The Princess and the Blade

[Soran Nightblade]

Artisuren shivered at the command, both because it felt right and because he didn't knoow what to make of Laurius's empathetic words spoken in such a pragmatic tone.

What had triggered him before? "That Yurivis poured tea, even though I didn't need it or ask for it," he grumbled. He was certain the words sounded like nonsense to Laurius. They even sounded a little crazy to him.

He set his jaw stubbornly, wishing he could escape trying to explain. "You don't get it. The one I swore my service to never called on me. In breaking our bond, her first real command of me was to burn apart. There could have at least been some fucking honor in that.

"But instead, that woman injured her body to cool me, and now she's humiliating me by serving me. Even you...you speak your commands to keep me whole like I'm some valued possession..."

His angry voice cracked, and he growled to hide it. "I see now why she refused my services. I tried to make myself jump, but I couldn't. I know my Yurivis's wishes, and I don't want to obey them. I'm not some priceless servant. I'm a defective fuckup with a death curse. And look at the state of you!"

[Emora Deen]

Laurius's gaze softened as Artisuren came apart. He wasn't sure if he could order Artisuren to forget the woman who'd held possession of him before, but he was willing to try. She didn't deserve the sway she had over the man. "But you are priceless," Laurius argued. "There is only one of you. There will only ever be one of you, Artisuren." He placed his hand on the man's head. "Besides, you were prohibitively expensive to forge into this world. I would like you not to jump off any ships or cliffs or roofs in the near future. That's an order." His fingers brushed along the top of Artisuren's head and his horns. "Your Yurviris was a blind woman if she could not see your worth as I do. Forget her. And, as for the other one in our company..." Laurius glanced toward the front of the ship. He could not see it where they were tucked at the stern, but he thought he could imagine Tenara with her hair blowing in the wind and a smile on her face. "She does not mean to humiliate you. She is simply being kind..."

Too kind, Laurious thought. Too self-sacrificing and soft. If she were anyone but a princess, but a woman protected by the most powerful people in the world, if she were without magic, the evils of the world would devour her with a smile.

[Soran Nightblade]

The ground seemed to fall out from under him. There will only ever be one of you. What was this man saying, and why was his whole body responding to it? From what he'd heard, Laurius was a man who never stayed with his partners. Maybe he valued each fleeting encounter as unique, with their own merits. The man had no way of knowing what such honeyed words would mean to an Ivis from a harem on another world who had never been singled out, never been chosen.

Even though he hated this man's guts, he still liked being called prohibitively expensive. He liked being told he was priceless. He'd liked it the night before, when he'd called him perfect. He'd liked it too much. Gods help him.

Gradually, the other words Laurius had spoken sank in. Just as Laurius didn't understand what such validation meant to him, neither did he understand how he was used goods. "I... will not harm myself," he acknowledged Laurius's order. "But Kishva is..."

______________________________

Havi could sense the uncertainty in Tenara's words. He reached out and touched her hand, lowering to one knee on the floorboards. His eyes, when they flickered up at her, were bright with devotion. "You have nothing to apologize for. Your needs are my needs," he said firmly.

[Emora Deen]

“Kishva? Is that a name or a curse in your language?” Laurius asked as he stretched his arm and tried to roll his shoulder.

—-

Tenara’s fingers curled tighter around Havitharon’s. Her heart swelled at the adoration in his eyes, the sweetness of his words. But there was something… strange about the wording. Something that, at once could be taken as a lover’s promise, but also… servitude.

Tenara’s other hand brushed softly along his head and one of his horns. “Do you know what love is, Havi? Do they have it on your world?” She wasn’t sure. It sounded so brutal and one-sided. But maybe—maybe—someone had broke the mold. Maybe there were stories about love for him to understand the difference in wanting to serve someone and wanting their happiness.

But then, she was assuming that this was love between them, and her heart began to race fast because she didn’t know what to do if she was wrong.

[Soran Nightblade]

"Kishva is-... Was my Yurivis."

Artisuren hesitated, wishing he hadn't brought it up. He was at this man's mercy, and any "master" would take offense when their predecessor was mentioned. It was one of many reasons the bond-broken were almost never reclaimed. Re-bonding was messy work. Only someone unable to acquire a male through normal means would tolerate it.

"It isn't moving well," he observed of Laurius's arm, eager not to discuss Kishva.

--------

Havitharon tilted his head at the word Tenara had just told him. It sounded slightly 'blurry', which he'd noticed tended to happen when there wasn't a perfect match between their languages. "Ivis have devotion, and often affection for their Yurivis," he said. He wondered if that was the answer she wanted. He thought of the way Tenara's parents had exchanged that word. "Your parents are in love," he tested to see if he understood.

