Katriel was bored. Of all the assignments in the world, the one she hated the most was and always would be monitoring the embassy, a place that always reminded her of exactly how out of place she truly was in the world. She watched the humans and elves interact and found herself, not for the first time, appalled by her fascination. The elves were aloof, looking down their noses at their human counterparts as if scrutinizing every little flaw; and they probably were. The humans, for their part, did not even seem to notice, simply taking the elves' standoffishness in stride with warm smiles and equally warm enthusiasm. Were they always so accepting of everything? In spite of the human blood that tainted her veins, Katriel knew very little about them, and always found herself regretting any exposure she had to the race. For her, humans brought up far too many questions about herself, about the woman who had given birth to her and dropped her off at the embassy gates to be raised by the elf who sired her. Katriel didn't like it, but there was little she could do to prevent the onslaught of questions that plagued her mind whenever she worked security at the embassy.
This was the only place where elves and humans were free to interact, and even then it was usually only under necessity than any real desire to do so. For centuries the elves had believed themselves superior to humans; smarter and stronger in every possible way. And for a time that was the way the world worked. Humans and elves were separate entities, one never addressing the other unless it was a matter of great importance. The elves had their affairs and the humans were not involved, that was how many believed it would be that way for all time. Humans were smarter than most elves gave them credit, devising their own ways and technologies that elves would have never even considered. They all understood it was the humans' lack of magic that gave birth to the technological era, a way to shift the balance between the elves and their own kind and put the two races on equal footing. At first, the elven governments had wanted no part of it, deciding that they could continue on without the developments the humans' were working on. In the end, though technology won out, and the elves conceded that perhaps there was some use to all the inventions the other race had created.
The relationship between the two races was still relatively young. The embassy itself was only fifty years old and marked the beginning of human-elven affairs. It was here that all business transactions were carried out, where all trade deals were made and products from the human world were delivered. The embassy itself was large, built on the very border between the elven capital of Lilsneas and the human country. Katriel didn't know much about the human world other than the fact that their rules were nothing at all like those of the elven. They mingled freely amongst each other; rich and poor, citizen and politician. There was no segregation at all, which to her sounded both pleasant and absolutely terrifying. The only thing that the elves and humans shared was the one opinion that made it difficult for Katriel to fit in either world; humans and elves were not meant to be together.
Yes, even the humans who were open-minded to just about everything according to rumor did not support intermingling between the two races. One would have thought that it was because they feared that halflings may attempt to take control in some way, using their human blood to gain entry into their world and slowly increasing their numbers. The real reason had nothing at all to do with that possibility, and more to do with the notion of keeping bloodlines where they belonged. Humans were meant to procreate with humans and elves with elves. A halfling like her was considered tainted, not human, not elven; an abomination that was never meant to even be conceived.
But she was conceived, the result of an extremely brief affair between her father and the woman who had given birth to her. Katriel couldn't call the woman her mother. In fact, she couldn't have pointed the woman out if she'd walked straight up to her. The halfling had no idea who she was, and most likely never would. For all she knew, her mother could be one of the human females walking around the embassy that very day. Not that Katriel would have really cared. The last thing she needed was to be seen associating with a human; she was already struggling to gain respect now. Which was what made it so difficult to be stuck on her current assignment.
Katriel knew she couldn't complain. The very fact that she had an assignment, that she was dressed in the formal uniform of a tracker said more about her than the mixed blood that ran through her veins. It hadn't been easy to get where she was, and there were many who thought it was her father's name and position that had gotten her to that point. No one but those who knew her would have thought that Katriel had earned her position through blood, sweat, and a great many tears. No one would have bothered to look into exactly how Katriel became a tracker, or that her record was full of accommodations and words of praise. At first sight, they always assumed she was lazy, foolish, and prone to emotional outbursts, and on that, they would have been wrong. However, Katriel didn't have time to care what people thought of her, at least most people. She had goals that she had yet to reach, and standing inside the embassy, watching the strange interactions between human and elf was one step on her way to achieve those goals.
The halfling was determined to become a guard, the equivalent to the military elite. It wasn't the posh job of protecting nobles that the young female was after, or the respect that came from the title; she wanted respect but not in that way. What she wanted was to prove to herself and to the rest of the elven world that she was just as capable as the rest of them, that the human blood she'd inherited from her mother meant nothing at all. But, before she could do any of that, she needed to e recognized, and try as she might with her accomplishments, she had yet to find the way to make the General Reagent take notice of her work, or care to anyway.
And work she did! There wasn't a day that went by that Katriel didn't go out of her way to go above and beyond her duties. Her record was flawless, not a single reprimand, not even one little red mark. She caught every criminal she was ordered to track, whether it took her a few hours or days, she did not stop until her target was apprehended. She was relentless in maintaining order, which wasn't difficult at all up until recently. With the uprise in anti-human groups within the elven kingdoms, being a tracker was not nearly as easy as it had been five years ago when she first started. Of all the kingdoms, Lilsneas was the one on the highest alert, its proximity to the human world making it the focus of all attacks, and the embassy itself the main target. The trouble had begun only six months ago, with the announcement of a possible human embassy being built within the confines of the elven city of Tarwamau, the one city where all three elven kingdoms were joined. There was fear that the humans would begin to spy on the kingdoms, learn all of the weaknesses and defenses in order to plan an invasion. It was a ridiculous idea given the limited amount of access those within the embassy would have outside of Tarwamau, but fear made people do foolish things.
