The Princess and the Blade

[Emora Deen]

Laurius didn't even argue. He had no desire to take the first shift, not only because he was exhausted. "After we meet with Oberin," he agreed.

After brushing Lee's hair, he instructed the girl to go rest in one of the bedrooms. She eyed them both, appraising quietly before she chose the room near where she'd bathed. Laurius got up and closed the door behind her. "It was foolish to hold those conversations in front of her, but I suppose we have no worry of her telling Oberin or anyone else. Are you ready?"

[Soran Nightblade]

At Laurius's point, Havi's eyes went round. He hadn't even considered that a child might take an interest in their affairs or have the insight to use that information against them. This place was too different from what he knew. When they got to the professor's abode, he thought, he had best keep his mouth shut and let Laurius manage the deal. "I'm ready," he said, unusually contrite.

He looked back at the door where the girl had gone to rest, and then followed Laurius out of the apartment.

____

The street Oberin lived on was crowded with brick townhouses squeezed cheek to cheek on both sides of the narrow road. Here, the flickering of the magically-powered streetlamps and odd normalcy of the people walking on the street almost made the grimy air and eerie sky seem cozy.

Almost.

Havi followed Laurius without a sound until he turned up the front walk of one of the townhouses. This one was triple the size of those on either side of it, as if the building had swallowed up its twins in the womb. Perhaps they really had been combined and remodeled. The large brass knocker on the front door depicted a cobra with spread hood. Havi waited while Laurius grabbed the thing by the snout and rapped three times against the dark-painted wood.

[Emora Deen]

A few minutes passed before the door opened. A teenage boy answered it, looking pale and thin, but dressed cleanly. He inquired who they were without really saying anything, just a curious tilt of his head. "I'm Laurius Mar... Marnigan," he said, and motioned to Havitharon. "Havitharon Ruthe. We're here for dinner with Professor Oberin."

"Let them in, Harold."

The boy stepped back, opening the door more. They entered a dark foyer that gave way to a ornate stairwell ahead, a dining room to the right, and a sitting room to the left. "Welcome," Oberin said, stepping into the foyer and holding out his hand. There was a tightness to his face that Laurius recognized as disappointment. "I thought we might dine alone, you and I. But, I suppose its only fair that your man does his own bargaining." He then held out his hand for Havitharon to shake. "I trust little Lee satisfied your craving?"

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi's cool eyes took measure of Oberin's odd response to his presence and wondered what the man had expected to achieve with Laurius in his absence. He didn't reach for the man's hand. He had been on this world long enough to understand the gesture, but didn't care to return it. "I am told you value warriors. What would you require of me in exchange for permanent custody of the child?"

[Emora Deen]

Oberin smiled. “What a curious way of saying ownership—custody.” The man chuckled and guided them into the dining room. He snapped his finger sharp once and young Harold disappeared, reappearing just as quickly with a spare place setting.

Oberin sat at the head of the table and motioned for the men to join him. “A warrior, you say?” His gaze snaked over Havitharon, a glimmer of interest in his eyes. “You have an agile build.”

“Havitharon would be a good tester, if you have need of him.”

“I do have one last project to go through before I begin my new venture…” Oberin looked thoughtful. “It’s burned through my last two testers… and I would have to modify it to fit you. It seems a bit of a risk for a little slave girl you’ve already…” Oberin paused, still uncertain of Havitharon had eaten Lee or not. “What if it harms you? I don’t want to be held responsible.”

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi's eyes narrowed on the man, his entire build shouting that he was not expecting to be the one harmed. "Should it harm me? I am good at anything involving my body," he said, somehow uttering the statement without an ounce of ego behind it.

[Emora Deen]

Oberin grinned. “I’m sure you’re very good.” He snapped his fingers and Harold poured them all heaping glasses of wine. Oberin drank before speaking again. “It could harm you. The objective is for it to not harm you, but I’ve had issues leveling off the energy draw. It is armor that enhances the users natural abilities, using the user’s energy as a power source. I’ve had issues, though, adjust the energy draw versus the power given through the armor. It’s been my longest running project. I had decided to abandon it after receiving this new task from the crown, but I don’t suppose to would hurt to try a few more times—well, it won’t hurt me.”

[Soran Nightblade]

"A new task from the crown?" Havi cocked his head, horns tilting. "If your project will settle things between us, then I agree. However, it must be tonight. We too have another project to attend to."

[Emora Deen]

Oberin laughed. “Does he have a death wish?” the professor asked Laurius.

Laurius forced a smile. “Sometimes it is hard to tell.”

Oberin waved the prospect of testing that night off like brushing crumbs from the table. “That timeframe is impossible. I need your measurements, to adjust accordingly, and I haven’t tweaked the draw. If you are not flexible we will have to come to a different arrangement, unless the end of the week would work for you.”

