(Every character depicted in the story below is a consenting legal adult over the age of 18)

A/N: Let’s see what Sevvi thinks of our visitors~

-x-X-x-

Crouching on the rooftop out of view of the armed men down below, Sevvi finds herself reflecting on the past month or so of living among the humans. It had been… an interesting experience, to say the least. Specifically, it had been quite different from what she was expecting.

Sevvi had known from the moment she swore herself to Thomas Marlow that she was almost certainly in for a bad time. Or at least, that was what she’d believed anyways. After all, he had no reason to treat her kindly. She had done exceptional harm to him and his, threatening the lives of everyone in Last Hope with the King of the Forest and then forcing him to exhaust himself for weeks chasing a second monster that didn’t even exist at the time.

So yes, she’d anticipated him taking his revenge. Eloise Harper too. Sevvi had terrorized the brunette when she had a position of power over Eloise, effectively holding her father’s health hostage and doling out small doses of the curative magic that would free him from the confines of his bed. When in reality, she could have simply healed him completely at any time.

From the moment that Thomas had put both his knight and Eloise above Sevvi in the pecking order, making it clear that she was at the bottom of the hierarchy no matter how one cut it… she’d expected some sort of abuse.

And yet… it had never come. Thomas did not expect her to debase herself for him in any way, sexually or otherwise. She wasn’t even allowed to share his bed with him even if she’d wanted to. Which she didn’t, to be clear! It wasn’t like she had any interest in the human in that way.

Still, to not be called to provide service with her body had been… strange. She’d certainly braced herself for it. But when it became clear he was happier bedding either Eloise or the knight, Sevvi had simply assumed it to be personal preferences. And she definitely didn’t take it personally.

Meanwhile, Eloise was… surprisingly gentle in the power she had over Sevvi. She did make use of it of course, constantly giving Sevvi commands and an endless string of chores each day. But nothing that was too humiliating or demeaning for a nameless Dark Elf to carry out.

The Princess she used to be would have been expected to raise a fuss, but Sevvi had left that life behind the moment she’d absconded from the Capital with Gruda and Liselle and all the others. So really, she’d already long since stopped thinking of herself in that way.

And yet, despite those chores, Eloise never truly used her authority to get back at Sevvi. Nor did Thomas. There was no revenge. Just an expectation that she do as she was told and help out around town when ordered to.

It was… mind boggling, really. As was watching the rest of the town of Last Hope operate. They really didn’t act anything like what she was used to. They helped one another freely and without expectations, barely even acknowledging the loose hierarchy that put Eloise’s father at the top.

Far from being King or Lord of his domain, the ‘Mayor’ as they called him was more of an administrator and though he commanded respect, he did not demand obeisance.

Meanwhile, the actual Lord, her new Master, only ever gave orders to her and sometimes the knight. Otherwise, he just helped out around town as well while continually training those impossible skills of his to greater and greater heights.

Frankly, the only issue Sevvi could find with any of it… was the knight Camilla. She was unacceptably weak in Sevvi’s humble, completely unbiased opinion. The Dark Elf could accept that Eloise was not a warrior yet held authority over her anyways because humans clearly just did things differently. However, Camilla was a warrior, Thomas’ sworn sword in fact… and she simply wasn’t strong enough to keep up with Thomas OR Sevvi.

She’d done everything she could to goad the red haired human into action, to try and prod her into training harder… and it’d worked after a fashion too, despite Thomas’ annoyance with her constant needling of his knight. However, Camilla still wasn’t improving fast enough.

… Or maybe Sevvi simply didn’t have the right perspective when it came to humans. Because as strange as she found the humans of Last Hope, she didn’t find what was happening now very strange at all.

The ostentatious, richly appointed carriage, the armored thugs surrounding it, and the nobleman greeting Thomas in the house below as Sevvi listened in with her enhanced hearing… all of this was more what she was used to.

