The Princess and the Blade

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi frowned as he watched Tenara dance. "Cut in..." he repeated. For some reason, it was difficult to watch the noble twirling gracefully around the floor with his Yurivis. A strange feeling pinched at his stomach. At the end of the song, she'd said. Before someone else did. Now that he was looking for it, he noticed several other men waiting near the perimeter of the dance floor, their eyes focused on Tenara. He knew without asking why. Not only was she the most beautiful woman here, but she'd told him herself she was looking for a husband.

He stood up and wove through the sea of guests to get closer to the floor himself. He was so focused on Tenara that he bumped into someone. "Excuse me," he said, only half focused on the person he'd jostled. He first noticed something was off when the figure froze in place instead of moving past him. The second clue was the shaking voice that addressed him.

"...Thvoros!"

Havi stiffened at the word. He ripped his attention away from Tenara and fully onto the man he'd bumped into. A male with silver-gray skin, just like his, gaped at him with startled yellow eyes. The man was half a head shorter than Havitharon, and he sported only one pair of tightly curled golden horns, but anyone could see with one glance that they were of the same race. For a moment, Havitharon truly wasn't sure how to respond to such an impossible thing. Then his eyes darkened, and his hand shot out to wrap around the man's throat. "Who are you?"

The man squirmed in his grip, his surprised expression twisting into horror. But just as suddenly, Havi found himself clenching empty air.

"Now, now. That's not very polite," a new voice crooned. Havi spun toward it to find a human male holding the horned man casually by the shoulder, as though grabbing a puppy by the scruff. That is, if a puppy were two feet taller than him. Havi wasn't sure how the man had changed positions so fast. Was it a power like Vladimir's? Some sort of teleportation? Or had his own sense of time been tampered with? The human male appeared to be older than Tenara, younger than Tenele. He had green eyes and wavy red hair pulled back into a cord. Several locks strayed wildly around his ears and face, a marked difference from the more stuffy and polished style of the nobles surrounding them. The strange human blinked at Havi in fascination. "Now, that's interesting," he murmured, admiring Havi's towering black horns. A sly smile rose to his lips. "But you mustn't fight here. After all, you two seem to have so much in common."

Some of the other guests had noticed the interaction over the music and paused their chatting to peer at the strange trio.

At the same time, the song began to wind down. Havi spared a brief glance at the dance floor. A few man hovered at the perimeter, waiting for the final bars to signal it was polite to change partners.

The strange human followed his gaze to Tenara, and smirked. "You too, eh? Better hurry; you're about to miss your chance."

Havi glanced back at the two strangers, and alarm blazed through him. He didn't know who these people were, but he needed to tell Tenara. Tenele's words came back to him. Cut in, or someone would beat him to it.

He backed away from the strange Ivis and the human, glowering at them like they were loaded cannons. When he'd put enough distance between them, he spun and strode in between the flowing bodies on the dance floor. He wove between the flurry of dancers like they were standing still, and was at Tenara's side moments later. "I will cut in," he announced to her partner without ceremony. He took the man's hand and guided him out of the way so swiftly that he barely knew what had happened. A few shocked nobles remarked on the uncouth spectacle from the sidelines, and Tenara's suitors looked on with great offense as the song wound to a close only moments later.

A few others exchanged partners more...traditionally, and within moments another song began. Havi led Tenara into a tense box-step and tried to decide what to do next. He glanced over his shoulder into the crowd as if expecting someone to pursue him.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele's smile transformed when Havitharon took the man's place. It melted into warmth and genuine happiness. "Loosen up," she said when she noticed how tense he was. She shifted a little closer to him—closer than some onlookers might consider appropriate. Her hand brushed his arm, up to his shoulder. She usually kept her hand lower, because of his height.

She watched his face, blue eyes sparkling in the chandeliers' light. It was impossible not to see the softness in her face, the way she looked at him and only him. Her suitors whispered among themselves, everyone trying to piece the mystery of him together. Who was he? Why did she look at him like that? But Tenara didn't notice. She was in his arms. They were dancing. It was all she wanted, and all she'd dreamed about for the last few days. To her, there was no one else in the room but them.

