The Princess and the Blade

[Soran Nightblade]

Ren pressed his tearstained cheek into Laurius's hand and kissed the lips that found his, his breath and body still shaking wildly. Laurius was still deep inside him, and Ren could still feel the spasms of the man's climax. Laurius was shaking too, and he wasn't sure what to make of that. He wrapped his arms around the man's back, even if he was unsure what he aimed to accomplish by holding him there, and fought to calm his breathing. "You fucker, that was too fast," he muttered while clamping down on him.

[Emora Deen]

Laurius smiled, pressing his forehead to Ren’s. “Is that a complaint?” he asked. “Next time I’ll be very, torturously slow until you beg me for a different pace.”

He laid over Ren for what felt like an hour, but was probably much shorter, until his breath calmed and his legs felt more sure of themselves. “I have to get out,” he said, apologetically. He eased off the man, but didn’t slip out of him just yet. He looked up at the ceiling and sighed. “No broken glass. We’ll need to repeat this experiment tomorrow.” He grinned, kissed him again, and slowly slipped away.

[Soran Nightblade]

"That wasn't enough screaming for you?" Ren hissed as Laurius slipped free. The merchant had stayed inside longer this time. Ren wondered if it was because of what he'd told him about his culture last time. Was Laurius being considerate of him?

He pushed up onto his elbows and slowly straightened each of his legs, checking to see if all his vertebrae were still working correctly. His stomach and chest were wet with his own ejaculate. He touched it in confusion. He didn't even remember coming a second time. It had all been so much... He could barely even remember what sounds Laurius had made. That was a shame, he thought, and blushed.

But he did remember Laurius's words. His gaze lifted to his master, who had slipped away to clean up. "What you said, right before we... Rather, about the last two nights... Did that mean that I'm permitted to visit your rooms freely?"

He struggled with the phrasing. He could still keenly recall how displeased Kishva had been when he called on her uninvited, as well as the scornful looks of the Ivie she was with at the time. He didn't want to make such a mistake again.

[Emora Deen]

Laurius scooped his trousers off the floor. “Of course. You have your own space. Everyone needs privacy, but you can come to me when you want me,” he said, slipping his legs in and drawing them up. “For whatever reason. It’s why your next door…”

That and because of the dagger, he thought. His gaze swept the man over, a pleased triumph burning in his eyes. “There’s a washroom down the hall if you want to freshen up before the others get here.”

[Soran Nightblade]

Ren's response to Laurius's open invitation to his room was a dazed, "Oh."

His heart hammered inside his chest while he struggled for a neutral expression. Was it okay to interpret this as a sign of his favor? He was supposed to visit whenever he pleased?

He was so busy decoding this new revelation that it took him a few moments to really digest the other thing he'd said. 'before the others get here.' His eyes shot wide as he remembered where he was. If Thvoros and the princess came in and saw him in this state, he might have to beg Laurius for one of those black apples. He scrambled off the table, but his legs and back let him know immediately that they weren't pleased with his shenanigans. He caught the edge of the desk with both hands while he negotiated his weight with the rest of his body. "I'll... be right back," he told Laurius, doing his best not to look sore. He grumbled a few curses before getting his balance. He grabbed his clothes off the floor and made for the washroom with as much dignity and as little limping as was possible under the circumstances.

[Emora Deen]

Tenara dressed while Merry gathered her tea and scones, donning a high-collared burgundy winter dress with knitted stockings. She ate and drank as Merry instructed, even if her appetite wasn't up to Merry's liking. But the idea of disappointing any more people was enough motivation to get down something.

A half-hour before three, when Laurius expected them to meet in his laboratory, she hooked the sword to her waist and grabbed her hooded coat from the hook by one of the back doors leading into the gardens.

The air beyond Laurius's home was cold but the afternoon sun was warm against her skin. When the wind blew, bitterness touched he cheeks. She pulled her gloves on and retraced her path through the maze from the day before. The footprints were almost gone, partially washed away by the wind or a finer layer of snow.

When she came to the place where she and Havi had collapsed together, she had the urge to lie down in the print of their bodies. It was a strange sensation that made her heart ache, as if this was evidence to the last time he would ever touch her.

So what if it wasn't love, she thought. It had made her happy. He made her happy.

Tenara felt that pressure in her chests, the slightest trickle of her magic's response to her emotions and she turned away from the spot, going deeper into the maze. At the center there was a large pond, frozen over. Near the pond, wrestling a bird to the ground, was an orange cat.

"Hello," she said, kneeling to inspect its kill. "That's not very nice." She shewed him away, and the bird took flight. The cat seemed to meow angrily at her, but the moment her hand brushed it's head, it began to purr. It danced under her palm, weaving in and out of her touch until she scooped him up. "You should be inside, curled on someone's lap."

But he seemed to be more the outside type, with wiry hair and scars on his ears. She scratched him and he melted into her arms.

