Ayla smile against her own roiling emotions. Little indeed, she chuckled. Height aside, she was smaller than most adult humans given the willowy nature of her limbs.

“Evil is impossible to avoid,” she agreed. “Losing oneself to darkness is, though.”

The elf observed the young crew bringing rope for inspection, admiring their hard work in a more causal manner than the Quartermaster doing proper inspection. She admired the pride the young human boy took in perfecting a trade.

“I shall not cause difficulties,” she declared. She was not sure if she should mention the issue of her name. She decided that that if the contract lacked validation by her invented label, it would sway in both directions. The captain could not protect her but also would not have liabilities because of her. 

She took in a deep breath and tentatively reached a hand to the Quartermaster’s forearm. Her posture melted so she was eye-to-eye with the man. Without hunching her shoulders, she sank down at the hip on slightly bended knee to peer directly to his face on equal footing. 

“Thank you,” she quietly preferred. “For your discretion. For your acceptance.”