Eli awoke to the feeling of soft fingertips tracing lazy patterns across his chest. His eyes opened slowly to the sight of Aratessa’s still-naked body pressed tightly against him. Her white hair was splayed out in a wild mane across the bed and her makeup was smudged from the previous night’s activities, but to him she’d never looked more beautiful. He smiled softly at her and ran his hand up her spine – a movement that alerted her to the fact that he was awake, causing her to match his grin before leaning forward and kissing him passionately.

  “Good morning.” She said when they finally broke apart.

  “It’s definitely good, waking up next to you.” Eli replied. “But is it morning? It’s hard to tell in a realm without a day-night cycle.”

  “You’ll get used to it.” She smirked before kissing him softly again. “But yes – it is morning.”

  “Last night was a nice surprise.”

  “You liked it?” Aratessa asked. “It’s a bit taboo for dark elven women to be into that sort of thing.”

  “Why?”

  “We’re matriarchical, remember? The idea of a woman giving up control to a man is seen as perverted.”

  Eli shrugged. “Humans aren’t so different. There are some men who enjoy the kink of giving up control to a woman. The idea of letting someone else take charge for a bit doesn’t have to be gender-specific. Either way – if there are any more kinks you’d like to try, never be afraid to ask. I want to explore those kinks with you.”

  “Oh, there are many more of them.” She said, kissing him again. “But as much as I’d like to lay in bed with you and try them until our thief makes contact, there are some things we should do.”

  “Like what?”

  “Well, Zephyra offered to take us on a tour of the city this afternoon – an offer I’d really like to take her up on, even if it'll involve meeting about a hundred dignitaries and leaders of various houses along the way.”

  Eli furrowed his brow before a thought occurred to him. “You’ve…never really seen the city, have you?”

  “This is only my second trip to Shadowhome.” She reminded him. “And we didn’t exactly have a lot of time for sightseeing during the first one.”

  “Agreed.” Eli nodded. “How are you feeling about that?”

  “Conflicted, to be honest.” She said, the smile slipping from her face. “My mother told me stories passed on from my grandmother about ‘the wonders of Everdark’, so I grew up wanting to see it for myself. She talked about it as if any dark elf who visited here would immediately feel an ancestral connection to it.”

  Seeing the look on her face, Eli immediately knew where she was going with her statement. “You don’t feel that way.”

  “No. I’m excited to see the city myself, but I don’t feel any sort of connection.” She paused for a moment. “Maybe I’ve just drifted farther away from being ‘dark elven’ than I thought.”

  “Hey.” He said, clasping one hand. “Whatever you’re feeling, it’s okay. Your connection – or lack of connection – to this place is part of what makes you who you are.” He kissed her hand softly. “That person is amazing. And she just happed to be someone that I really, really like.”

  Her smile reappeared. “You always say the sweetest things.”

  “Anytime you’re feeling conflicted, I’ll remind you.”

  “Deal.”

  “Okay, so we have a city tour this afternoon.” Eli said, returning to the subject at hand. “Can we stay in bed until then?”

  She laughed, then shook her head as she stretched and climbed to her knees, presenting Eli with an enticing view. “I don’t think so. I know you haven’t had many chances to work on your dark elven magic since we bonded, but this is a perfect opportunity to practice – and hopefully take your dark elven form.”

  “I’m not sure I can. It took months of practice to take my phoenix form.”

  “Well, you’ve got lots of potential tutors here to help. And if something happens while we’re touring, your dark elven form would be the best disguise.” She said, leaning slightly from side to side to stretch her muscles. “Isn’t it worth the effort to at least try? What’s the real source of your hesitation?”

  “Other than wanting to stay in bed with you? A few of my first transformations have been…unpredictable.” Eli countered, remembering the first time he took his orcish form. “I’d rather do it in a controlled space, just in case.”

  “Yesterday I talked Zephyra into giving us access to her training facilities.” She revealed.

  “You planned this all along.” He said, chuckling.

  She shrugged. “I’m a dark elf. It’s in my nature to make plots, remember?”

  Unable to keep his eyes from wandering across her slowly swaying body, Eli grinned then nodded. “Well either way, you make a compelling argument. And I don’t mind your scheming, as long as it benefits us.”

  “Good.” She said, planting a kiss on him before springing off the bed. “I’m going to get ready.”

