xGo with Master to the camp.

"All due respect your majesty, but get that thing out of here!" a doctor hissed to the Prince. "These soldiers have had bad experiences with elves, and you bring in a Moonlight Elf?"

"She can use moon magic. She can heal and lift lunar curses."

"The moon isn't even up."

"It will be tonight."

"It can't be trusted."

"She does exactly as I command."

"It was only captured last month! You've had it for what, two weeks?"

"Less than that. I own her, and I take full responsibility for her. I recommend you give her a chance."

"And you rode two days to get here?"

"Yes."

The doctor swallowed. He couldn't really refuse the Prince. "Yeah, alright, but please keep a low profile."

I adjusted my hood, making sure it was covering everything. The Prince walked through the giant tent, down rows of cots full of wounded or sick soldiers who were just waking up. I stayed right by his side, and he held an arm around me so I could walk.

"Arvid," Master hissed.

A burly man with a bandage over his eye shifted and grumbled to himself.

"Arvid, it's Rowan."

He mumbled something inaudible, but yawned and sat up. As soon as he opened his good eye and saw that it was the Prince, he jumped. Scrambling to get on his knees, he apologized rapidly.

"Hey, calm down, you're fine, get back in your cot, you need to heal."

"Don't worry about that, your majesty," Arvid replied, pointing to his eye. "It's infected, I'll be dead in a week either way."

Master sighed. "I need to speak with you outside."

Arvid, stumbling over his own feet, followed the Prince and I as we walked back out of the tent.

"Who's that?" Arvid asked, pointing to me. "Traveling company?"

Master sat down in the grass outside the tent, and Arvid and I followed suit. "This is my new pet."

"Pfft, that elf the King gave you?" he chuckled. "No way you brought that thing."

Master glanced around to see if anyone was watching, then gave me a nod.

I lifted my hood, revealing my horns, pointed ears, and white-to-lavender hair.

"Holy mother of magic..." Arvid breathed. "No offense your majesty, but why did you bring it here?!"

"That 'it' is a 'she.' Her name is Akira. She's a reasonable elf, and she's completely harmless, I assure you."

Completely harmless? I could take out half of this army and run home if I wanted to. But I certainly wouldn't...Master wouldn't like that.

"There's no such thing as a reasonable elf," Arvid said, shaking his head.

"You may speak to him," Master told me.

I replied, "Thank you, Master. It's nice to meet you, sir. Sorry if I look a bit...scary to you."

Arvid's jaw dropped. "She speaks English?"

"Yes. She can also lift lunar curses, and heal your eye."

"Woah, hold up, I don't want to get involved with an elf."

"She's healed me before, she's very skilled in moon magic."

"Black magic is more powerful than moon magic though, and if black magic can't heal me, then neither can she, so she's got to be lying to you."

"Believe me, Moon Magic is much more powerful," Master corrected. "All she has to do is lick your eye under the light of the moon, and the infection will be gone."

This is going to be so gross... How many wounds will I have to lick?

"That's preposterous. What's the catch?"

"There is none. You don't have to do the sacrificial rituals you have to do for Black Magic."

"Look, I'd rather stick with black magic, I'm not sure I trust that chick."

"I'm right here," I muttered.

"Please stop talking, you're freaking me out," he hissed to me.

"Arvid, do you know the truth about black magic?" the Prince asked.

"What truth?"

"That it damns you to hell."

He shook his head. "That elf is filling your head with crazy things."

"The High Mage told me himself years ago. But since Black Magic is the only type of magic that humans can perform, he decided to keep that a secret."

Arvid's one good eye widened and he looked down. "Just...give me a minute to think."

"I'm just asking that you let Akira heal you. I want to prove she's not evil, and that black magic is not the way to go. This whole war started because the High Mage didn't tell everyone how bad black magic was, and since I'm to be king soon, I wanted to fix that."

"Look, your majesty... As far as I know, elves are evil, black magic saves our country, and the High Mage is the only one we can really look up to. So you need to give me a minute to just...get all that new stuff in my head."

"You trust me, don't you?"

"Of course, you've saved my ass countless times out there in battle."

"So you'll let me make a big show out of healing you in front of the wounded soldiers?"

"That's not what I said..."

"That's what I heard," Master replied flatly. "Go get some rest and meet me back here at sunset."

"Your Majesty," Arvid insisted, "Please."

I looked to Master earnestly.

"What?" he asked me.

"He doesn't want to," I said.

"So? I'm the Prince."

I bit my lip. He's pretty freaked out, I don't want to **** him into this...

He sighed. "Fine. Arvid, you don't have to be ****-healed."

Arvid sighed with relief and turned to go back inside the medical tent.

"But," Master said, "If I were to demonstrate her abilities by healing an injury I had, would you accept to be healed next?"

Arvid squirmed, an anxious look on his face. "Well...well...ugh, fine."

"Thank you. Now you're free to go back inside."

Arvid gave a bow and hurried back into his cot.

Master glanced around. "We need to find a private tent I can hide you in."

The Doctor we first approached was outside an adjacent tent, keeping an eye on us. Master waved him over.

The Doctor grumbled, frantically looking around as he hurried over. "What do you need, sire?"

"A private tent."

"To hide the elf?"

"Yes."

"You can take mine while we set another one up. Please, please keep it ch--"

"Her," Master interrupted.

"Sorry, her, chained up. We all trust you, but we don't trust elves. It'll make everyone more comfortable."

He nodded. "I know, I intend to. Thank you for the offer, can you lead us there?"

He nodded. "Right this way."

We followed him to one of several small tents clustered together, where the doctors rested. I was surprised how similar everything was to the Elvish front lines.

The Doctor motioned for us to enter. "You can stay here. I'll be right back with an elf cage."

_There are captive elves here... _I thought. I could free some of my people.

But at what cost? I needed to gain the trust of the humans in order to stop the war. Setting free a few elves could continue to cost the lives of hundreds more.

The doctor's tent looked just like an Elvish healer's tent, but where the humans kept black magic ingredients, Elves kept sun and moon magic herbs.

Once the Doctor returned, hauling an empty elf cage on wheels with a rope, he took a deep breath and sighed, scratching his beard. "Anything else, sire?"

"No, thank you, you've done more than enough," Master replied. The Doctor nodded, and left to tend to his patients. "Akira," he said, indicating to the cage.

It reminded me of the birdcage-like-cell he'd kept me in at the castle. I sighed, nodded, and stepped in. He clanked it shut, and clicked the padlock into place, putting the key on a string around his neck.

"I'm going to go meet with the General. I'm going to send Arvid here, so he can keep people from entering and seeing you. I'll be back before sunset."

I grasped at the metal bars and bit my lip. "Promise?" I asked.

He reached out and held my fist. "I promise. You'll be fine, and so will I."

I took a deep breath. "Alright."

Master swallowed, and vanished from the tent.

I was terrified that every time I heard footsteps, angry soldiers were coming for me. No one knew I was there except Master, Arvid, and that Doctor, but I was scared, nonetheless.

After a minute of tense silence, footsteps got very close to the tent. Closer...and closer...and closer...

Arvid peeked in.