompanied me to the tech tent growled an order, and, to my complete disbelief, they stepped aside. The silver helmets' fingers dug deeper into my skin again, and I stumbled as they pulled me away, unhindered by the men that supposedly were here for my protection.

"No!" I finally found my voice again. "Leksh'!" I dug my heels into the patchy grass and tried to yank my arm away by using one of the movements Vik Ichel had taught me. "Let me go!"

My captors dragged me along unimpressed by my complaints. They were so much stronger than me; they didn't need to resort to violence to keep me under control. No matter how much I was flailing and seething, they kept walking, taking me directly to an unremarkable gray human-style SUV, and I realized it was one of the cars that I had seen approaching earlier.

I was still protesting when they maneuvered me inside. I tried to hold on to the door, my desperate last attempt not to get kidnapped, and landed a pretty decent kick on one of the soldier's shins, making him curse loudly. But of course, in the end, I didn't have a chance, and when I was finally pushed onto the backseat and the door closed behind me, I stilled, shock ringing in my ears, while one of my captors took a seat besides me, closing the door with an uncannily fluid Veril movement. Another silver helmet had been waiting for us behind the wheel, and the third one sat down next to him.

I glanced desperately at the dark figures outside, standing by uselessly, watching and baring their teeth and weapons. What terrible things had that document promised for the Shadow Guard to risk Vo'ren's wrath?

Then the car started moving, and sheer, blazing white panic exploded in my head as it rattled over the uneven ground a lot less smoothly than the Kirtim Shenk's vehicles did. This was really happening! I dug my fingers into the seat.

A month ago it had been like a nightmare for me to enter Volkspark Friedrichshain, but now as the enchanted hedge parted for us and we passed the checkpoint, I was desperate to return to this place that had at first been my prison and now almost felt like home. I turned my head, watching the now familiar bluish glow fade farther and farther into the distance. My mind, unable to process the events, was too shocked for me to cry.

As soon as we were out of the Kirtim Shenk's domain, the Veril next to me grabbed my arm again, and I gave a little pathetic squeal of surprise as he used a thin black rope to tie my wrists together in front of my body. I didn't fight him--there was no chance I would win, and it might even earn me some bruises or worse injuries if I pissed them off. I had no idea how much power Vo'ren held over those foreign warriors, if any.

When he was done with my hands, he reached behind him, and before I could protest, he had pulled a heavy black hood over my head, and everything went dark.

I suppressed a whimper, even more scared of angering my captors now that I couldn't see their reactions towards me. For a while there was only darkness and my own body. The cloth smelled strange and somewhat earthy; the air was getting stuffy, and I felt like I couldn't breathe. My pulse was hammering in my ears, and the only other sound I could hear was my accelerated inhale and exhale, so loud under the cloth, it seemed almost deafening to me. Tremulously, I forced myself to lean against the backrest, trying to calm down a bit. What did they want from me?

Without any outer distraction, my anxious brain started running free, mashing all my fears together, spiraling into different scenarios: Vo'ren dead, me and my whole family kidnapped, tortured, or worse.

"Where are we going?" I asked, and my voice came out pathetically thin.

There was no answer; the rope around my wrists was so tight my hands were starting to get numb. I fell forward a bit and then back again, unprepared as the driver hit the breaks on what might have been a traffic light.

"Vruch' utish'in?" I tried carefully in Veril, and I heard a surprised inhale from the soldier to my right.

"Chul," the driver said hissed, and I winced at his sharp tone--Silence. He chuckled, apparently pleased by my fear, and the sound made ice run down my spine.

I placed my hand on my belly, and a tear rolled down my cheek as I thought of the little creature with its tiny butterfly heart, completely helpless and relying on me to keep it safe, and so far I was doing a horrible job at it.

I cried noiselessly, the tears dripping freely from my face, down my neck into my collar, since I had no way to wipe them off. Each movement of the car hit me unprepared, and the muscles in my back and stomach grew sore from the tension I had to keep up so I wouldn't bump from left to right in every curve. All alone with my fear and sorrow, I lost all sense of time; our ride felt like hours under the dark hood. And then, all of a sudden, we stopped, and I tumbled forward. There was the thud of the opening door, and I was yanked outside.

Fresh air smelling of pines found its way under my hood, and I inhaled gratefully before they grabbed my arms again. My steps scuffled over grass and cement and started echoing hollowly as we entered a building--a stairwell, perhaps?

"Kuchun leksh'; vech'tz'in," I whispered, and my own voice sounded loudly under the cloth. I was sure they had heard, but nobody acknowledged me.

I stumbled as the floor suddenly dropped a step; only my captors' irremovable hands, bruising my arms, kept me from falling. And then we walked downstairs, and the smell of burning wood filtered through the fabric over my face. It was almost pleasant, but instead of rich associations of bonfires and camping trips, it only filled me with a terrible creeping dread. This was bad. I dug my heels into the hard floor below me, but they just pulled me along mercilessly. The scent got more intense, mixing with other even more disturbing ones. We stopped, and all my hair stood up--somebody was there, right in front of me.

"Greetings, Shuk Iskich," said a smooth, familiar voice. Someone undid the rope around my wrists, and my hood was lifted.

The corridor was dark, only sparsely illuminated by flickering light shining through a doorway to our left. Before it stood Suchil Tem, his slender and elegant figure a dark shadow against the orange glow behind him.

"Apologies for the unconventional means of your summoning," he drawled, sounding almost bored, but his teeth were clenched and his whole body tense. "Though surely you understand that in times of war, the protection of secrets is of the highest importance."

My heart was pounding, and I rubbed my tingling hands, trying to get the blood flow back in motion. After my eyes had adapted to the diffuse lighting and I had finally gotten a good look at the Counselor, I took a tentative step back. He was different, less composed than usual, almost wild. His normally impeccable black hood and tunic were dirty and speckled with dust; there was a pretty nasty cut on his cheek, and his hair hung in loose white waves over the left side of his face, almost down to his chin. But what really made me want to turn around and run were his kohl-lined eyes. I had only seen them completely black once before: after the binding ceremony, but I had been half unconscious then.

Now, the sight was so uncanny that I felt the unease deep inside my bones. I thought there was something glowing underneath the darkness of his pupils, like embers slowly consuming a piece of coal from the inside. He didn't remind me of a lynx tonight--Suchil Tem looked like a being straight out of the depths of hell.

"What do you want from me?" My voice was only little more than a whisper.

He bared his fangs and brushed his hair behind the ear before he made an elegant gesture towards the illuminated room. "Our dear guest has informed us, he will only speak to a human." The mark on his forehead was glowing brightly--two half circles framing a dot. "And since our favorite translator just so happens to fulfill this criterion, it seemed only logical to send for you."

He didn't smile, and a terrible feeling of foreboding filled my stomach when I approached the firelit room.

There were two people inside: the first one was a human man, sitting face down, almost lying, slumped over in the center of the floor--and the other one was Paul. He stood next to the entry not far from me; his dark brown hair was messy, sticking out above his injured ears, as if he had run his hands through it a couple of times. His eyes widened, mirroring my own surprise as we saw each other. He didn't say a word, but for the fraction of a second he pressed his lips together, and I understood: Don't talk to me.

I quickly glanced away. The space was illuminated by four torches, one in each corner; otherwise, the windowless gray cement walls were completely bare, only adorned with black smudges, like soot on the walls and floor. A sickening smell hung in the air, like burned hair and barbecue. I shifted uncomfortably from one leg to the other, irrationally terrified of the unmoving human on the ground. His shirt hung in grimy tatters from his body, partly sticking to the drying fluid that oozed out of his horrendous blisters.

Suddenly he looked up, and his eyes narrowed when they fell on me, almost as if he recognized me, and then he started laughing.

I jumped back so quickly, I slammed into Suchil Tem, but even with the demon-like Counselor behind me, I couldn't look away from the horrible spectacle. The skin on his arms and hands and even a good portion of his face were covered in angry lines of raw burns, as if he had been hit with a flaming whip, and his gaze was wild.

"Ask him how they got through our wards," Suchil Tem said close to my ear, a barely masked menace underneath his tone. He had taken a step aside and stood slightly behind me, his presence making my nape tingle with unease.

I swallowed. My voice faltered, and I had to clear my throat a couple of times before I was able to translate the counselor's request to German.

The man looked at me, madness distorting his face as he kept laughing; his teeth were tinted red with his own blood. Did he even understand what I had said? I repeated the question more firmly this time, and his laugh turned a pitch higher, completely hysterical. He choked on his own spit, or blood, and coughed.

"We did it," he said in German. His voice was raspy, as if his throat had been fried from the inside.

"What did you do?" I asked, sounding strangely melodic in comparison.

"We did it. It worked," he repeated, coughed again, and gasped for air. "The solar-bomb; the Relámpago."

Almost mechanically, I conveyed his message to the Counselor, while trying to make sense of it, but the only unhelpful information my brain in translation mode was able to provide at the moment was that relámpagowas the Spanish word for lightening bolt.

Suchil Tem's voice, ringing with a strange otherworldly undertone, cut through my thoughts. "How did they know we would be in Etelverk?"

"Where?" I asked confused. This whole situation, the unnerving Veril leader behind me, and the occasional outburst of manic giggles and coughing of the captive, had me so on edge it was almost impossible to focus.

Suchil Tem rolled his eyes before he inhaled deeply and repeated the word slowly. "Etelverk in the South."

And then, slowly, it clicked. This was the Veril name for a German city, a city I knew just too well. The map. The room started spinning in front of my eyes, and I closed my fingers around the doorframe to my left. I looked wide-eyed at the Counselor, shaking my head in disbelief.

"Translate, human," he hissed, leaning in and baring his impressively long and sharp teeth, his face only centimeters from mine, his power, hot and dry, pushing against me.

I took a step back, my butt pressing against the cold cement wall. If I showed fear now, I might look guilty, and I had no doubt that if they found out what I had done, it would mean my death.

I held his gaze as I pulled my left sleeve up, lifted my arm and snarled. "Don't lay a finger on me, Counselor Suchil."

There was a slight gasp from Paul as I presented the General's mark, glimmering brightly on my wrist, even in the flicker of the torches. Suchil Tem's eyes narrowed, and the glow behind his pupils intensified, a clearly visible orange shimmer underneath the black. For a moment he held my gaze, but then, to my infinite relief, he receded, and I dared to breathe in again.

"Nobody is laying a finger on you, Shuk Iskich," the Counselor seethed. "However, I do so loathe to repeat myself." He emphasized all the sharp consonants, his accent making the English language sound harsh and alien.

