For as much effort as Laihal had put into ensuring the camp was adequately disguised, Annabelle and Nephinae had to put in nearly double to ensure the slaves' efforts weren’t in vain. 

Casper watched with a slightly turning stomach, as Elisayra cried and dribbled spit over the mostly cracked and broken stick clutched between her jaws. 

He had seen a hell of alot of awful shit so far on his journey, but he had the incredible fortune of not seeing any torture up close and person. 

And this? This was torture. 

“Shhh, shhhh, shhhh.” Nephinae tried to ease the young half-elf’s pain through the use of her healing magic, while Laihal manipulated the girl's emotions to try and distract her and replace the ideas of pain with something else, but Casper couldn’t see how that would be at all effective given the circumstances. 

Packed inside the space granted to them by the canopy of moss and grass Laihal had so painstakingly draped over their collection of tents, Casper watched as Annabelle pulled on Elisayra's fingers to try and make them straight again. 

With each tug from the large woman, there was a sickening crunch and suck of bone, muscle and flesh. 

Small droplets of blood that managed to escape the mangled mess quickly dried in the dirt at the half-elf’s shuffling feet. 

For as much as it hurt Casper to watch this, he had to imagine it was much, much worse for Elisayra. 

“One, two, -” Annabelle started another countdown, and pulled hard where the “three” was supposed to be. 

Another vomit inducing suck and snap sounded through the space as the bones worked to set them correctly, or rather, somewhat more correctly, in her hand. 

Elisayra bit hard through the stick as her eyes pinched tight. The stick quickly broke apart, and the young girl opened her mouth wide to scream. 

Annabelle quickly brought out her arm, sticking her wrist in Elisayra's mouth, suppressing the rising cries before they managed to escape. 

Elisayra kicked and scrambled her feet against the ground, trying to rip her hand away from Annabelle, but instead found she was held in place by the woman instead. 

Alex worked the makeshift splits they had managed to make around the girls fingers, binding them in strips of fabric from the nameless girls' clothes to try and make sure the strength of the muscles didn’t try to pull the bones back apart. 

Nephinae whispered her enchantments as quietly as she could. All the while holding her hands only inches away from the twitching half-elf’s to try and at the very least, close the open wounds. 

Elisayra’s hands had gotten infected quickly. 

They were lucky to catch it quickly, this being the first night. Had Elisayra tried to go to bed with her hands in this state, there was a very real possibility she would be immobile by morning. 

It was Laihal who had noticed it just as she had finished hiding their camp in the woods. 

Casper was grateful to her, and furthermore incredibly happy with Alex’s selection. 

While he personally hated the idea of slavery, and wished for the practice to be fully rid of… there was a good chance Elisayra would have died in a few days if this slave didn’t exist. 

With his mind on the thought of infection, it was apparent to him at least that Annabelle's eye was similarly in a rough state. 

The way she had described it was gruesome… about as gruesome as the wound looked under her makeshift bandage patch. 

Even in the dim light of Nephinae’s spell, Casper could see the redness spreading around Annabelle's cheek and bridge of her nose, much the same way Elisayra's had had swollen and gotten red well up to the forearm. 

Without healing balms, or clean water it would only get worse for the both of them, no matter the minor tricks Nephinae could perform. 

“Alright, that's enough for tonight…” Nephinae spoke softly, looking to Casper in order to confirm. 

As her own “master,” Casper could in theory tell her to do whatever he wanted, even continue if he so desired. 

He did not want to. If he knew anything at all, it was that these girls had their own expertise, and that he should listen to what they had to say. 

“Agreed, let her rest…” Casper said softly.

He brought his hand over to rest on Elisayra's shoulder as she panted hard. 

Annabelle, having removed her wrist from the girl's mouth, wiped the faintest trickle of blood on her tunic. 

“It hurts, it hurts so much.” Elisayra cried, doing her best to be quiet. 

“I can’t even imagine.” Casper breathed. His heart breaking for the poor girl. 

“I can stay with her while-” Nephinae started. 

“No.” Casper quickly interjected, watching Nephinae as she shot him a confused, almost worried glace. “Alex, Laihal, can you help her please? Nephinae, I need to speak with you please.” 

Casper watched the others as they nodded their understanding of his words, and helped Elisayra up and to her tent. 

“I got first watch then.” Annabelle inferred, moving to get a better position. 

