Chapter 3

Nev shoved the girl away, waking her up. He couldn’t tell who it was, but he definitely could tell the person was female. “Who are you, and what the crap are you doing in my bed?”

“Go back to bed, idiot. Don’t question it.” Ah, the soft, loving voice of Eirika Listrano.

“E-Eirika?” He managed to stammer. He didn’t usually get nervous, unless it was around girls. Especially when the girl randomly showed up in his bed.

“I said not to question it! I’ll explain in the morning!”

Oh, Schnevero had lots of questions for her. But to ensure he didn’t get stabbed while he slept, he turned away, making sure not to touch her, and quietly drifted off back to sleep without questioning her anymore.

He was shaken awake the next morning, by none other than Eirika herself. Sleepily, he muttered at her. “Are y’ gonna ‘splain it now?”

“Yes, but at least open your eyes.” She huffed.

He blinked open his green orbs, to find her just an inch from his face. “Ah, damn it!” He mumbled, waving her off. “Not so close!”

“Sorry.” She said, although she didn’t sound very sorry. “Ok, well, the truth is, I don’t really have an excuse. I just wanted to piss off Kiirion. I’ll make sure he knows where I was.” She giggles, and Schnevero can tell it’s an evil, evil cackle. She practically skips out of bed, where she was lying next to him.

Nev has to look away, cheeks flushed red, because like his own self, she had worn nothing to bed but her underclothes. And then he gathered that he hadn’t worn anything but underwear, and squeaks, pulling the blankets up even further.

“You’re cute.” She points out, and Schnevero blushes even heavier.

“W-won’t I be the one who gets punished by Captain Listrano?”

“Yep.” She smirks. “It’ll be fun to watch.”

He gapes at her. This was one twisted Sprite. He was just an innocent elf, soon to be wrongly accused of �" he didn’t even know what! “You little-!” But he stops himself from calling her a name, because she’d probably mention that to her older brother.

“It was a good thing to stop yourself.” She hums. “Kiirion would have been mad.”

Now Nev was furious, over the embarrassed stage. “I guess you Sprite women can’t take care of yourselves, then? You have to get the men to decide what is moral or immoral about your life?” His face was still red, but now it was in anger.

“We can take care of ourselves!” She yells back. “I just…” Eirika doesn’t have the words to continue, because she herself knew Schnevero was right. “Ugh!” She groans loudly, striking out at him.

Learning quick reflexes from training, Schnevero catches her hand in his fist. “Don’t hit me.” He growls. She glares at him, and it was a unanimous decision on what to do next. They both go at each other, swinging their fists out. It continues for a while like that, neither of them getting close to the other, until Eirika catches Nev off guard with a swift kick to the shin, while up until this point, they had only been using their arms.

“Ow!” He calls out, stumbling and falling to the floor. She grins triumphantly over him, until he reaches out and grabs her ankles, causing her to drop down next him.

They glance at each other and burst out in laughter. Nev slaps the floor next to him. “That was fun!” He wipes an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye. She nods at what he said, chuckling still. “Whew.” Schnevero pants. “It’s hot in here. How do you guys survive?”

She laughs. “It’s not easy. I sometimes have to jump in a trough to cool down.”

He snorts at the thought of her in a trough, and she slaps his arm, gently this time. “It’s not funny! It was only one time, and it was really hot!”

They lay there giggling for a while more, until someone bursting into the room distracts them, and they scramble up. It was Ivsaar, the blue-haired Sprite from the day before, and his two guards. He takes in the sight before him with an infuriated glower. “Sergeant Listrano. I would suggest putting some appropriate clothes on before your brother arrives.” She looks down at her sparsely dressed body, and shrugs on the nearest robe, which happened to be Schnevero’s. “Miss Eirika, I do highly recommend leaving our prisoner’s robes for our prisoner, and putting on your own,” He glares down at her from the tip of his nose. “Unless, of course, they are too scattered amongst the room to simply find them.”

She reddens. “Oh, no, we didn’t �" I mean �" It wasn’t like �" “

“No need to explain, Sergeant. Walking in on what I did has told me enough.”

“It wasn’t what it looked like, sir, I swear.” Schnevero tried to put on a brave face, and defend Eirika. He supposed it was better for him to get in trouble with them than for her to.

“Tch.” He breathed. “Captain Listrano will surely find out about this.”

This time, Nev kept quiet, because he was pretty sure that was what Eirika had wanted anyway. He peeked at her, and she gave him a tiny reassuring nod that confirmed staying speechless was right. He breathed out a small sigh of relief, and shrugged off his doubt. “Yes, sir.”

“Hands.” These Sprites really liked to command things, and not ask.

Schnevero complied, and held them out, palms up. “Before y’all lock me up, can I put my clothes back on, please?”

“No.” Ivsaar sneers. “If you were fine being in the presence of Miss Eirika without your cloak, you should be fine in front of Captain Listrano.”

“Ok.” Nev shrugs. “But does he really want to see me like this? I mean, it’s understandable, just look at this perfection,” He pauses to gesture at himself. “But unless he, ya know, is hitting for the other team, I don’t think he wants to see this.”