I swallowed, inclined my head, and walked casually into the chamber, simulating self-assurance, when in reality, I simply wanted to be as far away from here as possible.

"How did you know the Head Counselor was going to be in Heidelberg?" I asked in German, and my voice sounded like mine again.

The man stopped laughing, and I felt the absence of the sound as if a physical weight had lifted from my shoulders. He bared his blood-stained teeth before he pursed his lips and spit a glob of crimson slime in front of Suchil Tem's feet.

And then he said in clear English, "You have a mole, Veril-scum." And my blood froze at this final confirmation of my darkest suspicions.

"So you do speak the common language." Suchil Tem casually brushed some of the dust from his tunic, and even more than his former hissing and snarling, the sudden calm in his voice made my veins freeze in ice-cold terror.

I slowly, reluctantly, turned my head towards him; his eyes were two glowing embers, no pupils, or irises only kohl-framed fire.

He gave the man a chilling smile, and the light of the torches dimmed to a smolder, leaving us in almost complete darkness. "Shuk Iskich, as for tonight, we are in no more need of your service."

He took a step forward just barely through the door and turned the palms of his hands towards the ceiling. The air filled with danger, and, frozen in place, I noted with a certain kind of fascination that it had a different note to it than Vo'ren's power--less electricity and more heat--dense, unbearable heat.

"Wir sehen uns in Hoffnung, Schwester!" The man had leaned back, barely able to hold up his head, his voice a low gurgle. "Wir sehen uns in Hoffnung!"

A spark from the closest torch landed on Suchil Tem's hand, and he closed a fist around it. His knuckles first turned a light green from the tension, and then they started to glow orange.

"Come!" Paul grabbed me by the shoulder of my uniform; the urgency in his voice snapped me out of my stupor, and we hurried out of the room and down the corridor.

He kept his hold on me, ushering me along in front of him, guarding my back, and making sure I didn't slow down. The screaming behind us started when we had reached the end of the dark passage and started ascending the gray cement steps towards the exit. We ran the last bit of the way through an empty industrial-style hallway and out into the night. We were at an empty lot surrounded by tall, long-stemmed trees and had not even taken two steps towards the street when we were stopped by five green uniformed soldiers.

Paul bared his teeth and positioned himself in front of me, shielding me as he saluted. The silver helmets snarled something, Paul gave a calm reply, and I heard the name Shenik Tsul as he gestured towards me. Because of his age, I so often forgot that he was a real soldier, a fierce warrior of the Kirtim Shenk. It surprised me every time I saw him in his professional mode, and I was incredibly grateful to have him by my side in this

The Veril in front of us seemed much less impressed than I was; he shook his head, and his companion approached with two black hoods in his hands.

"Ch'ish," Paul cursed, speaking out loud what I was thinking.

I thought that, like me, my translator would have given anything to keep from being kidnapped again, but of course we were outnumbered, pretty much unarmed, not counting my dagger--apparently a weapon in my hands wasn't considered a threat--and probably didn't want to go against the Counselor's explicit orders anyways. So we both just closed our eyes as they roughly tied our hands, blindfolded us, and led us towards the car again.

"Safety measures," Paul translated our captors' brusque remark as they shoved us onto our seats.

I hit my knee but hardly noticed. I had only one thought: I had to get away from here and return to the Base as fast as possible before Suchil Tem had tortured the truth out of the poor man down in that room of horrors. It was more than clear to me now that the map I had photographed had indeed been a depiction of Heidelberg, apparently detailing something about the Counselor's planned visit to the city. And the rebels had used that information to stage an attack.

My face was sweating under the hood, the humidity of my own breath condensing on my skin. You have a mole. If anybody found out that I was that mole...

I forced myself not to think about it, lest I would get blocked with panic and lose all desperately needed ability to act. First I needed to get back, then I would figure out the rest. There was a pretty good chance the human didn't know about me anyway, I tried to tell myself, maybe he had not been given that information in case of the very scenario that was unfolding right now, somewhere in a basement underneath the car.

"Thirteen, you okay?" came Paul's slightly muffled voice from my left, and my heart filled with warm gratitude for his kindness.

"Yes, thank you. Are you okay, too?" We had started driving, and I was happy I didn't have to endure this ride through uncertainty all by myself again.

"Much better now that we're getting away from that maniac."

"What..." happened I had wanted to ask, but stopped myself.

We were not alone in this car. Two silver helmets sat in the front and one to my right. I could feel his metal armor every time the car took a turn, and I was pushed against him by the momentum.

"It's fine," Paul said with a grim note to his voice. "They don't understand English; we can talk until they tell us to shut up. Just make sure you don't use any names."

"Who are they?" I asked.

"The Royal Guard," he answered with a mocking undertone.

"I thought there was no royalty in the Shadow Realm." I was grateful for the momentary distraction this conversation provided from the mountains upon mountains of fears and worries that weighed on my mind.

"There isn't; the Royal Guard responds directly to the Counsel. When the monarchy was abolished and the king's counselors officially took on the rule of the realm, they did that with the help of the king's very own personal guard, and the name just kind of stuck." He gave a very short low laugh, apparently not impressed, and the noise earned him an angry hiss from one of the warriors in front.

"Some say it's a reminder that an unjust sovereign won't be tolerated," Paul continued in a lower voice. "But Ithink they just liked the fancy name."

"The Counsel has its own army?"

"It's not an army, more like a group of elite warriors," he sounded dismissive.

"Not like our army," I remarked as the car entered what felt like a bigger and better paved road.

"Exactly."

I could hear the pride in Paul's voice, and my heart hurt at the thought of what that very army had done to him.

"What happened in the South?" I thought I might as well ask. "Did I get that right--the rebels used some kind of new weapon?"

"I don't really know, but somehow they managed to penetrate the wards around the Counselor's convoy." I heard him shuffle a bit on his seat. "That should not have been possible; not even highly trained combat mages can break those types of protections."

I didn't say anything but thought about the dimming effect the sun had on the Veril's powers. solar-bomb--lightening, the man had said. Was it possible that the Veril's arrogance had led them to underestimate us humans? The car began to rattle as it entered more uneven terrain, and I frowned. Were we already back in Friedrichshain? The ride had seemed a lot longer last time.

The doors opened with a thud, and the warrior to my right pulled me outside along with him, ushering me a few steps forward. It smelled like trees and grass, but my heart sank as I felt gravel under my boots and heard the burbling of a nearby stream--this was not the Main Base.

"Paul?" I asked into the nothingness of fabric that kept me secluded from the world and was relieved to hear his sound of affirmation close to my left.

"In case something happens, I just wanted to let you know that I am so, so sorry for what he did to you. That was all my fault! I should have listened to you." I hated that this stupid language lesson and its terrible consequences stood between us.

"And I'm sorry," I ended kind of lamely, but the interpreter stayed silent.

I wanted to say some more, to thank him for all the ways in which he had helped me, but before I could find the right words, my wrists were unbound, and my hood pulled away, and my stomach twisted in panic. In front of me lay the glowing blue magic dome and the white stone structure of the Veril embassy.

"What are we doing here? Why aren't you taking us back to the Kirtim Shenk?" I glared at the silver helmet in front of me, trying to hide my fear under anger. It was an immense relief to be finally able to communicate normally with Paul's translations at my side again.

"Counsel's orders," the guard snarled. "Now quiet."

Paul showed his teeth, and I balled fists to keep my hands from shaking. Did they know? My thoughts went wild as we crossed the bridge over the little park creek and entered the cool darkness of the embassy. We were received by another Royal Guard who guided us through the open space, while our captors took on positions around the perimeter of the round hall, amongst about a dozen of their comrades presenting their spears.

Living amongst Veril during the last weeks, I had gotten better and better at controlling my body's natural reactions and concealing my fear, but this time not even the deepest breaths and thought exercises were able to keep my heart from racing as my mind was from coming up with ever new scenarios of my impending punishment.

To my surprise, we didn't have to wait in front of the water basin in the center for Suchil Tem to come and speak his verdict; instead, we walked directly up the stairs that led to the elevated area where the Counselor had been standing when he received us on the first night I met him. I averted my eyes from the marble statue of the human queen, unable to look at her sad, disappointed face.

The guard in front of us approached the wall on the back of the platform, and I noticed a simple, nob-less door that blended seamlessly into the stone around it. He laid his open palm on the smooth surface, and it swung open with a satisfying click.

Carefully, I peeked through the opening and pulled back in surprise as fresh wind hit my face. Rather than to a hallway or a chamber, the door led outside again, opening to a rope bridge fashioned entirely out of slightly shimmering cords that were braided and tried together in different shapes and patterns, forming a sturdy yet see-through net-like floor that was attached to the two handrails by thousands of thinner threads.

My eyes followed the bridge up and up where it connected the building with a system of platforms that seemed to be woven with the same kind of technique--nets stretching between the crowns of several trees like enormous spiderwebs. Slightly above those platforms hung three large oval structures--I guessed they were rooms or houses built around the trunks of the trees. They appeared almost organic, like the eggs of a gigantic insect. The whole construct was elegant, light, and see-through, blending seamlessly into the nature around it and virtually invisible from outside the glowing distortion of the protective dome that encompassed them with the whole embassy.

My stomach flipped as I looked at the airy height.

"What is that?" I asked, turning to Paul, but instead of answering, he just translated my question.

The silver helmet in front of me turned around. "The architecture of the embassy was inspired by the traditional houses of the three most important regions of the Shadow Realm." He seemed almost friendly, more talkative, and a lot less grim than the soldiers that had captured us. My stomach unclenched just a tiny bit.

"The Misty Plateaus," he gestured at the tent-style of the hall. "The Shadow Woods." He flicked his chin up towards the trees and the Great Barren." He pointed down with his open palm, where I suspected some kind of underground structure at the embassy's basement. "As long as you are the Counsel's guest, you will be lodged up there."

"Can't I stay in one of the underground rooms instead?" I tried to sound unfazed, not to show that my mind was threatening to tumble into a deep pit of panic again as I looked skeptically at the trees above.

The Royal Guard ignored my objection and started his ascent across the bridge as steadily and elegantly as if he were taking a stroll on a sidewalk.

Paul grinned as he saw my unease, not guessing that it stemmed only partially from my fear of heights. "You better get used to it, Thirteen. The Shadow Woods are Shenik Tsul's home region."

The bridge started swinging as soon as I set foot on it, and I grabbed desperately onto the smooth ropes on either side. My knees got wobbly as I looked at the ground clearly visible beneath the fine webbing. I reallydidn't want to do this! I glanced back at Paul, and for a moment I thought I saw annoyance flicker over his face as he watched my clumsy attempts.