This ‘Lord Sol Godman’ would have been considered positively adorable in the court of her mother, obviously… but then, one could only expect so much from human nobility. Dark Elven Nobles had spent thousands of years perfecting the art of politicking. The older monsters like her mother had been alive for much of those thousands of years, and beneath them were the slightly younger monsters who’d been alive for hundreds and hundreds.

Anyone of Sevvi’s age in Dark Elf Society was essentially facing an impossibly steep mountain of backroom deals, handshake agreements made centuries prior, and cutthroat politics that would make even the most skilled Human Spymaster balk.

And yet, that didn’t mean humans didn’t have their own dirty deeds and political dealings going on within their lands. Humans weren’t any better or more morally upstanding than Dark Elves no matter her experiences in Last Hope these past several weeks. No, there were nasty sorts among them as well… and this Sol Godman and his men were definitely of the nastier variety.

The hilarious thing, at least to Sevvi, was that they had no idea what they’d walked themselves into. If the purpose of coming here to Last Hope was to browbeat Lord Thomas into submission or blackmail him or something like that… Sevvi really didn’t expect it would work.

After all… even Camilla could have wiped out every single so-called warrior that Lord Godman had brought with him. By herself. With one hand tied behind her back. Sure the red head was weak… but only compared to Sevvi and Thomas. Everyone else, it was clear that being dragged around by Lord Thomas had caused her to grow past them.

Hell, Thomas could easily deal with them all as well if he needed to… and of course, Sevvi could have killed them all before they even knew that she was there if he just gave the order. But no… he seemed to want to parlay instead. Presumably because of the proximity of the threat to Eloise and her father if Sevvi wasn’t mistaken.

… She could respect that. After all, her own lack of care had lost her everyone and everything. It shouldn’t surprise her that Lord Thomas was more conscious of what he had to lose then she had been. But that still left Sevvi more than ready to intervene at the drop of a hat if she needed to. She would kill every single one of these men in a heartbeat if they forced her hand.

For now though, she continues to listen in on the conversation taking place down below, her long knife ears twitching as the one human pulls back from whispering in Lord Thomas’ ear and raises his voice to audible levels again.

“Like I said, I’m here to bring you home! This is a good thing… we’ll definitely need to celebrate! You, girl! Get the other women of this little backwater together and start preparing us a feast! We’ll depart in the morning!”

Sevvi’s nostrils flare in amusement as Sol addresses Eloise in such a disrespectful manner. She can hear the man’s arm swing up as he points at the brunette… she can even hear Eloise freezing in place at the order. And so, she also hears as Thomas reaches out and pushes Sol’s arm back down.

“Calm down, Sol. It is good news… but there’s no need to make too much of a fuss about things. I’m more interested in catching up with you and finding out everything I missed if I’m being honest. I’d love to know how this trip even came about… and what I’d be walking into back home.”

There’s a pause as the other Lord digests her Master’s words. Sevvi rolls her fingers across the hilt of one of her curved daggers, red eyes fixed on the biggest of the men outside of the house surrounding the carriage. If at any point Thomas accidentally offends… she’s ready to act if it becomes a fight.

“Well… I suppose that’s not unreasonable, Thomas. Still… I’ve brought a lot of men with me. And this town doesn’t seem to have a single tavern in sight. They’re going to need feeding and watering before the night’s out, lest they get rowdy.”

Thomas pauses for a moment and Sevvi can practically hear the thoughts running through his head. The nobleman made a good point… but it was also a problem of his own making. If this Sol character hadn’t brought so many men in the first place, it wouldn’t have been an issue. But alas, Thomas is too… polite to say that.

“Of course. Eloise, can you gather the other cooks and get a nice big meal prepared for our guests before sundown?”

“Y-Yes. Of course, my Lord.”

