The Princess and the Blade

[Soran Nightblade]

Ren's temper dissolved like wet tissue at the Yurivis's demanding tone. "We were researching a way to control his form without using her blood. Then the Arken prince showed up ahead of schedule, looking for..." He hesitated as he put the story together with what Tenele was insinuating. "Looking for the sword. Then his Yurivis bound Tenara's magic with a circled. They got hold of the sword, and made Thvoros..." he trailed off as he recalled the way they'd forced Thvoros to injure Tenara with his own hands. He wasn't explaining this well. "The princess and I were taken, and I offered to open a portal for them to go to my world. Abusive males are not tolerated there, and I thought she would be free of their control after going through." He stopped talking, realizing the more he spoke that he had no idea how to pitch the story to ensure their safety.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele frowned, not following most of what the being was saying. "I thought you said they weren't after the sword," she said pointedly to Laurius.

Laurius slipped slowly up next to Ren, until his arm brushed the Ivis. "Prince Elias was after the book that made the sword, and a way to translate it. His choices were Havitharon and Ren, so he took Ren. They took Tenara as... as a piece of a spell. They left us behind to die in a fire. They thought if they left Havitharon's sword, you wouldn't follow them. That you would think she died in the fire. We nearly did." Laurius shook his head because he did not want to think of the fire—of all the people who had worked for him and died so horribly, of how the flames had felt as they licked at his skin. "What Ren says is true, and from what I've gathered from Tenara, Elias had hoped to use her to make..." His gaze flicked to the god. "To make a weapon like the one who killed Verin. I suspect he wanted to use it against his mother. I don't think... I don't think Arken themselves were involved in the plot."

Tenele shifted her gaze to Knight. They knew what he was—who he was.

[Soran Nightblade]

Knight frowned. An alien with only a cursory knowledge of how this world worked, or a merchant with no allegiance but to his own skin. Neither was a reliable narrator. But if Arken really did know about his existence... "Did they get it?" he asked Laurius flatly. "Did they obtain the spell? Where is Elias now? Lie, and I will know."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele had gone quiet for a myriad of reasons. Her daughter had been experimenting? Had she lied about the reason she had left with Marr—not because she was considering him as a suitor but because she needed his help with the blade? And what of this “ahead of schedule” nonsense? They had known Elias was coming? All of those questions fell away the moment the spell was discussed. A deep horror was growing in Tenele. She remembered the spell very well. She remembered the night they made Knight because it was the first night Atul had been with them intimately—because sex had been the ritual, the binding element to make their conduit.

Laurius hesitated, unsure how to answer. "I don't... I don't know. I don't think so," he said, looking to Ren. "I mean, I don't know about the spell. But, Elias is likely dead. Havitharon tortured him for what he did to Tenar..." He faded off a second, clearing his throat. "We left him for dead. I don't think they would have reason to keep him alive. As for the book..." Laurius looked around, having no way to start with that. If it was not lying in the snow somewhere, or in Elias’s tent, then the Black Sisters might have taken it with them. Perhaps they would be able to figure out the spell without translation. If Tenara's parents had, then someone else could eventually.

[Soran Nightblade]

Knight's expression was a darkening sky before a cyclone. "Havitharon employed torture?" It didn't match his understanding of the alien being. "How long was she with Elias?" he asked too calmly for the ice in his eyes. His gaze flashed to the unfamiliar horned being in front of him. Artisuren winced as though the question itself had wounded him somehow. He pointed his attention back to Laurius and growled, "What did Elias do to Tenara?"

[Emora Deen]

Laurius couldn’t look away from the being, and he wanted to. The answer was on his face, in the paleness stealing what little color he had in his cheeks. “She—they—were captive for two and a half days,” he said, his throat dry. How could he tell this man, or the woman cradling her daughter…

“Spit it out,” Lelana said. “Or I’ll pry it out of your head.” Her fingers flexed at her sides, and he saw concern in her eyes.

Laurius shifted from foot to foot. He cleared his throat again. “He drugged and assaulted her, and I think he let at least one of the soldiers... She was badly beaten when we found them, and she asked me to make Foul Mother’s Tea.” The more he spoke, the quieter his voice got. Why did he feel this ashamed? Because it was his fault? She was supposed to be safe in his company. He should have told her they were coming. He should have hid her—hid them all. “I’m sorry… He suffered. I swear it.”

The Queen’s face hardened with rage, even as sorrow clouded her eyes. Her arms tightened around the girl in her lap, holding her to her chest. The woman looked at the God like he could fix it, like he could punish the world or turn back time. Perhaps she just wanted comfort, or to know she a wasn’t alone in her rage.