He drew down the corners of his mouth, balancing his long legs gracefully on the netting. "I wonder how someone like you managed to survive one month on the General's side."

I wanted to give him a snide retort, but my eyes caught on the mutilated stumps of his ears: the scabs had started to fall off on a few spots, revealing sickly pale-green scar tissue. Actually, he was right; it was beyond pathetic to make such a fuss about my fear of heights.

"You better catch me if I fall, Officer Kinich," I growled at him, showing my teeth.

Paul smiled and saluted, and I rolled my eyes before I took my next step. I focused on the platform above me. No matter what, don't look down--remember what happened last time.

I noted that the bridge swung less violently if I picked up pace, so I took the widest steps I could, twisting my fingers into the ropes on either side, careful to never lift both hands at the same time. The wind pulling on my hair and clothes was getting stronger and stronger the higher I walked, ruffling the dark leaves of the trees above me, and my heart thumped like crazy.

I was dizzy when I came to the end of the bridge and exhaled as I reached the strange netted platform that hung between the trees. It was see-through as well, but the holes between the ropes were too small for a foot to slip through them, and, most importantly, it was not swinging. I took a few steps on the somewhat bouncy underground, away from the edge, and held on to a branch of the tree next to me, trying to compose myself and shake the feeling of standing in free air.

The strange oval orb structure hovered right above me, wrapped around the trunk of the tree. Fascinated, I studied it. It was made out of bent wooden spokes that faintly reminded me of our tent's crown back in Friedrichshain, but instead of being covered with felt, the empty spaces between the beams were closed with glass, giving it a weightless appearance despite the sturdy materials it was made of.

The net beneath my feet shifted as Paul stepped onto the platform, and I looked briefly down. The craftsmanship of the whole thing was astonishing. Little mandalas in shapes of flowers and plants were woven into the webbing beneath my feet, shimmering slightly in the reflection of the glowing magic dome above us and the webs stretched between several trees in different levels--they were breathtakingly beautiful; I just wished we were closer to the ground.

"Your lodging will be here, Lady Tsul." The guard gestured towards a winding little path, where the net climbed up around the trunk towards a door-like opening at the backside of the wooden egg-room.

I decided that keeping up the act of the annoyed and arrogant consort of the mighty General would be the best option for my safety. It would help me hide my guilt: if they thought my heart was beating from anger instead of fear, it would make me seem a lot less suspicious--and putting them a bit on edge might not hurt either.

"I demand to be returned to my husband's army, right now!" I looked the guard straight in the eyes and saw Paul slightly raise his eyebrows before he translated.

"The Counsel will require your assistance for a little while longer, so I am afraid that is not possible." The silver helmet inclined his head just so slightly.

"My assistance for what?" I glared at him, trying to look as dignified as I could, holding on to a tree.

"That is up to the honorable Counselor Suchil to disclose." His eyes flicked to the side.

I thought I might have made him a bit nervous--good. "Shenik Tsul Vo'ren has already been informed about my whereabouts." I bared my teeth at him. "You don't want to find out what he'll do to each and every one of you if I have as much as a scratch on my body when I'm returned to him."

There was a very distinct sting in my heart when I said his name. I missed the safety he provided, how I was untouchable when he was at my side, but above all, I missed him, his playfulness, his company, his conversation. I really hoped it was the truth, and he knew what had happened and was already trying to get me out of here and that I would be able to run my hands through his soft hair soon again.

"You are our guest, Lady Tsul, so rest assured that you shall not be in want of anything during your stay." The guard glanced to his right over the white roof of the embassy and remarked dryly. "And we are aware that the Conqueror knows you are here."

I followed his gaze; it was hard to see through the scintillation of the protective dome, but I thought I could make out a couple of black Humvee-style vehicles and gray-clothed figures outside the glow. Warm relief flooded my body--the Kirtim Shenk were here. Of course they wouldn't attack the embassy, but they definitely were a good reminder to my captors that there would be consequences should I be harmed. My heart clenched with affection as I thought about Vo'ren, who had sent his troops to protect me, while he was forced to fight the rebels and couldn't return himself.

I looked at Paul, and he nodded a slight confirmation; he had seen them, too. Strangely, he didn't look as relieved as I was.

"If you wish to proceed, your meal has already been served, should you be hungry." The guard gestured towards the strange room above me.

"You will send for my cook in Volkspark Friedrichshain. My doctor has prescribed a special diet that needs to be followed to the letter since I am carrying vech'mik shenik Tsulek." Shenik Tsul's child, I said the last part in the sharpest Veril to make my point clear.

It was the truth. After Vo'ren had asked doctor Günaydin on our appointment last night, she had given us an extensive list of forbidden and recommended foods and ingredients that would ensure the baby's and my optimal health, and he had immediately passed the instructions on to his cook. I had found it pretty exaggerated, but now I thought it might provide me with an opportunity to get another Kirtim Shenk member inside the embassy.

Unfortunately, the guard saw right through me. "Kindly provide us with your healer's list, and we shall make sure that our cook will take it into account." He opened the room's door for me and said something else in a dismissive tone over his shoulder.

Expectantly, I looked at Paul but he didn't translate.

I frowned. "What did he say?"

"Nothing," Paul shrugged. "Just told me where I'm supposed to sleep."

"And where is that?"

"Out here." He gestured at the net underneath our feet.

Incredulously, I looked down and quickly up again; my stomach flipped when I saw the ground deep, deep below me.

"Out here in the wind--in the sun?" I was enraged on my translator's behalf. "Or does the sun not bother you since you are..."

From one moment to the next, his expression hardened, and his face turned a shade darker as he snapped, "The sun bothers me just as much as any other Veril. I'm not human."

"I'm sorry." I raised my palms up and took a very careful step away towards him. The last thing I had wanted to do was insult the only ally--the only friend--I had. "I didn't mean to..."

Paul closed his eyes and swallowed. "It's fine; I have an emergency cover. It's part of our gear."

He seemed calm again, but I was unconvinced. That sounded horrible.

"I'm a trained warrior, Thirteen." He remarked with a smile playing around the corners of his mouth as he saw my expression. "An uncomfortable bed is not going to kill me."

I shook my head stubbornly. "Tell him that I will not allow any member of the Kirtim Shenk to be treated with such disrespect. And neither will the General."

Paul hesitated.

"Tell him!" I insisted, and reluctantly, he did.

The guard stiffened and looked back at me. I glared at him, my gaze unfaltering until he finally inclined his head and gestured towards the second egg that hung, slightly higher than mine, on a nearby tree.

"And you will eat with me," I informed Paul, suspecting that his rations would otherwise be meager or nonexistent.

He gave me an acquiescent nod and a shy smile before following me inside the strange house. The room was light and airy and smelled faintly of tree resin. The shine of the magic dome above us fell through the windows and illuminated the simple and beautiful space. It had a round shape, and the trunk of the tree it was attached to ran through its center like a single pillar. There was no furniture except for a low table and cushions, not unlike the ones in our tent back in Friedrichshain, but with fewer ornaments; this sitting area had been set with some water, fruits, and bread.

After a few more explanations, the guard left, closing the door behind himself with a scraping sound. I gave Paul a nervous smile while my fingers played unconsciously with a loose string on my pants. Despite everything that had happened tonight, it felt awkward to be alone with him; it reminded me of the last time we had sat down on a table together and how fast that situation had gone sour. A glance at his tense posture told me he was thinking the same. Seemingly lost in thoughts, he lifted his hand and ran his finger gingerly over the uninjured side of his ear.

I fisted my hands into the fabric of my uniform, turned my head away, and looked around the room. The structure was dominated by clear and simple lines, such as the wooden spokes that formed the walls and the geometrical shapes woven into a net that formed a second floor above us. Was this a traditional Shadow Woods house, or simply a modern interpretation of one, like the stone embassy emulating the white felt of a kir-tent? My heart fluttered--Vo'ren's home region

"Don't you think the Veril should get more creative naming things?" I asked Paul, trying to break the uncomfortable silence between us.

"Shadow Woods, Shadow Realm, I'd like to see more imagination." I filled a beautifully carved glass cup and gestured exaggeratedly towards the green cushions. "Please, Officer Kinich, be my guest; take a seat at my shadow table and have some shadow water with me."

Paul smirked, and I saw the tension in his shoulders relax as he plopped down on one of the pillows, grabbed a piece of flatbread, and drizzled some oil out of a little bottle on top of it.

"It's not a coincidence. Our realm is called like that because of the Shadow Woods," he said, chewing while I sat down opposite him. "It's where the Red City is--the home of the former kings."

"Is the Red City built on top of trees as well?" I asked.

"No," Paul replied brusquely and kept eating, and when he saw my expectant expression, he added. "It's hard to explain."

I raised my eyebrows. He seemed to be in a weird mood tonight, but honestly, with everything that had happened, I couldn't blame him.

"Did the Counselor have you kidnapped as well?" I asked carefully.

I thought I saw something dark cross Paul's face, but then he looked up, and his expression was open as always. Maybe I had imagined it?

"I wouldn't call it kidnapped," he said, chewing. "He sent for me to help him translate."

"From English to Veril?" I asked puzzled.

"Yes." He quickly emptied his cup, drinking in big hasty gulps, choked a bit, and coughed. When he caught himself again, he added, "That's not unusual; many politicians will prefer speaking in their native language because they can express themselves better, even if they know other tongues as well." He gave me a chilling smirk, showing his pointy teeth. "You will learn that soon enough; after all, we're colleagues now."

I laughed and gave him a soft kick under the table. "And what did that rebel say?"

"Nothing; he said he didn't speak English and that he would only talk to a human." Paul's eyes hardened at the memory.

"And he said that in German?" I didn't know why this whole matter was so confusing to me.

"Yes, Thirteen, I'm Shenik Tsul's highest-ranking translator for human languages, and even though that might be hard to believe for you, I'm actually good at my job." I saw that his frustration was threatening to flare up again and automatically scooted back a little. "I may not be a language genius like you, but I know how to use software to translate simple German sentences into English. Even the most primitive human phone can do the same."

I nodded quickly. Somehow, over being so worried for him and the shock about his mutilation, I had forgotten how much he had scared me the last time we had a fight. And for all it was worth, he looked even more menacing now; his pretty face had lost some of its youthfulness, had hardened over the last few weeks, and I became painfully aware that no guards were stationed outside the door tonight, ready to jump in and protect me. I glanced towards the exit, my muscles tensing painfully.

Paul blinked a couple of times; he must have noticed my fear and heard my accelerated pulse.

He scrunched his face in regret. "I'm sorry, Thirteen. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm not going to hurt you." He ran his finger over his ear again and added in almost a whisper, "I never was."

