Lord Octa's half-restored eyes were still glassy-white, and so the elven girl could not see the dark lord roll his eyes as she begged for mercy.

"She," Lord Octa repeated. "It would seem my missing prisoner is a woman." Lord Octa turned back to his bald-shaven minion. "Do we have record of any other women who were to be sent here?"

"I am afraid not, your majesty," Agael reported. "It appears that the carriage manifest and dossiers were lost in the ambush. We haven't a clue who these people are nor their crimes against you. However, I could dispatch a rider to the gaol from whence this carriage came, and determine who is missing."

"That will take time," Lord Octa declared. "And time is the one resource I have in short supply."

"Who are you?" Lord Octa asked of the elven girl. "Why have you been sent unto me? Be warned: speak falsehoods to me, and I will destroy you. But if you are honest with me, then I may spare you, for there is a chance that you are worth more to me alive."