Sitting in the carriage, Annan watched the streets sweep past and wondered if he had guessed wrong.
Lady Melanie was the Grand Lord's wife, not a member of the Raymond Family. How could she do such a thing?
Was she trying to ease the tension between him and the Grand Lord?
Mora sat beside Annan. Word that he had gone after Annan had clearly reached the Grand Lord. With nowhere else for Mora to go, Annan had brought him along to keep him safe.
That was, Annan was protecting Mora.
"So was it just you, or were there others?" Annan returned to the question that had been interrupted.
"We split up to search for the Matron..."
Mora said Spider Queen Lolth's believers had scattered across the world, searching for traces of her.
"Are you a Dark Elf, then?"
Annan had grown curious about what Mora looked like beneath his gray cloak.
Mr. Mora held out his hand. It was slender, wrapped in bandages, and carried a faint scent of decay.
"I used to be..."
He had undergone the Ritual of Pain, transforming from an Elf into a human...
Annan could hardly reopen that wound by asking about his sex, but he could understand his pain.
"All right. When Little Spider... Ahem, I mean, when Spider Queen Lolth returns, I'll ask her to make you a Dark Elf again."
For a god, changing someone's race back should be easy, right?
To Annan's surprise, Mora suddenly seized his arm. In a hoarse voice that gave no clue to his sex, he asked, "You know where the Matron is?"
"You're hurting my arm a little..."
If Mora had meant him harm, Annan's protective spell would already have flung him away.
"Please forgive me..." Mora hurriedly let go.
"It's fine. The truth is, I'm