[Emora Deen]

“So Kithka is a woman and a curse,” he mused playfully. “Anyone who would treat another poorly, especially someone in love with them, isn’t worth their name.”

Laurius glanced at his shoulder, or what he could see of it. “I can’t tell what the damage is, other than it throbs something fierce. Take a look for me.” He stretched his arm again. It was swelling and he couldn’t tell anymore if he needed to pop it back in or not. Though, he was sure, if it was dislocated, he wouldn’t be able to move it at all, so that was a good sign.


—-

Tenara nodded, moving to take a seat in front of him on the deck. She held his hand in her lap. “They are in love,” she said softly.

Tenara wasn’t certain how to explain love to him. It was such a complicated emotion, so varied in depth.

“Love is definitely affection. It can lead someone to be devoted, but devotion isn’t love on its own,” she said. “There is love and there is duty and both of them can have affection and devotion woven into them, and I guess I am trying to understand which you’re feeling. Are my needs your needs because you love me or because I am your Yurviris?”

Her cheeks burned. “There isn’t a wrong answer. This isn’t a test or anything, I’m just trying to understand so I honor those feelings.”

[Soran Nightblade]

Artisuren's jaw went tight, even as he moved to obey. "It is an insult that you speak of her so," he snipped. "She possesses great wealth and at least 20 Ivie. I was proud to be selected for her harem." He was too irritated to ask about the word he'd used. It had a strange fuzziness around its edges, feeling nearly meaningful but still foreign. He slid the fabric of Laurius's loose sleeve up against his neck and peered at the swelling flesh. Guilt pushed back his indignation. He touched the joint with one hand and placed the other beneath Laurius's elbow, lifting it slowly to test his reaction.

[Emora Deen]

Laurius grit his teeth, making a low sound in the back of his throat. It served well to keep him from saying any more awful things about this Yurivis who had treated Artisuren so poorly. A ship servant rounded the corner and Laurius snapped his fingers at the woman. She approached and gave a sweeping curtsy. “Three shots of whiskey and a water skin filled with ice, if you have it to spare. Room 203.”

“Right away, sir,” she said, curtsying again before dashing off.

“Well?” he asked Artisuren. “I suppose you aren’t a doctor, are you?”

[Soran Nightblade]

"Battle was not my strong suit," he admitted, trying to act unbothered by the pain in the man's voice. What should he do? He had 2 toothsbane pearls in his pocket. Should he use one for this? What if something worse happened later and he needed it?

There was also that option, though he wasn't sure it was a good idea. Knowing what he did about this man...

He could decide later. He needed to understand how much pain he was in first. "Can we...go to the room, then?" he asked.

[Emora Deen]

Laurius nodded. He stood slowly, pulling down the sleeve of his shirt. “Let’s avoid the princess. I don’t want her thinking I went and wounded myself purposefully for the experience of her mystical healing gifts,” he said, motioning for Artisuren to follow.

A minute after they entered the room the servant returned with his ice and a bottle of whiskey. “I’ve been told to deliver this instead, and anything else you might need. So sorry to hear about the accident and glad you were there to catch your friend.” She bowed, setting the tray on the table before leaving and closing the door behind her.

Laurius poured a glass of whiskey with one hand, drank it in a gulp, and sank onto the lounge.

[Soran Nightblade]

Artisuren stood next to the man and watched him down what he assumed must be alcohol. He bent over the bottle and sniffed it, wrinkling his nose at the acrid, smoky scent. Was this a tonic for pain? He lifted it and refilled the man's glass in a graceful movement that looked practiced and almost ceremonial.

He slowly picked up the bag of ice and glanced at Laurius. Keeping an eye on him, he sat on the lounge beside him and pressed the bag gingerly around his shoulder. He clicked his tongue softly in disapproval. The bag was too small and rigid to meld properly around the joint. He thought again of the tin in his back pocket. "Can you... rate your pain, from 1 to 5?" he asked.

________

Havi's gold eyes focused on her as she sat across from him. Her words tumbled around his head, but he couldn't fully make sense of her distinction.

“There is love and there is duty and both of them can have affection and devotion woven into them, and I guess I am trying to understand which you’re feeling. Are my needs your needs because you love me or because I am your Yurivis?”

He wondered which answer she wanted, so he could give it to her. Well, perhaps that in itself was his answer. He touched her silver hair reverently. "Does the sea love the moon when it rises and falls to seek it? Everything I feel, all I do, I do because you are my Yurivis."

[Emora Deen]

Laurius took up his freshly poured drink, frowning at the pressure against his shoulder. “A ten,” he said, smirking. “It’s a four. I’’ll live. It was worth it. Fishing you from the sea would have been difficult…” Try almost impossible. A ship their size would find it difficult to stop, and he would get lost in the waves… Laurius didn’t want to think about it.