I swallowed and inclined my head. "I know you weren't, Paul. I..."

"It's fine." His voice was soft when he interrupted me without looking up.

He was staring at the table, and I thought that he looked incredibly tired. I got the impression that he didn't want to talk anymore, and I understood. He was probably just as nervous, scared, and uncertain as I was. A prisoner, like me, with the only difference that I was General Tsul's wife, and he was just some soldier. Vo'ren would raze this building to the ground with the Counselor and everyone else in it, should something happen to me, but I doubted that even the interpreter's death would be more than a mild annoyance to him. Suchil Tem knew that, and Paul knew it, too. It was no wonder he didn't want to talk to me. We ate the rest of our meal in silence before he inclined his head, and we said goodbye.

And then I was alone again. The anxiety hit me full force as soon as Paul had closed the door behind him, leaving me with nothing to keep my mind distracted, and my thoughts instantly started spinning out of control. I crouched down and placed my hands and forehead on the wooden floor beneath me.

You need to keep a calm head, especially now, I told myself as I inhaled in deeply, held my breath, and released it again, trying to use some of the techniques Vik Ichel had taught me during our training sessions. Tonight was too much. Too many things had happened, too many worries bearing down on me at once. It took me a good number of breathing exercises before I had collected myself enough to be able to get up again.

I realized I had to stay busy, or else my fears would incapacitate me, so I decided to explore. My knees were wobbly as I walked towards a rope ladder that was anchored into the floor at the opposite end of the room and led to the second level, a woven net above me.

I climbed up, and the unfamiliar movement helped me to steady my legs again. When I reached upstairs, my eyes widened in surprise: There was a bed made out of furs and blankets, which looked pretty much like the one Vo'ren and I shared back in Friedrichshain, and on top of it lay my backpack and a pile of the clothes that I had left scattered around the tent floor.

I walked carefully over the net, sat down on the sleeping area, and felt instantly comforted by its familiar softness. Something was glittering on top of the clothes, catching the light from outside as the bed shifted under my weight. Puzzled, I picked it up. It was a small vial made out of glass with a crimson liquid inside. I dropped it, disgusted, when I saw that it was blood. I looked at it for a while longer until I realized that it was my blood. I frowned; it was the little bottle that the guards had spoken my new name into the first night I arrived at the base--it seemed like a lifetime ago. I thought that the bottle had been fuller when Vo'ren had cut my hand. Why was it here?

My eyes ran slowly over my backpack and my clothes, and then I understood: They must have needed my blood to open the wards around our tent. I felt strangely betrayed and violated by the thought that the Kirtim Shenk soldiers had let them go along with my kidnapping, had even assisted them. It was unfair; I knew that even Vo'ren himself couldn't disobey the Counsel's orders, but the thought of those green uniformed soldiers inside our tent made my stomach churn. And then a new wave of fear hit me. Had they gone through my stuff?

Hastily, I opened the big zipper on the backpack's main compartment, fished around until my fingers hit the rustling plastic wrapping of the tissue papers, and exhaled shakily. My phone was still where I had left it after the last message from the latrines, when I had told Tim I was going to stay with Vo'ren. The Royal Guards probably didn't expect the General's plaything to have anything more dangerous on her than her little silver dagger. My fingers tightened around my phone.

I stood up and looked out the glass windows of my strange new oval room. There was the white roof of the embassy and the rope bridge swinging over the night-dark creek that surrounded the little island. The wind was loud up here, blowing around my room and the branches with a swooshing sound. I walked on the slightly elastic net to the other side of the stem and craned my neck. There was Paul's room some meters above me and behind it the dark silhouettes of more trees. The only guards were on the ground, far below, positioned around the entries of the embassy.

I figured that even for Veril ears, the distance had to be too big for them to hear me, so I braced myself and pressed the button on the side of my phone until I felt the slight vibration. First the screen only showed the usual rectangular symbols of my apps and my standard dark blue wallpaper, but then the notifications came pouring in. A seemingly never-ending stream of white boxes plopping on top of each other. Messages and missed calls, from friends and family, but also from unknown or suppressed numbers. I only saw snippets of texts.

OMG, sweetheart. Are you okay?

Anna, is that true? Call me, please.

Frau Neumann, this is the Berliner Morgenpost; please get back...

Traitor!

Whore

Stay safe!

I hope he slits your throat

The messages were blurring into a cacophony of words, and I felt my body heat up with a deep, unexpected rage at all those idiots that had nothing else to do with their little, insignificant human lives than to pester me with their unsolicited opinions. Spamming my phone, the only tether to their world I had left, poisoning it the moment I needed it the most. If only I could tell Vo'ren, I would make him find each and every one of those authors, and then...

I shuddered, shocked and appalled by the direction my own thoughts had taken. I closed my eyes, breathed in deeply, opened the settings, and ticked the block all unknown callers option before I deleted the entirety of the notifications without taking a further look at them.

Then I dialed my family's number, first their house, then their respective cellphones, and then, in a bout of desperation, each of my father's bakery stores. Nothing. How was that possible? They were expecting my call, weren't they? Why were they not picking up?

Helpless, I dropped my hands to my lap. Keep busy; don't get sucked into the thought spiral, or you will not be able to get yourself out again, I reminded myself, quickly grabbed my notebook, and started flipping through the pages. A little picture fell twirling onto the sheet below me, and my heart contracted in a mixture of fear, joy, and sadness as I looked at it. It was the small black-and-white ultra-sound image from our visit with Doctor Günaydin last night.

I ran my finger over the round shapes and shadows and gave the paper a little kiss. My baby, my little butterfly. I decided to call the doctor's office and ask them to dictate me the list of ingredients so I could hand it over to the cook. Maybe it was exaggerated, but I didn't want to take any risks at the cost of my child's health either. Besides, it gave me something to do.

Since Günaydin's practice specialized in victims of the Treaty and also provided emergency care, their main desk was open all night. I pulled the pink business card out from between the pages, typed in the number, and saved it in my phone book before I pressed call.

"Doctor Günaydin's practice; this is sister Melanie speaking." Answered a light and friendly voice after a few rings.

"Yes, erm, guten Abend, my name is," I swallowed; it almost felt as if I had forgotten how to make formal calls in my native language. "My name is Tsul; I was in last night with my... husband and it seems like I have misplaced the list of foods and ingredients the doctor gave me. And I was wondering if you could maybe read it to me so I can write it down?"

There was a little pause on the other end of the line. "We can also send it to you by email, Frau..."

"Tsul," I remarked with vigor, and I heard her inhale as the penny dropped. "I'm afraid I don't really have access to the internet at the moment."

"Of course, just one moment, Frau Tsul." Her voice was trembling a little.

After a short absence, she returned to the phone, and I took diligent notes as she patiently read out the complete list.

"Can I save this number as your contact information, in case your test results come in before your next appointment?" she asked when we were finished.

Last night, doctor Günaydin had taken samples and run some other more extensive tests. She wouldn't normally do so much, the gynecologist had told us, but since it was an interspecies pregnancy, she wanted to monitor everything as closely as possible to be able to catch any complications early. I suspected that she also had some scientific interest in the matter, but on the other hand, close monitoring sounded like a good thing, so I hadn't objected.

My phone vibrated against my ear, and I looked at the screen. Another message, this time it was from Tim.

Saw you on the news. I spoke to my friends, the offer still stands.

"Frau Tsul? Are you still there? Would that be okay?" The nurse's voice cut through my thoughts.

"Yes, sure." I answered absentmindedly. "Thank you very much for your help! Auf Wiederhören."

I hung up and opened the chat with Tim, trying to see if he had written something else, but that was it. I scrolled through the conversations we'd had during my time with Vo'ren: they started the night after the rebels' execution on the Brandenburg Gate, since I had deleted everything before that, panicked because of that doomed picture I had sent. I shuddered as I thought about the terrible consequences of my little act of rebellion.

The picture of the map with the detailed information about the Counselor's planned visit--what had Suchil Tem been doing in Etelverk, as he had called it? And was it not strange that the Veril had their own proper noun for the city? Translating toponyms usually was a phenomenon that happened when there was a somewhat long history of contact that led to the integration of the city's name in the other language's vocabulary.

But if my suspicion was right and Tim had managed to make contact with the FDM--a feat that seemed completely out of character for him--how had they been able to read the Veril writing and language?

I scanned all of our messages. Our exchange had pretty much been him asking me how I was doing, me telling him not to worry, and him asking for a translation of the map. This went on for nights, until at one point he had stopped.

I looked at the message.

That is great! Hang in there!

I frowned. I'd never had the time to thoroughly read through our texts since I was usually writing from the latrine with a guard waiting outside. What did he mean with that's great? My earlier message had only been the usual:

Thank you. I don't know what it says. I don't think I can ask anybody here without raising suspicions. Let me know if you hear something from your friends. I miss you. Be careful!

It almost seemed like a part of the conversation was missing in between those two texts, but I couldn't remember writing anything else. With a feeling of unease, I put my phone down. Should I ask Tim? But if he was in contact with the rebels, every word I said to him was a risk. Maybe my question would rouse some unwanted suspicions, or I would involuntarily be giving out secret intel again, and I also didn't feel like having to explain myself for not taking him up on his rescue offer. I was tired and scared and decided to leave the matter for another night.

Almost reflexively, I dialed my parent's house number again while I browsed through my notebook to keep my hands busy. No success.

Inhaling deeply and trying not to give in to the panic, I looked through the pages some more and smiled as I saw the lines and lines of Veril vocabulary and grammar. It was like looking at the words and drawings brought me back to the moment I had made them, as if the memory was somehow stored in the ink. I traced the colorful marker with which I had highlighted my observations on our first lesson, and it conjured the image of Vo'ren smiling, brushing his fingers over my hands, and praising me for my progress.

With a faint plop, a tear dropped on the paper, and then another one, smudging the lines of my notes. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand. I missed him. I missed him so much it physically hurt, deep inside my arms, my legs, and my belly. I felt unfocused and unsafe without him, as ridiculous as it was, given that he was the source of all danger in my life. As much as it irritated me, when he ordered me around, it was also kind of nice when he took charge, and right now in this mess of uncertainty, I could have really used someone to tell me what to do.

All the anxiety and tension was more bearable when he was around to chafe against, to fuck out my frustration, and to kiss away my fear while he held me in his strong arms. I pulled up the blanket to wipe my eyes, paused, and took a closer look at the grey and beige pattern of the fur I had uncovered, and my heart jumped: this was not only similar to our bed roll--this was our bed roll.

