Old Grudges

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"You, elf." A gruff sounding human man was seated in a tavern in the human village of Earlestown. It had once been a bustling market place, a meeting place for merchants and scholars. But now... It was lucky if a handful of hunters passed through on their way elsewhere. The people here lived close to the neighbouring kingdom that boasted that is was the seat of all civilisation, Elven, of course. The exact border was somewhat of a foggy issue, meaning battles often broke out over ownership of land. Elves passed through, most of them simply wishing to look down upon what they considered the uncivilised and rather boring humans, before returning to their own cities of silver.
"Elf?" The dark haired female asked, spitting that one word back at the man who had called it to her as she walked past his table. "You do not address the other women here as 'human', so not call me by my race either." She added rather haughtily.
"Well la-di-da! Ain't you just lady of the manor!" The man sneered, banging his glass down on the creaking wooden table. "Your kind aren't welcome here! You never will be! Get your knife ears back to your own side of the border!" 
The elven woman sighed heavily and with silent and sudden movements, she was in front of the human, her ornate elven dagger slammed into the chair all too close to his privates. "Do not test me, human. I have no humour for your kind this evening."

"I could poison you too, dwarf. I hear wyvern blood is excruciating in those tiny dwarves bodies." The hunter mused, as though he were merely talking of what colour cloak he thought she should wear.

"Rumors. Your kind know nothing about dwarves so how would you know for sure?" Isla snorted. "Isn't your king on the verge of death? If he's so beloved, why are you here chasing after two helpless women? You don't seem much like a hunter to me. I thought you said they were interesting Dahlia. This one is quiet boring."

"She didn't tell you?" The hunter asked with an amused grin. "The blood of her kind will heal a human. Too bad it isn't helping her own affliction right now." He added. "That's why I need her alive." As he said that, the hunter slammed the hilt of his sword against Isla's temple.

Isla missed the hilt until it had slammed into her temple and she was tumbling to the ground. "Stone...licker..." She managed to get out before her entire world faded into darkness.

Neither woman would wake until they were back in the human stronghold of Chesterfield. It was the largest human city in that particular kingdom, and home to the king they had found injured in the forest. True to what he had said, the hunter had used Dahlia's blood to heal the king, though had given her nothing for her own poison.

King Saul remained in his chambers for several days while the healers made sure he was regaining his strength. He paced the floors, angry that he was stuck in the same place for any length of time. Several of his people were sick and dying and he should have been out trying to help them. Instead he was inside, warm when so many were not. 
To stave the boredom he called for the hunter who had saved his life. He was curious as to the man's name and exactly what he had come upon when he had found his king.

"You asked for me, highness?" The hunter asked as he entered the room, his muddy boots seeming out of place near a king inside his own bedchamber.

Saul looked at the boots, a bit surprised anyone would dare to step into the private chambers this way. He couldn't help but be a bit amused by it. It was rare to be treated like a commoner and rather welcome. 
"I wanted thank my savior. If not for your intervention I would be dead in a forest somewhere, my remains being picked over by elves and Wyerns."

"Forgive my saying so, but what was the king doing in the elven lands in the first place?" The hunter asked. "Alone."

"I was actually on the border when I was attacked." Saul said, seating himself in an ornate chair close to the roaring fire place. "I hadn't quite made it over but I'm sure at some point it was bound to happen." He didn't quite answer the question as he motioned the other man to sit in the chair next to him. "I would like to know your name and hear how it is you came across me and my attackers."

"I was tracking the elf before she attacked you, sire." The hunter replied. "There is a rather substantial bounty on her head." He added, not divulging who Dahlia actually was. "I don't think my name important enough for a king to remember, but most just call me Archer."

"I remember those who saved my life, Archer." Saul told the hunter in a stern tone. "I would do no credit to the crown if I did not." He sat forward in his ornate chair, steepling his fingers. "Tell me more about the pair. And tell me why you were tracking that particular elf. What makes her important to you?"