It didn’t occur to him that, had Artisuren fallen over, the dagger would have called him back.

“Keep the ice there, that will help.” He looked up at Artisuren, green eyes appraising him as he took another sip of his drink.

—-

Tenara felt a strange combination of emotions. She had, on some level, expected the answer. It didn’t keep it from stinging any less.

She nodded, managing to keep the complexity of her feelings from her face for a change. Instead, she lifted his hand and pressed a kiss to it again.

She wondered, if she hadn’t been there for him to become his Yurivis when he needed it, if they would still be strange wary comrades instead of lovers. No, lovers was not the right word. She didn’t know what they were.

No, she did. Yurivis and Ivis, and it had been like that since the first time. Was that so bad? She enjoyed being with him. He made her feel safe and happy and the sex… She flushed. Couldn’t she learn to take this as something close to love?

But it wasn’t… He was with her, touched her, cared for her, protected her, and fucked her because he felt compelled to do it… To please her.

Tenara tried not to wilt at the thought. She smiled, feeling a tightness in her chest and throat. “My sun,” she finally said. “I suppose then, I am curious why you mentioned Laurius earlier—thinking I wanted him to stay. Did it bother you?”

[Soran Nightblade]

Artisuren held the ice softly to his arm. His gaze trailed down his skin to his forearm, where angry red welts promised a colorful bruise where Artisuren had gripped him. "Would you mind... looking that way?" he grumbled, pointing with his chin toward the wall opposite them.

________________

Havitharon took a deep breath. It was hard to read her, but he thought he'd succeeded in convincing her of his devotion.

That said, her next question made his stomach flip. Did it bother him that she might accept Laurius?

Yes.... he realized. It did. In that moment, he'd longed for the forest, for that small cottage with the broken front door, for a place where she would not look beyond him. The selfish thought was disgraceful. He shouldn't interfere with her will. She'd clearly explained why she needed a husband, and why it couldn't be him. Even if it wasn't a husband, a Yurivis was entitled to as many partners as she wished. Tenara was powerful. She might need multiple Ivis to support her reign, just like her mother. Then, the correct answer to give her was...

"No... I only wished to understand your feelings. It will not bother me if you wish to choose him."

[Emora Deen]

Laurius grinned despite the ache throbbing through his shoulder. “Shy, Arti? I like very much where I’m looking.” He took a long sip and set the empty glass on the tray.

—

Tenara wasn’t certain what she had hoped for in the answer. Maybe, if he hadn’t wanted her to be with another, it would have meant he did have feelings for her beyond servitude. But he didn’t. He really didn’t.

This was how he was made. Maybe he couldn’t love like humans could, and this, in his own way, was how he could show he cared.

It didn’t lighten the weight in her heart, but it was unfair to ask him to love like a human when he wasn’t human at all. He wasn’t even an Ivis wholey anymore, she thought, thinking of the sword’s weight on her hip.

“I don’t think I will, though,” she said softly. “At least, not him…” She stood and pulled him, trying to tug him to his feet. “I want another cup of tea. Let’s see if we can find the galley.”

[Soran Nightblade]

Artisuren's lip curled up in displeasure. Apparently the man intended to stick with that nickname. This would be more awkward if he was being watched, but Laurius's stubbornness wasn't enough to outweigh his feeling of responsibility for his injuries. "Don't get any weird ideas about this," he warned, self-conscious under the man's gaze.

The Ivis put his right foot up on the chase so that he could rest Laurius's elbow carefully on his knee while keeping the ice in place. He stole a last glance at the man, flinched as he realized he was still watching, and then forced himself to focus on Laurius's arm. He bent his neck to Laurius's wrist and pressed his lips there a moment while his tongue milked venom from the gland on the roof of his mouth. With the tang of venom on his lips, he pressed his tongue at the base of one of Laurius's bruises and licked him in a small, experimental stroke. He peeked up at Laurius to see if the effect it had was the same as on his own race.

___________

Havi grinned a little at the woman's efforts to lift him. He was not a small being. He used his bent leg to rise smoothly where she pulled him, once again towering over her.

He'd just said he didn't care if she chose him, and yet Havi's mood lifted almost immediately when she declared she wasn't interested. He folded his long fingers around her smaller ones, glad to be touched. "I am going to grow spoiled, at this rate. No, I probably already am," he said, half to himself, as the graceful creature led him down the steps to the deck. As they reached the lower deck, they found several crew members working along the railing, the entire area roped off with chained rags.

"Watch yer step, both of ye," one barked as Havi apparently walked too close to their work area.