The Princess and the Blade

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad was standing now. His anger rolled from him like steam from a pot. He cast gleaming eyes on Ren. "Did he suffer?"

Ren looked a bit like a rabbit caught in a cobra's glare, but satisfied darkness still climbed into his voice as he said "Greatly."

The vampire sneered at this meager comfort. "This is an act of war," he growled to his wife.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele nodded, her hands settling on his arms gently, as if she could press down his rage to keep it from burning the room, “I know.” There was no avoiding it now. She was taken not once, but twice by the same kingdom—no matter their reasons or if one party acted without the other’s knowledge. If they didn’t act this time, they would truly be seen as weak. And, if that book held their daughter’s secrets, and Shea got a hold of it… “They, or someone else, will come again if we don’t deal with it now.”

“There’s only one son left for her to kill,” Lelana chirped, dark humor dancing in her voice. She had found the courage to pick up the mortar bowl again. Then, her eyes widened, as if remembering something, and she said “Oh! Yes, your daughter has a cut you need to tend, sister.”

Tenele squeezed Vlad’s arms and turned to go to her daughter. She saw the being holding tight to Tenele’s hand, and gently pried his fingers away. It was a small wound, easy to fix, and was gone in a moment, fading as instantly as the pale light from beneath Tenele’s palm appeared.

But now, Tenele seemed to be the one who needed sleep—having healed the sword, and fed her husband, and now offered the last of her energy to her daughter. She stood though, and went back to Vlad, smoothing trembling hands along his arms again.

“I’m sure Atul’s rage is already seeing to the army,” she said. “He couldn’t leave the kingdom, and his helplessness has likely lead him to rash actions, though they are not so rash now…” She faded off, her voice soft. “We shouldn’t have let her go…”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Lelana said, in a rare moment of empathy while pouring the contents of the bowl into a metal tea infuser. “He hoped to make a god by using her. I imagine they would have stolen her out from under your nose, if needed.”

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad didn't look at all satisfied with leaving the retribution to others, but the tremor in his wife's grip tamed his impulses. "You are both not wrong," he acknowledged stiffly. "Thank you for seeing to things, Lelana. Let's all get some rest." His gleaming eyes paused as they caught on Artisuren, as though evaluating what to do with him. He decided to let the man do as he saw fit. If he was going to hurt Tenara, he'd had plenty of opportunities to do so.

The large observatory, and the snowy mountains around it, were ominously quiet that night while its exhausted occupants slept. The following morning was oddly quiet as well. Everyone had their objectives and set about them in near-silence. Vlad, normally full of banter in the morning after awaiting his mortal family's company, was a storm cloud threatening to unleash, and the others knew to give him space. Ren had acquired some non-intoxicating fruit from Laurius's lab for everyone to use as breakfast. At Tenara's command, Laurius and Havi were restricted to their wing of the building, and the two parties caught only fleeting glimpses of each other as they prepared for their respective missions in the shared space.

It was shortly after daybreak when Vlad met up with Havi and Laurius in the front courtyard. The merchant and alien were dressed in a hodgepodge of whatever happened to be left in the conservatory, plus the heavier winter cloaks Vlad and Tenele had been wearing the day before. That left Vlad and Tenele to wear the clothes the men had worn back from the portal. Vlad had done a double take when he put the torn clothes on. They were slashed and torn, and stiff with dried blood he hadn't noticed in the chaos of the day before.

Lelana was standing with the expedition party, reviewing the gear she'd provided them.

"Are they ready?" Vlad asked his sister in law.

Ren loitered near the window, trying to get a clear look at the others. He wanted to see them off, but didn't dare to ask Tenele when the tension in the house was so high.

[Emora Deen]

Lelana nodded. “As ready as they’ll get. I gave them an extra peptalk,” she said, but knowing Lelana the peptalk had likely been less than inspiring.

“She was very descriptive about what would happen should we fail or decide not to come back,” Laurius said, admiring the sword she had given him and its addition of a stained ribbon. “We won’t, you know… Abandon the task, that is.”

On the other side of the wing, Tenara came awake slowly, blinking her eyes at the sharp morning light breaking through the glass. She spotted her mother and Ren looking out of the windows, but her mouth felt too dry to speak.

[Soran Nightblade]

Ren glanced back at Tenara, his expression drawn. He thought he'd heard her sheets rustle and wasn't surprised to spot her awake. "Princess," he breathed, tearing himself away from the window. He knelt beside the couch she was using as a bed. "You're awake... how do you feel?"

