The Princess and the Blade

[Soran Nightblade]

Sinead's eyes widened as she inspected the scars lacing over her arms. Darkness flickered in her expression. She passed a testing hand over the girl, scanning her with magic.
"Tenara...I didn't realize you were this badly injured. Forget using this power for now; you need to be healed first and foremost. How did you get all these cuts in the first place?"

Havitharon managed to take his eyes off the harsh flickering of his skin to look closer at what the queen was talking about. There were far more scars on her than he remembered seeing when she'd first escaped her captors. When had she managed to get so many cuts? "You..." he started to state his suspicion, but stopped himself. Silence seemed the wiser choice until he could figure out what was going on.

[Emora Deen]

Tenara frowned. "First... I was testing it," she said, her voice soft. "It was before I knew Thvoros was attached to it too. I pulled it out of my chest, Grandma... I felt my life blood flow out of me. I should be dead, but it sealed shut before I could die. Then, I realized my magic was gone, or... hindered. And I was frightened. Powerless... I cut myself to get access to it. To protect myself... Then, I realized it had... an affect on Thvoros."

[Soran Nightblade]

Sinead was about to let loose another stream of questions, but she reminded herself of how tired her granddaughter looked. She swallowed her questions and sat on the cushion beside her, wrapping a gentle arm around her shoulders. "You've been through a great deal, and it's already late. For tonight, let's get you healthy and rested. I will spend some time with your...outsider, and we can run some tests tomorrow. It's going to be okay, sweetheart."

[Emora Deen]

Tenara nodded. "I want a hot bath so badly," she said. She stood slowly, feeling her legs quiver beneath her. This time, though... she managed to stay on her feet.

[Soran Nightblade]

"Come, and let's get you settled in your rooms," Sinead said. She stayed close to the girl's side as they made their way to the guest rooms where Tenara often stayed during their visits. Several maids were already there, fluffing her sheets to prepare for her arrival. Sinead guided Tenara to a chair and encouraged her to sit down while the maids drew her bath. "Alright, let's see," Sinead said, pressing a cool hand to Tenara's forehead. A soft light emanated between their skin. "You have some of your mother's magic. It seems your wounds have already closed, so there's nothing acute to heal directly, but this should help you recoup a little of your energy." She closed her eyes and let her power sift through Tenara's soul, stabilizing what she could.

Havitharon watched from the doorway. This was the fourth time the woman has used power he'd never seen and didn't understand. As if on cue, the queen turned to look at him. He regarded her with a wary gaze.

"Alright, sweetheart. I'll leave you to your bath, and come back for you in the morning to see what's next," Sinead said. She placed her fingertips on the flat of the sword's blade thoughtfully. "Keep this with you for tonight, but don't let it touch your blood. Not until we truly understand how it works."

[Emora Deen]

Tenara nodded. That meant Thvoros would have to stay incorporeal for a bit longer.

She felt a great deal lighter after her grandmother's help. There was strength in her legs and arms. She didn't feel like dancing, but felt that, if she wanted to dance, she wouldn't fall over.

"Thvoros should stay close, though. He doesn't trust us... and I don't think he trusts me—I know he doesn't... But I'm the devil he knows. Mostly knows."

[Soran Nightblade]

The queen crossed her arms and appraised the red-glowing silhouette in the doorway. "You're a caring girl, Tenara. I see why you want him to be comfortable. But I don't especially care who he trusts; I don't trust him. He doesn't belong to any species I recognize. On top of that," she raised a small sphere of red light in her palm, "This spell normally reacts only to 'black' power. Only a handful of mages in this world can wield it. It has many uses, but none of them are good, and all of them corrupt the user."

[Emora Deen]

Tenara hesitated, looking at Thvoros. Everyone was trying to tell her he was evil. A dark mage had summoned him. Her father believed him to be malevolent, and now her Grandmother insisted, based on her power, that there was something... black about him.

She pursed her lips together. "Wouldn't it show the same for me?" she asked. "My grandfather was Verin... My father is his son, and my other is his creation. I don't think my mother's goodness can blot out it all. After all, your priest's holy magic hurts me." Tenara thought about her magic. Now that it wasn't an impossible force to hold back, a pressure threatening to blow her apart and the world with it, the taste of it was alluring. Pleasurable. A seductive whisper brushing her ear, begging her to use it more. To burn and break and bend. She swallowed, cleared her throat, and glanced to Thvoros. "He can't hurt anyone in his current form. He can't even open a door."

[Soran Nightblade]

Havitharon blinked at Tenara's sudden defense of him. Was she protecting him?

Sinead followed her gaze to the alien's glowing form. "Verin's power is different. Of course, it can be seductive and addictive in its own way. But the Black Power is a bit different from what we might consider "evil" or "darkness". It's not necessarily "evil", but it's highly unstable, and almost nothing is known about it. There are a few tomes rumored to be in existence, but I've never personally seen or heard of one. It's essentially a big black mystery box with a very shady track record. And your friend's current form seems to be made entirely from it."

"But let's get something straight. The darkness in your lineage does not make you evil. Your deeds determine that. The same can be said of your companion. If you say he's done nothing to cause harm, I won't judge him out of hand."