Casper smiled his thanks, and walked the short distance away from their collection of tents towards the series of large boulders that acted as a backdrop for their camp this evening. 

Laihal had found the place, and mentioned that she used it as a hideaway from the other members of her tribe. The camp itself was set at the base of the rockfall, with a blanket of twigs, moss, and felled brush acting almost as a secondary layer of “tent” over the stones their actual tents were placed under. 

This allowed enough open space for fires and walking around, without compromising stealth. From any distance other than directly next to it, it looked as though the stones were left buried under a layer of undergrowth. 

This also comes with the added benefit of allowing Casper to wander through the natural caves the rocks had formed, granting privacy away from the camp. 

As the twisting makeshift caves grew darker further from the light of the camp, Casper could feel the building apprehension in Nephinae’s footsteps behind him. 

Each step is a little slower than the last. More shifting of dirt and stone as she moved carefully, following him. 

Casper rounded a slight bend, reaching a location he thought suitable for the conversation he was about to have. 

One massive boulder from some ancient landslide made up the eastern face, while another equally large stone had collapsed alongside it at an angle, creating a natural, several thousand ton lean-to of rock. 

The whole space was almost entirely pitch black, only illuminated by thin strips of pale moonlight that managed to snake its way inside from adjacent passages. 

Casper made his way to the center, noticing Nephinae’s footfall pause at the entrance to the “room”. 

“Come in, I don’t want anyone accidentally overhearing this.” Casper tried his best to speak calmly, but the truth was he was nervous as hell. 

If she really could see the mark on him, then he would be grateful that she hadn’t said anything to the others, but it would surely complicate quite a bit. 

It would also explain her clear apprehension of joining him away from the others, that, or she was more like Elisayra and had conjured up some deranged fantasy, though Casper didn’t think Nephinae was like that. 

Turning around, Casper’s eyes trailed along the silhouette of the elven woman still standing in place. 

The pure elegance of her figure was astounding. Her long legs, wide hips, and angular features made her look like a painting trapped in moonlight. 

Were this woman not a slave, she would have ruled kingdoms with a single glance he thought. 

“Of course.” Nephinae obeyed the order Casper had nearly forgotten he had given, he was so encapsulated by her grace. 

In fact, even though it was he who had called for her to come, he found himself taking a single step backwards, as it felt wrong for someone like him to be so close to someone like her. All of this was further enhanced by her being his height almost exactly, yet somehow appearing to be much much taller. 

Or, perhaps this was the mark talking…

Quickly suppressing the rising thoughts that had begun to take shape in his head, Casper searched deep into Nephinae’s eyes before he spoke. 

He couldn’t kill her, not with how much that would hurt Alex. But he also couldn’t risk her telling the others that he was marked. That revelation would fracture the relationships he had grown to enjoy, even if they were all still in their relative infancy. 

What would he do, if she could see the marks? If Casper was being honest with himself, he wasn’t sure. He supposed that would depend on her reaction to this confrontation moving forward. 

It was of course always a possibility that she couldn’t see the mark on him, and instead had seen or felt something else. If that was the case then it would be best not to reveal too much, and instead ask her vague questions to get to the bottom of this situation. 

“Nephinae, when you all came to me in the woods, and I was giving out the punishments to the others. You were staring at me, why?” He tried first. 

The full elf took in a quick breath at that, barely noticeable were it not for Casper's still annoyingly lingering effects of the mark. 

A faint sweat began to build along the sides of her head, which was uncommon for an elf he had come to learn. 

“May I speak candidly, master?” Nephinae asked with the faintest quiver in her tone. 

“Of course. I promised Alex, and I promise you now that no harm will come to you.” Casper tried to reassure the elven woman. 

Nephinae took in a much more audible, shaking breath, as she cast her eyes away from him. 

The elf gripped her own arm, as she turned away slightly, seemingly unable to face Casper entirely either in this situation. 

“My magic is varied, you see. I am capable of very many feats, though none of my magics are particularly potent. A jack of all trades, master of none.” When she starts, it’s clear that she is doing her best to still maintain her proper form, though it still falters in this moment. 

Casper remained silent, letting the woman speak without interruption. 

“One such magic I possess is the ability to read auras, in order to understand intent. I am sure you are aware of the usefulness of this ability in courtly matters. It is far from a perfect magic, and I have trained myself to read the aura of another passively, without the need for complex incantations. This is a skill I maintain nearly at all times.” 