___________

"That is good to hear," Vlad said flatly. "I don't feel like hunting you down."

Havi met his eyes earnestly. There was no trace of fear in the alien, nor was there any bristle of pride. It made Vlad wonder if the man had been a soldier on his world. "Should I withdraw into the sword for the spell?" Havi asked.

"No. It's unwise for Marr to draw you out as he normally would. Too many things that live at the Citadel can smell blood."

Havi just nodded, this time looking at the strange ribbon bound to the sword on Laurius's hip. "Does the binding you performed enable any kind of communication?" he asked Lelana. He was careful to restrain any emotion from his voice. It was most likely too much to hope the sword would let them speak, when Knight had forbade it.

[Emora Deen]

Tenara nodded, bracing herself up with one hand and rubbing her eyes with the other. “I feel less like a bag of bricks,” she replied, looking around the room curiously. “I thought I had dreamed we came back. Or is this the dream?”

Her mother approached, sitting near her feet. She rested her hand on Tenara’s knee and smiled softly at her. “No dream. You’re here and you’re safe. We’ll be going home soon.” Tenara looked around, searching. “The others are preparing for travel.”

—-

“I believe the mechanics of the sword’s magic should remain, so communication with the welder is likely. The only difference is, should someone other than Tenara give you an order while holding it, you may politely—or impolitely—refuse.” She reached into her pocket, showing a smooth, black rock. “I have made a speaking stone for you. Hold it and the person with its twin will be able to hear you and you them. For now, I have the twin. If you ask very nicely, I will let someone else hold it now and then.”

[Soran Nightblade]

Ren touched the edge of Tenara's blanket tenderly. He had no idea how much the princess had been awake for yesterday... be it the damage to the sword, Thvoros's banishment, or the terrible ritual he'd played a part in. "Laurius and Thvoros are both in good health. They will depart shortly to retrieve the spell tome," he said carefully.

_________

Havi stared at the ribbon, and then at her, and then at the rock. He hadn't been expecting her to be able to meet his request so precisely. Thanks to her, no one else would be able to bend his will against Tenara. The relief was dizzying. "You are a greatly skilled sorceress," he murmured in astonishment. He knelt and bowed his horns to her gravely. "Thank you. I truly thank you."

[Emora Deen]

“Depart?” Tenara asked, frowning.

Tenele hesitated, looking her daughter over. There was this awful sadness in her eyes. Then, her gaze slid to Ren, and the sadness melted away a bit. “Don’t worry too much. It’s a straightforward trip. Laurius knows where the witches might have taken the spellbook, and he and Havitharon are going to retrieve it before it can do anymore harm to you or our family.”

“Is Havi alright? The medicine—.”

“I healed him,” Tenele said. “He is fine. Laurius is fine.”

“He lost a lot of blood,” Tenele said, “Laurius, I mean.” She looked to Ren to get confirmation that the merchant was alright. “Should they be going so soon?”

—

Lelana looked down at Havitharon and shivered, as if a cold hand had run down her spine. “Ugh… you’re welcome,” she said and took a step back. “Well, I’ll leave you to it brother. Make it a quick jump, will you? I suspect they still have faded wanted posters of your pretty face nailed to the petrified trees.” She gave Vlad a pat on the cheek and turned to walk away.

Laurius looked up quickly. “Will we be able to say goodbye to them?”

[Soran Nightblade]

Ren met Tenara's questioning gaze with a worried one. "They both seemed well enough," he offered, but there was reluctance in his tone. "What kind of place is this Citadel?" He directed the question to Tenele, but he'd take any answer he could get.

____________

Vlad didn't look even slightly interested in Laurius's request. "Say goodbye? Are you not planning to succeed, Marr? Or are you still imagining I'd let you court my daughter after getting her into this fiasco?"

[Emora Deen]

“It is a dark, fortified school of sorts. It is where Arken sends its talents to learn how to harm—sorcerers, witches, poison masters, and…” Tenele looked around the room, and with a great amount of disdain said, “weapons makers.”

Tenara arched a brow, wondering if her mother had deduced, somehow, what Laurius had only just admitted to them recently, that he was Arken born and raised.

—-

Laurius swallowed hard. “No, of course not…” He eyed the vampire, shifting back and forth on his feet. “I know that you—that the other one—said we are not allowed to touch or speak to her again. But, perhaps seeing…” him “…would be allowed? Just a glimpse and a wave before we’re off?”

