Chapter Text
Soren didn’t have trust issues. It was just that the person he was supposed to trust the most in his life had turned out to be a really, really bad guy. So now he was a little more wary about it.
There were a few people that that didn’t apply to, of course. Like his king. And Callum sometimes. And Rayla, maybe. And Opeli. She was pretty smart. Seemed pretty trustworthy.
And Corvus, for some reason he wasn’t really sure of. He barely even knew the guy.
So Soren understood why he didn’t rush down the halls of Katolis, leap up the stairs, and scream from the highest tower that he was an elf. But he didn’t understand why he wasn’t walking down those same halls to go and tell his friends. His family. Why he was still standing, dumbstruck, in front of Callum. Callum who couldn’t see him.
“H-Hello?” he tried again, waving a hand in front of the mage’s face like that would somehow fix things.
But no, Callum just continued walking and Soren had to jump swiftly out of the way. Which meant he was still invisible. On the full moon. Just like…
He refused to think the word.
It wasn’t like they were all bad. Rayla wasn’t, and she was an-
She was one of them. In fact, Soren had met a whole lot of really wonderful people in Xadia. He had fought alongside them, and that was a bond that was hard to unforge.
But that had been months ago and Soren had been taught for years that elves- damn it, he’d thought the word. Soren ran a hand nervously through his hair, half expecting to discover a pair of horns there and letting out a sigh of relief when he didn’t.
Elves - he’d already thought it once, he could do it again - weren’t the monsters he’d been taught they were. Sure. Yes. That was undeniable. But that didn’t mean he wanted to be one.
Soren watched Callum disappear around the corner and hurried in the opposite direction. If Claudia were still around (his chest ached at the thought of her) he would have assumed it was some kind of Dark Magic-y prank she was pulling. But she wasn’t and so it wasn’t, either.
Maybe he could ask Rayla if-
Soren held his breath and pressed himself up against the wall as a pair of guards walked by. They were some of the new recruits he’d brought on after Ezran made him the new Captain. So while he didn’t exactly trust them, he knew they weren’t bad people. Probably. Hopefully.
He’d thought that about his Da- Viren too, after all.
He had stumbled upon them mid-conversation and one of them - an older man with dark hair and a beard Soren was jealous of - was shaking his head.
“I trust the King and the King’s judgement. His father was a good man. Raised a brave lad.”
His younger companion glanced over his shoulder before dropping his voice. “I’m not saying I don’t, just that… Well, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it? You just said you trust King Ezran because of the way his father raised him. You remember who his Dad was, don’t you?”
Soren swallowed, eyes widening slightly as he watched the two men continue right past him. They couldn’t be talking about him, could they?
“That’s… different.”
“How?” the younger guard pushed, “Lord Viren sent them to kill the Princes. He admitted as much! And he went? I just don’t see how that gets you a promotion, is all I’m sayin’.”
No. No, they were definitely talking about him. Soren’s gaze flitted to the floor.
The worst bit was, he couldn’t even be especially annoyed with them, could he? His father had sent him to kill the Princes. And he had gone. He’d almost gone through with it, too. Soren’s hands clenched into fists. It would be a long time before he stopped replaying that moment in his head, wondering if he really would have done it if Rayla hadn’t intervened. How he’d of been able to live with himself after-
“What gets you a promotion is standing by the king and trusting in his word,” a new voice cut in, from the other end of the hall. Soren glanced up to find Corvus standing there. The new Crownguard armor looked good on him. Like it belonged. “Aren’t you supposed to be on patrol right now, not gossiping about your Captain behind his back?”
“S-Sorry, sir. I just-”
“You just felt the need to question Soren’s loyalty on this once tranquil, moonlit night?”
The younger guard swallowed and Corvus sighed, stepping forward and placing a hand on his shoulder.
“I understand your hesitations. You know he once tied me up and made me walk halfway across Xadia?”
Soren winced.
“Wha-” the smaller soldier began, eyes widening.
“But I would trust him with my life anyday. And not just because King Ezran does. I trust him because I have looked into his eyes and seen that he deserves it. Because he would lay his life down for not just the King, but for anyone in Katolis, without hesitation.”
Soren gave Corvus a silent and invisible, yet eternally grateful, smile from his place hidden against the wall.
“I trust him not just with my life, but with Katolis’ safety,” Corvus finished. “So get back to your patrol and stop besmirching his name.”
“Of- Of course, sir. Sorry, sir.”
Corvus wrinkled his nose. “Please, stop calling me sir. It feels… strange.”
“Sorry, si- I mean… Corvus?”
The tracker clapped the other man on the shoulder. “There. I’m just one of you. Same as Soren. And if you’re half as brave as he is, Katolis is in good hands.”
Soren watched as the two guards scurried off down the hall, vanishing from sight, Corvus following them a moment later. He released the breath he’d been holding and it came out like a sigh.
Maybe, once he’d figured all of this elf business out for himself, he could confide in Corvus and the other Crownguard could help him figure out how to tell the others. The guy had already seen him at his lowest, and he’d stuck around anyway, after all.
Soren smiled to himself and continued on his way, not noticing that Corvus had paused at the end of the hall to glance back at where he could’ve sworn he’d heard a sigh come from. But there was nobody there.