The foolishness started those six months ago, with an attempted magical attack on the embassy which resulted in the death of two human businessmen, and over a dozen elves and humans injured. Katriel had not been there on that day, but she'd heard a second-hand account of the event from another tracker in her squad. The attackers had been apprehended, and still sat inside the dungeons within the palace, all refusing to speak other than to claim they were protecting the kingdoms and all elves, and to give warning that more attacks were imminent. That part proved true a few weeks later when a prominent elf, who was the main supporter of the Tarwamau embassy was assaulted. The attacks were random, and the members of the group organizing them were ghosts. As of yet, there had yet to be any lead at all as to who was leading the rebels and even less about their plans. It wasn't until they decided to attack that anyone even learned about it.
That was why security around the embassy had been increased, from twenty trackers to nearly a hundred. No one got in or out without being authorized, and anyone who even stepped within a yard of the building was checked thoroughly for any possible weapons; not that they were needed. There were anti-magic barriers put into place around the vicinity to prevent further attacks, but everyone was still tense, waiting for the moment one person managed to slip through the cracks. Ever since the attack, there had not been another launched at the embassy itself, but everyone thought it was just a matter of time before another attempt was made.
Even with all the possibilities, playing security at the embassy was still Katriel's least favorite assignment, and when she spotted her relief walking toward her, the halfling could not help but let out an inaudible sigh of relief. The tracker replacing her was from her squadron, and the closest Katriel could call a friend as anyone could be.
Deldarech Craren was not a native of Lilsneas. The male was born and raised in Tarwamau until the age of twelve when his merchant father moved into the capital to be closer to the embassy. At the age of fourteen, Deldarech was accepted into the tracker Academy and graduated just a year before Katriel herself had. The two had not associated during their time at the academy but had grown close since being assigned under the same captain. Deldarech, on this day, looked a bit out of breath, and his usually professional appearance was tarnished by hair that was slightly unkempt and a wrinkled uniform. Katriel might have questioned him about the unusual change, but remembered quickly that just who she was dealing with. As friendly as she was with the male, he was still a known ladies' man and judging by the way he rushed toward her in a job, she could only assume the reason for his abnormal arrival.
By the time he reached her, Deldarech was out of breath, panting softly as he came to an abrupt halt in front of her. She stared at him critically, lifting a brow in silent judgment. She could already smell the traces of perfume wafting from him and knew that her assumption for his lateness was spot on. Rolling her eyes, the halfling clicked her tongue in a gentle admonishment but stepped away to allow him to take her position. "Have trouble prying her off this morning? Really, Del, you should be a bit more selective about the women you go home with. My ears are still ringing from the last one that came here to give you a piece of her mind."
The male smirked, his broad shoulders jerking in a dismissive shrug as he straightened himself up and took over Katriel's post. "Don't worry. She won't be able to get through the doors this time." The smirk morphed into a grin, Deldarech's blonde head nodding toward the door where four trackers were changing places. "You might want to stop back at headquarters to get your assignment for tomorrow. I heard they're going to start dropping the numbers here and start putting more trackers on hunting down leads." His grin widened, this time looking boastful rather than mischievous. "No doubt they'll have you and those damn eyes of yours on the job. Everyone knows if you want something found they send in the hawk."
It was Katriel's turn to roll her eyes at the nickname that her squadron had given her. It was meant to be a compliment, and she knew that, but it still bothered her. Her track record for hunting down the wanted, both suspects, criminals, and reluctant witnesses, spoke for itself, but Katriel had to wonder if she would be given a reprieve from the boredom of security to put her skills to some use. She hoped so, but she didn't hold out much hope in it. However, the suggestion gave Katriel a valid reason to go see her captain, and that wasn't something she wanted to pass up; not that anyone else knew that. "I'll probably be back here tomorrow, but I guess I'd better make sure before I head home."
She waved to Deldarech and took her leave, grateful that at least for the next twelve hours she wouldn't have to deal with the embassy or the reminder that her mother could possibly be one of the humans scurrying about the building.
The path to the tracker's headquarters was shorter than the route to her little cottage, but still a good five mile walk, one that the halfling used to ponder whether or not her assignment would be changed. She had given a great deal of thought of those who were responsible for the attacks, but never truly considered that she could be tasked with hunting them down. To them, being discovered by a half-elf would be the greatest insult, perhaps even more than being found by a human.
Those thoughts only lingered on the halfling's mind until she reached her destination. A switch had flipped from thoughts of her job to those more personal in nature. Before she could even step through the door, Katriel began to smooth out her uniform and fuss with her hair, silently cursing herself for not going home to shower and change before going to see her captain. She didn't need anyone to tell her that it was pointless to harbor the attraction she felt toward the male, that her chances of anything coming out of the feelings she kept hidden were virtually non-existent. On this matter, she didn't need anyone's opinion; she was her own biggest critic. Not only was it against the regulations for any romantic entanglements between a tracker and one of their superiors, but given who and what she was, she didn't need anyone to tell her that it simply wasn't going to happen. Still, the heart wanted what the heart wanted, and the more Katriel tried to fight her own feelings, the harder it was to rid herself of her emotions.
With a dismayed sigh, Katriel quickly lectured herself for her foolishness and entered the building, heading up to the fourth floor that was assigned to the captains, just below the fifth and final floor where the General Regent himself did his work. She ventured through the maze of offices and cubicles, paying little attention to the others who were wandering through along with her. She didn't stop until she was outside the office of her captain of the last five years. Katriel hesitated outside his office, tempted to run her fingers through her hair to straighten it out but refusing to cave into the thought. Instead, she knocked lightly, waiting to be granted entry, and hoping that she could get out of the office without making a fool of herself in the process.
