“How?”

“A simple spell. I could teach you, if you wished.”

The half-orc resumed eating, nodding as he did. “I would appreciate it.”

Harruq sighed, remembering all the meager meals, many stolen, that he and Qurrah had shared over the many years.

“Too bad you never learned that spell ages ago,” he grumbled.

After Qurrah finished, the three prepared for travel. It didn’t take very long, considering their meager possessions. Qurrah had his magic whip, which he wrapped around his arm, and his pouch of bones and other components for his spells. Harruq buckled his swords to his belt, ran a hand through his hair, and then declared himself ready.

“So where are we to go?” she asked, her own few things tucked away in secret pockets of her dress.

“We know little of this world,” Qurrah said. “We have been exiled twice. Once for our blood, and once for the blood we spilled.”

Aurelia winced, still uncomfortable with mention of the battle. Harruq and Qurrah had fought against her elven kin and slaughtered many, but she had protected Harruq and even helped him escape. A day later, she still was not sure why. She just remembered the panicked, desperate look in Harruq’s eyes when he thought she might die, murdered by his own hands.

“Mordan banished my kind,” Aurelia said. “And it seems now Neldar has done the same. East or West, there is no home for me.”

“You said yesterday you could get us into Veldaren,” Harruq said. “Is that true?”

Veldaren was the capital of the kingdom of Neldar, and had been the brothers’ previous home before they had been expelled.

“Only if you both play along,” Aurelia said. “How we live once we’re in, though, will depend on you.”

“It might not be comfortable,” Qurrah said. “My brother and I are used to the dark and the filth. Could you say the same?”

“Don’t treat me like a prissy child princess,” Aurelia said. “I’ve lived longer than the two of you combined. I can endure a bit of hardship. Now close your eyes, Harruq.”