[Emora Deen]

Tenara felt reassured by her grandmother's confidence in her. She'd never thought to worry about her grandfather's influence on her life. He was gone—long gone. And she had been so separated from it because of the tether binding her powers. She'd been, for the most part, a normal girl who grew into a normal teenager, who then turned into a woman.

"Tomes..." Tenara perked up. She reached for the shoulder bag that she had most definitely had with her the entire time, and wrestled the large book out of it. "This is what Shea's son used to call him here. I can't read it. He can." She held it out to her grandmother. "He hasn't hurt me, and maybe I am being foolish. Maybe I do have too much of my mother in me, as daddy says... but until he's done something to deserve my distrust, I would like to treat him with kindness."

[Soran Nightblade]

Havitharon watched uneasily as Tenara handed the woman the book. It was a stupid impulse; the book was a tool that had been used to abduct him, not a child's stuffed animal. But it would give her more tools control him, or to experiment on him until she was satisfied. He was so busy reflecting on what the queen might do with that book in her possession that at first he didn't catch what Tenara was saying about him.

He tuned back in to "until he's done something to deserve my distrust, I would like to treat him with kindness."

What?

He stared, forgetting to hide his surprise. He hadn't expected her to defend him. Not after the conversation he'd over heard that morning.

Sinead's eyes, when they returned to him, were less empathetic than before, not more. "If you insist on sharing your room with him, I will allow it. But only if he agrees to be restrained."

[Emora Deen]

Tenara felt heat in her cheeks. Sharing a room... She hadn't thought that it would seem like that. She was only trying to keep Thvoros from being carted off alone in an unfamiliar place. She glanced at him, seeing the surprise on his face. She remembered the feel of her magic. All power and desire and pleasure and how—if she had been stronger, and they had been alone—she might have coiled herself around Thvoros and fucked him into oblivion.

Tenara startled, fearing those thoughts might be read by anyone in the room. She put her hand to her face for a minute. Well, that train of thinking had escalated quickly… She glanced back at Thvoros. It wasn’t that she didn’t find him attractive. He was, in an unusual sort of way, very beautiful. But she hadn’t decided yet if the want of him in the heat of her power was her magic’s own desires, or the swords.

And then, she wondered if the need to protect him—the feeling that he wasn’t bad and wouldn’t hurt her—was somehow linked to the sword too, or if it were just some sort of trauma-bond she’d forged with him, one that couldn’t be shaken by finally making it to safety.

"If... if you think it's best. It's your home..." She wasn't exactly certain how her grandmother thought she could restrain something that couldn't be touched by anything.

[Soran Nightblade]

Havitharon watched Tenara closely. Why was she blushing?

Sinead might have wondered the same thing, if she weren't doing the mental calculations for the spell she had in mind. "I will set up an alarm barrier around this side of the room. I believe Tenara called you Thvoros? It will sense that red spell I've placed on you if you cross it. Just stay to your side, and don't trip the barrier. I haven't figured you out yet, but once I do, I assure you I can make your life very uncomfortable if I want to."

Havitharon's eyes flashed with anger. He stood straight, his whole posture a challenge.

Sinead didn't flinch. "Do as you're told. As long as you remain cooperative and useful, we won't have a problem."

The outsider prowled slowly to the side of the room she'd indicated, like a big, unhappy cat.

The queen closed her eyes and brought up the barrier she'd mentioned. It looked like a bright gold wall, blocking off Havitharon's corner of the room from Tenara's. Once it was in place, it faded to near-invisibility. "I will leave you now. See you in the morning, Tenara. Try to get some rest." Sinead placed a small kiss on the top of her head before letting herself out of the room.

Havitharon stared at the faint barrier in front of him. Now that the Queen was out of the room, alarm was slowly setting in. He was completely at that female's mercy. He was fairly certain that if Tenara hadn't insisted, he'd have spent the night in a cell, or a lab. Cooperative and useful...what the hell did that mean?

[Emora Deen]

Tenara winced as Sinead left. When the door was closed and the servants were gone, Tenara turned her eyes on Thvoros. “She means well,” she said, looking over his side of the room. He was stuck without anything comfortable to sit on. She went over to the lounge just on the edge of their dividing line and pressed against it, shoving until she bumped it over into his space. She wasn’t sure if there was any sensor to tell if she crossed over onto his side.

She sighed, straightening and placing her hands on her hips. She was feeling leagues better after whatever Sinead had done to her. “I’m going to go in that room and take a bath.” She pointed behind her to the gold light spilling out of an open doorway. “Do you need anything from this side of the room?”

[Soran Nightblade]

"...No," he said, looking at the furniture she'd moved for him. He felt annoyed, and trapped, but as the complaints rose to the front of his mind, he dismissed them one by one. This female did not deserve any of them. He couldn't fault her for bringing him here, or for wanting to fix her situation with the sword, and she'd made more-than-reasonable efforts to protect him from being completely fucked in the process. He felt himself tempted to trust her intentions, despite all rational logic saying she had no reason to keep him safe now that she was protected.

For a mad moment, he wondered if it would make any sense to voice his concerns about this situation. Tenara and the queen were clearly very close. His anxieties about being experimented on, held captive, or having his existence undone completely... Would such things make any sense to a girl who was worried about whether he had something comfortable to sleep on? She was at her grandmother's home. She, at least, had every reason to feel safe here.

"...Thank you, for your consideration," he finally added, just as she was heading to the other room.