We exited the city onto a wide path that had been cleared to allow for passage in and out of the city. Overhead the branches that were higher up on the tress grew across the path and blocked the little dawn sunlight that was in the sky. Ahead of us, Voran walked with a torch to light the way. I rode next to Alleria with Uraia and Boronir riding ahead of us.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the dark elves?” I asked Alleria.
“What’s there to tell?”
“Their existence for starters, it came as a shock to us when we arrived at the residence yesterday and saw them for the first time.”
“Erevan should have informed you of the situation; I’ll admonish him later for his negligence.”
“I think I have a good sense of the situation.”
“And what is your sense of the situation?”
“The dark elves are your slaves, second class citizens with no freedom, no right to self-determination.”
“From your tone of voice I’m assuming you disapprove; is there no such practice in your lands?”
“There is; Uraia and her clan were violently driven off their lands and relegated to the status of second class citizens, and in the kingdom of Avondrea slaves are used to work the fields that produce a significant amount of the realm’s food.”
“This kingdom, Avondrea, could they produce the food that is feeding the rest of your realm without the use of slaves?”
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“No, they couldn’t.”
“So while you may disapprove of slavery as a practice you do recognize the necessity of it.”
“We do not import any food from Avondrea, and since becoming queen I have granted the Okwari the status of full citizens of Aseron.”
“You haven’t been queen for long, have you?”
“What makes you say that?”
“Your idealism, it’s typical of a new ruler.”
“Helene, the queen of Avondrea, said the same thing to me; she said that eventually my idealism would give way to pragmatism and I would start seeing things her way. She was wrong.”
“Our history with the dark elves is long and complicated; once you have gained a greater understanding of it you will come to sympathize with us.”
“Tell me about your history with them then.”
“Not now; now we focus on the hunt.”
I was not expecting to receive the truth from Alleria; what was obvious from the way that she spoke was her certainty in their right to exercise dominion over the dark elves.
We continued traveling through the forest until it gave way to a high ravine.
“On the other side of the ravine are farmlands and the dwellings that house the dark elves that aren’t lucky enough to live in the city, once we pass through there we’ll be at the hunting grounds,” Alleria said.
“What do you mean they’re not ‘lucky’ enough to live in the city?” I asked.
“They haven’t done enough to display their acceptance of us as their masters, so they can’t be trusted in the city.”
It being dawn, the farm workers were heading out into the fields to begin working, just like the slaves in Avondrea did. Alleria’s certainty about the white elves’ inherent superiority was deeply troubling; in Avondrea their attitude toward slavery was pure self interest, it was nothing like this attitude of unquestionable superiority that Alleria had which would inevitably imbue one with the belief that any actions that they took against those who they perceived as their inferiors to be entirely justified, and that could only lead to unspeakable atrocities. I thought about what this meant for the dark elves, the fear and terror that they must have felt every day, and I also thought about whether it was right for me to have become so invested in wanting to help the dark elves when I hadn’t given serious thought to taking action to bring an end to the practice of slavery in Avondrea.
