Caught in Darkness Ch. 11

"What did my brother pay you? How did he come to meet a 'disruptor'?" she turned around and stared at him now. She wanted answers and she was going to get as many as she could. Mule opened his eyes and stared at the sky for a moment. He turned and looked at her then, and they read each other's feelings in their eyes.

"Only a king can negotiate for our services." Mule started. "We don't work for money. We work for favors, the kind only a king can grant. But I warn you Princess, if you go any deeper you won't like what you hear. It will harden your heart and put ice in your veins. Elves are a caring people, can you afford to grow indifferent? Will you be accepted back in your home, if you know things you shouldn't? Sometimes it's better to be caught in the darkness, than be lost to the light." He was doing it again. Being mysterious and a curiosity. It gnawed at her stomach, she wanted her answers, but Mule's warnings always made sense. He could see how things would unfold before they did, and so far he was rarely wrong. Alright, she would wait then. She sighed in disappointment.

"Am I safe?" she whispered. "Can I go home?"

"You are safe from me." He replied after careful thought. "Your brother promised you to me, should I find you, and I won't hurt what I worked so hard to get." Silence grew between them, with only the crickets to keep them. His breathing was slowing and it seemed he was falling asleep. Riyarra's eyes never left his face. She was searching for something she wouldn't be able to find. This human had earned her trust, broken it, earned it, and broken it again. Every time she trusted him, she found she got more than she bargained for, and it was nothing she liked. Was this just his way? He had freed her after all. Was this the beginning of another of his plans?

"I owe you so much already, and I have nothing to give in return." She said meekly. Mule didn't respond. She watched his face, it looked calm and peaceful.

"Will you take me home?" she whispered very quietly. Hoping he wouldn't hear.

"Only as a favor, to a Queen. For a favor later." He whispered back. There was no mistaking his meaning that time. Her heart started to flutter and her stomach knotted up with the thoughts that rushed to her head now. He was right about what he had said before, now was when she needed to be stronger, she finally realized what he was talking about. Herself, as Queen? Her older brother was dead, her younger brother held the crown of Elthara, she would only be Queen if he was dead as well. The thought created panic in her heart. She wasn't ready for it. But that was the only option open to her now. She knew about Mule, and she knew about her brother's use of a human mercenary, that alone would make her dangerous to Merloul. She could either keep moving forward, or die now and get out of the way. Mule's long, deep breathing told her he was asleep. She wasn't tired; there was no way she could sleep now. Not after all she had been through. All that was behind her, but for some reason it felt like the easier path than what was before them now.

Carefully she slid her arm up to his chest. Her fingers felt hair and muscled skin. There they stayed, feeling the slow beating of this man's heart. He had been her strength, her reason to live, but she didn't understand him. Suddenly she found she didn't care what his intentions were anymore, so long as he was near she could be strong and endure them. Whether she returned to Elthara, or lived in exile with this human as his prize, she could endure their next journey. She had suffered worse already. When the reassurance finally came, and the fluttering in her chest finally stilled, she found herself nestled against his shoulder. Her eyes opened and her head was resting on his arm. She didn't care, it felt comfortable now.

As she listened to the crickets around them, the slow beating of his heart soon put her to sleep. *

Author's note: Thank you to all my readers that have posted and voted. This concludes "Caught in Darkness". I plan to continue the tale with "Lost in the Light". But first, please tell me what you think. How could I make the next story better? I purposely left some things undone, how would you like to see them wrapped up? Thank you for any input!