Could she sense his mark through the aura he possessed then? This was the first Casper had heard of anything like Auras, then again he figured he hadn’t heard about alot, so he supposed it wasn’t too far fetched. 

“In our travels, I have seen your aura fluctuate quite often…such as after your coupling with my lady and Elisayra…” Nephinae trailed slightly. 

The realization that what had happened in the tent that night with the two girls hadn’t gone entirely unnoticed made Casper blush. 

“When I saw you, after the incident in the fortress, the aura I read on you terrified me.” Even just saying it seemed to scare her. Then again if whatever she saw really was as bad as she was making it out to be, of course telling him about it would cause equal concern. 

In Casper's mind, he equated it to telling the largest, most muscled and scared person in a bar that they “look like bad news” to their face. 

Maybe if he knew specifically what Nephinae had seen, he could put it to rest. Obviously he could explain away bloodlust as anger at his friends being captured after all.

“Can you tell me about the aura I gave off? I'm sure I can explain-” 

“It was overwhelmingly primal… so much rage, so much hunger, so much lust… it worried me deeply.” Nephinae’s voice caught slightly, another break in the façade that honestly worried Casper. 

And then, it all clicked into place, as she continued to speak. 

“I could feel the pressure of your desire, as you asked for me. I could feel it when you told me to come with you, and when you looked at me but moments ago. But I can still feel the bloodlust within you, see it licking off your body like flames…” 

Nephinae turns her gaze back to Casper, her mask cracking just enough for Casper to see how truly terrified of him she is. 

“Candidly, I’m terrified of what you will do to me now…” the earnest fear in her voice hits Casper like a warhammer to the chest. 

This would be hard to explain away, he thought… but he needed to start somewhere. 

Once again some critical misunderstanding had transpired that created a divide among the people he wanted to consider friends. It was his fault honestly, but now was the best time to begin the process of explaining exactly what was going on. 

Casper studied Nephinae for a moment, watching as she struggled between maintaining her professional calm appearance, and physically recoiling from him. 

Her eyes hurt him the most. Wide, quivering, filled with the kind of terror only a woman can feel, when in the presence of a man like him. 

Casper let out a measured breath, and sat down in the dirt with his legs crossed, and his hands trapped under his rear. 

Nephinae looked at him with caution, and curiosity. She looked as though she might join him so Casper quickly shook his head. 

“You do not need to sit, please, if it makes you more comfortable you can stand, or step away. I just want to talk to explain some things.” He said in the softest voice he could manage without sounding condescending. 

For as much as this elven woman appeared regal, she was still at her core a 19 year old girl who had been a slave in a horrible household. Sure Alex was kind to her, but that is nothing to say for what the others in her uncle's house had done. 

Nephinae was visibly taken aback by the gesture, seemingly unsure how to react with such an earnest show of respect for her emotions from someone who wasn’t Alex. 

Casper didn’t speak as she worked through how she wanted to react, before eventually deciding to take several paces backwards, before sitting down with Casper, leaving a few feet between them. 

Casper smiled, and lifted his head to the top of the cavern as he spoke. 

“Nephinae, I swear to you, on my very life, that I would never, under any circumstances, engage in any intimate act of any kind with anyone against their will, or without their explicit consent.” 

Casper kept his eyes turned up to the ceiling, not yet wanting to see the elf’s reaction for fear she didn’t believe him. 

“My emotions are wild, my temperament uneven and my disposition is, at best, confusing and at worst actively detrimental to those around me.” 

He tried to decide how to better explain the nature of such uneven temperament, and furthermore explain the strange aura she felt from him, before settling on what was likely the safest option, even though it came at the cost of someone he barely knew. 

“Ever since seeing me, Laihal has been using her powers to influence my emotions. I’m uncertain if this is an attempt to escape the enslavement she has found herself in, or simply to tease me on account of my being the only man among the ranks of our gathered. I haven’t had a chance to speak to her but I promise you I found my…lust… strange as well.” 

Casper felt horrible for pawning off the burden of guilt onto the slave. Honestly he figured the poor woman had it hard enough as it was without him using her as a scapegoat, luckily he was able to piece together the logical pieces that the womb tattoo on the half-fiends pelvis and her ability to alter people's emotions meant she was some manner of succubus. 