After a few minutes of scratching Colonel (he seemed like he'd been in a lot of battles) she placed him back on his feet and turned to leave the maze. Colonel decided he would follow, and he meowed the whole way. She couldn't tell if he was protesting her treatment of him, or begging to be picked up again.

"I can't play," she said. "I have a meeting. Maybe afterwards. You wouldn't like the meeting anyway..." It's going to be awkward.

Colonel followed her all the way to the conservatory door.

She found Laurius in his office, sitting at the bistro table with two glasses of whiskey. Laurius had this dreamy look to his face, resting on an elbow. His shirt hung open, unbuttoned. When he noticed her entrance, he straightened.

"Tenara," he said, looking her over and then down to the cat circling her legs. "What the hell?"

"Colonel didn't want to stay outside."

"Colonel?"

"Well, what do you call him?"

"Damned Cat," he said, frowning. "He hates people... Usually. Fantastic at catching mice."

"And birds," she said, stooping to pick him up again.

"How are you?" he asked. "Fever gone?"

Tenara's lips parted to answer, but she pursed them closed and nodded. What could she say? Yes. Maybe. For now. Who knows?

"Your bind is on the corner of my desk, should you need it," he said, and turned his attention to his shirt.

Tenara carried Colonel to the corner and placed him on the desk.

"Off," Laurius said, and the cat jumped down. The inventor or merchant or weapons dealer—whatever he seemed to want to be—was up and walking over. "I want to test two methods of sending the phages back into their weapons and calling them out. In one instance, I want you to use your magic and in the other, I'd like you to wear the bind. I want to see how your connection to Havitharon's blade differs when magic is not used."

Tenara nodded, admiring the silver collar in the velvet-lined case.

"Havitharon should be around shortly. Tomorrow, we will work half days. He's set to have a tutor for the earlier part of the day."

"A tutor?" Tenara asked, brow furrowing.

"Yes. I've sent for Mrs. Felicity to reside in the house for a few weeks. He wants to learn to read," he said.

Tenara felt her heart ache, and she put her hand to her chest rubbing at it similarly to how Ren had been doing as of late. Reading to Havitharon was their shared pleasure, and in their quiet moments she had been trying to teach him to read. If he'd requested for someone else too...

"I should test this," she said, her voice strained as she reached for the collar and lifted it out of the box. She clicked it open and placed it around her neck, and felt the cold weight of nothingness settle over her. The pressure stopped, but so did everything else.

Tenara had not noticed how empty the world felt when she was bound. She had spent her life, since she was very young, with one around her wrist until Arken tried to sacrifice her. The months of freedom since had introduced her to wave of senses she'd been denied, and now, with having the bind back, she understood just what she'd been missing.

The world might as well have turned muddled gray. But, there was no more painful magic using her emotions as a means to escape. She could feel sad about Havitharon's decision to have someone else read to him and not risk demolishing Laurius's beautiful conservatory. “Let’s test without magic first,” she said.

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi was hunched over a book in the library, his focus reading like a frown on his face. He'd been attempting to read the book all afternoon, and he'd barely managed the first 10 pages, if he ignored the more complex vocabulary he'd skipped. He was never going to figure anything out at this pace. The clock in the corner chimed three o'clock. He scrubbed a hand over his face and shut the book. It was the first tome he'd found with the word Love in the title, but the content was some sort of poetry. The syntax and meaning were both far over his head.

He rose from the table, leaving the book in place for later, and headed toward Laurius's office. When he reached the study, he nearly collided with Artisuren, who was emerging from the washroom off the hall. The other Ivis skipped out to give him a wide birth, then waited with a frown for him to go first. Havi was too exhausted to question what Ren was on about. He proceeded into the room, where he quickly spotted Tenara and Laurius waiting for them. His eyes followed his Yurivis closely as they approached, trying to see if she was willing now to have him nearby, or if he should keep his distance.

[Emora Deen]

Tenara was thumbing the bind around her neck when she spotted movement out of the corner of her eye. She felt the instinct to bolt, fearing that cold, angry look Havitharon could easily adopt when something displeased him—one he hadn’t, up until last night, displayed in matters concerning her since she’d become his Yurivis.

There was no coldness. No anger. Not that she could tell. In fact, he seemed as hesitant for their interaction as she felt. Part of her felt foolish for how she’d felt all day, how her magic had treated her and the world around her. She could almost assume she had imagined or dreamed his words. …you have not yet bonded me. And you never will.

She tested a warm smile, and scooped up the cat.

Laurius lurched a step back, as if contact with Colonel might give him some contagious disease. “I made a friend,” she said to break the ice.

“Yes, all the best friends come with fleas and feline pneumonia,” Laurius muttered, turning on his desk and busying himself with things there. “We’re focusing on your sword,” he called over his shoulder. “Ren had a busy afternoon of tests so I’m giving him a break. He gets to help me referee the two of you.”

Tenara edged closer to Havitharon, showing him the orange, scarred cat. She wanted to ask if they were okay now, if he understood she meant nothing by her question, if he had changed his mind and still wanted her. Instead, she asked, “Do you want to pet him?”

