Eyes gazed upon each other from across a steam laced room. One set, red and piercing. The other set, crystalline blue and penetrating. Neither set of eyes moved as they warily sought answers in the eyes of the other.

Jackie and Saelil sat in the same oversized tub, both girls in similar positions. Knees drawn up to their chests and their arms wrapped around them. Neither spoke while they rested their chins upon their knee caps and stared each other down.

"He's mine you know," said Saelil after a short time, though her voice trembled slightly in the speaking of the words.

Jackie snorted at the little girl, "When did I claim him?"

Saelil dipped a little lower in the water by leaning back slightly. Her face reddened and she blew bubbles for a brief moment, a sign that she'd sighed in annoyance. Suddenly, she sat up again and said, "You deny your interest?"

Instead of answering the little elf girl's question immediately, Jackie gazed thoughtfully at the supposed child for a moment. She then leaned back and rested her arms on the side of the tub. Her impressive feminine architecture now on full display, she said, "If I were truly interested in him, he would be mine."

Saelil blew out an annoyed breath then offered a pretty little frown. "Perhaps he's not interested in younger women..."

"We're about the same age, unlike some..." said Jackie casually, before she reached over and squirted a bit of liquid soap onto her hands from a specially made jar. She began to slowly lather her body while not even looking in Saelil's direction.

"Tch..." said Saelil before she bit her lip a little. Her left eyelid twitched slightly when Jackie made an overly erotic noise while lightly rubbing the soap against her left shoulder. It was impossible for her not to see the danger this woman posed. Her aesthetics were the epitome of unfair competition. Saelil knew that she clearly held the edge in wisdom, and intellect, but her child-like body was not yet on the same level as the hateful blond creature who taunted her.

"Aren't you leaving soon, anyway?" asked Jackie, this time in a softer tone.

Saelil looked at her in a piercing manner for a moment then lowered her gaze. "Yes, whenever my mother arrives to collect me. She is no doubt racing across the countryside even as we speak."

A moment of silence ensued as Jackie stopped lathering her body. When she inevitably spoke it was to say, "It must be nice."

"Hmm?" asked Saelil. "Is that not what any mother would do?"

"If she were free to do so, there is no doubt," said Jackie. She drew her knees back up and plopped her chin atop them once more. This time her gaze avoided Saelil altogether by closing gently.

The gentle murmur of softly running water was the only sound that invaded the quiet of the bathing area for a time. Saelil broke that silence by saying, "It is no doubt rude of me to ask, but what did my beloved mean when he said that 'You of all people should understand'?"

Jackie grunted in a most unladylike manner. "There's nothing wrong with bluntly asking a question. Dancing around with words is an even greater rudeness in my opinion."

"I'm a slave. I was taken when I was not much older than you appear and forced into a marriage with a hateful human. He used the rules of my people against me, and sold me off after he claimed his rights," said Jackie.

"How did such a thing come to pass," asked Saelil.

Jackie sighed languidly then said, "During a time when most of the older sisters of our village were forced to defend against a monster outbreak that threatened our village, a group of slavers attacked. Most of those fools died in the attempt, but not before a few of our younger sisters were taken."

"You were one of those younger sisters?" asked Saelil.

"Yes," said Jackie, her gaze hardening. The light in her eyes glittered for a moment in a cold crystalline manner that held no warmth. "I was a child, but divine blood flows through my veins. Even as children our strength and skill are greater than even an above average man."

A derisive snort escaped her nostrils before she continued, "So, he starved me. He beat me. He did everything that he could think to do to break me over the course of an entire month..."

"He sold you off after that?" pressed Saelil.

"Worse," said Jackie. She took in a deep breath then unleashed an angry growl. "He gave me my chance to be free of him."

Saelil leaned forward, curious about the beautiful woman's tale. "What was this chance?"

"It was the same one given to all of the village girls who were stolen," said Jackie. "One of the men would challenge us to a duel, a battle to submission or death, as was our custom."

Saelil's hand rose up and she lightly rubbed the bridge of her nose. "This custom... ended badly?"

"When a maiden of our village is challenged in such a manner by another Valkyrie, we do it to decide our hierarchy. Who is the strongest, the most beautiful? Our power, skill, and general attractiveness decide the matter. Anyone else who challenges us acquires our service if they win," said Jackie.