Harold put a steak, a cut of fatty duck, potatoes, and a collection of different vegetables on their plates.

Laurius shifted in his seat, waiting for a worse offer. “I’m sure we could adjust our schedule,” he said, looking to Havitharon.

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi's eyes slid to Laurius. He was out of his element. What if the sisters arrived, and he was still in this man's employ when Laurius needed him? It was too late to say it now. "Then, I will leave the matter of scheduling to my colleague."

[Emora Deen]

“If it doesn’t work for your projected scheduling, you could get a loan from the bank until you are able to get a shipment from your estate…” Laurius almost laughed. There was nothing left of his estate.

“No,” Laurius said, smiling. “We can make that timeframe work, I’m sure. But, we would like to limit the attempts at the trial. Two sounds fair, for the strain.”

“Three is preferred,” Oberin said, not looking at them.

“Given the cost to Havitharon, I think two is sufficient.”

“Lee can see thin veils and spirits,” Oberin said. “If you haven’t eaten her, then she’s a very valuable slave. Not to mention, when she grows into a woman you’ve got the potential to breed for passing that gift on…”

Laurius’s choked a little on the bite he’d taken.

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi's expression could have brought down the temperature of the room. He had not survived as long as he had by acting out of passion, but he was sorely tempted to grasp this man by the throat. He may have resisted the urge for violence, but he didn't bother hiding it from his expression. "Three, and the first is tonight."

[Emora Deen]

Laurius side-eyed Havitharon with surprise but swallowed down his protest.

“If you wish,” Oberin said. “But I tell you it won’t be suited to you. And, should you be unable to fulfill the requirements or the allotted attempts, Lee will come back to me. Then, we can come to a more fitting solution, should you still want to purchase her. Do those terms suffice?”

Laurius nodded.

“Good,” Oberin said, and continued his meal. He watched Laurius and Havitharon curiously, as if waiting for one of them to say something, and

Laurius felt too uncomfortable under his gaze to keep his mouth shut. “You have a special assignment?”

“Yes, it’s part of why I’ve been reassigned to metaphysics. The Queen suffered the untimely death of her eldest son several months ago, and the grief has… Well, I don’t think any of us believed the woman had a heart, but if she did, she placed it in Edan and now it is gone. She’s been driven a bit mad, if you ask me. She is looking for a way to bring him back—bind his soul to a new body. At least, that’s what she says. If you ask me, I think she’s trying to find a way to cheat death herself, and this is a great excuse. Even sorceresses have to die eventually, and her with her allergy to the sun…”

Laurius frowned. Binding a soul to a body couldn’t be any harder than binding a soul to a sword. Shea knew that book existed, and she might have thought it lost, or maybe she had sent Elias to get it and he had decided to keep it for himself. Either way, they couldn’t let the Sister’s turn it over to anyone—not the Citadel, or Oberin, or Shea.

Dinner went slow, and Oberin did much of the talking. When it neared its end, he asked them to meet him at midnight for their first trial. Then, he dropped a fork on the floor, and Harold slinked off the wall—honestly, Laurius had forgotten he was there—and disappeared beneath the tablecloth. He did not comeback out. Oberin shifted in his seat, and the moment his face began to shift its expression to one too familiar to Laurius, the merchant bolted up from his seat. “We must be going. Havitharon should get some sleep before we meet again. Thank you for your hospitality.” He fled the room, the foyer, and waited for Havitharon on the stoop.

[Soran Nightblade]

Havitharon shot up from his chair, uncertain of Laurius's behavior. He shot a calculating look at Oberin, then took off after his counterpart. He found Laurius outside. The light from the street lamps cast obscuring shadows across the man's face, and it worried Havi that he couldn't make out his expression. "Laurius," he tested, standing awkwardly over him.

[Emora Deen]

Laurius dragged a hand over his face. "We should get back. Check on Lee. You should rest," he said, already heading off towards the path leading back up the mountain and Citadel castle. As he walked, he shivered, shaking his hands and arms and shoulders, like he'd walked through a spiderweb and was trying to free himself of its sticky tendrils. Eventually, he settled, and tucked his hands back into his pocket, feeling for the pebble that he could use to talk to Ren. He wanted, desperately, to talk to Ren. But, Ren was not on the otherside of the pebble, not yet. It would be Lelana he found if he said anything. So, he squeezed it tight and let it go. He stopped at a stall, and took one of their few coins, and bought Lee a meat pie to eat. "Sorry," he said to Havitharon. "About him. I did warn you he would be unpleasant to deal with. I didn't think he'd... At the end, you know. Rude."