Nura's fingers tap at the scarred wood of the table, her blue eyes upon the people that wander beyond the window of the inn she's been confined to. Talon's strict orders echo inside her head and though they grate against what everything within her is telling her to do, she listens to him and doesn't leave the inn.
But impatience has wiggled into her gut and makes sitting still almost painful.
She lets out another sigh, standing to once again pace the room. All she can do is ponder, her thoughts running through her, arcing in every direction from the hope of getting Rephas back, to the downright ugly thoughts that she'll never see her husband again.
Nura presses her hands to her stomach, the thoughts making her insides churn. She reminds herself of Talon's words, that if she's discovered in this place then the slim chance she has of getting Rephas back will disappear. She won't jeopardise the one chance she has of seeing her husband again.
Nura slumps down on the bed, willing her thoughts to settle, willing her heart to stop racing. She closes her eyes, rolling onto her side. She kicks the blankets away, shoves the hair from her face, before rolling onto her other side with a huff. She watches the sun disappear from the worn floorboards, watches its gradual descent behind the buildings to disappear, leaving the sky a dusty orange.
As sleep escapes her, she can't help but think on everything that she's learnt. There appears to be a silent battle raging that she's never heard of, one that involves her husband and the Ice Elf who escorts her across Cirallian. But her husband managed to escape it, managed to build a life... with her. Except now he's been dragged back into it and Nura is beginning to understand the shadows that plagued his gaze. This is what he was afraid of. This is what they'd been running from.
Nura closes her eyes, wetness trickling down her temple and into her hair. Rephas never told her of the horrors that chased him. Everything he did was to protect her, to keep her out of this hidden battle, but she's run into it anyway. Guilt eats at her and she wars with herself. Is she doing the right thing by going after him?
Her thoughts are interrupted by the click of the door opening and she sits up, watching as Talon enters the room, his light gaze quick to find hers. Nura swallows, waiting for him to speak, dreading what he could say.
"I've found Rephas."
A small cry falls from her lips to hear those words and tears blur her vision, relief crashing into her chest like a tidal wave. Her shoulders slump and she presses her hands to her mouth. Rephas. Spirits, he's found Rephas. But the shadows in his gaze add a sharp edge to her relief.
Talon leans against the door, staring at the floorboards as he tugs his fingers through his snowy hair, dishevelling the curls. "Rólin took Rephas to his mansion."
"Who's Rólin?" Nura manages to ask around the lump in her throat, remembering hearing the name from the healer.
"The man who owns me," Talon murmurs, his voice filled with so much pain and desolation that it pierces Nura's heart.
She stands and goes to him, reaching out a trembling hand to touch his shoulder. "Let me help you," she says.
Talon lifts his gaze to hers, the sparks of silver within them seeming dulled in the low light. "I could break into the mansion. Maybe." He closes his eyes, a muscle in his jaw fluttering. "But the chance of running into Rólin would be too high. He'll know why I'm there. He'll know I've betrayed him. And he could kill Rephas to send a message." He opens his eyes again, Nura's mouth going dry to see the shadows that lurk within them. "If he hasn't killed him already."
"I have to get him back," she says. There's no other road to take. Either she gets him back or... She can't think about leaving him behind. Rephas would never leave her behind. But as she looks into Talon's eyes, recognising the same darkness within them that Rephas carried, she knows she's asking too much of him. She's already asked too much. "I'll... I'll go alone."
Talon's head thumps against the door as he looks to the ceiling. "That's not an option."
Nura draws in a sharp breath, trying to bury her palpable fear. "If this Rólin is really as terrible as you're implying, then I won't leave Rephas to his mercy. But I know I can't ask you to do anything more for me. So, I'll go alone."
Talon's gaze lands on her and he studies her for a long moment, his eyes flicking between hers. Nura doesn't know what he sees, most likely her fear, but also... also the truth in her words.