Archer hesitated slightly, but found himself not actually wanting to lie to his king. "She is of the house of Quicksilver, the bounty on her head is high for no other reason." He shrugged. "But the dwarf got in the way of my capturing her, until the two of them attacked you."

The king frowned, his fore head filled with worry lines. "Quicksilver you say? Their kind never comes this far south...and the dwarf? Did you get a name from her?"

"No, they don't." Archer agreed. "All the more reason to sever her head from her body." He insisted. "The dwarf wasn't a part of the bounty, she will fetch me a pretty price at the slave markets."

"The crown will pay you for them both." Saul said, shaking his head at the very idea. "I heard they both were using some kind of healing magiks. I want to know what they know before I do anything else with them. Which is why I'd like for you to stick around a while and help out with that. I have heard hunters are good at getting information from mythical creatures."

"Forgive me, but elves and dwarves are more trouble than they're wor." Archer snorted. "That elf has killed many of our kin, you shouldn't ever forget that fact."

"I'll be the judge of that, Archer. For now, I have a task for you if you are willing. I'd like you to interogate the dwarf, find out why she has come above ground and what she was doing with the elven huntress." Saul said evenly. "If this is too much for you, I will pay you and send you on your way."

Archer hesitated, wondering why the king was asking this of him personally. "You suspect she is a spy?" He asked.

Saul nodded. "We see all sorts of mystical creatures around. They attempt to cross the borders every day. But never a dwarf and never a female. I don't believe I have ever seen one. In fact my father has never spoken of them and he spent years with a wizard who did nothing but study all things magik." The king folded his hands in his lap and sighed. "It isn't helped by the elven woman being so fiercely protective of her. The guards tell me she's been using her Magik to keep them from reaching the dwarf's cell."

Archer snorted again and shook his head. "Damn elves... They think they're so superior." He growled. "You should've just let the knife ear die. I'll talk to the dwarf, if that's what you want, sire."

"As long as you are in my services, you will be paid handsomely." Saul promised. "I do owe you my life, after all." He held put his hand, offering the hunter a gentle smile.

Archer hesitated again, not exactly sure how to act around a king. Eventually he took the hand offered to him and shook it firmly. "I make no promises, mind you."

"I understand. All creatures are unpredictable. If you must kill her...at least make sure there is no other way." Saul said with a nod. "Thank you, Archer. Our lands would be without a king if it weren't for you."

"Which is exactly as the elves would have it." Archer pointed out, mostly likely breaking protocol by heading to the door without being dismissed by the king.

Saul couldn't sit on his hands anymore. He needed to get out and walk the castle. It wasn't long after Archer had left that he was throwing on his clothes, intending to head down to the dungeons to speak the elf himself.

"I hope you don't miss your elf whore too much." Archer sneered as he entered the room holding Isla and slammed the door shut behind him. Isla was being held in one of the empty servant bedrooms, much more comfortable compare to Dahlia's surroundings.

Dahlia meanwhile was in the damp and dimly lit dungeon. The elf had had her wrists restrained in irons above her head when she had repeatedly tried to use magick on the guards and escape.

"Oh hello, stone man." Isla had crawled under the bed some time ago, needing the darkness it provided her. It was as close to home as she could get right then. "I should have known they would send you."

Saul had managed to evade the guards and made it to the cells. He opened the door to Dahlia's, shaking his head at her treatment. The elven king would probably wage war on them if and when he knew this.

"Your elf whore give the gift of foresight?" Archer snorted as he leaned against the closed door with his arms folded across his solid chest. 

"You!" Dahlia hissed when she heard someone enter her cell. She didn't need to see Saul's face to know it was the same man who had accused her of trying to kill him.

"Such language. Do all humans throw that term around so casually?" Bright green eyes revealed themselves in the darkness beneath the bed for a brief moment. "Did you come to hit me again? Or maybe this time you're here to make me skull maid."

"You look surprised to see me again, elf." Saul said, lighting a candelabra near her. "I almost feel bad for disappointing you with not returning to the Maker." He stood there for a while, the lines of his forehead making it hard to tell what he was thinking as he looked her over.