Despite Casper’s lack of worldly knowledge, he was aware of those particular half fiends, as it was relevant to a very real and entirely legitimate story his much older friend in the village had told him some years ago. 

Luckily for him, Nephinae seemed to buy it, putting her steadily more at ease. 

“As for the other emotions, I had gotten caught up in the forest by my own, much smaller patrol, we didn’t have a chance to grab much food as we followed the tracks to rescue you all. The marked girl had to do all the work while I sat behind uselessly. I was furious, but almost entirely at myself…” Casper lied. 

He really really didn’t like lying, It made him feel pretty damn guilty. But if the options available to him were to lie, or admit honestly that the mark he was given that requires people to be executed if they see it, gave him enough power to level a fortress without breaking a sweat while it simultaneously driving him mad enough to rip apart or fuck anything that moves in a 10 mile radius, the correct answer was to lie, lie, lie, and lie some more. 

Casper finally turned his gaze back down, and was washed with relief, and even more guilt, to see Nephinae smiling and returning to her gentle elegance once more. 

“I understand entirely. Please, I would ask that you forgive me for having assumed such terrible things of you.” she offered genuinely, going so far as to shift her body so that her knees were on the ground, and her head lowered to touch the floor in a bow. 

“Please don’t… I should have explained myself much sooner. I still need to talk to Alex as well…” Casper waved his hands to try and get her to sit up. Such a deep apology after weaving such a bullshit lie made him even more guilty, and he wanted it to stop as quickly as possible. 

“Speak to Alex? Might I inquire as to what?” 

“You may, of course.” Casper confirmed. “Our whole… “eloping” wasn’t really that. It was more akin to service that I didn’t really ask for…” 

Nephinae’s eyes widened at that, and Casper swore she blushed slightly as she opened them even wider in sudden horror. 

“Here I sit in assumption that you had desires to take me, when instead it was my mistress who took you without your consent?” The genuine shock, and horror in her tone made Casper worry. 

The look in Nephinae’s eyes too was enough to make him second guess his own enjoyment of the night. 

“I am so terribly sorry for the actions of my mistress!” Nephinae nearly shouted the words as she drove her head into the ground in prostration once more. 

“No no! Please, you have nothing to apologize for… allow me to finish and explain.” Casper tried to recover quickly, sending out his heightened senses to see if anyone in camp heard. 

To his relief the echo became too indistinguishable to pick up the specifics of her shout, and the others brushed it off. 

“It was a very big, very terribly misunderstanding. I had said some vague and ultimately confusing words to Elisayra, who in turn misunderstood the intent given the power dynamic between us. Elisayra then roped Alex into the misunderstanding and it fell apart from there.” Casper quickly explains, watching with tentative relief as Nephinae rises from the floor once more. 

“She did not rape you then?” Nephinae asks cautiously. 

“No no… I don’t think so at least. The point being…” Casper blushed, realizing the topic at hand, but understanding he was too deep to back out now. 

“I enjoyed it. I had the strength to stop it, should I really have wanted to, and did not. I assure you, Alex and Elisayra did not rape me. Though I'm sure Alex believes she did. Which is why I must talk to her.” 

Nephinae let out a long, heavy sigh of relief, though the tension in her body and worry in her eyes showed she wasn’t totally happy with that response. 

“I promise everything is alright. I just need to have an honest conversation with her. As I did with you.” Casper finished explaining. 

Nephinae nodded her head at that, and stood from the ground. She walked over to Casper then and held out her hand. 

Smiling, Casper took the elven woman's hand as she helped him come to his feet. 

“Thank you for speaking to me plainly. I encourage you to do so more often” Casper told her as they started to return back to the camp. 

“It is rather difficult for me to speak in such a way. Many years of training have been deeply ingrained into my mind. Though, if it is your wish I will try to talk to you with more candor. 

“Thank you…. Oh, and in order to maintain Alex’s “punishment,” I would like for you to continue to tend to me. Not that Alex in any way deserves punishment, but she believed she did and wanted to stand in solidarity with the others so, let's just play along for now…” Casper sighed. 

“Of course master, I figured as such after the misunderstanding was cleared.” She clarified with the faintest hint of a smile, as she finished putting on her familiar mask of professionalism

“Good good.” Casper returned the smile as they re-entered the camp.