The Princess and the Blade

[Soran Nightblade]

"Appreciated," Havi said. The thought of doing more experiments devised by Laurius made his head throb harder. Oh well... what did any of it matter at this point? "I have one request. It is reasonable that you are curious about the weapons' effect on free will. Should we test the concept further, please design any experiments so that Tenara is guarded from injury."

Merry's hand slipped, making a loud clack as the plate of scones she was holding clattered on the table. "Pardon me," she said, hurrying to gather the scones back onto the plate.

[Emora Deen]

Laurius smiled. “I assure you, I have her safety in mind—as well as yours. We’ll even have a healer nearby so that Tenara will not be forced to use her other talents, and she has requested a device to confine her magic should that be necessary. In fact, it should be here today, if it hasn’t been delivered to the laboratory already. We will have a safe environment, I give my word.”

He rose casually from the table, placing his cloth napkin across his plate. “I’ll give you a few hours in the library, and Merry will see to Tenara. I would like to at least begin one experiment before dinner. I’ll see you both in the conservatory at three. Come, Ren. We can conduct our own studies until then.”

[Soran Nightblade]

Artisuren stood quickly to follow after Laurius, casting one backward glance at Thvoros. The other Ivis was wearing a similar expression to the one he'd had right before puking the night before. Ren pursued Laurius quickly, not wanting to be involved in any of that again.

Merry looked like she was thinking of saying something, but Havi turned his back on her and left through the other door. She fretted over the arrangement of scones on her plate, then made her own way back to Tenara's rooms.

[Emora Deen]

Laurius led Ren out to the conservatory, hanging his coat on a hook once they entered the balmy interior. He made the right down the glass corridor leading to his office, and took up a perch on the stool at the massive table he used for a desk. Then, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the note he'd received earlier, and turned on one of the burners beneath an erlenmeyer flask, holding the note over the blue flame until it caught. Then, he dropped it onto a tin plate and watched it burn. Ren couldn't read it anymore than Havitharon would be able to, but Tenara could find it and that would create a problem.

"The princes of Arken believe I've reneged on our deal by harboring the sword that belongs to them. They are sending people to collect the sword or the spell and ingredients to forge a new one. Our options are to deliver one or the other or I'll find myself out of business." He watched the rest of the paper burn away. "Knowing Arken, I imagine that means they plan to kill me and take what they want."

He sighed, twisting on his stool and leaning back against the table, draping his arms along the top. "I expected this but the stint on the island has thrown off my calculations of how much time we had." He watched Ren thoughtfully. "Obviously we can't give the sword back to them. Even if it is rightfully theirs..." But by the tone in Laurius's voice, the "obviously" seemed still up to debate.

[Soran Nightblade]

Artisuren worked to follow the man's explanation. "What are the ingredients to forge a new one?"

[Emora Deen]

Laurius frowned. “Soulstones, raw steel, a forge, and silver. The number of soulstones depends on how big the weapon will be, and how strong a being they intend to conjure. Knowing Arken, they will want a number of them, and knowing them they will want them to be human souls.”

He drummed his fingers. “I have the raw steel, the forge, and the silver. Those are also things they can acquire on the own easy enough, but I don’t have the soul stones, and I don’t want to make them. Human sacrifice is not something I want to take up as part of my skill set. Besides, hiding this from Tenara and Havitharon is going to be difficult as it is, more so if they find the lab covered in blood every morning.” Then, Laurious frowned, wondering if they were wanting to include Tenara as an ingredient he was required to turn over.

“Your dagger and Havitharon’s sword are in need of repair, specifically the stones. I know a man who forges them. We can meet with him under the guise of these repairs, and I can place the order for additional ones then. Maybe that will be sufficient in their requirements. We have a few weeks until our deadline. You will not mention any of this to Tenara or Havitharon.”

[Soran Nightblade]

"Yes," Artisuren said, bowing his head. He hadn't even thought about the dull, cracked crystals on the knife's hilt. He touched his chest curiously. Maybe the damage was the reason his chest kept clenching up.

"You said we would perform our own experiments?" he said, looking around the man's lab.

[Emora Deen]

Laurius sprouted a wicked grin. “Oh, yes,” he said. “It’s absolutely vital that I hear that delicious voice of yours echo of the glass. For science, of course.”

[Soran Nightblade]

Artisuren looked up at the glass with wide eyes. Why was he so excited over the idea that Laurius liked his voice? He swallowed hard and licked his lips. "You have a theory you wish to test?" he returned carefully. He wasn't used to flirting.

[Emora Deen]

“Yes,” he said, smoothing his hand along the edge of the table in a fashion that was surprisingly mouth watering. “If I fuck you hard enough, will your screams break a window? Inquiring minds must know. Of course, for the data to be accurate, we’d have to repeat the experiment several times to establish definitive proof.”

[Soran Nightblade]

Ren looked at Laurius's hand as if it had slid along his stomach and not the cool wood of the desk. He wasn't sure if he'd be chosen again while his master lived here. After all, they'd slept separately the last two nights.

"I don't scream," he said, suddenly too embarrassed to look him in the eyes.

[Emora Deen]

Laurius chuckled. “Oh, I’ve heard you before, remember? You sing beautifully with the right touch.” He ran his hand over the large desk again, a thing nearly twenty feet long, and once used to pot plants. There was open space in the middle, and he traced the grains of the wood like he would draw circles on Ren’s skin. “You know what I like about this desk? It’s the perfect height for our study.” He didn’t look at Ren when he said, “Take your clothes off.”

[Soran Nightblade]

Ren gulped and reached for the buttons at the front of his tunic, releasing them one by one. He pulled the garment over his head and dropped it to the floor beside his feet with a soft thwp. He looked down at his pants. His hard-on was straining against the fabric, and for the first time, he wasn't shocked. Yes, Laurius was male, but the muscled line of the man's back and the way he spoke to him was like a pornography. His memories from the rut jumbled in his head.

He unbuttoned his fly and freed himself, kicking his pants to the side. His organ was large, pinned sideways against the curve of his lower abs by his underwear. He reached for the underwear and tugged it away. The cold air of the lab sent goosebumps prickling up his thighs. "I'm naked, Master," he said. He hoped the words didn't sound as hungry as he felt.

[Emora Deen]

Laurius turned, pressing his back into the table. His hands went to the buttons on his shirt, and he watched Ren stand in his nakedness as he slowly removed his own clothes until he was as naked as him. His interest was on full display, and it occurred to Laurius that this was the first time he had been entirely bare before the man.

He stretched his arms along the table again, and the two of them admired one another.

“Come here,” he ordered, and when Ren was close, he curled his hand around one of his horns and pulled his face close, kissing him. His other hand explored the contours of Ren’s chest, down, down, down, until he took hold of his length at the same time he bit the man’s lip lightly.

[Soran Nightblade]

Ren arched over Laurius, huffing at the feel of his grip on his horn. It felt like the man had too many hands, stroking and squeezing him everywhere at once. He felt he ought to be doing something in return, so he slid his hands in a testing caress along Laurius's sides. Then, Laurius's hand found his member and sharp teeth nipped at his lip.

Ren made a hungry sound, and his fingertips dug tighter around the man's hips. He pressed into Laurius's kiss, licking at his mouth.