The tears that I had kind of managed to hold at bay so far now started running in earnest. With a pathetic sob, I sank back, curling myself into the furs, burying my nose into them, inhaling the familiar smell of leather and grass and him. I breathed in deeper and felt my heart beat slow down almost automatically as the strange physical connection between us, activated by his scent, worked its magic.

It made me uneasy, the fact that only smelling him already caused my body to react so strongly. It proved all the more how inextricably bound I was. He had taken me and filled me with his very essence, and now I belonged to him, was his forever, and I doubted that there was a spell in this world, Veril, human or other, that could break those shackles.

And then I thought I felt a hum in my left wrist. Vo'ren? Or was it just a figment of my imagination, caused by my yearning for him? It had only been faint, not the usual buzz of his feelings that could grow so overpoweringly strong they numbed my arm. I always thought that the effect he had on my mark was about the range of my eyesight; never before had I felt him when he was away from camp.

But there it was again, and this time it was unmistakable: a soft tremor in the remnants of his magic running through my arm and into my chest, where they connected with my own power right at the center of my being.

I sank my face into the bedding, inhaling his intoxicating scent. It automatically made my muscles go soft and my core lubricate with my own juices. Slowly, almost unconsciously, I pulled my shirt up and brushed my fingers over my nipple, sighing at the familiar stream of liquid electricity that flowed from my breast deep between my legs. I cupped it with my hand and gently ran my thumb over it, imagining it were him holding me, teasing me, preparing me for his invasion. A shiver ran through my binding, and every little nub on the light brown skin of my areola puckered up.

I rolled onto my back, kicked off my boots, and slowly pulled my pants down until I lay only in my light underpants, my shirt drawn up, exposing my small, currently very pert breasts. If he wasn't here to fuck the tension out of me, I would just have to help myself. The light structure of the egg-room swaying in the wind with the trees made it feel as if I were outside, lying under the open sky and looking at the stars, but the night was already slowly turning the faintest gray on its eastern edge; morning was coming.

Had he lain down as well? Was he thinking about me, too, touching himself? Maybe that was why I felt him right now, because we were tuned in on the same signal, like two radios that found each other on the channel of their desire.

I pictured him taking his big heavy cock in his strong hand, closing his eyes as he stroked himself, thinking of my body, until his whole length glistened with precum. The thought was so arousing I felt my breath grow more shallow and my mouth watered when I remembered how his juices had tasted when I licked the whole silky length of his manhood. How I had felt every ridge and vein under his smooth skin on my tongue, pulsing with his blood and venom.

I began caressing myself, running my fingers down, closer and closer to my center. My nerves stood on edge, firing thousands of little impulses between my legs as I slowly let my hand trail over my belly. Soon the soft, flat skin would grow round and heavy with his child, with his seed that he had planted deep inside of me, that he had forced into me against my protest, and that had now taken root in my womb. I shivered, and my core was dripping at the thought of how he had bred me, over and over, had made me feel his strength and power until I submitted, until I accepted that it was my final purpose to carry my warrior's legacy.

This was bad and really shouldn't turn me on, but as I dipped my fingers between the swollen folds of my labia, imagining his strong body on top of mine, I didn't care. I let my index run down and down my slit, moaning at the anticipation its touch created, until I reached my entrance and dipped the finger in just so slightly, just enough for its tip to drag out the moisture. I spread my wetness up my sensitive skin until I was wet with my own juices. I felt my clitoris harden under my touch as I circled it and slowly dropped my knees to each side.

I pictured him above me, imagined that it were his muscular thighs spreading my legs open, ready to make me his. I took my middle finger for help, pushed gently down on my nub, and began to move my hips up and down, rubbing that most sensitive knot of nerves against the increasing pressure. I wanted him here so badly, wanted him to take me and push his delicious cock so deep inside of me that it hurt. I replaced my two fingers with my thumb rubbing harder in rhythmic pulses that sent an exquisite pressure into my core while I parted my puffy lower lips with my index and middle finger and pushed them inside my slippery vagina, soaking them with juices--lubrication that was meant for him, meant to coat his enormous cock, as he spread me open. I moaned, and I gyrated my hips at a more and more urgent pace, panting. My upper body lifted half way up, as I imagined him thrusting into me again and again.

I was whimpering in need for him to fill me, to drive his tip into my most profound depths and press against my womb while he whispered sweet nothings in Veril into my ear and watched me as I came unravelled beneath him. My inner muscles pulsed against my fingers, and I gently increased the pressure on my clitoris while my other hand played with my nipple and, slowly, my core tightened. I was so wet, my fingers made a lewd squelching sound slipping in and out my pulsing silky channel, while I imagined it was him fucking me pushing into me over and over, rubbing his sweat into my pores and his seed into my womb.

My breath hitched, the faint hum in my arm became constant, and I just knew that he was thinking about me, too. Stroking himself while his balls grew tight when he imagined that instead of his hand, it was my wetness squeezing around his cock, ready to milk him for every drop of his seed. I let out a little gasp as I felt the pressure of my impeding climax grow. And then the feeling in my arm intensified, as I suspected he had come to a finish. I moaned at the intensity of sensing his emotion inside my body even at this distance. Rubbing myself more strongly against my hand, I pictured how his features contorted almost like in pain, and his eyes rolled back just for the fracture of a second as he lost himself in the feeling and spilled ropes after ropes of hot white seed on the olive green skin of his perfect stomach.

The image was all it took to finally push me over the edge as well, and I sighed in relief as my core and vagina contracted, gripping my fingers in rhythmic squeezes. When it was over, I sank down into the bed, spent and panting as the sadness about him not being here slowly crept into my heart.

Had he felt me, too? I got the impression that he couldn't sense my emotions through the mark as I could his, due to the one-sidedness of our binding. But on the other hand, Vo'ren was much more experienced in matters of magic, and I had the suspicion that there might be more to this connection than what I had gathered with my limited understanding of it. I sighed and got up. The sun was about to rise, and I wanted to use my post-orgasmic relaxation to get some desperately needed sleep.

I put my underpants back on, grabbed my toiletry bag from the backpack, and set off to the bathrooms that, as the guard had told us, were located in the third egg-shaped house. After brushing my teeth and performing just the most necessary tasks of basic hygiene, I quickly returned. The sky was turning pink, and I was impressed to see that the glass panels between the spokes of the oval rooms had automatically darkened, leaving the inside completely shrouded in blackness when I closed the door behind me. At least now, after my self-care session, my mind was empty enough to sleep. I sank down onto the bed and snuggled into a light sheet before my heavy lids fell over my eyes.

When I woke up, the glass panels of my room were still pitch black. I stretched my arm out to the side, searching for him until I remembered where I was, where he was. Suddenly wide awake, I sat up, grabbed my phone, and dialed my family again. I grunted in frustration, my nails digging into the naked skin on my thighs, when all I got was the repeated ringing again and again. I called the bakeries, and once more there was nothing. They should have been open right now; why was nobody answering?

Knowing already that it was a bad idea, I typed the words Tsul FMD into the search engine and started reading the headlines. I realized that my idea of the mission had been pretty naive. Influenced by dramatic movie scenes, I had somehow imagined a battle where the Kirtim Shenk were facing a rebel army in an open field, but of course, reality looked very different. The articles made it seem like Vo'ren's troops in the South were cleaning out one insurgent hideout after another, like shadows of death ascending upon the rebels during the night, while the FMD were using guerrilla tactics to fight back. None of the articles mentioned a new weapon, and there were apparently no reliable numbers of deaths either.

I kept scrolling, hoping for more detailed information, but it seemed like, unsurprisingly, nobody really knew what was happening.

Instead, I found another article:

Victim or Vixen--Who is Anna Neumann, the woman at the Butcher's side?

I almost snorted as I read the headline by one of Germany's most infamous newspapers and was about to tap the symbol with the white letters inside a red rectangle when I changed my mind. It wasn't worth it; nothing in this text was going to be of any use to me; it would only make me even more sad, or angry, or both.

I knew that the reveal of my identity had gotten the Veril into a bit of a diplomatic predicament; after all, Vo'ren had broken the Treaty by kidnapping me. So far, the official story was the one I had also told my parents: that I was working as the General's translator. I had been too busy dealing with my family's emotions to worry about how the Veril were handling the situation. After all, it was Vo'ren's problem how he fixed the mess he had created. But now, I realized that this version of the events--me collaborating voluntarily with the Butcher--did not make me look particularly good in the eyes of the German public. Traitor, the message flashed up in before my inner eye again, and my stomach churned.

I decided to get some fresh air and cool down my nerves. I put on my shadow dress, balanced over the strange net floor, climbed down the ladder, and stepped outside into the light, where I leaned back, pulling the skirt all the way up my ample thighs and letting the sunshine warm my face. I tried to expose as much skin as possible to stimulate my vitamin D production and smirked a bit when I recalled the look on Vo'ren's face as Doctor Günaydin had chided him about keeping me in the darkness all the time.

After the sun had set, I went back into my room again. Agitated, I spent the rest of the night with little activities to keep myself busy: reading, studying, trying to call my parents, exploring the net platforms between the trees, trying to call my parents. When my food was served, I went over and knocked on Paul's door, asking him to join me, and his company provided a welcome distraction for a while. But all night I was haunted by a terrible feeling of impending doom. I was skittish, expecting the Counselor on my doorstep at any moment, ready to pull me away to my execution and punish me for leaking confidential military intel to the enemy. But nothing happened, and when the sun was already high up in the sky again, my exhausted mind finally drifted off into a fretful sleep.

I dreamt it was night, and I was wandering deeper and deeper into a strange forest. I was alone, and my darkness wafted around me like a cloak, like an armor to protect me from all the creatures lurking in the shadows. I didn't know where I was going, but I wasn't lost; I was searching for something. I didn't know what it was, but I knew with a desperate certainty that I had to find it. The cold was creeping deep into my bones, and the stones and branches on the ground cut my naked feet open, but I kept walking, kept searching. And then...

"Thirteen!"

There was a loud knock, and I shot into an upright position bathed in sweat. I shivered, and my stomach was churning.

Paul's concerned face looked down at me. He was standing right next to my bed, his dark brown hair still messy from sleep. How had he come up here so fast?

"Thirteen, the Dragon wants to see you."

"The Dragon?" It took my mind a moment to wake up completely, but hot panic gripped me when I understood. I remembered the Counselor's glowing eyes, like pieces of embers burning into my soul. "Suchil Tem?"

Paul nodded, and I quickly slipped into my uniform pants and shirt, not caring that my translator was seeing me half naked--a month as General Tsul's little plaything really had worked wonders for making me lose all sense of modesty.

"Hurry," Paul growled as I struggled to wedge my foot into my military boot. The fact that he hadn't blushed at my state of undress either really showed how tense he was as well.