[Soran Nightblade]

"I see. You're sorry. You swear it."

Knight's calm tone set every hair on Ren's skin on end. Instinctive terror made him take a step back toward Laurius. "Y-you swore not to harm him."

"Tonight," Knight said coldly. He glared down at the conspicuously silent sword in his hands. "Have you nothing to say for yourself? 'Guardian'?" The word dripped with venom.

Knight could feel the Ivis's presence at the other side of that connection, but Havitharon didn't respond. The god's eyes flashed bright with a mismatched, fearsome glow. "Shall I drag you forth and make you answer?"

*...Do not,* a hoarse voice growled into his mind.

"So you can hear me, you arrogant, useless trash. I expected nothing from this leech, but you made an oath to us. You claimed you would protect my daughter and failed. How is it that Laurius fucking Marr is the only one looking me in the eyes and facing responsibility right now?"

Ren grimaced at the harsh words as if they'd been directed at him. Just the thought of such a condemnation of failing one's Yurivis was enough to make him nauseous. "He..." he flinched as those mismatched eyes flashed to him, waiting for his words. "Thvoros may not be able to speak civilly with you right now. Perhaps tomorrow-"

"May not speak civilly," Knight snorted. "What possible ground has he to be hostile to me? He is the one who betrayed our trust. Would you have me forgive all my daughter's abusers until tomorrow, then?" Knight growled. "My gratitude to you has limits."

"Abusers?! How could-" Ren choked off the retort. This being was not someone he could bear his fangs at. If he pushed any further, his short temper might get him or Laurius killed.

[Emora Deen]

Laurius reached out and touched Ren's arm. "He has a right to his rage, Ren," the merchant said. "But leave Havitharon in the sword until Tenara wakes. He's..." Laurius stopped short, aware that if he explained—exactly—what Havitharon's predicament was, Tenara's father was liable to melt them all down. He doubted telling the god that his abused daughter was the only one who could tame a raging, angry, biologically-driven to mate creature was the thing to keep the peace. "He's dangerous and she will be the only one who can talk sense into him."

"It is convenient that now he is too dangerous to deal with. Could he not have been dangerous when Elias was at your door?" Tenele snapped.

"He was," Laurius said. "And Elias used him against her. Forced him to break her arm before he stole her away and set us on fire."

[Soran Nightblade]

Knight was getting very tired of not having anyone to punch. "Dangerous? You pose no danger to me, guardian. Shall I call you as my daughter always has?" He placed a hand over the blade and squeezed, crushing the metal beneath his fingers until it deformed. A thin trickle of blood slid down the crumpled steel. Havi's form flickered into existence before him, bent and gasping. The Ivis glared up at him with wild yellow eyes.

[Emora Deen]

"Shit," Laurius hissed under his breath and took a step back. He had just fought a drugged-out Havitharon and barely survived—wouldn't have, in fact, if it weren't for Tenara. Now, she was sleeping in her mother's arms.

"Doesn't seem so dangerous to me," Princess Lelana said to the god, stepping toward Havi. She reached out and put her finger under his chin, tilting his face toward her. "Perhaps he was all talk? I told you if you hurt her, I would hurt you."

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi tilted his head easily at her touch, looking up at her with wide, dilated eyes. That one simple contact made his heaving gasps settle into something closer to breathing. The condemnation in her eyes felt fair. It felt merciful. "Yes," he barely choked out. He deserved to be hurt. He knew it in his soul. He had betrayed Tenara in every way. He'd failed to protect her. Not only that, she'd wounded herself countless times on his behalf. He'd failed to throw the match as he promised. He'd become a liability to her, just as her mother predicted. He'd even been arrogant enough to fantasize about Bonding with her.

All his drug-eaten brain could do was rest his chin in her hand and wish that she would do exactly as she'd just promised.

[Emora Deen]

Lelana stared at Havitharon's submission and felt unsatisfied with it. Where was the fun in beating a man who wanted to be beaten, even if she was just as angry as her brother and his wife. Even if she wanted to hurt someone to avenge her niece. "She was not my daughter, though," the woman said, and stepped back, out from between Havitharon and Knight.

Laurius shook his head, glancing between them all. "None of this is his fault."

"It is all his fault," Tenele said angrily, tears in her eyes. "They stole her to make him. He would not be in this world if not for that. They would not have gotten her a second time if she hadn't come here with you for him. Will they come a third? A fourth?"