  After watching her ass sway back and forth all the way to the washroom, Eli rolled over and placed his feet on the soft rug beneath him. Seeing that a stack of clean clothes was folded off to the side of the room, he pulled them on and dressed quickly before retrieving his phone from his suitcase along with a few gold coins of local currency.

  He stared at the device for a few moments, thinking about what the next few days would bring. His mind settled on the fact that at some point soon he’d have to put on an act which would convince their cat-burglar he was a fellow criminal – at least for long enough to apprehend them. When he thought about how he was going to go about that, he quickly realized all his knowledge about undercover police work came from TV shows.

  After wracking his brain for a few more moments, the image of Zee crossed his mind – her dark hair, caramel-colored skin, and bright blue eyes burned brightly in his memory. More pertinently though, he knew that her decades of experience as a spy for several governments made her the perfect person to ask for advice about this sort of an operation.

  I also miss her. He admitted to himself as he dialed, knowing Aratessa would need more than a few minutes to get ready.

  “Hello handsome.” She said, her English lilting slightly with a middle-eastern accent after picking up on the first ring.

  “Well hello there. How are you?”

  “I’m okay. I miss you.” She replied. “I’m heading into a meeting with some…friends… who are helping deal with the mess you made.”

  “Ah.” Eli responded, realizing the line must not be secure. “In my defense, it wasn’t my fault.”

  She laughed. “I know. And we have some friends who are very good at this sort of thing.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “I hear your adventure is much more exciting though. Vespera called us last night and gave us an update.”

  “All of you?” He asked.

  “It was a group call, we have them pretty often. I can’t say I’m enthusiastic about the strategy, but she’s assured me there’ll be plenty of support to help you when you make contact.”

  “I’ll be safe.” Eli said on reflex. “But that’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. I’ve never done this sort of thing – can you give me any advice?”

  “Hm.” She paused for a moment, considering how to phrase it. “When in doubt, keep it simple. Don’t speak more than you need to, and don’t commit to anything until you see the money. And remember: they’re the desperate ones in this situation, so you need to act like you hold all the cards or else they’ll get suspicious. Don’t be afraid to pretend to walk away from the table. They’ll come chasing after you, don’t worry.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Thank you.” He said warmly. “That’s perfect. Exactly the kind of advice I needed to hear.”

  “Good. I have to go now, I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay.” Eli said. “I love you, Zee. Tell the other girls I love them too, and I’ll be home soon.”

  “I will. I love you too.” She paused one final time. “And when you get back I expect payment in the form of sexual favors.”

  Eli smiled as the line went dead. He pocketed his phone and moved towards the bathroom door, knocking twice before opening. When he did he was treated to another grin-inducing sight: Aratessa leaning over the bathroom countertop to get closer to the mirror, giving a fantastic view of her ass in the process. While he’d been talking to Zee, she’d managed to braid her hair and get dressed into a form-fitting sleeveless dress with slits up either leg.

  While normally he’d question whether a dress was the right outfit for a training session, he knew from experience she was exceptionally nimble in that particular dress. Moreover, he saw the glint of enchanted silver charms she’d expertly woven into her hair braid – ones which added an extra degree of protection in case they faced anything that required a little more oomph.

  Seeing his grin she matched it. “What’s made you so happy?”

  “Oh, just enjoying the view.” He said, eyes flicking downwards.

  Rolling her eyes she finished applying her signature lipstick before planting a kiss on his lips. “Come on lover. Let’s go.”

  Following her swaying hips back out of the washroom and out the door to the hallway, the pair of them were met by Vespera, Captain Duskrend, Sira, and Ziran – all of whom were already deep in discussion. The group stopped talking the moment they saw the pair though, causing Eli to raise one eyebrow.

  “Good morning friends.”

  “Good morning lovebirds! We were just telling the good captain here that we’d like to get some training time in before the tour.” Vespera started. “Sira and Ziran wanted to come as well.”

  “I’d be more than happy to accompany you to our training facility.” Captain Duskrend added. “I’m looking forward to seeing some vaunted ‘Royal Blood’ magic for myself.”

  “Excellent. We’re ready now, so why don’t you lead the way?” Aratessa replied.

  Wordlessly, the captain turned and began walking down the hallway. With a shrug Eli followed her, allowing his feet to mindlessly carry him as his eyes flicked across the many tapestries hung on the walls. The rest of the group quickly joined him, and together they lost themselves in the winding tunnels of the House of the Raven once more – at least for a few minutes.