[Soran Nightblade]

Havitharon's caution receded when he noticed Tenara's smile. He walked to her side, relieved to be there despite everything else. He looked at the small creature she'd taken in, and he wasn't sure what to think of it. Historically, the animals on this world didn't seem to be fans of him.

No. You resolved to live like one of them, he reminded himself. He tried to put himself into the mindset of a man from this world, rather than an alien. He reached out toward the creature, presenting his hand in front of its nose.

[Emora Deen]

Colonel stretched his head out and gave Havtiharon a sniff. He didn’t hiss, but this low, rumbling warning rattled in his chest and Tenara eased him away. “Perhaps he just likes girls,” she said, hoisting him up to look at. “Are you a lady’s man, Colonel?” She smiled and placed him back on his feet. He trotted off to the lounge chair and hopped onto the cushion. Laurius opened his mouth to protest, but snapped it just with a sigh.

Without the cat as a buffer, she was forced to focus on the distance between them. Physically, it was small, but it felt cavernous. She clenched her teeth, weighing her options, a hundred ways to proceed warring in her chest.

She bit her lip and chose, pushing forward and tangling her arms around his waist. She hugged him tightly, cheek to his chest, eyes so tightly closed they ached. He was warm and solid and she’d missed him—would miss him even more if this, whatever they were, was over.

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi froze. His arms raised slightly, allowing her to touch him as she pleased, but he wasn't sure how to respond. All of his instincts screamed to give her anything she wished, to serve and honor her. But that wasn't the relationship she wanted.

She thinks you're a slave.

He put his arms around her small shoulders gently. That much was normal among couples in this world, right?

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked, petting her hair back.

[Emora Deen]

Tenara wasn’t certain how to answer the question. She felt better now, especially with the comforting weight of his arms around her. Eventually they would need to have the hard conversation about where they actually stood with each other. For now, they could be like this…

“I’m…”

“I’m here,” an unfamiliar voice grumbled into the air. Tenara peeked out around Havitharon at an older man dressed in deep navy. He carried a black satchel, was travel-weary, and wind-blown. His graying hair stood all over the place, making him appear mentally unstable, and he wore a black leather patch over one eye.

“Doctor Crofford,” Laurius greeted. “You can set up on the opposite end of the conservatory, just to give you some protective space from our experiments. We’ll alert you should we need you, or ferry our injured. Whatever seems the most efficient.”

“Fine, fine. Is there any tea?”

“Lilly is waiting in the East wing. She will supply you with anything you need,” Laurius said, and the doctor limped off.

“Not a healer,” Tenara said.

“Don’t judge books by their covers, Princess,” Laurius mused before clapping his hands together. “Alright, let’s begin… Are you ready, Havitharon?”

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi reluctantly let go of Tenara's shoulders. His tired eyes went to Laurius. He put his resentment toward the man into a box at the back of his mind for later. What happened last night wasn't truly Laurius's fault. Even if the experiment had been his idea, all he'd done was encourage Tenara to act on doubts she already had. "Yes. What do I need to do?"

[Emora Deen]

Laurius dragged a leather journal to him, grabbed a quill and some ink, and prepared to take notes. "We're starting with no magic. Tenara is going to attempt to put you in the sword, and then in a few minutes we will pull you back out. We'll gauge the difficulty and the effects on you both. After Tenara's treated by Dr. Crofford, we'll begin the test again with magic. The object of this experiment is to document the differences in summoning and their effects on the participants."

Tenara frowned. She had not tried to conjure Havitharon without magic and she surely hadn't tried to send him back into the swod without it. But, Laurius was able to call Ren, so it was possible...

She thumbed the silver around her neck. "I've never tried to do this without magic. It may take a while to figure it out."

"Well, we can always start up tomorrow if we go late into the night," he said, perching on a stool. He invited Ren to sit on the stool next to him.

Tenara looked at her hands and then drew the sword slowly from the sheath on her hip. She held the hilt, and focused on the blade. Off and on until near sunset she tried to put him back until Laurius cleared his throat. "I'm trying," she said, angling her eyes at him.

"When I pull Ren from the dagger, I will it with all my being..."

"Oh, and how many times have you pulled him out?" Tenara shot back, knowing it was only twice. "I've conjured Havi dozens of times... just not like this. I'm retraining my brain, okay?"

Tenara looked at Havitharon, and then back at the sword. She closed her eyes, and willed. She thought about when they were captured by those head hunters, after their small cabin was burned. Desperation. She'd felt desperate. She needed him to be a sword to cut the rope so she could escape...

Desperation. She needed this to work. She needed to know why her connection to the sword drained her, so she could keep using it. Keep calling him. Keep being with him.

Return, please. she softly commanded to the sword—to Havi.

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi watched Tenara strain to dematerialize him. He thought he could sense a path opening to him. He glanced at Laurius. "Am I permitted to help her?"