“Too bad.” Ivsaar is frowning now, at what Nev had pointed out. “You’ll have to explain to him why this is like it is.”

Schnevero bobs his head in agreement. “Alrighty, Ivsaar. Thanks, man.”

“That’s Lieutenant Wynfaren to you, elf.”

“That’s Cadet Farcaryn to you, Sprite.”

Ivsaar slaps the back of his hand across Nev’s face, and he clutches his smarting pink cheek, letting out a painful groan. “You do not address your superiors by race, however, they can address you how they want nevertheless. Is that clear?”

“Yes.”

“Yes what?”

“Yes sir, Lieutenant Wynfaren.” Schnevero gives him a mocking salute.

“That’s better.” Ivsaar uses the same type of handcuffs he had yesterday, the thin light substance that could contain someone better than metal. Nev is roughly elbowed out of the room, with Eirika briskly following behind him. She isn’t laughing anymore, her lips are set in a straight line, and she doesn’t look at Schnevero again until they are outside the same door as yesterday.

Ivsaar sets them both inside, giving them an unfriendly leer, before leaving, without speaking to Kiirion again.

“Cadet, good to see you again. I just had hoped you would be wearing a bit more clothing. It seems as if Eirika is wearing your robes…care to explain?” Kiirion kept a calm demeanor on the outside, but it seemed, from his tone, that he was boiling on the inside.

Nev looked to Eirika, but she appeared to have no intention of speaking. “Um, well, you see, Captain, last night, I…” Schnevero had no idea how to tell this lie to Kiirion.

Eirika noticed this, and took over. “Last night I slept in his room,” She breezily told Kiirion. “And this morning, Ivsaar found us and wouldn’t let Nevy get dressed, even though he was all sweaty and stuff.”

Schnevero mentally facepalmed. She had made it sound really bad. Believable, but bad. He shakily gave a smug grin to Kiirion, who was hopping mad, and enflaming by the second.

“What do you mean, sweaty??”

“What do you think I mean?” She grins at her brother, who turns to Schnevero.

“I told you, Cadet, that if you lay a finger on her, your punishment will be death. Now that it has happened, and I know how valuable you are, I will not kill you. But you will get a punishment, worse than death itself.” He then rotates around to his sister. “And as for you, Private, that is another story. How many times have I told you to stay away from prisoners!?”

“I’m so sorry, big brother.” She simpered. “It will never happen again. It’s just like they never have control over themselves, you know? I don’t know why this keeps happening to me. Every time, those elves, I swear.”

“You w***e, don’t make excuses. It is not Cadet Farcaryn’s fault.”

Eirika didn’t gasp or anything, like Nev assumed would happen when her own brother called her something disrespectful like that, she just hung her head in slight shame. It seemed as if her plan had somewhat backfired on her.

“Captain Listrano, if I may,” Schnevero started. “It is completely inappropriate to call a lady that word, let alone your own sister.”

Kiirion sneered at him. “It is completely inappropriate to let a lady you just met into your bedroom, even though she let herself in, like she always does.” He whirls back around to her, continuing a game of back and forth between the two. “Don’t think I haven’t figured this out, Eirika. It happens every time we have a prisoner; you’re just trying to get me angry. Trust me, it works, but I’m tired of it. You’ll be the next one locked up if it endures.”

She whimpered, but nodded. “I’m sorry, Kiirion.”

Schnevero hated seeing a woman like this, in her weak and vulnerable state. She wasn’t standing up for herself, she was letting him be the dominant one. “Stop threatening her, she’s your own sister!” He bellowed.

Eirika looked daggers at him. “I don’t need you sticking up for me, you brat!”

“If you don’t stick up for yourself, what else am I supposed to do?”

“Leave me alone! It’s between my brother and me, not a stupid little elf!”

“At least this stupid little elf knows what’s right!” Nev argued for his own sake.

“_Cadet Farcaryn_, I would like to remind you that as our prisoner, you will not speak your mind on such matters! And Private Listrano, you need to stop arguing with our prisoner!” Kiirion finally interrupted.

They both guiltily looked at him, saying “Sorry,” in unison. Schnevero sensed another pain in his shoulder where the knife had been, but it was duller this time, as if his wound was healing and Kiirion didn’t have as much control over it anymore.

“Captain, how do you do that?”

Kiirion knew exactly what Nev was talking about. “Are you telling me elves have never used magic before?”

“No, sir, I’ve just never had it used on me. So it is magic, then?”

“You’re correct. A simple form of magic, I am not experienced in the arts.”

“What did you do to him?” Eirika questioned frantically.

“I enchanted the knife that was thrown in his back, by none other than you, darling. It allows me to control the area where he was wounded, slightly. But as the injury closes up, so do my powers with it.”

“You monster! Why would you do that to someone?!”

“Why would you throw the knife in his back, Eirika?”

She quiets instantaneously, and this hurts Schnevero more than the injury he had. It wasn’t fair that she couldn’t stand up for herself, so he wanted to do it for her, but Kiirion prevented that, and Eirika herself wasn’t eager for Schnevero’s support.