  When Captain Duskrend produced a key from her pocket before stopping at a door and opening it, Eli had expected to see a training arena similar to the one Talaedra maintained in the Hightower castle. Instead, he was met by a room which was entirely dark. Squinting into the blackness he could barely make out a faint light deep into the room.

  “I thought we were going to be training?” Eli said as they stepped inside.

  “Oh, we are.” Captain Duskrend replied with a smirk. “Aratessa told me that you cannot cast even a darkness spell. Today, you are going to be practicing that spell. Now close that door – we don’t want to scare the Raven Queen’s pet.”

  Eli was about to ask more questions but he was cut off by Aratessa. “Is that what I think it is?” She said, pointing to the faint light.

  “Yes. It is a glimmershade.”

  Eli cocked one eyebrow. “Another deadly animal? Weren’t the shadow moths and the stalker toads enough? This just seems like overkill at this point.”

  “Magical Australia.” Vespera added with a slight giggle as she shut the door behind her, leaving them in almost-complete darkness.

  “The glimmershade is a rare species! You typically only see them far away from cities, deep in the forest as far away from other lights as possible.” Aratessa explained.

  “Yes.” Captain Duskrend agreed. “This one was raised from an infant though, by the Raven Queen herself.”

  “What does it look like?” Ziran asked hesitantly, craning his neck and squinting to peer through the darkness.

  “It is mammalian with a slender frame and dark green fur. It stands on 4 legs approximately 3 feet off the ground at the shoulder.”

  “It’s a herbivore.” Aratessa added. “It mostly eats the bioluminescent mushrooms.”

  “Ah.” Eli nodded. “That doesn’t sound so bad.”

  “It also has a bulb on the back of its tail that can glow brightly enough to blind someone if they look directly at it. The intensity of the glow reflects how threatened it feels.”

  “And there it is.” Eli sighed.

  “There what is?” Sira asked.

  “The catch. There’s always a catch.” Eli said. “Though I suppose a bright light in the dark is better than it having a venomous bite, or razor sharp claws, or being able to spit blood from its eyes or whatever.”

  The captain paused. “Do animals on Earth have the ability to spit blood from their eyes?”

  “Yeah, there’s a lizard I saw in a documentary once that-…you know what? Never mind.” Eli responded, shaking his head. “That’s not the point.”

  The captain leaned in, suddenly interested. “I would very much like to see this lizard someday.”

  “Duly noted.” Aratessa replied. “I believe we can make this happen.”

  “This is all very interesting, but what does this have to do with training?” Eli asked.

  “The glimmershade is very sensitive to light.” Captain Duskrend responded. “Observe.”

  They watched with rapt attention as the captain began to move closer to the faint light, her footsteps echoing through the room. She’d barely made it more than a few feet before the light in front of them quickly brightened, lighting up the room around them. Eli squinted at the source, catching a glimpse of something that looked like a cross between an overly-large fox and a small bear. His glance was fleeting though – the light quickly grew so intense that all of them had to cover their faces and turn around. The light was visible through their eyelids for another 30 seconds before it slowly faded, giving them an opportunity to start blinking to try to remove the afterimage in their retinas.

  “I see.” Eli said.

  “A powerful defense mechanism.” Ziran added, rubbing his eyes.

  “Your objective is to cast the darkness spell on the glimmershade to counteract the light on its back. Then you will maintain the spell until you are within reaching distance, and are able to touch its back. If you can do this, it will recognize you as a friend and it will stop trying to blind you.”

  “That sounds painful.”

  “It can be.” The captain replied, unconsciously touching her eyes. “As you get closer, even a fleeting glance can cause damage to your eyes. We can heal it of course, but…I would recommend not being blinded.”

  “Isn’t there a…less painful way to learn how to cast this spell?” Vespera asked.

  “Perhaps. But this method is the most efficient. Pain is a strong motivator.” Captain Duskrend replied. “We sometimes leave learners blinded for a day or two before healing them, as motivation to do better next time.”

  “Is this how you learned?” Eli said, turning to Aratessa.

  “A variation on this theme, yes.” She replied. “Normally this type of exercise is reserved for people who can already cast the darkness spell, and are looking to learn to control it better. However, it does promote faster mastery.”

  “No pain, no gain?” He asked.

  “Something like that.” She nodded. “Remember the incantation we practiced earlier?”

  Eli nodded before turning to the dark elven captain. “Let’s do this.”