You need three things

As with each of the others, he carried the elf up from the basement in his arms. She was so light that he vaguely feared he'd overdone it, but shallow breaths came one after another. Up the stairs he climbed until he spotted the elf from earlier slipping out of her room. "Selise. Which room is vacant?"

The redhead gave a start, looking to him, then at the bundle in his arms. She motioned to a door across the hall, and he pushed it in, laying the limp elf on the mattress that was the only furnishing in the small stone cell. The sun shone in the little window high on the wall, and he wondered how long he'd been down there with her.

Turning around, he stepped out of the doorway, catching sight of several other elves peering curiously towards him before they scattered. He looked towards Selise before she, too, could find something to engage her. "Come here." He bade, and she obediently slipped over to him, her bare feet silent on the stone floor. "What's got the rest of them stirred up?" He questioned.

The elf's orange eyes wouldn't look towards his face as she shifted uneasily, wrapping one arm across herself to grip her elbow. "I don't know what you mean?"

He gave a soft growl from deep in his throat. "Normally, I have to beat you lot off with a stick when a new girl comes up. It's an easy night's pay and a chance to gossip."

Selise looked up at him then, her eyes narrowed. "Well, she's not like us, is she?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He met the elf's gaze, and she withered.

Her uncomfortable squirming increased, and he vaguely thought it might have been an expression of shame. "The blue hair. It's a bit uncommon in the north. Much more common in the south."

"But you don't know that she's from the south. And anyway, what does it matter?" He vaguely wondered how he'd come to this.

Selise looked down once again. "N-nothing, sir. Just old grudges. My apologies."

He tugged a few coins and held them before her. "Well, hetzing swallow them and make sure she's taken care of."

She reluctantly took them, slipping inside the room, and he turned away, grumbling to himself.