"What does he want?" I muttered, my eyes fixed on the white marble structure in front of us, as we crossed the dreadful swinging bridge descending towards the main building of the embassy.

It was still warm, and the night was filled with the chirping of insects and the burbling of the creek below us. My heart was beating so fast I feared it might jump out of my chest.

"Fuck do I know," Paul replied between his teeth. "In the best case, he just wants to say goodbye before he lets us leave and go back to the Main Base again."

"And in the worst case?"

"In the worst case, he'll scorch us to a crisp."

I dug my fingers deep into the handrail, my knees getting so weak that I had to pause midway down the bridge.

Paul turned around and rolled his eyes. "He's not going to scorch you, Thirteen. Not unless he wants to put the safety of our entire realm at risk. If anything, you should worry about me." He bared his sharp teeth in a pained grimace and turned around again. I followed him, my shaky legs for a change having nothing to do with the height.

Inside, the hall was nice and cool, a welcome contrast to the stuffy summer heat that had returned with a force after a few fresher nights. Torches had been lit all around the walls, and their flickering light did nothing to ease my nerves as we took a few tentative steps into the room.

"Shuk Iskich, it is, as always, a pleasure to see you." Suchil Tem stood only a few meters away from us, in front of the statue, and was escorted by two Royal Guards on either of his sides.

He looked composed and put together. No hint of the feral glowing power he had emanated last time I saw him. His black cloak and tunic were once again clean, and his white hair was tied in a high bun with a few strands hanging strategically loose around his face. Only a barely visible scar on his cheek proved that the events in that basement had been real. He was breathtakingly beautiful, like a snake right before sinking its teeth into your skin.

Paul saluted, and I concentrated on keeping my body's fear response at bay.

"Head Counselor Suchil." I politely inclined my head. "You sent for me?"

The corner of Suchil Tem's mouth twitched as he perceived my nervousness. "We did. I was hoping for a shared kenkirtim."

He made a dismissive gesture towards a large silver tray laden with all kinds of luxurious-looking dishes in midst the assortment of sitting cushions on the front end of the platform.

"Do not worry, we have made sure that everything has been prepared according to the list you so kindly provided us." He gave me a sarcastic smile. "It would simply pain us too deeply if Shenik Tsul's child did not get the best possible nutrition while you are our guest, Shuk Iskich."

I pursed my lips and inclined my head, accepting his invitation--not like I had a choice anyways. Suchil Tem made an almost imperceivable gesture, lifting his index and middle fingers, and I stiffened as two of the guards walked towards me. Paul tensed as well and took a step in front of me, causing Suchil Tem to roll his eyes. The Counselor directed a bored-sounding instruction at my translator, who saluted and immediately stepped aside.

The politician sighed. "There is no need for alarm, Shuk Iskich; we must merely ask you to leave your weapon with our guards as a sign of respect for our meeting."

Almost relieved, I fumbled with my belt. Ridiculous as it was of him to call this kidnapping a meeting, at least he was not having us arrested on the spot. I quickly handed my dagger over to the warrior--not like I would be able to use it against the terrible Counselor anyways.

Suchil Tem graciously inclined his head, and the guards left towards the exit. Paul, to my dismay, followed them.

"My interpreter hardly counts as a weapon," I remarked, trying to keep my tone even, not to show my panic that was flaring up again.

The Counselor chuckled at that. "Your interpreter is the half-human Kinich Vol who fought off a dozen soldiers from another realm all by himself, just because he wanted to convince Shenik Tsul to let him join the Kirtim Shenk. He counts."

Open-mouthed, I turned around, but Paul was already gone.

Suchil smirked. "As regrettable as it is that Vo'ren keeps you ignorant about virtually all aspects of your life, we do not have all night." He pointedly gestured towards the cushions with a dismissive flick of his hand.

Stiffly, I walked around the statue of the human queen and sat down on a pillow next to the short end of the silver tray. The cushions were puffy and comfortable, their rich colors mirroring those of the elaborate-looking dishes that had been served. It was a beautiful setting overlooking the lower part of the embassy's hall with the water basin where Vo'ren had marked me. The wind created light ripples in the water, making it sparkle with the reflection of the stars that shone through the opening in the roof.

The food looked and smelled delicious, but without my daily potion, my stomach was twisting and churning again. I was definitely starting to feel more pregnant in general; I thought I could sense something--a heaviness in my womb--and my breasts felt full and tender. I squinted, placed my hand on my belly, and scooted around trying to find a comfortable position.

In an elegant, cat-like movement, Suchil Tem crouched down on a pillow at the opposite side of the tray. He lifted one knee up, rested his elbow on it, and narrowed his kohl-lined eyes as he noticed my uneasy demeanor.

"Are you unwell?" he asked, and I was surprised that I couldn't detect any trace of mockery in his voice.

"No, I'm fine," I replied quickly and gave him a nervous smile, trying to mask my fear. "Just pregnant."

Suchil Tem nodded and smirked. "I can imagine that it must be quite a burden to carry my dear cousin's offspring."

I clawed my fingers into the cushion. His cousin?

The Counselor sighed and shook his head. "Forgive me; I have been presumptuous in thinking that you have been informed."

Somehow, within less than three sentences, Suchil Tem had managed to make me feel like a child that is allowed to sit with an adult. Vo'ren had warned me about that and had told me to keep up a loyal façade in front of the Counselor, but I internally cursed him for his secrecy, for his silence, and for the arrogance with which he constantly kept me in the dark.

The politician brushed a strand of ash-white hair out of his eye watching me, and I was sure he enjoyed my discomfort. "It might appear absurd to somebody not from the Shadow Realm, but where we are from, most of the influential families are related in one way or another. So that makes me what? The uncle of your child?" He gave me a dangerous smile, his canines blinking in the torchlight.

"I'll make sure to send you an invitation for the baby shower." I remarked; he raised his eyebrows in mild interest, and I set out to explain, already feeling stupid after the first words. "It's a celebration before the child is born, where friends and family gift the expecting couple things they will need as parents."

"That sounds delightful," the Counselor said with a low voice. "I am afraid many of our traditions involving children and childbirth have long become lost and forgotten."

He kept looking at me, unblinking, without saying another word, as if he were trying to read my thoughts. I shifted, nervously trying to adjust my legs into a more comfortable position, and concentrated on holding his unsettling gaze, even though every fiber in my body was telling me to cower. He really was breathtakingly beautiful, maybe even more so than Vo'ren, but I felt none of that magnetic pull, none of that devastating attraction.

"What do you want from me?" I whispered.

The Counselor narrowed his eyes. "Do you think so little of us that you do not believe I only want to take a meal in the company of my guest? We would simply like to get to know you better, to see with our own eyes what he sees in you, but I am almost getting the feeling you do not enjoy my company, Shuk Iskich." A smile played around the corner of his lips, and it made all the hairs on my arm stand up.

"With all respect, Counselor Suchil, you can hardly expect me to." I was proud of myself for managing to keep my voice steady and my chin held high.

He huffed out a single laugh before he leaned forward. For the first time, he seemed genuinely interested in what I had to say. "And would you enlighten me as to why that is?" His accent somehow enhanced the elegance of his English, and it was hard not to shiver under his scrutiny.

"Well," I swallowed and cleared my throat. "You forced him to put the binding marks on me," I counted down on the fingers of my hand. "You are not allowing me to leave Berlin; you had me kidnapped out of the midst of my husband's army the second he left the city; you are keeping me here as a prisoner, and you are generally terrifying to death."

I held on to the fifth finger and stopped. He just looked at me. I scooted backwards, hoping my mouth hadn't taken me too far this time, but Suchil Tem didn't turn into a monster of blaze and embers to scorch me to a crisp--to my surprise, he laughed, a real, open laughter, and for a moment his young face was carefree, as if the weight of carrying the responsibility for an entire dimension had been lifted of his shoulders for a second.

"I have to say, for somebody who is terrified to death, you do speak your mind astonishingly freely," he said after he had caught himself. "I do appreciate your honesty, Shuk Iskich, and so I shall return the favor by being frank with you, as well."

He looked over the pool of water that lay beneath us on the lower level. The moon had risen to the center of the open roof, and the thin crescent shone on the mirror surface. From up here, the effect was even more spectacular than it had been from below all those weeks ago.

He directed his unsettling eyes back at me, their pale golden color almost the same as the moon's.

"You deplore that we have insisted on you being formally marked, but by that we have made you Shenik Tsul's official consort with all the rights and protections that name entails, while he would have happily kept you as a simple bed slave. I believe, if anything, you should be grateful for our intervention."

I ran my finger gently over the mark; he was again trying to test my loyalty.

The Counselor filled a glittering glass cup with a dark blue liquid and took an elegant sip before he continued. "And I can hardly imagine that you are truly saddened about not being closed away behind the impermeable confounds of Shenik Tsul's city." His eyebrows furrowed as he referred to Hamburg.

"I do not enjoy being closed away away behind the impermeable confounds of this embassy either." I remarked pointedly.

Suchil Tem put the glass with his strange drink down on the ground next to him and gave me an almost tired look from under his heavy lids. "And what would you do in our stead, Shuk Iskich? What would you do if you had a general on your hands, commanding the most powerful of your armies, a brilliant strategist, a frightening warrior, a leader so strong that his soldiers follow him unquestioningly to their death, but who has, on repeated occasions, shown his deep disdain for the very order of your realm?"

"So you keep me here, as a threat." I asked carefully.

"As a reminder." Suchil Tem corrected me with a sly smile. "For Shenik Tsul to behave."

I pursed my lips and nodded, concentrating hard on breathing evenly and looking angry so he wouldn't see the tentative relief in my face. If that was the truth, then none of this was about the map at all. It was still all the same old stupid dick-measuring contest. I felt the tension in my shoulders relax a little while cursing Vo'ren for having gotten me into this.

"Please," Suchil Tem made an exaggerated gesture towards the lavish food in front of us, rolling his eyes as if its existence was a personal insult to him.

For the first time I took a closer look at the dishes: they were all different types of lavish finger food, fitting for our plateless setting. Everything had been prepared with meticulous attention to detail: meats, fruits, and vegetables I had never seen, glistening with colorful sauces, and sprinkled with herbs and decorations.

I picked up a see-through glass skewer with what looked like six small meatballs on it, dipped it into a green sauce and took a careful bite. The taste was strange but pleasant--a bouquet of unknown spices combined with the sour, citrusy freshness of the sauce.

At the military base, I had wondered several times if Vo'ren and I were served better food than the rest of the soldiers because he was the General, but now I realized that was not the case. This tiny piece of meat was already so much more elaborate than anything I had eaten with the Kirtim Shenk, and despite my weakness for croissants and pizza, I had to admit to myself that Veril cooking was simply superior to that of humans.