“Cadet Farcaryn, I have decided to contact General Farcaryn on the matter of your imprisonment. I sent a carrier to her on foot, so it might take a while for an answer, but just know that she will be aware of this, and I trust she’ll do something about it.”

Nev shook his head in discouragement. “No, she doesn’t care for me! She won’t come!”

“I can sense the fear in your voice, Cadet. You are not being honest.”

He nodded, then. “You’re right. Cyvana is very honorable. She’ll want to come after me because that’s what the others expect from her. Not for my sake, certainly, but for her duty.”

“Good.” Kiirion grinned. “I thank you for your decision to tell me the truth.”

Nev dipped his head in a form of respect towards Kiirion, who then dismissed him with a wave. “I trust Eirika will show you back to your room?” She confirmed that with a nod. “And bring him a tray of food?”

“Yes, I will, Kiirion.”

He didn’t even express gratitude to her for that, and ushered them out of the room. The handcuffs weren’t taken off until they were inside the bedroom, like the night before, but this time softly, by Eirika, and her lithe fingers.

“I’ll bring you food.” She said emotionlessly, the feisty side of her gone.

“No.” He rested his hand on her pale arm. “Have one of Ivsaar’s bodyguard-dudes get it. You don’t need to act like a maid. Stay here and talk with me, instead.”

Eirika growled at him. “Stop bossing me around, you’re worse than them.”

“Okay, fine then, Miss Eirika. Go get me my food. Bring it to me on a tray, and while you’re at it, slice some fruit into little cubes for me.”

“Not funny.” But she was smiling anyway. Eirika plopped down next to him on the bed, sighing. “I guess you’re right. I should stick up for myself. But it’s not accepted here, like it is with the elves. If I act out, I get kicked off the team. I’ve only stayed as long as I have because my brother is captain of it. Captain of our whole army. Squad 971 would be better off without me, Ivsaar says so, and I know Almer and Ayre think so, too.”

“That’s not true.” Nev grins. “You can probably throw a knife better than all of them!”

Eirika chuckles. “Sadly, no. They can all throw just as well as I can. It is required for at least one female member on each squad, we do not discriminate that much, but there has never been more than one. I wouldn’t have even been considered if Kiirion wasn’t as high ranked as he is.”

“You could always join up with an elf squad.”

She gave him a funny look. “What do you mean? Sprites and elves have never mixed, and never will.”

He pointedly stared at her, talking with him in the bedroom next to him on the cot.

“This doesn’t count, you’re our prisoner!”

He fixated his gaze at her, until she finally caved in and admitted he was right, holding up her arms in defeat. “Okay, so Sprites and elves cansometimes mix, but that isn’t usually the case! Besides, if I joined the elves, it wouldn’t be the same as here, I’d be looked at differently because I am a Sprite.”

“Maybe, but we are different from the Sprites. Most would probably accept you. Anyways, tell me about Almer and Ayre. I haven’t met them yet, what are they like?”

“Almer’s my age, kind of similar in looks, too. He’s got my color hair, white, with silver colored eyes and pale skin. He rarely smiles, he’s always frowning over something.”

“Don’t all you Sprites have pale skin?” Schnevero asks, laughing.

“No! Well, yes, but it is in different shades, still! Some of us have blueish skin, or whitish, or pale peach.” Eirika answers. “And I wasn’t finished talking, don’t interrupt me.”

“Sorry,” Nev mutters, not really sorry.

“Ayre is quite different from Almer. He’s a few years older, too. He has black hair, and thick eyebrows, and earrings in his left ear, and wears a tank top, unlike Almer, who always wears long clothing, and he jokes around a lot, except on patrol, he’s very serious then, and also…”

Schnevero cuts her off again. “You like him.” He says meaningfully.

Her light skin flushes at his words, and she stops talking about Ayre. “N-no!”

“I can tell.” Nev smirks at her, and he has a malevolent thought. “It’s him you’re trying to get jealous by hanging around with me, not your brother.” He states.

She frantically shakes her head, her long hair flying around her face, settling and framing it when she stilled. “I don’t, I have no idea what you’re talking about!”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” He teases.

“Fine. Maybe I do. But it’s useless, anyway, he’s fonder of Almer than me.”

“Oh.” Schnevero quiets, glancing at Eirika with understanding eyes.

“It’s okay, it wasn’t going to happen anyway. He…” She looks away. “He doesn’t like the company of…”

“Got it.” Nev said, not letting her continue, for fear she’d bubble into tears. He slung an arm over her shoulders. “You don’t have to say anything more.”

Eirika sighs, leaning into him. “Thanks.” She says, reluctantly, not wanting to show gratitude. “I think he knows that I do… But he thinks I’m annoying and useless, just like everyone else on my team.”

“Like I said, you could come with me back to the elves.”

“How? Don’t you have to wait for your sister to trade herself with you?”

“We could escape.” Nev suggested. “Find a way out, and then nobody is a prisoner.” He paused, and let her consider this new option, knowing it was a crazy idea.

Author's Note

Picture is of Kiirion.