She will go alone. She'll do what she must to save her husband. She's beginning to realise how much she's willing to endure for that man. She's beginning to realise how much Rephas is enduring to keep her safe. If she doesn't get him back then all of this would have been for nothing. She would have suffered all of this for nothing. She would have defied Rephas' last wish for her to stay safe for nothing.
Talon finally lets out a curse in Elvhaan, his lips pressing together. "Spirits, I'll do it. Elice wouldn't forgive me if I didn't at least try."
"Talon, I said I'd go alone."
"No, I'll go alone," he replies, turning back to the door. "I can't let anything happen to you, Nura." With that, he throws open the door and is gone again, leaving Nura behind with her shock and the arguments dying on her tongue.
She stands there for a long moment, her fingers twisting in her shirt, indecision crawling up her spine. She can't continue to sit idle and if this is the one opportunity she has of getting Rephas back... Well, she's going to make certain they don't fail.
Nura spins around and swipes up her satchel—filled with supplies she's managed to snatch on their journey—and her cloak. She slips from the room and patters down the steps of the inn, her breath stuck in her throat.
She leaves the inn before she can second guess her decision, stepping out onto the street, noting that there's less activity as the sun sets. She spots Talon's rigid back with ease and sets out after him, keeping a safe distance behind him and sticking to the shadows.
She's never been one to have to skulk through the dark like a thief, her work is conducted in the light. Everything about this leaves a bad feeling in her stomach that she can't seem to shake, but then again, nothing about her current situation should feel right. She focuses on her goal to get her husband back and ignores the rest.
Nura trails her hand along the cool brick of the buildings they walk through. She keeps her gaze on Talon, knowing if she loses him then she'll be lost and alone in this place. As a half-Human, she can imagine the reception she'll receive stumbling around trying to look for help. Nura is used to hate, she just hasn't had the opportunity yet to be targeted by Elves and she plans to keep it that way.
Ahead of her, Talon flips the hood of his cloak up and Nura gets the feeling that they're drawing nearer to the mansion and her pulse flutters in her neck.
She does the same, covering her golden-brown hair and round ears with her hood.
Talon crosses the street lit by lanterns, the cobble roads empty of people. Nura stops at the edge of the alley, chewing on her lower lip as she glances at the mansion ahead of her. The iron and brick that surrounds the manor looks too high to climb and men stand by the closed gates, guarding them with watchful gazes. Nura peers at the manor, the stone a pale cream with ivy crawling up the walls. Golden light spills from many of the glass windows and Nura's hope of getting her husband back begins to flicker like the candlelight in the manor.
Getting into that sprawling house unnoticed is beginning to look like an impossibility.
Talon doesn't approach the guards at the front gates. He avoids them, rounding the fence to approach the rear of the manor. Nura follows, hoping he has some sort of a plan that doesn't get them both caught.
Through the iron bars, she spies a garden, teeming with plants that are well tended and a maze of hedges.
Talon stops at part of the fence, a part that he eases open. It's tangled in vines, well hidden. He closes it after him, but Nura isn't far behind, trailing after him into the garden. She steps into the sweet scent of flowers, but doesn't get a moment to admire the vegetation around her before fingers dig into her arm. Nura gasps as she's dragged behind a hedge, spun around, and met with Talon's disapproving gaze.
"While I admire your tenacity, Nura," he starts, his voice hushed, barely a whisper that brushes against her cheek with how close he's pressed to her, "I must insist you stop being a fool before you get yourself killed."
Nura opens her mouth to argue, but footsteps cause her lips to snap shut and her eyes to widen.
"Come out and let us talk face to face," says a voice, deep and humming with danger.
Talon visibly stiffens, his hands tightening around Nura's upper arms until his hold should be painful, but it's not.
"It's been a while since you've last hidden from me, Taliondil. The change is almost refreshing."
Talon steps away from her, moving to reveal himself, but Nura grabs his cloak, shaking her head.
"What are you doing?" she hisses.
Talon looks down at Nura, the sheer desolation in his silver gaze breaking her heart. He steps around the hedge and onto the stone path to face the man, his shoulders rigid.
