Chapter 20

"You're participating in the tournament as well?" Mae asked, resting her head on her palm as they explained the situation to her.

Xain nodded. "Yeah, I am. See, this guy risked his life and well-being to save me, so I want to pay him back," he explained, rubbing the back of his head.

"I tried to tell him about you being in the tournament to make him back down, but he wouldn't listen," Zee added, before turning to Xain with a pointed look. "And now he's freaking out about it."

Xain let out a few nervous chuckles. "After a certain someone said he wasn't going to help me, I started thinking about this a lot more," he muttered under his breath, trying—and failing—to glare at Ercale inside his head.

"Trust us, we want nothin' more than for him to back out of this tournament," Larkin said, leaning back in his chair. "But given how stubborn he is, there's a good chance the two of ya are gonna end up clashin'."

Mae sighed, shaking her head. "I think you three are making this a way bigger deal than it actually is."

The trio turned to her.

"What do you mean?" Xain asked, curious.

Mae locked eyes with him, her expression calm—too calm. "What I mean, boy, is that if we fight, we fight. There's nothing more to it. It's a tournament. If you don't want to hit me, that's fine too—you'll just be handing me an easy win."

A chill crawled up Xain's spine.

*Those eyes... It's not that she doesn't care about hurting me. She wants to hurt me.*

His hands instinctively slid under the table, seeking some kind of cover.

*See that?* Ercale's voice rang in his head. *That's what you should expect from most elves. Those raised in their society are not kind to us humans. The ones like your girlfriend are the exception.*

Xain didn't respond—not to Ercale's warning, not even to the part about Zee being his girlfriend. He just felt uncomfortable under Mae's gaze, but there was something else, an odd, unsettling feeling deep inside of him. It wanted to surface, to push back, to show Mae her place, but he shoved it down, burying it as deeply as he could.

"Come on, Mae, don't stare at him like that," Zee said, crossing her arms, her expression hard.

Mae chuckled, throwing up her hands in mock surrender. "Ah, sorry, didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. Just wanted to explain things."

Xain knew that was a lie. But the rest of the table seemingly didn't.

"So," Larkin began, scooting his chair closer to Mae and Drack, his voice lowering to a conspiratorial whisper, "you two are from Sylvanoria, right?" He leaned in slightly. "So, what can you tell me about it? 'Cause Zee here won't tell me nothin'." He jabbed a thumb in Zee's direction.

Mae let out an exhale, then turned to Zee with a look of approval. "Well, if she didn't tell you anything, that's good," she said.

"Humans don't need to know anything about Sylvanoria," Drack added bluntly.

Larkin immediately leaned back, hands raised in surrender. "Sheesh, I just wanted to know a little," he muttered, sounding disappointed.

*I don't think I've ever read a book about Sylvanoria, I just know it exists,* Xain thought, recalling the countless times he had stolen books from the library. His knowledge of the outside world had come from those pages—but not a single one had contained anything about Sylvanoria. *I know about it,* Ercale chimed in.

*Will you tell me?* Xain asked.

*Maybe,* Ercale surprisingly replied.

*Oh, I expected you to just say no,* Xain thought back.

Ercale simply shrugged, offering no further response.

Meanwhile, "Come on, just a few little things?" Larkin pressed, barely waiting a second before pushing the question again.

Mae sighed. "Alright, fine, I'll tell you a little."

Larkin clenched his fist in victory—only for his excitement to immediately die as Mae continued.

"It's better than any human civilization in every single way," Mae said, her tone smug. "Looks better, the air's fresher, our society functions better, etcetera, etcetera."

Larkin's expression soured. "Feels like I celebrated too early."

"But," Mae continued, crossing her arms, "it used to be even better—before a certain someone stole something important off a certain envoy." She slowly turned her gaze to Zee, accusation clear in her voice.

Zee tensed. "I-I couldn't help myself," she muttered, barely defending herself.

"This about the necklace?" Larkin asked, his curiosity piqued.

Mae turned to him and nodded. "Yes. Because she stole it and ran, the envoy tried to have our whole family arrested. And they would have—if not for me."

Zee looked down, guilt creeping across her face. "They... didn't hurt you, did they?" she asked hesitantly.

Mae's lips curled into a slow, suggestive smirk. "Well~ they were rough with me, but I took care of them."

The table fell into stunned silence—except for Drack, who remained impassive.

Zee, surprisingly unfazed, simply muttered, "You know, when it's you, I don't know if that means you killed them or had sex with them."

Mae simply shrugged. "I'll leave that to your imagination," she said, winking.

"Okay," Xain said abruptly, pushing back his chair and standing up. His unease around Mae had been growing, and he wanted out. "I think I'll just go to my room."

Mae tilted her head at him, feigning innocence. "Already? It's barely past four."

"I know, I just—need to mentally prepare myself for tomorrow, you know?" He forced a casual wave before turning and heading upstairs.

Mae watched him go, her grin stretching just slightly as her eyes gleamed with something far less playful. *I'm so happy that I have a reason to hurt you,* she thought, licking her lips in anticipation, barely able to contain herself as she desperately waited for tomorrow and the Tournament of Greatness.