I took another bite, and each time I chewed, my mouth filled with a different combination of flavors--sweet and tangy, fresh and hearty--and then, like an afterthought, the stinging burn of the spices spread through my mouth, and I almost choked.

My eyes began to water, and, struggling to keep my composure in front of the Veril politician, I reached as elegantly as I could for the decanter with the dark blue liquid. I was desperate for anything that might soothe the scorching pain on my tongue, but as soon as I had closed my fingers around the neck of the bottle, Suchil Tem placed his hand on top of mine. The touch made me completely freeze in my movements, the heat of his skin sinking into my pores. Shocked, I looked up at him, and he gave me his most beautiful smile.

"I am afraid that this beverage is not approved by your healer's list," he said with a low tone, and I quickly pulled my hand away. My whole face was burning, and it was only half because of the spicy food.

"Try this." He held something in his outstretched palm. It looked as if it were made out of wax, a glossy pink flower blossom about the size of a grape.

I quickly took it and stuffed it into my mouth, desperate to soothe the burn. I had to cover my lips in surprise. As soon as the peculiar candy touched my tongue, it melted into a creamy texture, tasting like the wind on a warm summer night, of sweet fruits, white flowers, and fresh herbs rustled by the salty breeze of the sea. It was one of the most amazing things I had ever tried, and the pain in my mouth was instantly gone.

"What is that?" I asked, my eyes wide open in amazement.

"Mish," Suchil Tem replied and leaned closer to fill my glass cup with water; his golden eyes were burning into mine. "Sweet."

Flustered, I grabbed the cup and scooted my pillow a little bit backwards. I had no idea what the Counselor was playing, but I didn't like the strange direction our interaction was taking.

"Who is that?" I asked nonchalantly, tying to steer our conversation back onto safer grounds as I pointed at the statue of the human queen, which loomed behind us, touching her right hand to her heart and watching our interaction with reproachful eyes.

He chuckled before he turned around to follow my finger, and I had the creeping feeling that, though he had hardly asked me any questions at all, Suchil Tem was getting every answer he wanted out of me.

"She is the Curse Bearer," he said and made a quick reverent movement, touching his index, middle, and ring finger against his forehead as he gave the statue a fleeting look.

When he saw my puzzled expression, he rolled his eyes and sighed, "Of course, he has not told you about her either. I am almost getting the impression that conversation is not the main pillar of your relationship." He added that last part with a smirk, and I glared at him.

"I know who the Curse Bearer is," I said through clenched teeth. "But in all the depictions I've seen, she had Veril features. This is the first time I see her depicted as human."

He nodded. "A work of art can only ever be as wide or as narrow as its creator's horizon. An artist who has never traveled the gates between the realms and who has never seen a young woman in his life, let alone a human one, will not know how to depict her in any other way than as if she were of our kind. Only the earliest of her images still bear some resemblance to who she really was, and over the long passage of time, the truth became forgotten, but the Cursed King's queen was indeed as human as you, Shuk Iskich."

I looked up at her, full of awe, and a creeping feeling ran up my spine--a strange foreboding that made my body tingle. This was her! I mimicked the movement I had seen Suchil Tem make, touching three fingers to my forehead.

"But you know the truth." My voice was barely more than a whisper.

Suchil Tem exhaled in a huff; it sounded almost sad. "I would be a bad leader to my people if I did not make it my utmost priority to learn every detail about the Curse that is erasing our existence." He shot an almost combative glance at the queen behind him, and for a moment I thought I saw his eyes glow with internal fire. "If I did not try to break it."

I opened my mouth, trying to formulate all the questions that were swirling around in my mind, about the queen, about the curse, and about how he thought it could be broken--whether he thought there was still use in trying. But at that moment the main door on the other side of the hall flew open, and I whirled around. A royal guard stepped in reporting something in Veril, to which Suchil Tem gave a bored-sounding reply before he sent him away with a flick of his hand and turned to me again.

"Unfortunately, there is one more reason; I have been keeping you here."

My blood froze.

"The Kanlzer." He said the word with so much sarcasm it sounded like Gruber was the most ridiculous being he had ever met. "Has asked for an audience with us, so I am afraid I will have to make use of your exquisite translations once more."

I breathed out half relieved it had nothing to do with the map, half in shock about the unexpected meeting with the German head of Government. "Ch'ish!"

The Counselor's head snapped in my direction, a look of complete indignation on his beautiful face, and I couldn't help but grin at him, almost proud of myself for having made him lose his composure.

He drew up his eyebrows and drawled. "I suppose this type of language is to be expected of a woman who has been living amongst soldiers for almost a moon."

I gave him an innocent smile. "I don't even know what it means."

Suchil Tem's eyes met mine with a mischievous sparkle while he stood up with fluid grace. "Let us say it refers to a part of the body that you do not possess." He stretched out his hand to me. "Firstly, because you are a woman, and secondly, because you are not of our kind."

I chuckled a little. I ignored his hand and clumsily got to my feet by myself as Kanzler Gruber came through the door, carrying an elegant briefcase. The soles of his expensive leather shoes sounded heavily on the stone floor, and I thought he looked almost lost, all alone in the great empty hall, turning his head to take in the unfamiliar surroundings.

Suchil Tem inhaled deeply. He picked up his staff and made a beckoning gesture with his two fingers over his shoulder, indicating that I should follow him towards the stairs that led to the lower level.

He only descended two steps, forcing me to stop right behind his back. I was so close I could see each of the short white hairs on the shaven sides of his head. They looked really soft, and I had to suppress an intrusive impulse to run my finger over them. He was so tall we stood at the same height even though I was one stair above him. I moved a little bit more to the side, trying to get a better view and further away from the Counselor. The torches around the room dimmed.

"Welcome Bundeskanzler," said Suchil Tem, and his voice carried effortlessly through the whole expanse of the hall. I cleared my throat before I translated and was relieved to hear myself sounding confident as well; my brain was working almost automatically, and if I hadn't been so stressed and confused, I would have actually enjoyed my new job.

"We hope you have not troubled yourself too much, leaving your beautiful new office and taking all the tiresome way to our modest abode upon you." I could hear the smirk in the Counselor's voice.

Gruber showed no sign of anger at the thinly veiled mockery; instead, he bowed his head. I felt my stomach burn with dislike for the man; it annoyed me how he pretended to be familiar with Veril customs, how submissively he groveled in front of the Counselor. I followed the Kanzler with narrowed eyes as he walked around the pond, right to the foot of our stairs. He lifted his face, forced to look up at Suchil Tem, the elven ruler overseeing his subordinate.

Philipp Gruber didn't look good; the dark circles under his eyes were clearly visible even behind his glasses, and his face was covered in a slight sheen of sweat that reflected the flickering torchlight around us. He took a white handkerchief out of the front pocket of his suit jacket and patted his forehead with it, seemingly trying to collect himself. Suchil Tem impatiently tapped his elegant fingers on his staff, and my eyes followed the sound, admiring the craftsmanship of the shiny black scales on the dragon-shaped top.

"Thank you for receiving me on such short notice, Counselor Suchil," Gruber finally said in German. His voice was steady--a moment had been enough for the routined politician to regain his confidence. "I'm sure that your way here must have been a lot longer than mine."

Suchil Tem made a dismissive gesture. "No travel is too far if it is to meet good friends. Now to what do we owe the pleasure of such a prompt reunion?"

As I translated, the Kanzler's eyes flicked to me, and I saw recognition dawn on his face; it had taken him a moment to notice who I was. I couldn't really blame him; after all, the last time we met, my face had been covered.

"Fräulein Neumann." He gave me an insincere smile and nod.

"Guten Abend, Herr Gruber," I said politely, though my blood was boiling because of the thinly veiled smugness I had heard in his voice when he said my now public name. "My name is still Tsul, no matter what you might have read in the yellow press."

He looked back at the Counselor again, not paying me any more heed, and I clenched my teeth to bite back any further remarks.

"Counselor Suchil, I wouldn't have bothered you if the issue weren't so important: you have to call him back." Gruber put his foot on the first stair, an urgent expression on his broad face, but unsure if he was allowed to come closer.

"You will have to give me slightly more context." Suchil Tem sighed, not trying to mask the annoyance in his voice, and even without seeing his face, I knew he had rolled his eyes.

A brief flash of anger passed Gruber's features--he was a man used to a treatment of respect and admiration, and apparently he could only hide his arrogance for so long. I felt a deep satisfaction at seeing him taken down his high horse by Suchil Tem's constant mockery.

"You have to call back that madman of a general." The Kanzler slightly raised his voice, and I balled my hands into fists while I translated, but the Counselor remained silent.

As he got no reaction, Gruber added in a more desperate tone, "Please, he is depopulating entire towns." He took one full step up the stairs, but Suchil Tem made a disapproving sound with his tongue, and the Kanzler froze in his movement.

"It's another massacre. Women, children, elderly..."

"Liar!" My voice echoed through the hall.

My mind was in turmoil; the words had finally made something snap, and all the fear, worry, and uncertainty of the last nights came bursting out of me, happy to have finally found an outlet. I squeezed past the Counselor, sick of their games, manipulations, and deceit. Not caring about diplomatic protocol anymore.

I walked down the staircase until I stood face to face with the German politician, ready to be the first one in this reunion to truly speak my mind. "You are a shameless liar, Kanzler Gruber." I bared my teeth. "The Kirtim Shenk don't hurt women and children."

I heard Suchil Tem chuckle behind me, but the Kanzler was not amused. He puffed up his chest like an oversized penguin.

"Young lady, I suggest you leave it up to the Counselor and me to discuss this matter." His tone was sharp; nothing left of the deference he reserved for Suchil Tem, not even the condescending paternalism he had used speaking to me.

"Prove it," I hissed.

"Excuse me?" He shot a fleeting look at Suchil Tem as if to gauge what role I was playing in this scenario and how badly it would be taken if he told me off.

"Prove it if you want me to translate your lies to Isklik Suchil." I said the title in Veril to make clear what side I stood on.

Gruber shook his head in indignation while he snapped his briefcase open in a practiced movement and pulled out a bunch of A5-sized photographs. A terrible sense of foreboding crept up my spine, and all of a sudden my anger dissipated like smoke in a storm. Every part of my body told me not to look at those pictures, but still, I slowly lowered my eyes, and a gasped sob escaped my lips.