[Soran Nightblade]

Her soft words pulled his attention back to center. Havi's grip on her softened. He corrected his stance to the one Knight had drilled into him that afternoon, forcing his legs not to rush. His lungs loosened their vice grip on his breath. For a few moments, he thought only of her warm hands in his, and let the rest of the room disappear. It gave his mind just enough space to calm from a roar to a firm whisper. "Tenara, someone is here who knows me," he said, holding her close as they danced to ensure no one else heard them.

[Emora Deen]

Tenara's brow furrowed, and her gaze swept the room. "Elias?" she asked, because it was the only person she could think of that might have been able to put it all together. "It's okay. We'll be okay. No one can hurt us here. There's my parents and the guards and..." Tenara's gaze locked on a silver-skinned being wedged in the crowd. Her step faltered. She fought to keep eyes on him as they twisted. "He's... There's..." Tenara looked up at Havitharon. "There's a..." She stumbled again, her brain trying to reason how another being like Havitharon was here. "How?"

[Soran Nightblade]

"I don't know yet. I don't recognize him, but he knows me. The male with the long red hair seems to be here with him. Tenara, if he's here, that means someone else knows how to..." He let the sentence finish itself in his mind, and a new alarm hit him. If someone else could summon beings from his world, they might also know how to send them back. If they did...

He didn't want to think about the fact that his tenuous welcome in this place might be predicated on the fact they had no way to get rid of him. He shook the selfish thought from his head. That wasn't what mattered right now. "He could be associated with the ones who kidnapped you," he glowered.

[Emora Deen]

Tenara's heart began thudding in her chest and the crowd blurred dizzily around them. She hadn't thought about the ship in weeks, but the sound of waves drowned out the music in her ears. Her hand tightened over his. "They wouldn't try again," she said, more to convince herself. "Not here. Not tonight." Not any night. Never again.

But, she had brought a being into this world, and she'd lived. If they wanted another... If they were collecting creatures like Havitharon... and her blood could open doors. Panic clawed over Tenara, and she didn't notice the music had ended and someone was slipping up to them. His mouth was moving, but she didn't hear him speak. He reached for her hand to steal her away from Havitharon.

[Soran Nightblade]

Havitharon felt her gait change, and her grip on his hands seemed more desperate than before, like she was struggling to move. He glanced at the gentleman who approached them. The man seemed too focused on him to notice his intended partner seemed unwell. But she couldn't offend every potential suitor in one evening. He knew very well where that approach led. He should find a way to protect his Yurivis without harming her reputation.

"The princess feels faint," he explained to the man with forced politeness, yielding one of her hands to him. Again, that sharp pinch in his stomach. "Will you help me escort her to her seat?"

The man looked at her more closely, and now he, too, noticed her pallor. "Of course, my lady. I shall be discreet," he bowed to her, pleased by the role he'd been offered. Those still waiting for their opportunity to interact looked on with jealousy as the two men ushered her to the royal table.

[Emora Deen]

Tenara took her seat and thanked the noble for his help. He seemed to swell with pride before her mother took his arm and guided him away. A moment later, she was kneeling next to Tenara's side. "What's the matter?"

Tenara twisted in her seat, trying to hide her face from the crowded room. She didn't want to ruin tonight, not when it was so important to Hajara's peace. The lives of thousands of young Hajaran men hung in the balance of maintaining that peace. "Just got dizzy," she whispered to her mother, smiling tightly. She placed a palm on her belly. "Perhaps the corset. Not used to wearing one."

They didn't know what was going on or who was really here or why. Until then, what could she say?

Tenele looked up at Havitharon, expecting a clearer answer from the alien. "What's wrong?"