"Her too," the man drawls.
Nura swallows, the dryness in her throat making the movement painful. She moves out of hiding to stand at Talon's side.
"Nura Wolfire," the man says and Nura catches a glint of glee in his golden eyes. "It's good to finally put a face to the name."
Nura doesn't know who the man is, she's never seen him, but her name in his mouth makes her skin crawl.
A Sworn Elf, evident by his dark brown skin and pointed ears, lined with silver rings. But not a soldier. His clothes are too fine, tailored to his lanky frame, stitched with gold, lined with silk.
The man shifts his golden eyes back to Talon. "I always knew your soft spot for Rephas would be your downfall."
"Vuoto lit vulifdu," Talon murmurs, his voice strained. Nura scowls at his use of Elvhaan. It's meant to be a relatively dead language. Elves rarely speak it anymore and Nura has never heard it spoken so fluently. She's beginning to understand more and more how apart she and Talon truly are.
The man steps forward, a smile curving his full lips. "Where's the fun in that?"
"Where's my husband?" Nura demands before fear can choke her voice from her completely.
He tilts his head, his gaze flicking to her. "Rephas Wolfire is my guest. Would you like to be too?"
"Rólin," Talon starts, a sharp edge to his usually smooth tone. That name clangs around Nura's head and her throat begins to close. "Please don't."
Rólin's eyes flash, that glee brightening the gold again. "My, tonight appears to be a night of old habits coming back. When did you last beg me for something, Taliondil?"
Talon's hands clench into fists at his sides and Nura only gets a brief moment to wonder why he doesn't just use his powers and cut through this man before Rólin lifts a hand and beckons.
The glass doors of the manor behind Rólin are flung open and soldiers clad in leather drag a man between them into the garden.
Nura would recognise those broad shoulders and long strands of chestnut hair anywhere. She'd know him blind, deaf, and dumb. She'd be able to find her husband in the dark no matter the circumstances.
A cry tears from her lips and Nura lurches forward, but Talon grabs her and yanks her behind him before she can reach Rephas. She struggles against him, hope and desperation clawing at her insides.
"Is he alive?" Nura hears Talon ask as they dump Rephas on the stone like he's little more than a sack of rocks and not the man she loves. Nura stops struggling at the question, her entire body going numb.
Rólin glances down at Rephas and nudges him with a polished, leather boot. Nura clings to the back of Talon's cloak, bile rising in her throat. Rephas groans and Nura sobs. "For now," Rólin says with a flash of his teeth, stark white against his dark skin.
Rephas is covered in lacerations and bruises and part of his face is swollen. Nura can't tell if he's been fighting or if he was tortured. Both those possibilities cause tears to swim in her gaze.
"Give him back," she whispers past the lump of emotions in her throat, her voice muffled by the fabric of Talon's cloak.
"I quite like hearing Taliondil beg," Rólin replies, amusement in his gaze. "Do it again."
"Mevulifet vuoto lit vulifdu," Talon says again in Elvhaan, his voice breaking at the end, like it pains him to speak such words.
Rólin closes his eyes for a moment and draws in breath. "Like music to my ears." He kneels beside Rephas and taps his cheek with the back of his hand. Rephas manages to pry his eyes open and Nura's heart soars to see those warm brown irises. "Do you hear that, Rephas? Taliondil begs. Not for your life though." Rólin lifts his golden eyes to Nura. "But for your wife's. I guess he's not planning to save you again."
Talon tenses, every muscle that Nura feels in his back going as taut as a strung wire.
Rólin stands and steps closer to them. "What? Did you think I didn't know it was you who got Rephas out of the Elven lands all those years ago? Did you think I wouldn't anticipate you betraying me again?" Rólin's lip curls, the amusement fading from his golden eyes. "It seems after thirty years, you still haven't learned your lesson."
Nura pushes forward then, her gut churning, her fingers trembling, but she refuses to be idle with her husband right before her. He's so close. She can't let him slip through her fingers.
