Chapter 30

Nishta held the willowy elf's arms behind her back as she dragged her out of the cave entrance to their camp. "Why you are, an elf, consorting with a human? Is he your hired hand? Does he kill anyone who gets in your way?" She pulled the elf to her face, snarling at the trembling waif.

"No, I swear. Ghrol didn't mean—"

"He didn't mean it? He murdered my orcs!"

Nishta was almost disappointed the elf could speak the orc tongue. She would have preferred the elf fear her guttural speech. But it was the other one, the one who'd run away, who caused her heart to pound in her chest. Humans. Again. It was always humans. First she'd been forced to take an assignment protecting a human and collecting a dead human's body. Now another human took the lives of the two orcs who'd traveled with her and her sister. It was too much.

"Sister." A hand rested gently on Nishta's shoulder. "Put her down. She did not do the deed."

"They're dead because of her." Nishta leaned in, nicking that beautiful, perfect elven face with her right tusk.

Blood dripped down the elf's cheek and mixed with her frightened tears. "I didn't want them dead. I swear it to you. Ghrol, he's different. He doesn't understand. He was only trying to protect me!" The elf wouldn't shut up, which only boiled Nishta's blood more.

"Put her down, now!" yelled the human woman, Hilthe. "I command it, Nishta. You are here on orders to assist me, so obey!"

Nishta's hand trembled. She didn't want to take orders from humans. After being forced to live as a slave to that horrible mage, Damor, she had never wanted to see another human again. So what had Dalgron done? Sent her to protect this human. It was insulting.

"Sister," Gashta whispered. "Do not let your anger take hold of you."

Gashta was right. She was always right. She was the cool-headed sister, the opposite of Nishta and her fiery temperament.

With a final snarl, Nishta unceremoniously dropped the elf to the ground and walked away. Her fists curled and uncurled at her sides as she attempted to divert her anger. While a slave of Damor's, she'd learned to control her anger—she'd had to in order to survive. But here, without his magic dominating her, Nishta found her emotions harder to control than ever.

Coming home hadn't been as easy for her as it had for Gashta. Nishta suffered from nightmares. She startled easily. She found herself feeling trapped and afraid when there was nothing but the prairie and blue skies to surround her. Gashta had questioned whether Nishta was ready to take on this assignment. But Nishta knew she had to. She had to prove to herself that she was still the warrior she'd been before the humans captured her.

As Hilthe knelt next to the elf and checked her for injuries, Gashta grabbed Nishta's elbow and pulled her to the side. "You did a good thing, sister."

"I should have killed her before anyone had the chance to stop me."

"No. We will not commit violence against others unless warranted. You know as well as I do that she had nothing to do with the death of our orcs. You heard her plead with him to stop. You heard her send him away. She did not want this, just as we did not want this." Gashta pulled Nishta into a hug.

Nishta didn't return it. She stood there, still as a statue, her arms firmly at her sides, while her sister's arms wrapped around her back. She waited patiently until Gashta was done. And instead of stepping back awkwardly, as any other sane person would do after a refusal to hug back, Nishta crossed her arms over her chest and smiled.

"You will feel better, Nishie, I promise."

"Don't call me Nishie," she said, fighting the desire to punch her sister. She hated that name. When they were children, Gashta would use that name to bait her into a fight. They would always end up on the ground, covered in dirt, sticks in their hair, beating the living shit out of each other. It was how they showed their affection.

But this wasn't a childish disagreement. Two orcs lay dead, and now they had an elf in their custody. Someone would have to pay. It was the orc way.

"We will put her on trial," Nishta said, glaring at the elf who stood shakily with Hilthe's help.

"I think we should let her go," Gashta said. "She didn't order the human to kill, nor did she condone it. She is a bystander, as we are."

"No! She must pay. She consorted with a human!"

"Nishie," Gashta said gently, "we are here with a human, too. We are protecting a human."

