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."

"You claim dwarves have a milder tongue?" Archer snorted, keep his arms folded. "Alright, what you rather I call your knife ear bitch? And I'm here only because the king told me to be."

"I wish you had returned to your maker! It's the best place for liars!" Dahlia hissed, the chains rattling as she pulled on them.

"So what does he want? An eye for an eye?" Isla asked, staying underneath the bed. "It doesn't matter what we say. You are not going to believe that we were trying to help him."

"And just what did I lie about?" Saul asked, raising an eyebrow as he crossed his powerful arms over his chest.

"He wants to know why a dwarf was working with an elf." Archer replied coolly. "We can get to the offering of body parts later."

"You told that man beast that Isla and I were trying to kill you!" Dahlia fumed.

"I don't have to tell you anything." Isla said darkly. "You were the one who acted like a brute and shot an innocent elf. No wonder everyone is gathering to discuss what to do about your kind. All you do is hurt things in one way or another." 

"Weren't you? I was on the verge of death. All I heard was the two of you discussing watching me crawl through the forest until I was dead and then dragging me over the border." Saul said, crossing his arms over his massive chest. "What was I supposed to think? Do not tell me you were innocent."

"All we do is protect our lands from your kind." Archer corrected thinly. "You are all so sneaky, always plotting and twisting things to get what you want!"

"You made the implication that we were the ones who put you in that situation to begin with!" Dahlia shot back hotly.

"Go to the stone, you're not getting anything out of me, hunter." Isla said. She'd chipped away an edge of the stone floor and threw it, striking the human in the shin. "Kill me if you're going to. I'm done with all of this!" 

"It was an elf who shot me with an arrow and dragged me over the border in the first place. That much I remember." Saul said, daring himself to get closer to her. "How do I know you had nothing to do with that?"

"I'm not going to kill you." Archer muttered as he reached down to rub at his shin. "But I can't say the king won't do the same to your elven cohort."

"By your logic, I should blame you for every time humans took the life of one of my people!" Dahlia spat.

Another rock hit his knee, this one harder than the first. "Then you'd better let me out of here! I'm not going to let that happen!" Isla said firmly. "Dahlia was the first elf that was kind to me. I plan to return the favor by helping her!" 

"There are laws against that, princess." Saul said, now close enough that she could feel his breath on her shoulder. "I am strict on my people when it comes to allowing them to hurt another. Be it elf or dwarf, it is forbidden to kill for sport. Only if your kind starts it. Which....I might add, was the case here."

"You can't do a damn thing now, dwarf." Archer snorted, able to feel blood trickle down his leg now. "She valuable, the elves will pay a pretty penny to have their princess back."

Dahlia was struggling in her restraints again, wanting to hurt this human, king or no. "So another of my kind started something, and I am to pay the price for it?"

"We'll see about that." Isla said. She threw another rock, this one striking him in the temple. With that done she disappeared. If Archer dared to come closer to the bed he would find that the little dwarf was no longer underneath it. She'd dug her way through the floor and was currently dropping down to the level below him. 

"How do I know it was someone else?" Saul pressed, resting his hands on her hips to keep her still. He gave a soft gasp, surprised by the lightning that seemed to pass between his bare skin and hers. "So far..." He breathed, "You've offered me no proof that you had nothing to do with any of that."

When Archer heard no more insults from Isla, he lifted the cot up, and let loose a string of obscenities when he saw the hole. "I'll have you for this, you filthy duster!"

"Unhand me." Dahlia told Saul darkly. "And so far, you have little proof that I DID have something to do with it. I shot an arrow at the elf who was responsible, but as always, the silly blind human cannot see what is right in front of him!"

Isla's laughter echoed through the hole moments before the stones began to reset themselves. Evidently it wasn't just the elves that had magick. 

"I didn't see another elf. Only you." Saul whispered, his body so very close to her own now. In fact he saw very little else but her. Nothing else truly mattered and he wasn't sure why. This behavior wasn't like him at all.

Archer turned to sprint out the door, only to slam his already bleeding shin on the chair next to it. His colourful language would be heard throughout the castle.

Dahlia's violet eyes were looking up at Saul, somewhat perplexed by the way he was acting. "Just because you didn't see him, does not change the fact he was there." She pointed out quietly. "If I had wanted you dead, human, you wouldn't have seen it coming."

