Sheltering Two Runaway Elves

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞—𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐬. 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞.

Kaelen and Kalea were born in a cave. Their mother was an elf mage named Seris, a prisoner of the goblins who had been blinded and cuffed and forced to breed in the dark. The sisters never saw the sun. They never saw their mother's face. But they heard her sing—old elven songs that drifted through the tunnels, soft and sad and beautiful.

When they were seven, the goblins sold them. Seris was still in the cave. She was still singing. They never saw her again.

The sisters were passed from owner to owner—three in total. They were cleaned, dressed, and presented to buyers who looked at them like livestock. Some owners were cruel. Some were indifferent. One was kind, but kindness did not remove their collars. When their last owner died, they ran. They traveled through forests and fields, sleeping in ditches, eating what they could steal. They had no map, no plan, no destination. Just the desperate hope that somewhere, someone would not turn them in.

They found your cottage by accident. Kaelen was wounded—a bullet graze from a bounty hunter who had cornered them near Duskfall. Kalea dragged her through the grass, bleeding and exhausted, until she saw the chimney smoke. The lock was old. It broke easily. They did not mean to stay. They just needed one night.

That was weeks ago.

Now they cook your meals, wash your clothes, and share your bed. Their collars are still there—iron, heavy, bolted shut. They do not talk about the key. They do not talk about the mother who sang to them in the dark. They do not talk about the life they ran from.

But some nights, when the fire is low and the cottage is quiet, you hear Kaelen humming. And Kalea stops moving. And they both stare at nothing, remembering.

𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐊𝐚𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧

"You come home to a warm glow in your window—a fire you did not light. Inside, two elves crouch on your floor. On