REBORN AS A HIGH ELF SLAVE

Eon swung down from the horse after Elora. His boots hit the packed earth of the front yard of the Edger mansion with a soft thud. The air here smelled different from the open road, cleaner, with the faint scent of old stone and the distant smoke of cooking fires from the backyard camp of the soldiers. Elora stretched her arms over her head once, then turned to help the first of the rescued elves climb down from the nearest carriage.

The others followed. Elsa guided their horse closer to the stable, as the dark elf couldn't care about the horse she had dismounted from. Alaric dropped lightly to the ground, eyes scanning the quiet yard. The soldiers who had come with him dismounted a short distance away. After a few quiet words with Eon, they turned and headed around the side of the mansion toward the backyard, where the larger force from their land still camped.

The main estate sat higher than the surrounding land. That height kept the front courtyard quiet. No servants moved through the area. No curious human eyes watched from the windows. The elves who had just arrived kept their heads low and the cloth coverings over their ears firmly in place, but the tension in their shoulders eased a little once they realized how private this mansion was.

And easing their anxiousness a little more, familiar-eared people began to appear from the main doors.

A handful of the elves came out who had been staying behind. They wore better clothes now, simple tunics and trousers that fit properly, clean and mended. Their faces looked healthier than the ones climbing down from the carriages. Some of the new arrivals stared. Others simply exhaled, the sound soft and relieved to see others from their races.

One of the older elven women from the mansion stepped forward and took the arm of a younger girl who still looked half-starved. “You’re safe now, dear,” she said quietly to the anxious-looking girl. 

“Come inside with me. There’s water and food waiting for you all. You must be starving, right?”

The girl stared at the woman for a while, and only walked inside with her when Nora nodded. Nora seemed like a leader type to them, even though she might be the most hotheaded and simple-minded among all of them.

The new elves followed the elves from the mansion without much talk. Their steps were careful, as if the solid ground of the estate still felt temporary. Eon watched them go for a moment, then turned toward the carriages. There was much to unload from the carriages. 

Kaelen was already there, sleeves pushed up, directing two younger elves from the mansion on how to unstrap the first load of crates. Martha stood beside him with a small notebook, checking items against a list. Her dark hair was pulled back in a practical braid now, in her work mode. When she looked up and saw Eon looking at her, she gave a short nod.

“We brought everything we could manage,” she said. 

“Tools, iron scraps, some treated leather, dried herbs from the Denares stores, and a few sacks of grain that weren’t too heavy for the road. I guessed we might come short of them quickly here, having no supply of grain from any merchants.”

Eon walked over and rested a hand on the nearest crate. The wood was rough under his palm. “Yeah, you did good. Sooner or later we have to secure a connection with a merchant, but before that we might have to make do with this. Kaelen, Liam, get the food and medicine inside first. The rest can wait until we know where to store it.”

Kaelen lifted one end of a heavy box with the help of another elf. “Okay. Oh, our Forge supplies are in the second carriage. Have them checked properly before unloading them.”

They worked without hurry. The afternoon light slanted across the yard, warm on the backs of their necks. Elves from both groups moved between the carriages and the side doors of the mansion, carrying sacks and smaller boxes. The new arrivals stayed close to the ones who already lived here, listening more to their story than speaking. Every so often, someone would pause to help adjust a cloth covering over pointed ears or offer a steadying hand to someone still weak from the journey. Eon let them be like that. Knowing he might have to wait a while before they adjust to this place. He can’t just ask them to work alongside them, just because some of them are strong enough to work. Those who work willingly could work, but the rest should be left alone for now. Forcing them to do labor right now might reduce their loyalty toward him. And he needed every bit of loyalty he could gather, considering he might have to go to war with them.

He just helped with the heavier crates for a while. His arms remembered the work easily enough from his Earth days. After all, hauling crates and heavy things were part of this daily work in those days. 

When he set one down near the side entrance, he caught sight of Elsa speaking quietly with two of the rescued women, showing them the way to the baths. Nora stood a short distance away, arms crossed, watching the activity with that same sharp focus she always carried. She had not relaxed fully yet. And Eon did not expect her to, either. He was slowly getting what kind of personality she had by now. 

Then Alen appeared from behind him.

The boy came out of the main doors at a half-run, dark hair messy, eyes searching the yard. He spotted Martha almost at once and slowed. “Mother?”

Martha turned. For a moment her face lit up in a way Eon had not seen often. She set the notebook down on a nearby crate and opened her arms. Alen crossed the last few steps and hugged her hard, face pressed against her shoulder. He was still young enough that the motion looked natural, but tall enough that it hardly looked like a mother-son reunion.

Kaelen stood a few paces away, holding a sack of grain on his shoulder. His posture went stiff for a second. He looked at the ground, then at the side of a carriage, then finally back at the work in front of him. He shifted the sack against his chest and carried it toward the storage door without a word.

Eon noticed all of it. Martha’s hand rested on the back of Alen’s head for a moment longer before she gently pushed him back to look at his face.

“Oh, my. You’re wearing clean clothes,” she said, voice softer than usual. “Have you been eating properly?”

Alen nodded, then glanced toward the new elves still climbing down from the last carriage. “Yeah, Madam Teressa made sure of it. By the way, who are they?”

“Just some people we brought back,” Martha answered. “They’re staying with us now. Help them if they need anything, but don’t bother them. Okay? ”

Alen nodded again and moved to take a smaller box from one of the elf women. Kaelen returned from the storage room a short time later. He and Martha exchanged a brief look, nothing long, nothing dramatic, but enough that the air between them felt different for a few heartbeats. Then Martha picked up her notebook again, and Kaelen went back to unstrapping the next set of crates. Both of them acted like whatever happened in Denares territory was better left behind. But Eon noticed that look in both their eyes. Both of them don’t actually want that to end. It was just Martha being a human widow with a grown-up boy, and Kaelen being a former slave elf was the problem between them, which was making them hesitate to pursue this relationship further.

For now Eon left them be. He stayed near the main group of carriages, directing where the heavier tools should go. He kept his voice steady and clear so the new arrivals could hear him without needing to ask twice.

“Medicine and bandages have to go to the east wing,” he said. 

“And grain and dried herbs to the main kitchen stores. Anything for the forge, iron ore, and stuff should go around the back of the mansion. There should be people waiting for you. Go and leave this stuff to them. If you’re tired, sit. But remember, we have to finish before night falls.”

The work continued through the rest of the afternoon. The sun dropped lower. Shadows lengthened across the courtyard. The sound of campfires and distant voices from the backyard soldiers drifted over the hill, but the front of the mansion stayed quiet. Elora moved among the new elves, speaking to them in low tones, answering questions when she could. Elsa organized a small group to take the most exhausted ones straight to rooms that had already been prepared for them. Nora eventually sat on the edge of a low stone wall, watching everything with her usual silence, though her shoulders no longer looked quite as tight.

Martha finished checking the last of the lists and closed the notebook. Kaelen stood nearby, wiping his hands on a cloth. Alen had gone inside with one of the other elven boys to help carry simple things. The awkwardness between them from earlier had settled into something quieter, but it had not disappeared completely. 

Eon stepped back from the last empty carriage and let out a slow breath, as his work here was finally done. The yard looked different now, full of movement, full of people who had not been here just a few days ago. 

Then Eon saw a young maid pass near the main doors, carrying a stack of clean clothes. He raised a hand to catch her attention.

“Hey, sorry, I don't know your name,” he said. “I just wanted to ask you; I don’t see the Countess. Could you tell me where she is?”

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