Chapter 285

Queen Draudillon's routine became the stuff of nightmares. In the morning she would bear water from whatever well the elven casters managed to conjure up, hauling buckets over to the place where the Elf King kept his female prisoners, she found the most efficient thing was to put a bucket on each end of a stick and carry it over her shoulders across the back of her neck. The stick bobbed steadily back and forth, sloshing the cold water around, and at first she would reach the harem tent with each bucket half empty from spills.

But after several such efforts she learned to time each step with the bobbing of the stick, and in this way she kept the water from spilling most of the time. Once there, she would bear a bucket within and wash the bodies of elf and human alike, taking care that the cloth she used was wrung out frequently to ensure the blood she had to wipe clean was not merely 'spread around'.

The second bucket she would use to ladle into cups for them to drink, and when this was going on, after helping the women of both races to dress in their sorry excuse for clothing, a healer would arrive, cast his spells, and leave before the magic even finished. He was as broken as the rest of them, a slender elf, ears drooped and his body stooped as if he had carried many burdens over his life. His eyes were glassy, distant, and his golden hair hung limp and unkempt.

None of those within the tent confines seemed to look back at him, and no words were traded, he simply ensured they all remained alive, healed their wounds, and left as silent as a golem performing a preset routine.

After the confined women were washed, given water, and healed, a guard would typically appear and select a handful… and Draudillon would silently grieve that she hadn't enough hands to cover every set of ears as she listened to the sound of flesh slapping flesh again. 'Does he do nothing else but eat, drink, and rut?!' The Queen screamed inside her mind as she held her hands over a set of ears.

The elves around her looked at her with pity, even the elven women took a moment for her more than once, "Here…" One said, and offered her an extra slice of bread on the morning of the fourth day. "You're working hard, you need to keep your strength up or you'll waste away."

Queen Draudillon accepted it in both hands, her belly rumbled while she looked at it, and then with shameless abandon she shoved the bread into her mouth and wolfed it down. It was stale, crude, dry and flavorless stuff, in her desperation she didn't care.

"I'll never let it happen to me." The Queen said, it wasn't a thank you to the elf, but the golden haired woman nodded as if it were, she then let out a bitter laugh.

"If that were true, you'd have already ended yourself, child. You want to live, the same as me." Slender, soft fingers ran over Draudillon's cheek, "A word of advice, make the best of a bad situation, find a good husband, and make the best of your bad luck in life. Even if anybody looks for you after they find that party, even if your mother wants you back, our King is unbeatable. Whole armies fell to him when he first came to us, there's nobody in the world capable of defeating him. You're his plaything till he's done with you, maybe then he'll send you back, demanding your own mother in exchange. Abandon hope and just stay alive, it's what we all do."

"Whole… armies?" Draudillon looked up at the elf in disbelief.

"Yes." She said and motioned Draudillon to sit, the noise of the elf king's grunting not far away was like a drum to the Queen, but the elven woman seemed to treat it as mere background noise, no more significant than the noise of chirping birds, simply part of the world.

Around them, camp life continued the way it had for the last few days, elven warriors practiced, prepared food, and some could be seen occasionally comforting a weeping wife, but they were all merely mechanical motions, like their souls had long since left their bodies.

Draudillon sat on the log and wiped her brow, sweat wasn't something she was used to yet, but it was slowly becoming her new normal, and she was almost grateful for the chance to sit and learn something. 'Perhaps there's a clue here I can use to foster our escape…' She wondered, and the elf concubine shook her head as if she could read Draudillon's mind.

"Two thousand years ago there was no Kingdom of Elves, we were all just scattered tribes, even I don't know all the details, but our current King simply 'appeared'. It was said he showed up out of thin air in a fishing village by Crescent Lake. That's all we had back then, just forest villages, we would come together to trade goods or form marriages, war was rare and our population was small. The humans back then served us, they were weak as a race, and needed protection from the others, making us who didn't eat them into an ideal source of safety. But when the elf king appeared in that village?" She shuddered.

"He conquered it immediately, he killed everyone who refused to kneel, and the story says he took every woman of child bearing age in a single night in order to break their spirits. In order to save their women, the men formed the first elven 'army' and attacked another village. The King still did things himself then, he had to in order to ensure victory. He then repeated the process. Those who didn't kneel and obey, died. The women became his, and the survivors became a larger army that went out to conquer more places to spare their own women from more of the same…"

"So it didn't take long for him to build a Kingdom like that I guess…" Queen Draudillon suggested, and the elf woman nodded along.

"No, not long, human. Not long. But word spread and half the forest allied to try to stop him… there was a great battle on the lake when they attacked the place where the village lay. We don't much like the water, but it was hoped that he might like it less and they could drown him… but according to the stories, he simply went from boat to boat, smashing them. Arrows couldn't pierce his flesh, they just bounced away, swords broke against his body… he only laughed and killed those who came for his life. In the end, after only a few weeks, every tribe surrendered… and he had a kingdom-sized harem. He forced all the tribes together to settle around Crescent Lake, and we've expanded since then. Back then we had few children and over centuries. But since then? We must have many, not only with him, but within our families to 'spread the pain' around…"

"You… you have children just so…" Queen Draudillon shivered as the weight of the elven nightmare hit home.

"Don't judge us too harshly, child… if we didn't, if we had only a few, those would surely die. And if we had none, there would be none of us left at all. The humans we had with us back then, fled, preferring the monsters who would only eat them… I sometimes wonder if they weren't wiser than us." The elf concubine shook her head, "I'm sorry for what our warriors did to your people, and I'm sure your mother must be very worried about you. But please understand, he brought only a few of us with him, too few, and our husbands, fathers, and brothers are with us… they were sure we would all die on the way… offering him some other sacrifice, it was the only thing they could do. The gods condemned us all the day they sent that monster to our world… all we can offer is to let him devour parts of us all, or we'll be swallowed whole individually."

The Queen felt a little bit of her growing hatred die as the woman explained, 'A whole army… it's worse than I thought.'

It didn't stop her bitter words from coming out in a retort, "That doesn't make my servants feel any better… they're husks of themselves…" Draudillon hissed, "How are they supposed to go on like this?"

"They'll start talking in a day or two, some of them at least, the ones who don't, they might die. Some just waste away, but most… they learn to live with it. Humans… You may not be a strong race in body, but you are flexible, adaptable, and stronger in spirit and mind than you know. They may never be the same, but most of your people will live… and maybe he'll want to take more humans along the way, and offer your people some relief."

It was a knife in the gut to Draudillon when the twisted attempt at offering comfort… worked.

'I've never hated myself more than at this second…' The Queen thought and the concubine offered out a hunk of cheese.

"Go, take care of your people before we move, bring them food, and pray you age slowly." The Queen snatched up the raw yellow chunk and shoved it into her mouth, stuffing her child-sized cheeks with the stale flavor and chewing without looking up at the one to give it to her.

She then went to the cook fires and began ladling crude stew into bowls to take to her waiting servants. 'How close are we to Arwintar… maybe… maybe when I get there, when we get there, I can get word to the other monarchs and offer them… anything… anything at all if they just end this living hell!' The Queen thought as she hauled buckets and bowls over her shoulder to feed her people again, grunting after every step from the heavy weight on her weary, pain filled shoulders.