The Prince's Mark

Chapter Two

"Please, ah, please wait."

"I am waiting," Tracou said, crossing his arms over his chest.

The elf's eyes widened. Then he straightened up and gave Tracou a slight bow.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult you."

Elves were weird. Or maybe it was just this one. Tracou eyed him coolly, but this apology made the last dregs of anger he had kept evaporate.

"You should be sorry," he said limply.

Silence. The elf had chased after him to apologize and wasn't leaving. In fact, it looked like he was expecting something. If he was expecting some kind of apology back, he absolutely wasn't going to get it. He could chase Tracou out to sea and still get nothing.

It was unbelievably awkward.

"Hey, elf. Is this your first time outside of your country?"

"Yes, it is," he said, sounding almost proud.

Come to think of it, the elf was dusty. His clothes were turning brown. To the discerning eye of someone who very much valued nice clothing, what the elf was wearing was high quality. The elf himself had bags under his eyes. As far as he knew, the capital of the Elven Kingdom was weeks and weeks away from Shalen. It was possible that the elf had no idea how traveling was normally done.

"And you're alone?"

"Yes."

Tracou made an unpleasant noise in the back of his throat.

"You're asking to get into fights, you know. Or get taken advantage of. You think these humans won't take you for all your worth?"

A small gasp escaped the elf's mouth. "They would do that?"

Everyone knew humans, if given half a chance, would steal anything from anyone. Even an elf should know this. He spoke Aodehsh fine, but he didn't know about haggling or thieves. Just what were they teaching people in the Elven Kingdom? This was pathetic.

"You really need help, don't you?"

The elf kept his eyes on Tracou and nodded once. "Will you help me?"

Helping an elf wasn't on the list of things Tracou wanted to do. He traveled to Shalen by himself and he had intended to stay that way. Still, if he left the elf alone, he could end up robbed or worse. This was a gathering of merchants, but criminals could slip in. Elves were rare. Something bad could happen. It wasn't Tracou's responsibility, of course. But seeing this possibly helpless elf fidget in front of him was just too much. He couldn't ignore it.

Plus this was an abnormal event. A dezmek like him hardly saw elves, let alone spoke to them.

"I'll help you."

The elf took a few steps toward Tracou. "Thank you! Oh, I've been so lonely by myself."

Without warning, the elf suddenly grabbed one of Tracou's gloved hands with both of his own. Tracou stared at their hands, wholly unused to this kind of behavior.

"I'm in your debt," the elf said, sounding entirely too pleased.

"Um... okay."

The elf leaned down, forcing Tracou to confront the difference in their heights. Tracou only came up to the base of the elf's neck.

"I'm glad you're the one helping me. Are all dezmek as cute as you are?" the elf asked without even the barest hint of shame.

"Wh—?!" Tracou choked, half of his gasped question not even getting out of his mouth in time. Just moments ago this elf had been insulting him and now he was... What was he doing, exactly? He was holding his hand and calling him cute. Maybe this was normal elf protocol, but to Tracou it was almost too much to handle.