The elf girl looked down into the water and did not speak. She'd already heard enough to know where the story would go even before the blond woman continued.

"I fought with everything that I had, but I was still an untested warrior and barely more than a child on top of it. He was well-rested and of a decent level for a pathetic human male," said Jackie. "No one would call it a fair challenge, but I still accepted the terms in the hopes of killing the bastard."

"He and the surviving men who won their challenges took us back to the village and made us tell the truth on our honor," said Jackie with a short little laugh of disdain. "By ancient law we owed our new masters service, and since they were men this made us their brides to do with as they pleased."

"There... That is ridiculous. You were a child! Surely your family would not allow such a thing!" exclaimed Saelil hotly.

"It wasn't up to my family anymore. An unbreakable spiritual bond forms between a husband and wife among my people. A Valkyrie's life is tied to her husband. The only way for me to ever truly be free of him now would be if another man proved stronger and killed him," said Jackie.

"That's all it would take? Surely there are many who would take the risk of battle for a creature such as yourself..." said Saelil.

Jackie snorted at her back-handed compliment. She kept her own counsel briefly before releasing and soft murmur that Saelil did not quite understand despite her superior hearing. However, Jackie soon followed her poorly enunciated statement with the words, "Of course they would, but why would I want to exchange one piece of trash for another?"

"Blackthorne..." said Saelil a moment later, the word trailing from her lips.

Jackie snorted again and looked to the side, unable to meet the little elf girl's gaze for a moment. "What of him?"

"He's not a piece of trash," said Saelil softly. "Far from it."

Soft pink lips curled up into a sneer that shifted into the facsimile of a smile, "Right. No human can be that virtuous. He spoke passionately, but it was just words... He knew what to say to get what he wanted from me."

Jackie snorted then took in a breath and opened up about her thoughts on the nature of humanity, and on Blackthorne. "He may seem like something noble and beautiful on the outside, but he is ugly on the inside. All of them, maggots who feed on the corpses of the innocent. Weak. Disgusting. They crawl atop each other, smear each other in their own filth, solely to get what they want without concern for anything else."

"Are they?" asked Saelil.

Jackie laughed in a hateful manner, though the anger did not seem to reach her eyes. "They are vile. Hideous from the cradle to the grave."

"Do you truly believe he is like that?" asked Saelil in a gentle tone.

The poorly sculpted smile dropped away from Jackie's lips. "Does it matter?"

"It obviously matters to you," said Saelil after a brief moment passed.

Jackie snorted, but then suddenly reached down and scooped up a handful of water before splashing it against her face. She placed a hand across her eyes and laughed sadly, "I like this soap but it gets in the eyes so readily..."

Saelil watched the girl, her supposed love rival, as she desperately tried to cover the tears that she obviously shed at that moment. Jackie drew her body up then wrapped an arm around her knees and hunched slightly to cover herself. The hand covering her eyes remained in place as her arm rose up to partially wrap her knees as well.

Elfin eyes turned away from the crying woman as thoughts on her first moment with Blackthorne rose up. The way he stood before her wreathed by the rays of the sun shining around his darkened form. She thought of how he reached out to her in her darkest moment and brought her back into the light, though her eyes were not ready to endure the truth of her freedom.

Soon, Saelil shifted her gaze back to the silently crying Valkyrie who sat across from her. She continued to look upon her for a moment then closed her eyes. In her darkest hour, Jackie only had herself and it was not enough. No one came for her. No angel descended from on high, wreathed in light, to pull her out of her endless nightmare.

Despite the decades that she had lived, Saelil could fathom no proper words in that moment which might console her supposed rival. However, something did rise from the depths of her heart. The words were few but spoken with grave sincerity, "My eyes weren't ready to see, either."

Jackie's only response was a slight tremble and a barely concealed sniffle. Saelil took in the sight of the seeming strong girl who now trembled softly before her. A single thought entered her mind, 'Beloved, do not disappoint me..."

Not long after that, Saelil drew her knees up once more and wrapped her arms around her legs. She propped her chin upon her kneecaps and closed her eyes. The sight of the prideful girl quietly sobbing into her hand was too much to bear.