"What do you want with my husband?" she demands, Talon's hand curling around her arm but she shrugs off his touch and steps closer to Rólin.
"Want with him?" he asks with a tilt of his head, like such a question is new to him. "I don't want him for anything. Rephas fulfilled his use in the war."
Nura stares at the man before her, gaze flicking between his, trying and failing to understand his words. "Then why go to all this effort to take him?"
Rólin purses his lips and glances down at Rephas. "Because he escaped. I don't like it when my property escapes."
"Your property?" Nura hisses as her face twists, disgust crashing through her. Her husband belongs to no one. Especially not this man. "Give him back."
"Nura," the word is soft, broken, falling from Rephas' bloody lips. Nura's heart lurches and she takes another step forward. "Nura. Go."
Before the words truly sink in, a scream shatters the tense silence. Nura's eyes widen as a body tumbles from the rooftop of the manor and lands on the cobblestone with a sickening crunch. Rólin jolts away from the body and Nura uses his moment of distraction to bound to Rephas' side.
"I'm not leaving you behind," she tells him as she kneels beside her husband, his eyelids fluttering as he looks up at her. She cups his face in her palms, his skin warm beneath her trembling fingers. His stubble scratches her smooth skin, so painstakingly familiar that she barely resists the urge to bury her face in his neck and forget this madness. "Get up, Rephas."
He wraps his large hands around her wrists. "Run, Nura. Please."
She lifts her head, tearing her gaze from his, to see Rólin advancing upon her, his face twisting in rage. More of his soldiers drop around him, arrows piercing their flesh, but none touch him. Rólin curls his hand and flame swirls around his fist. Something in her chest squeezes to be faced with more power from the Elves. It's no wonder her father died in the war if this is what he was fighting.
Rólin's gaze is on her, the flame swirling and brightening.
Nura grabs Rephas' ruined tunic, trying to pull him away from that flame, but the man is too heavy and too weak.
She throws herself over Rephas, protecting his body with hers, and closes her eyes as the fire roars and crashes towards her, piercing through her eyelids with blinding intensity. She waits for the searing pain.
The pain never comes. Instead there's a cracking sound, like glass shattering. Nura opens her eyes as a wall of crystalline ice slices between her and Rólin, his flame crashing into the wall of cold. The icy air bites at her skin, but she doesn't get another moment to stare in awe before Talon is at her side, hauling her up by her arm.
Nura stumbles to her feet and she and Talon grab Rephas and run, Talon taking most of his weight. Whoever rains down arrows clears a path for them through the garden.
Nura's heart lurches into her throat when she sees the gate, freedom just beyond.
"Open the gate," Talon orders, flinging out a hand behind him to send a volley of ice shards into their pursuers. Nura doesn't look back.
She has Rephas. She doesn't need to worry about anything else but getting him away from Rólin and his soldiers.
Nura slips away from Rephas to sprint ahead to the gate. She pushes aside the vines and throws open the metal. Whipping around, her eyes wide, Nura watches as Talon drags Rephas towards her, towards escape.
But she blinks, and in that moment fire blooms into the night, singeing away the cold. Nura opens her mouth to shout but the fist of fire is already colliding with Rephas and Talon, consuming them, bringing them tumbling to the stone.
Nura screams and runs towards them. Talon rolls to his feet, but Rephas stays slumped on the ground, managing to only shift his arm towards her.
His lips move, muttering something that she can't hear over the blood pumping through her veins. She doesn't get the chance to reach him before Talon bounds towards her. He sweeps her up into his arms, throws her over his shoulder and leaves her husband behind.
Nura struggles, beating her hands against his back, screaming. "Let me go! Let me get him!"
Rephas is still on the ground, Rólin walking towards him with darkness clouding his eyes.
Nura reaches for her husband as he looks at her, relief in his gaze, but she feels none of that relief.
Her fingers curl towards him, desperate to have him in her hold, but they snatch at nothing but icy air. Then they're through the gate and Rephas has slipped through her fingers again.