"If my hunter had not been there I am wondering if that would not have been the case." Saul breathed, his lips an inch from her own. "I am glad it did not." He added, unable to help himself as he pressed his lips to hers.

Dahlia bit Saul's lip, not hard enough to draw blood, but enough to warn him. "You dare take advantage of me, simply because I cannot stop you? How very human!"

Saul was more than a little grateful for Dahlia's actions. It brought him back to reality, which was exactly where he needed to be. "Trying to seduce me?" He muttered, stepping away from her. "You're no better than a common wood nymph."

Dahlia narrowed her violet gaze at Saul, the irons holding her rattling again as she tried to wriggle her wrists out of them. "Why would I need to seduce a human? Your kind never need an excuse to drop their pants!" She hissed.

"I will be contacting your father." Saul said as he turned to head toward to dungeon's exit doors. "He can answer for all this since you don't seem to feel the need. He can decide who will face punishment for the crimes of crossing human lands. He can also explain why your partner is a Dwarven priestess."

Dahlia did her best to hide her surprise at hearing this, though a part of her was feeling stupid for not having realised what Isla was on her own. "Funny, I didn't think was a crime to simply cross the border, seeing as you people tread upon elven lands so often!" She spat.

"It is against the law to do that without permission from either king. It's part of a treaty I brokered myself with your father." Saul said, pausing by the door. "It's disturbing to me that his own daughter knows noth I ng about this. I wonder if it means he's trying to set me up."

"You jump to the conclusion that I was there without his permission." Dahlia replied, the irons binding her wrists rattling once more. "Do you have any idea the trouble you cause by holding a member of the royal house this way?"

"You think I should just let you go after what you did?" Saul asked her, shaking his head. "Princess or no, you tried to kill a man. You will be..." He didn't even see the tiny Dwarven woman until she had knocked his feet out from under him. As she had done with the hunter, Isla sat on his chest and blew a strange powder in his face. He was out before he had time to protest. 
"Wow. That took more that usual. He's like a golem ox." She snortrd, getting to her feet with the guard key in hand. "Come on, the Hunter will figure out where I'm headed and be here before we know it."

Dahlia held her hands out for Isla to unlock the shackles around her wrists. "How did you get free?" She asked, though her violet gaze was watching Saul as he lay unconscious by her feet.

"I ran. Can we just stick with that one?" Isla asked her, using a guards stool to stand on as she unlocked her chains. "We can figure out the rest later. But for right now we're going to have to head out through the sewage pipes. I can't think of anything faster..."

Dahlia rubbed at her slender wrists, though quickly dropped them to her sides when she felt that the iron shackles had scorched the skin. "Let's go then. The less I think about it, the less I may actually throw up."

"Sorry I didn't come sooner." Isla said softly, motioning the other woman to follow her. Behind them Saul was beginning to wake. He tried shoving to his feet, moaning a protest. "We'll need to hurry," the dwarf went on. "I got the sense that elven royalty had been called. They are almost here."

"Well that's just fantastic." Dahlia muttered. "The last thing I need right now is my father trying to drag me home and make me marry that idiot Rothain." The dark haired woman was rubbing at her wrists again as they walked. "I need to get my weapons back."

"You're not going to try and kill your father, are you?" Isla asked, looking a bit worried at the very idea. "I'm not sure that's the right way to go about it. It might lead to an all out war between the humans and elves. They could blame one another for it..." She said as she turned to head back toward the castle insides instead of below it.

"No, I'm not killing my father." Dahlia assured Isla. "I just want my weapons back as they hold somewhat sentimental value. I can't leave them in the hands of humans." She added, shaking her head when the taste of Saul's lips suddenly forced into self into the forefront of her thoughts.

"Are you all right?" Isla asked worriedly, pausing when she saw the strange look on the other woman's face. Dahlia wouldn't get much of a chance to answer. An outside shofar sounded and it all but shook the very foundation of the castle. "Your father?" The dwarven woman whispered as she climbed onto one of the dank dungeon beds and looked out the window. 
The tiny woman could barely hold back the look of shock she wore. There were elven soldiers every where, elegant in their outfits of green. But sitting in the middle of them was a man that put them all to shame. He was true beauty if it could be defined. He had long white hair that was tied back by a single strap of leather. He sat regally astride a horse that looked more like a skeletal beast and fixed the dungeon window with glare from eyes so blue it felt that ice was piercing through to Isla's very soul. 
"He's...amazing." She breathed, unable to help herself.