"None of that is his fault!" Laurius snapped. "Its mine. Mine. I sold them the book. I told them the ingredients to use. They chose her because I told them to find a powerful soul to call a powerful soul, and then they came again and I didn't tell her to run. I knew what they did to her the first time, and I didn't tell her to run." It was only after the fact that Laurius realized he should have kept his mouth shut, that his guilt had roared out of him like a shield for an innocent man.

Laurius Marr was not a man who threw himself before others... At least, he had never been until meeting them.

It also didn't occur to him that he'd placed blame for everything on himself before her parents and before her Ivis, who was still very much in rut.

[Soran Nightblade]

Knight's eyes narrowed on Laurius. The god was unusually emotional, and bitter at having his right to end Laurius's life postponed by his promise to Ren. He loomed over Laurius. "None of you are to touch or speak to my daughter again," he seethed.

Kneeling behind him, Havi had been reeling to decide where to focus his mindless rage. His chest was screaming in pain, and he didn't remember why. He shook his head, trying to clear the ache from the half-blackened rings on his horns. The hydris was beginning to wear off, and it felt like if he could just get his bearings, he could avoid lashing out.

But at Knight's decree, something snapped in his mind. He lurched to his feet, and launched at Knight with neon yellow eyes.

Artisuren watched the Ivis's attack in horror. He didn't remember moving, but a second later, he was snaring Havi to the side, both arms locked around the taller man's waist.

Havi roared, and Ren held on to the raging male for dear life. "T-thvoros!" He winced as Havi's furious eyes veered to him. "S-sing!"

Havi hesitated, a flicker of recognition showing through his wrath. Ren clenched his eyes and prayed it would work. "You pledged a debt to me. Sing," he begged.

The taller male's body stiffened, but he didn't tear Ren to shreds as he'd been about to. For several long, terrible moments, it wasn't clear if his oath applied in this situation. But in the end, he straightened, pushing the man's hands down soberly. Freed, he looked straight at Ren's clenched eyes and strained into a low tune, his voice frayed and shaking with vibrato that had nothing to do with technique. After a few notes, he made a strangled sound and wrapped his hands over his chest like someone was hitting it. When Ren finally summoned the courage to open his eyes and look at Havi, blood was running from the corner of the man's mouth. Confusion compounded his adrenaline.

"Enough! Good, enough," he stammered, and Havi stopped trying to sing. Ren gripped the man's arm with both hands and tugged him toward Laurius, away from Knight. The last thing Ren wanted to do was touch the man again, but Thvoros didn't look right.

Knight watched this men's interactions with irate consideration. This was more complicated than he'd first thought. He looked back at his wife. "It seems this will require more time to sort out, and Vlad's stamina to maintain me is finite. What shall I do, my love?"

[Emora Deen]

Tenele touched his hand, curling her fingers around his. She felt just as much rage as her husband and also knew no outlet—no solution. She wanted to tell him to port them away, and leave the males stranded in Arken where they belonged.

She had enough clarity to not ask him. It seemed the idea of never having contact with Tenara again had set the being off, and his song… She glanced down at Tenara, and the horn-pendant around her neck. Then, her gaze traveled to the sick-looking creature and his broken horn. She sighed. If she tore Tenara away from them, would that be worst than keeping him near?

“Lelana and I can manage for now, I think. If you wait any longer, I won’t be able to temper Vlad’s hunger. We will call you again as soon as we can.”

[Soran Nightblade]

Knight knelt before his wife and child. He kissed Tenara's forehead, and then Tenele's hand. "See you soon," he said reassuringly, knowing she hated dismissing him. He closed his eyes while she spoke the words, and dissolved into a shower of darkness.

Vlad's body reappeared near Tenele's bedroll. The sweaty and breathless vampire glanced around, registering but ignoring the three men who were clustered together. His eyes locked on his wife and daughter. "Is she okay?" he barked, teleporting to their side even though it was a waste of his remaining energy.

"Thvoros, what the hell's wrong with you now?" Ren whisper-growled at Havi as the Ivis swayed on his feet.

Havi ignored the question. He had the clarity to realize they were all in danger, but not the control to think of a way out of it. Maybe it would make sense to just let these people punish them. He cast a glance back at the reunited family. His sword was lying forgotten on the dirt, dropped when Knight disappeared. For a wild moment, he considered advising Laurius to flee with Ren. "You can't outrun him. He'll find you," he argued with his own idea, gripping his head like that would help him think.

Perhaps death was deserved for him and Laurius. But not for Ren.