Blood and bodies, human bodies, lying in unnaturally twisted positions with ghastly cuts, missing limbs, missing ears. Unmoved, the Kanzler showed me the next photograph--more bodies--men, women, children, a whole family, it seemed. My mind started swirling, and I was beginning to feel lightheaded. Photos can be faked, I tried to reassure myself as Gruber revealed the next image, closer takes of the victims, more missing ears, fingers. And then I saw it: the figurine of a small wooden bear with chubby paws, round ears, and a button nose on the floor right next to a young child's hand. It was like the ground under my feet opened up and I tumbled into a hole filled with darkness.

Like an empty shell, my body remained upright, frozen, while my mind kept falling and spinning. I hardly heard the Counselor speak; it seemed like he was far, far away. As if I were under water, barley able to make out the distorted sound. Only when I felt a warm hand on my shoulder was I able to collect myself enough, and my brain clicked into action, translating mechanically while I only understood half the words that came out of mouth.

I didn't rejoice when Suchil Tem dismissed Gruber, saying that he knew how humans had perfected the art of lying through pictures and that the blood was on the Germans' hands for not getting the terrorists under control on time. And I didn't get angry when the Kanzler told me, before he turned around and left, that next time I should be more critical of what an army stands for, if I wanted to wear their uniform. Like through a haze, I watched him go, walking around the pond and towards the exit.

"One more thing, dear Kanzler," said Suchil Tem, as if in an afterthought.

Gruber, already standing in the door, turned around, and for a second, before he was able to mask himself again, I saw it in his eyes, the terror of what bowing to our inhuman occupiers meant. There was a flash of bright light, and he let out a short and pointed scream of surprise when the photographs he was still holding in his hands caught fire and disappeared in a wisp of smoke. With a heavy clank that echoed through the entire hall, the door fell closed, and the last thing I saw of him was the shock in his pale face.

"Now, that was rather unpleasant," the Counselor remarked with a yawn as he walked up the stairs again. "Apologies for that, Shuk Iskich; I know how much you dislike to actually look upon the results of your husband's work."

"You said those pictures were lies," I muttered, though I already knew they weren't.

"Does it matter?" The Counselor asked, and I looked up at him incredulously.

"The Kirtim Shenk are acting on your order--don't you care whether they commit war crimes in your name?" We stood next to the statue now, and I held on to her marble pedestal, feeling completely empty.

"Every war has collateral damages; it is unfortunate but cannot be avoided." Suchil Tem drew down the corners of his mouth. "Shenik Tsul's task is to win, and as long as he keeps doing that for us, we consider it unnecessary to inquire how he accomplishes that goal."

I only shook my head; I didn't have the strength to reply to that, not with the images of the innocent victim's mutilated bodies still burned into my mind.

The Counselor nodded, uninterested in my current state. "We might need to make some more use of your translations in the nights to come, but for now, I think we have kept you long enough. We will inform Shenik Tsul that he can send a convoy to pick you up before dawn. We would not want him to lose focus on his mission in the South." He turned towards the door on the other side of which I had seen the dark figures of Kirtim Shenk warriors on our first night here and added, "You may take your interpreter as well."

I looked up at him; my whole body felt heavy. "What about the reminder to behave?"

The Counselor gave me a menacing smile, displaying all of his teeth. "I do not think he will forget this time. And neither should you."

He reached into the pocket of his tunic and pulled out a small glittering bottle with a few drops of red liquid--my blood! An hour ago, the thought that Suchil Tem owned a part of me would have terrified me to my bones; now it hardly registered.

Like in an unimportant afterthought, he added, "If Shenik Tsul is successful with the rebels, the two of you are free to leave the capital; until then, expect me to call on you, Shuk Iskich."

Distracted, I inclined my head and hurried out of the back exit.

Paul was waiting for me, sitting on the bridge and letting his long legs dangle. When he saw me come out of the building, he was quick to jump, looking expectantly at me, but I squeezed past him without a word. I just wanted to get to my room and be alone.

"Are you okay? Did he do something to you?" He grabbed my upper arm.

Funny how everybody thought it was acceptable to touch me now that the General was not around. I brushed his hand away.

"Everything is fine." I forced a fake smile on my lips. I didn't know how often I had repeated the exact same lie in the last few weeks. Nothing was fine. "You can pack your bags; the Counselor is letting us go before dawn."

Paul paused. "Really?" Why did he look so surprised? "Me too?"

"Yes, you too." We were already half way up the bridge, and the height made me feel even less like talking.

Paul made a weird sound, and when I turned around to him, he whispered, "Thirteen, there is something I need to tell you."

"Not now, Paul, please; I really need to be alone for a moment." It felt like my mind was dangling on the thinnest thread that could rip at any moment and make me plummet into darkness again.

"I have to tell you before we return to the Kirtim Shenk."

There was something alarming in his voice that had me prick up my ears. And as soon as I had reached the relative safety of the net platform, I stopped to fully look at him. His face had turned a paler shade of green, and he ran his fingers through his dark brown hair. I hadn't seen him that nervous since the night he was supposed to teach me Veril.

"What is it, Paul?"

He took a few steps, and I followed until we were behind my egg-shaped tree room, hidden from the eyes below us.

"Thirteen," he started again, paused, and swallowed. "Thirteen, you have been really nice to me since we came here and... Well and always, really, and I just think it's not right, so I have to tell you."

"What?" My head was spinning. "Just tell me, Paul, I'm losing my mind here!"

"I've been checking your phone since the first night you arrived with Shenik Tsul." He blurted out as if saying the words fast was making it easier. "On his orders. When you were asleep or at training."

I stared at him open-mouthed. Then I slowly shook my head. "But if..."

"If that were true, he would have known every word you exchanged with your little terrorist friend? About how you want to run? About the photo you sent him?--He knows."

My stomach churned. I had to sit down and knot my fingers deep into the webbing, trying, despite the airy setting, to keep me anchored to the here and now.

"But if he knows why did he let me keep the phone?"

Paul shook his head. "Do you still not get it? Because he wanted you to write those things so he could feed the terrorists the right information. He even had me translate the map for them so they would know exactly when the Dragon was supposed to visit Heidelberg."

"But how would he know Tim is with the rebels?" My voice came out like a whimper.

Paul scoffed at that. "I just told you that Shenik Tsul used us to orchestrate a terrorist attack on the leader of the Shadow Realm, and that is all you care about? Why do you think your house was under surveillance in the first place?"

"No, but he told me secret information; he told me about the sun and Veril magic, and the story of the Curse. You were there. Why would he have done that if he thought I was in contact with the rebels?"

He drew down the corners of his mouth. "The FMD already knew about the sun; they have been developing their new weapon for months, and the story of the Curse is not really a secret, nor is it actually useful intel."

"But..." I wanted to say more. About how he had taken me with him as his translator and on a secret mission through the tunnels beneath Berlin, but of course that was after I had told Tim that I was going to stay, after he knew he had me where he wanted me.

My mind ran through all the scenarios. How the tidy General never left anything out of place except for the map, which he had so conveniently forgotten. How he had allowed me to go shopping, but with an escort so big and powerful it made any attempt at escape impossible. All the times he had simply chosen not to answer my questions, how he had pretended to be hurt by me trying to run, even though he knew what I was planning all along. A brilliant strategist. I was nothing but a pawn in his scheme against the Counsel; he had used me--everything had been a lie.

I thought of Gruber's photos again, and it was like something hard and cold snapped into place deep inside my heart and snuffed out all feelings.

I stood up and looked Paul straight into his eyes. "Thank you for telling me. You are a true friend." I patted his shoulder. "I just really hope the Counselor doesn't have any microphones here, or I doubt we will be leaving this place anytime soon, alive that is." The words came easily over my lips because I didn't care anymore.

Paul reached into his pocket and took out a little round blinking device. "Radio jamming," he said ominously and pressed his thumb against it. The blinking stopped, and he laid his finger on his lips, indicating me to stay silent. "Just in case."

I nodded resigned. "I'll go pack my things. Meet you back here?"

"Meet you back here, Thirteen," Paul replied with a sad smile around the corners of his mouth.

Back in my room, I sat down on the furs and buried my face in my hands, taking deep breaths and counting to twelve.

In a way, knowing he had only used me was better. During the past few weeks I had fought and fought to keep a positive outlook, to find the good in my terrible situation, the good in him. Over and over I had excused the horrific things he did, had tried to believe there was a redeemable side to him. I had lied to myself, and worse, I had lied to my own people. I had sided with the enemy, helped him in every way I could. Had even hated the rebels for their willingness to sacrifice innocent bystanders, but at least they were acting with the desperation of the oppressed. The General was taking innocent lives for no reason; because to him, we were nothing more than animals. He was a liar, a manipulator and a child murderer.

In a way, knowing he had only used me was better because it gave me the strength to do what I should have done long ago.

I took out my cursed phone and typed my message to Tim.

Will be leaving Tiergarten in a convoy going to Volkspark Friedrichshain tonight. If you can't get me now, don't write again.

My fingers hovered over the button, but I paused. Last time I had sent a message out of impulse, it had come to haunt me until now.

Take a few seconds, take a couple more breaths, think the details through for once. I stuffed my sparse belongings into my backpack, climbed down the ladder, and onto the platform where Paul was already waiting. I would need a few more minutes to make my decision.

"Ready?"

I nodded, but as I stepped on the bridge, my boot got caught on a knot, and I stumbled a few steps forward until I regained my balance. I stared at the ground so many meters below me. Just one night ago, a mishap like this would have brought me to the edge of a heart attack, but now the height didn't even make my stomach flutter; I felt completely empty.

"Give me that." Paul pulled the backpack from my shoulders, and I nodded gratefully.

We walked in silence through the empty embassy. The Counselor had long left, and with him, it seemed, the Royal Guards. Deep in thought, I hardly took note of the bustle and fussing of the Kirtim Shenk warriors around us, ushering me into one of the usual vehicles.

Inside, I turned around for the first time, but to my surprise, the seat to my left was empty except for my lonely backpack. I frowned; Paul must have gotten into another car, but before I could take a closer look outside, the doors were closed behind me and the humming engine whirred into motion.

I closed my eyes as they brought me back under the control of the monster who owned me. For I had made my decision: it would be selfish to send this message, the rebels would risk their lives trying to rescue me, and at the same time I would put all the warriors around me in danger, including Paul, who had risked everything to tell me the truth. And for what? The General would find me through the bond anyway. There was no more hope, and I wasn't going to take others down with me. I pulled my phone out of my backpack; I would try and throw it out of the window at the next curve.

Something caught my eye: a message popping up on the screen--Tim.

Keep your head down. We're coming.

The night was illuminated by a flash of light brighter than a dozen suns, and the car's windows exploded under a sudden wave of pressure

MARIADELAO