Chapter 123: Gorok
Gorok was bored.
He leaned back in his massive stone chair, running a hand over the smooth, polished obsidian of the armrest. A young Sun Elf with pale, frightened eyes knelt beside him, carefully peeling a piece of dark fruit and placing the slices on a small plate.
Another elf, this one with the dark skin and white hair of the Ashen clans, stood silently behind his chair, her hands clasped, her gaze fixed on the floor. Her back was covered in a fresh, intricate tattoo that was still red and swollen around the edges.
He picked up a slice of fruit and popped it into his mouth, chewing slowly. The silence in the cavernous room was broken by the sound of footsteps. A human servant, dressed in simple grey robes, entered the chamber. He walked with his eyes down, stopping a precise twenty feet from the chair before kneeling, his forehead almost touching the stone floor.
"Well?" Gorok asked, his voice calm. "You wouldn’t interrupt my afternoon snack unless you had news."
"A report has arrived, Lord Gorok," the servant said, his voice steady but quiet. "From Kenchi."
Gorok leaned forward a little, a flicker of interest in his eyes. "He’s found them, then."
"Yes, my lord. He tracked the princess to the Ashen Glade."
The Ashen Elf behind the chair flinched, a tiny, almost imperceptible movement, but Gorok noticed. He reached back without looking and casually ran a finger along the raw, inflamed edge of her new tattoo. She froze completely, not even breathing.
"And?" Gorok prompted, his attention back on the servant.