Hah… it was interesting to hear the fiery little brunette sounding so… nervous. But then, she’d probably been quite afraid of what Sol and his thugs might do to her and her father before Thomas had returned. Hm… the thought of them making Eloise afraid with their mere presence brought a strangely uncomfortable feeling to Sevvi’s chest. Her hand curls around the handle of one of her daggers and she longs to drop down and start drawing blood.

But no. She holds herself still, watching as Eloise leaves the house under the eyes of the men standing around down below. They watch her carefully but none try to stop or accost her, letting her disappear down the road to gather reinforcements for the meal.

At the same time, Sevvi continues to listen in on her Master and this other nobleman down below.

“Right, with that taken care of… maybe you and I should go have a chat somewhere a bit more private, Sol? We could take Mayor Harper’s study… or we could take a walk and I could show you the sights.”

That draws a derisive snort from Sol along with a shake of his head.

“The sights? This little town is trapped between the Rotlands and the Darkwoods, Thomas. What is there to see, really?”

Thomas chuckles in response, though it definitely doesn’t sound like a genuine laugh to Sevvi’s ears.

“The Rotlands aren’t much to look at, I’ll give you that. Though there is a certain beauty in seeing the farms next to them, life managing to survive and even grow next to desolation. But the Darkwoods… the Darkwoods is where you find the real beauty. It’s a wondrous place, I’m honestly surprised that we haven’t done more with it as a Kingdom.”

Sol makes a curious noise in the back of his throat.

“Is that why you look like you do? Dressed in armor, wielding a polearm! Hah, have you really become a hunter in the time you’ve been out here? I would not have expected it of you.”

“Yes, I’m full of surprises aren’t I? I didn’t allow myself to wallow, that’s all. Still, that private chat… it feels a mite important, given what you’ve said so far. Where would you like to talk?”

“… You know what, you’re right. A walk sounds good. Fresh air and all of that. Show me these Darkwoods of yours then.”

Sevvi shifts as she watches Lord Marlow depart the Mayor’s House with Lord Godman right behind him a moment later. Following after them are Camilla and another man, clearly the most dangerous human that this Sol character has in his employ.

… Even he wouldn’t be a match for Camilla on her worst day though, so Sevvi isn’t too worried as she watches the quartet walk off, heading back towards the Darkwoods.

Instead, she stays right where she is, keeping an eye on the numerous armed men that they leave behind in the middle of Last Hope. Best to make sure they stay on their best behavior, after all.

And she’s glad she does too, because she gets an answer regarding her suspicions less than a minute later.

“Alright lads, gather up! Been a change of plans!”

There’s a pause as everyone gathers around the big burly fucker who had originally tried to stop Thomas’ approach to the house. He crosses his arms over his chest and speaks only once they’re all crowded in close, his tone even but low enough not to be heard by anyone else nearby.

“The Lord signaled that we’re moving onto Plan B. The target ain’t meet his expectations and we probably won’t be able to get him to leave the town before we off him. So instead, the Lord and the Captain are going to deal with the target and his knight outside of town while we deal with everyone else.”

Wide, wicked grins begin to spread across ugly mugs at that as the rest of the humans all chuckle evilly among themselves. Hands fall to weapons at their sides and they all begin to shift about, looking ready to already get started.

Their leader holds up a hand though to stop them.

“Hold up. Don’t just go running off. We’ll do this right. Give the womenfolk a bit more time to cook us our food. Then, we kill the men, corral the women. That way we can feast and fuck tonight before finishing things up and burning this place to the ground in the morning. If any of you fuckers ruin this for me, I swear I’ll fucking geld you, alright?”

There’s some grumbling from a few men at that, but most of them just nod along in agreement. Sevvi though, has heard enough. She drags her curved daggers from her belt and prepares herself.

She tries to tell herself it’s just her duty… but quite frankly, she can’t keep the smile from spreading across her face. The past several weeks… that had been doing her duty.

This? This was going to be fun.

-x-X-x-

A/N: Welp, that didn’t last long. Next time, back to Thomas for the inevitable betrayal.

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