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi pointed with his eyes. "Another Ivis is here."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele's gaze turned to steel. She stood slowly, and let her gaze sweep the room. Tenara's hand grabbed hers. "Mother, it's fine..." She lifted her gaze. "It might not mean anything. It could be a coincidence. We don't kno—"

"I don't see another of your kind." The queen shook her head. "Did he leave?"

Tenara's brow furrowed and she twisted back towards the party. Her gaze locked on the Ivis immediately. Her mother... couldn't see him? Tenara turned a confused eye on Havitharon. What did that mean?

"Did he leave?" Tenele asked, but didn't ask Tenara. She was asking Havitharon.

[Soran Nightblade]

"Beside the man with the red hair. Do you know who he is?" Havi answered.

"I see the man, but he is standing alone," Vlad said. He was still seated a few paces away to avoid drawing attention, but he was listening in. "The cryer didn't name him when he entered, which means he's here escorting someone else."

[Emora Deen]

Tenara shook her head. She didn't want any of this. She'd imagined a wonderful night. Dancing and drinking and laughing. Not this. Not in her home. "Fuck this." She sneered, standing. Tenara slipped past her mother and Havitharon, sweeping down the dais and through the crowd. A few nobles tried to intercede and direct her to the dance floor, but she only had eyes for the red-haired man and the alien next to him.

When she reached the human, she grabbed his hand. No curtsy. No pleasant introductions. No invitations. "Care to dance? Yes? Good." Tenara led him toward the dance floor, still looking pale... Uncertain. But she was in her home, and he couldn't hurt her. She had her parents. She had her guards. She had her magic. She had Havitharon. Tenara swept the stranger into position, and allowed him, for the moment, to lead.

When the music was underway, and swaying bodies surrounded them, Tenara lifted her gaze to him. "I can be pleasant or I can be a menace. Which version of me would you like to dance with?"

———

Tenele glanced at her husbands. “Wonder where she gets that from?”

Atul smiled tightly as he slipped up behind Vlad. “That, my love, you can’t pin on us. That’s a you move.”

Atul motioned for one of the guards on the dais to come forward. He draped his arm around the man, grinning like he was telling the guard a funny story. Instead, he said, “The man my daughter is dancing with. Find out who he came with.”

[Soran Nightblade]

Havitharon gripped the back of Tenara's chair while she marched up to the stranger and dragged him to the dance floor. The other Ivis stayed still at the edge, and Havi observed him closely. No one else seemed to acknowledge his presence. A moment later, one of the guests literally walked through him. He was just as Havi had been when he first arrived here. Incomplete. As if sensing his gaze, the stranger looked around the room. When his gaze caught Havitharon's smoldering frown, he flinched. A moment later, he was gone. Havi blinked at the place where the man had gone missing, and took off to try to catch sight of him. Moving through the crowd politely was harder than expected. Apparently his presence, combined with his actions with Tenara, had drummed quite a bit of curiosity.

"Excuse me. I don't believe I've had the honor," the man who had been dancing with Tenara earlier intercepted him. Havi took a deep breath, remembering the purpose of this event. He turned and reluctantly braced himself to be social.

______

The red-haired man slipped his arm around her in a proper box posture and grinned. "Whichever will not bore me, Princess," he grinned. "Your guard appears to be having difficulty tracking down my familiar. Not very intuitive of him. Of course, he's right here." The hand she was holding guided her fingers under the lapel of his coat, where a small blade was sheathed against his chest. The dagger wasn't very long - perhaps 10 inches. It sat neatly against his ribs beneath the layers of silk. The man winked at her and made a small, almost elegant shrug.

[Emora Deen]

Tenara's hand skimmed the place where he'd stashed the weapon and gave a faux wince. "Oh, dear," she said. "You must have been misinformed. No weapons at this party, I'm afraid. I can get a guard. They'll be happy to stow it for you." She moved to pull her hand from his.

[Soran Nightblade]

The man showed her a bright smile. "You are as sharp-tongued as your reputation. But I think we both know this isn't the only weapon in this room, and my employer values his safety."