Chapter 214: [214] Trust
Artie spent the next few minutes telling Eliron about Ariel in a very... interesting way.
Cutting away all the fluff and not so well subtle bragging, Ariel was the first person she faced when she got to the tower.
She was a second class mage, one of the most talented in her year, as well as Tiberius’ slave.
Eliron was not surprised that she was a slave, in fact, half-elves being slaves to high elves was pretty common.
Most high elves who fell in love with humans often fled their country to live outside elven lands, because the punishment for such an act was death, or lifetime imprisonment.
As for their children, if they were caught, they were often distributed as slaves among the more higher ranking elves.
That was most likely the case with Ariel as well as Sabrina...
Now that her master was dead, thanks to Eliron. Ariel was without a master, and although it sounded great on paper, it was quite the opposite.
Losing her master had basically guaranteed her own death. When the high elves would come to investigate what happened to Tiberius, the first person they would go after is Ariel.
It did not matter how far she fled, all slaves were branded by a special spell that could be tracked.
In Sabrina’s case, it had been a collar, for Ariel it was likely something else, a magic too powerful for her to destroy herself.
Once they found her, they would first torture her to get out every last secret from her, then when they were done, she would be killed and made an example to the other slaves.
Ariel knew this, that was why she was hoping to find refuge with Eliron.
’But, can I trust her?’
Artaris was always welcome to new talents. Their military was currently very weak, and one of the ways to improve it was by taking in new warriors.
But what mattered most was trust, not strength. "Why should I help you? You attempted to kill Artie did you not?"
Ariel stiffened. "It w-was an order from my master... I-I could not refuse him."
"And how am I sure you are still not loyal to the high elves? You are part high elf are you not?"
Unlike Sabrina who had wood elf blood running through her veins, Ariel was half high elf and half human, there was nothing tying her to the wood elves apart from the will to survive.
"You can understand my point of view, can you not? You must know about the dark history between us wood elves and high elves."
Ariel opened her mouth to speak, but she had no words to refute his statements.
He was right, the only reason she was here was because she was desperate to survive.
She was not loyal to the high elves, nor was she loyal to him, she was loyal to survival, that was the plain truth.
Eliron shook his head and looked away. "I’m sorry. But I cannot take you in. You will have to find another means to survive."
"It is impossible to trust someone who does not even know the very concept of loyalty."
He waited for a few seconds to hear what her reply would be, but when all that greeted him was silence, Eliron turned to leave—
"But... you can teach me!" Ariel got to her feet, her head still bowed as she yelled out.
Eliron paused.
Her face was soaked with sweat and her arms were trembling. This was her only chance, if she failed here, then she would most definitely die.
"What?" Eliron was not asking her to repeat herself, he had heard her clearly. What he wanted was for her to continue.
"How... how can a child know warmth if she has never felt a m-mothers touch?" She blurted out, stumbling over her words.
"But if the child is taken in, given a warm bed, some food... over time, they would come to know how warmth feels like, how it feels to belong to a group, how it feels to put your hopes on others and others on you..."
Artie’s eyes narrowed, the sharp edge in her voice returning. "Rediculous. Are you asking the elven lord to feed and clothe you?"
Ariel flinched but stood her ground, raising her head to meet his gaze. She was crying.
She placed her hand on her chest, every single word of hers motivated by fear.
"N-no. I am saying I can learn! I admit I am not loyal, I do not know what loyalty means..."
From the moment she was born it had been hell. Her parents had discarded her to flee to another country...
She had been taken in as a slave where her life’s goal was to please her master, whoever it may be.
Ariel was passed around like a tool, a rusty tool that needed no care, no attention, no love.
To her, there was no such thing as loyalty, just service. That had been her life as long as she could remember.
"M-my instructors say I am a fast learner." She nervously said, taking a step forward.
At first, she believed all hope was lost after Tiberius’ death. Her already miserable life was coming to an end in the worst way possible.
But after witnessing what Eliron had done in the tower, what he had done to the grand mage... light came to her world.
Eliron was the lone ray of light in the darkness, the only chance she had to escape the cursed circle she would have been forced to repeat.
But at the same time, he was a vicious flame. There was no telling what he would do to her, she barely even knew him.
The only thing she was holding onto were the words Artie had told her that day...
"If you teach me I can learn, I can learn to be loyal. And if not..." her voice dropped low and she smiled, an empty look in her tired blue eyes. "You can always make me your s-slave, that way, my service would be guaranteed."
Eliron was rendered speechless. Never had he seen someone coming to life so desperately.
If Ariel had been born in different circumstances, then she would have likely been treated like royalty.
She was a genius mage, she was beautiful and she was destined to do great things.
But from the moment she was born as a half-elf, her future was written down in ink, impossible to be erased.
At least, if the story had gone the way it should have, that would have been the case...
Tiberius would still be alive and Ariel would likely be suffering from one form of abuse or the other.
But now, he had the power to change her fate. How could he refuse, especially when she reminded him of himself...
In his last life he had worked harder than most, struggled through mounds of loans just to build a future.
But there were many who never worked as hard as him, millions who only had to worry about what colour of clothes to wear that day, or what hair style to pick...
All while he toiled just to get by.
"Alright then."
Eliron kept Artie in place with one hand, then unsheathed his blade with the other. His movements were smooth, the black sword gleaming in the pale light.
"Loyalty is all about trust..." he began walking toward her, the tip of his blade creating sparks as it scratched the floor.
Ariel swallowed and took a step back, her eyes locked on the blade.
"They say trust is built over time, that is very much true..."
"But fundamentally, trust is a decision, it is not a gift anyone is born with."
"To trust someone, you must first choose to trust them, and when you trust them, you agree to place your life in their hands."
"Without trust, loyalty cannot exist."
He stopped in front of the girl and raised his sword.
"Now, do you trust me?" He asked coldly, his eyes locked on hers.
Ariel stood firm, swallowing her fear and pushing it down to the pit of her stomach. She stared up, her face partially obscured by the rim of her hat.
"Y-yes..."
Eliron smiled.
"Good."
"Then don’t move an inch." He said, just before his sword whistled through the air.