[Soran Nightblade]

Ren looked back out the window again. "That is why you modified the sword," he muttered. "Because that place is full of people who will want to control it... and the person who discovered how to make it."

__

"If it's a glimpse you need, just take it. That guy's been staring out the window like an abandoned puppy this whole time," Vlad sighed. "I'm surprised my daughter's not there with him. You okay just leaving like this, Spiky?"

Havi's brow creased. "Do you not remember? Forbidding me to see or speak to her again?"

Vlad went vampire-still and regarded him with a long, measuring look. Knight had done that? "Did I?" he asked Lelana casually, as if trying to remember what he'd had for breakfast.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele nodded. “Yes. It is safer if he only has one master.”

Tenara stood slowly and went to the window, standing close to Ren as she looked out to see her father speaking to the others. “Is someone going with them? Aunt Lelana?” Tenara didn’t want them to go at all, but after what had happened, she hardly thought she could ask to accompany them or for them to not go at all. Her parents had to rescue her… again. She was in no position to ask favors or to ask to put herself in anymore danger.

“I believe they will go alone,” Tenele said, resting her hand on her daughter’s deflated shoulder. “We have to get back to Hajara…”

—-

Laurius stepped away as if drawn to what the vampire had mentioned about the window, and he could see him now through the glass. He lifted his hand, waving slightly.

Lelana folded her arms. “Knight showed more range of emotion than I ever thought possible for the guy, to be honest. He was angry. I believe his exact words, after bending the sword like a shaft of hay, was that they were not to touch or speak to her again. Maybe seeing is allowed.” She tapped her chin.

[Soran Nightblade]

In the window, Ren noticed Laurius's wave. He perked up, touching the glass uncertainly.

Vlad put a hand on his hip and observed his daughter's condemned companions. He didn't have all the details, as usual, of the time when his soul was merged with Atul's. But if they'd become that angry, he had to trust that their shared will had been justified.

Then he thought of what had happened to Tenara, and how everyone else seemed to have learned of it before he did. If Knight heard that, it wouldn't be impossible to imagine they might have... lost their composure, just slightly. "His will is mine. As to its permanence, we'll see how your performance on this little mission impacts things."

Havi looked at Tenara in the window and showed her a reassuring nod. "If I am speaking honestly, sir, I do not know if anything you say would be able to keep me from her, anyway." Before Vlad could give voice to the flash of anger in his eyes, Havi added, "She is my Yurivis, and I serve only her. That said, because my existence causes danger in her life, as Tenele has said, then it is my responsibility to take my leave. That is my oath and my choice. I will not come between your family by pretending to blame you. She needs you most.

Vlad squinted at him, weighing his words and whether he should be angry or not. He thought he probably should be, but wasn't for some reason. "Fine, then. I trust you will make the right decision when all this is done," he decreed. Then he looked to Marr and grimaced. "As for you, seeing you want to play with your toy so badly just makes me want to tear it away. You can have him back if you survive." He sauntered up to them and gripped Havi's shoulder firmly. "Hold on to someone, Marr, if you don't want to fly off into space," he snarled. He reached his other hand out to Lelana, palm up, much more politely. "Sister in law, the focal point please."

[Emora Deen]

Lelana nodded and placed her hand in her brother’s. She showed him a thermal lake and muddied path in the shadow of a massive black-rock volcano, with fire and molten rock writhing at its apex. Black smoke choked the light from the sky. The path was lit by spelled stones, offering dim patches of amber light to see the path, to keep from stumbling off into acid pools.

—

Tenara pressed her hands to the glass. “I want to say goodbye,” she said, turning for the door. Her pace increased as she went, but as she drew the door open, the men disappeared in a blink.

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi steadied himself from the dizzying journey and tried to get his bearings. It had been dawn at Laurius's estate, but here, the choked sky felt like dusk. He could smell sulfur on the air. He thought he spied something colorful on the ground, so he stepped toward it, only to have Vlad's hand on his shoulder catch him back.

"Just Follow Marr," Vlad said, clucking at him. Keep Lelana updated."

"Understood," Havi frowned, correcting his footing so he stayed on the amber path.

"If there's nothing else you kids need, I'm gone. I need to get the others home."

____

Ren pushed his palm into the glass as Laurius and Thvoros disappeared from sight. They'd gone. They'd gone, and he didn't know where. Even if he ran from this place, he couldn't follow them.

He squared his shoulders and turned to check on Tenara.