The Princess and the Blade

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi looked down at the glass she'd returned to him. She seemed very sure of the drink's safety, but he wasn't convinced. While the family went back to playing, he raised the wine up and found himself inspecting the place where her lips had touched the glass. Without thinking, he smelled it. Not the wine, but the glass, as if her scent would be left behind there. He immediately caught himself and glanced back at the game. To his horror, Vlad was watching him. The vampire raised one eyebrow skeptically.

"Do you and the wine need a moment alone?"

Havi immediately frowned and lowered the glass. Then rethought it, and raised it back to his lips, tossing back half the wine like medicine. If he was going to survive the night, he thought he might need the alcohol.

[Emora Deen]

Tenara glanced over her shoulder at Havitharon, happy to see he'd decided the wine wasn't going to bite him.

Tenele moved her ruby a few slots away from where it had been and grabbed a green card from a pile, adding it to her hefty hand of ten. She glanced up to admire the alien. "What do you do for fun on your world?" It was a surprising question, given her mother had been relatively quiet to Havitharon—not podding or acknowledging him a in good or bad light.

"Probably murder," Tenara murmured into the carpet while she waited the agonizing time it usually took her father to plot his next move.

[Soran Nightblade]

Tenele's questions surprised him. He was used to that sort of curiosity from Tenara, but apparently it was a family quality after all. He ought to at least attempt an honest answer, in the spirit of conversation. He endeavored to think of some pastimes that wouldn't be a shock to them. That did narrow the list down a bit. "Books. Some of us enjoy books. Reading, or writing," he said the last word in haste, not wanting to linger there. "There are games similar to this one, played with stone tiles or cards. And...sports." He left that words even deader in the water than the writing comment. It was a bit of a stretch to call some of the games they played sports. They were rarely done in the spirit of true competition.

He stretched his shoulders to release some of his tention, and took a long sip of his drink. "Do you do these activities together often?"

[Emora Deen]

“Not as often as we used to,” Tenara said. “Maybe once or twice a month. We do a lot of reading. A lot of traveling to territories, shaking hands, attending parties, charities, visiting orphanages, going to fund raisers…” As she had gotten older, her time had become less fun and more about the “family business”. If you could call ruling a kingdom a business. It did make them wealthy… but it was more like a stewardship than anything else. They were caretakers to hundreds of thousands of people.

“The parties are fun,” Tenara said.

“Speaking of parties, Atul’s adviser, Aram, would like to hold one in honor of your return and invite all the nobles I offended by sending Knight to shake them down…” Her mother rearranged her cards for no reason other than to busy her hands.

“Oh, all my potential suitors in one room for him to pick from. How wonderful,” Tenara said, moving her ruby across the board.

Tenele snorted, and slapped a card down on top of Tenara’s ruby when she landed on a purple square. “Guess who has to do a handstand.”

“I haven’t done a handstand since I was sixteen and I’m way more drunk than I was then,” Tenara muttered. She appraised her cards and then brightened. She placed a card on her father’s ruby. “I’ll use my last proxy and Daddy can do the handstand for me.”

Tenele turned her attention back to Havitharon. "What sort of profession are you in?"

[Soran Nightblade]

Havitharon gave that computational frown that usually meant he was trying to connect the dots between his language and theirs. "I am... a Marquess."

"So you own territory?" Vlad said. The vampire had put one hand to the floor and kicked his legs up over his head to rest against the wall. He looked out at Havitharon, upside down. "I would have pegged you for a soldier."

"It is my sister's estate. And... I am that as well."

"A Marquess is sent to war?"

"We do not have wars."

That raised Vlad's brows. Or lowered them, depending on your perspective. "How do you balance power between territories.

"Duels, or taming rights."

[Emora Deen]

“Taming rights?” Tenele asked, and Tenara shook her head at her mother. Her mother was not deterred. “Who is being tamed? How are rights determined?”

Tenara sat up. “Does anyone need a refill on their glass?” On her way to the carafe she jabbed her father in the belly.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad buckled over, mostly for his daughter's amusement, and rolled back up to his feet. "Sore subject?" he taunted them both.

Havitharon hesitated. It seemed like Tenara didn't like the subject. It wasn't his favorite either, though it had been his reality so long that he didn't realize it was strange to discuss it until she moved to redirect the conversation. "Where I am from, life is scarce and difficult to create. We do not have enough people to expend on wars, but power is still power. We simply do our fighting on a smaller scale." he concluded, not wanting to ignore the woman's question completely.

He set his empty glass down, surprised to find his body sensitive to such a small amount of alcohol. His body was less resilient than usual after the expenditure of the rutt. He got the uneasy feeling he was talking too much, and this much attention on him was rarely good. "And what about here? Is this kingdom at war?"

[Emora Deen]

Tenele paused her scanning of the game board. "We weren't... but then Arken took our daughter," she said. Behind her, Tenara's hand slipped off the carafe and she narrowly caught it before it clattered to the floor. "Atul is making plans to punish them, to send a message that will result in all-out war. We haven't much choice in the matter. If we ignore the actions it makes us look weak, and may encourage more people to try and take her. But, if we do go to war with Arken, it will mean we go to them. We will be the aggressors, and it will be a long, expensive venture."