"I hate humans," Nishta said under her breath. She spat on the ground in the direction of the human body they were transporting back to Agitar.

"I hate one particular human," Gashta said, "and he is dead now. We have nothing to fear. Humans are like orcs. Some good. Some bad. You must know this, sister."

"I hate humans," Nishta repeated. "All humans."

"I hate most of them, too," Hilthe said. She walked over, the elf leaning on her arm. "Why do you think I lived among orcs all those years? Nishta's right. Most humans are horrible, selfish people. I hope you can make an exception for me." She flashed a toothy smile, and the wrinkles on her face crinkled. She spoke the orc language as if she'd known it since birth. It irritated Nishta greatly.

"I'm sorry," the elf said again, as if this would make a difference. "I told him not to. Ghrol was only trying to protect me. You don't understand. He's simple. He's not like us."

"He's a monster. We should hunt him down before he kills anyone else," Nishta said, grasping the hilt of the sword hanging at her hip.

"I agree we should find him, but not to hurt him. If you'd give me a chance, I can make him understand." The elf bounced up and down on her toes. She was adorable, which sickened Nishta. Her golden hair swam upon her shoulders and her button nose crinkled up. No living creature should be that cute when asking to track down a murderer.

"If he shows his face around us again, I will kill him." Nishta said it simply, hoping the elf understood the orc language as well as she spoke it.

"Please don't. Please." Her incessant begging grated on Nishta's nerves.

Gashta stepped between them. "I promise my sister won't hurt him until we have had a chance to properly assess the situation. I offer no guarantees beyond that. If he threatens any of us, including you, we will take action."

"I understand." The elf's blubbering cries started again. "Thank you. Thank you so much!"

"Now, now," Hilthe said, patting the elf's shoulder. "Where were you headed, young elf?"

"My name is Maysant." The elf stood straighter, squaring her shoulders. "I am not young. I am probably older than all of you combined."

"That may be true," Hilthe said, "but you are not as mature. We may live shorter lives, but do not take that to mean you are wiser. You are young, Maysant. You look it. You act like it. It would be best for you to follow rather than lead. Now, I'm asking again, where were you headed?"

Nishta detested humans, but this old woman… perhaps Hilthe's years of living in Agitar had made her more like an orc.

"I wasn't headed anywhere," Maysant admitted, her shoulders collapsing again. She was more useless than a rag doll. "I… well, I don't want to say I ran away, because running away is for children, but…"

"You ran away," Hilthe said. "Let me guess, from your oppressive family?"

"Yes!" Maysant grabbed Hilthe's arm. "How did you know?"

"It is a tale as old as time. At one point or another, we have all run away from our families. It is part of growing up."

"I never did any such thing!" Nishta shouted.

"Then perhaps you have some growing up to do, too," Hilthe said, eyeing Nishta.

Nishta scowled, but kept her fists at her sides.

"Now we must continue on our way," Hilthe said. "Agitar needs Hugh's body." The old woman pointed to the wrapped-up bundle. "You two will need to carry him. I will walk ahead with Maysant. We will watch for more intruders."

"I can do that." Maysant pulled a bow from her back and clutched an arrow in the other hand. "I will protect you."

Nishta couldn't help herself. She laughed harder than she had for a very long time. "You," she said between gasps of breath, "are an archer?"

Maysant turned her back on Nishta and looked up at the sky. A bird darted out of a tree, and Maysant notched her arrow and let it fly. Before Nishta could take another breath, the arrow had punctured the bird's breast, bringing it to the ground. She'd killed a moving target without even taking the time to aim.

The elf trotted over to the bird, pulled her arrow from its chest, and wiped the blood off. She tossed the dead bird to Gashta. "Put it in your pack. It's lunch."

Nishta ignored her sister's smirk as she stuffed the dead bird into her bag. Without another word, the sisters lifted the dead human's body and began the trek back to Agitar.

Nishta hated humans. But maybe she hated elves even more.