Tenara was staring at the back of her mother's head. "We could... not go to war."

"That is what Aram would prefer," Tenele admitted. She glanced at her husband. "A letter arrived this morning from Arken, with Shea claiming she had no knowledge of her son’s conspiracy."

"That's a lie...."

"...She's offered to supply us with Edan's notes, as well as any correspondence he had with his accomplices as a good show of faith. And..." Tenele hesitated, glancing back at Tenara. "She suggested a unity of our two kingdoms, between her youngest son, Elias, and you."

Tenara scoffed, having no desire to ever see the poison master again. "Well, that's not going to happen."

"No," Tenele agreed.

"Can we do nothing? Just pretend it never happened?"

"Aram says doing nothing makes us look weak, and you look vulnerable. It would make it seem like any monarch or noble or common rabble could claim you without punishment." Her mother shifted uncomfortably. "It's complicated, and politically we're still ironing things out, but Atul is set on punishing them. So, to answer your question, Havitharon, yes... I suppose we are at war."

Tenara looked crestfallen. She filled her glass and drank until it was empty.

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi resisted an instinct to move closer to Tenara. Wars, from the books and stories Tenara had shared with him, were brutal, extravagant affairs in this world. It was hard to envision the gentle Tenara placed at the heart of one. He also was in no position to offer any suggestions to the contrary. He barely understood the politics within this room, let alone between kingdoms in this world.

"But it is untrue," he spoke up before he could think better of it.

Vlad looked at him, sharp and curious.

Havi considered withdrawing his thought, but he couldn't seem to leave it. "It's not true that anyone could claim her without punishment." The words brought a protective animosity out in his eyes that wasn't directed at anyone in that room.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele appraised Havitharon. There was a slight look of appreciation there. "No, it isn't true. Unfortunately, its optics. In order for something to be untrue, people need to see that it is."

"We should just adopt Havitharon's world's way of things. Put Elias and I in a field and let us pummel each other until its over. I already killed his brother, I can kill him too," Tenara said, pouring another glass. "Thousands of Hajaran men don't need to die because I made a mistake."

[Soran Nightblade]

"You made no mistake!"
"What fuckin' mistake?"

Havi and Vlad glanced at each other after retorting in unison.

"...Spiky is right. You did nothing wrong, so let's get that straight right now," Vlad told his daughter firmly. He stroked his chin and looked at his wife. "She makes a point. It may not be public knowledge yet, but the fact is that she killed Shea's son. The proverbial eye for an eye has been taken."

[Emora Deen]

Tenara's brow knotted. "So... Does that mean we don't have to go to war?"

Tenele picked up her game piece and admired it. "If we play the cards right..."

Tenara set her glass down and smoothed her hands over her head. "I'm a little too tipsy to be doing the political intrigue." Even when Tenara was sober she tended to avoid it at all costs. She sighed. "Maybe its time for bed."

[Soran Nightblade]

The proposition of bed was a welcome one to Havitharon. He touched the arm of his chair, itching to leave.

"Don't look so pleased about it, Spiky."

He frowned at Tenara's father for the remark, a risk he probably wouldn't have taken if not for the alcohol and the fact he'd just endured a half dozen hours of 'family time'.

[Emora Deen]

"Daddy," Tenara said, leaning up on the tips of her toes to place a kiss on her father's cheek. "Deep breaths. Be nice. Good night." She swayed over to her mother, stumbling a bit as she bent to kiss her on the top of the head. "Good night, Mom."

"Good night, darling." Tenele said, smiling. "See you in the morning." Her gaze lingered on her daughter as she reached out and grabbed Havitharon's hand and picked the sword up from the floor. Tenara wondered if her mother would ever look at her without this fear of her disappearing.

Tenara dragged Havitharon from the seat and pulled him towards the door. She waved a final time from the hall, a clumsy drunken swing of the sword in her hand, and closed the door. She moved without her usual grace, swaying and stumbling and laughing when she did. "Thank you for putting up with that. You were a good sport." Her shoulder brushed his arm, her head resting against him for a second until she lost her footing.

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi's arm swept around her waist before he could think about it, supporting her against him. Her weight was warm and light on his side. "You are intoxicated," he chided awkwardly. All day, his attention had been wrapped up in how to avoid her family's ire and be as uninteresting to them as possible. In the end, he'd barely reflected at all on the fact that he now had a Yurivis, or what that meant. All day, he'd been fighting impulses to be closer to her. He'd even grown envious when the servants fed her. For goodness sake, all she'd done was lean on him and praise him a bit, and he felt like he might float off the floor. How long did this last?

Get hold of yourself, Havi, He took a deep breath and guided her toward her room. He enjoyed her slight pressure at his side as they waited for the guards to open her doors. To his slight surprise, they allowed him inside with her and closed the doors behind them. "Have they given up on distrusting me?" he murmured as he looked back at the door.