Heirot

Tenara nodded, staying tucked into her ball but allowing her father to pull her arm away. There was so much power in such a tiny form, and when she grew upset the gates opened and it flourished and thrived and wanted desperately to be free.

"Knight?" Tenele called. "Is everything okay?" She didn't know if he could hear her in there.

"It will be fine," Knight said for Tenele's benefit. "We can hear you."

His mismatched eyes met Tenara's warmly. There was no trace of fear in them. "Focus on me a minute, Tenara," he encouraged. "I'm going to come in for a minute." He tapped a long finger gently on her forehead. When it seemed that she understood, he lowered his lips to her wrist and nicked her ever so slightly with his teeth. He used his magic to make the bite painless, and eased carefully through the blood link and into her mind. *I am here with you,* he explained, taking a quick stock of the power building inside her. There was too much. More than could possibly be safe for her. *This power is yours to command. Now that you have summoned it, it must go somewhere. Picture it leaving you.* He placed the images in her mind as a guide, but he knew that even with help, dispersing power into the air was extremely difficult compared with venting it into a solid object. *Try to just let it float away first. If you need to, picture it flowing down your arm, and into me.*

Tenara sniffled and nodded and she clenched her eyes shut. She did as her father instructed, but she was so scared. She imagined her arms were made of chocolate, like she had during dinner. She imagined that the power was the chocolate that covered her arms, and then she imagined the chocolate melting towards Knight. The more the chocolate disappeared into her father, the dimmer the red light in her eyes grew. Her gaze grew heavy, as if all her energy was going away with it. But, it had taken a considerable amount to hold all that fury in the first place.

"I'm tired," she murmured to her father, her limbs turning to jelly. She slumped as the last of her power flowed to her father, and with it the desire to keep her eyes open.

Knight pulled the child in close as she went limp. "Good girl." His neon eyes trembled, straining to hold the energy he'd taken from her. He brought her tight against him and curled over to shield her, then released a burst of power into the air around him. The blood shield glowed bright crimson with the impact. Knight took a stilling breath and released three more bursts of power, then let the blood shield collapse. It shattered a bit more clumsily than usual, but his face showed no strain as he stood and entrusted Tenara back to her mother as if he'd just changed a diaper, not averted an explosion. "She's okay," he said gently.

Tenele took Tenara from Knight gentle. The child was out cold. She cradled her tenderly, pressing kisses to her cheek. "Oh, my love, my sweet child. I am so sorry to have hurt you," she whispered to her sleeping daughter. She turned her eyes to Knight. "Whatever you did, thank you." She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Thank you." Then, she turned her gaze to Sinead. She hadn't warned the queen of how truly special Tenara was, and she wasn't sure that the Queen had witnessed any outbursts while they were gone.

Sinead had her hand raised, ready to use magic if she needed to. When she realized the child was safe and no one was hurt, she slowly lowered her hands. "I've seen tiny flashes of this, Tenele, when she did not want her bedtime or when I was forced to cancel our time together. But nothing like this. I had no idea she could be this strong when she's upset."

Tenele wasn't sure what Sinead was thinking at that point or what the woman had planned to do with her magic. "She'll learn to control it. She's so young, and emotions are highly volatile in children. It usually only happens when she is scared or hurt... I guess because she felt abandoned and upset it became more prevalent in her life." Tenele rocked Tenara back and forth. "She just needs to grow up a bit and learn to control it."

Knight nodded, looking at the resting child softly. "The bigger problem is that she doesn't even realize she's summoning it. Nor does she have any grasp of how much to summon proportional to her distress. A thug attacking her in the street, or a moment of frustration with someone she loves," he met Tenele's eyes, "she does not know the difference. She did not consciously want to hurt you. I want you to know that with certainty, Tenele." He watched her seriously, wary of how the child's behavior might have done more than just physical damage to her mother.

Tenele nodded, holding back tears. "I know," she whispered. "I know she didn't mean it. She was upset. She'll learn to control it. We'll find her a teacher who can help her understand it and help her judge when and how to use it."

Talon shifted off the wall. "Its too much power for her," he whispered. "Maybe it would be best to seal that power, rather like Sinead has placed a limiter on Vlad's? She could accidentally hurt someone, Tenele, or worst... Kill them."

Tenele shook her head. "She'll learn to control it."

"But, think of how much happier a life she'll lead if she doesn't have to worry about hurting someone she loves in a moment of distress?" Talon replied gently. "She could have a normal childhood. At the current rate she won't be able to play with other children. Children are cruel, Tenele, and they won't understand Tenara. She may hurt them if she feels threatened."

"Then teach her to be strong," Knight said coldly, cutting Sinead off as she was about to speak. His blue-red gaze fell on the queen harshly. "My child will not be bound. She is not one of your pawns."

Sinead's expression went numb at the ice in his voice. Angry lightning flickered behind her sky-blue eyes. "I would never think to-"

"She will not be bound," Knight's voice charged over her outrage. It left the queen speechless. She'd never seen Knight display anger at her before. More than anger...it was like she'd betrayed him somehow. What did that say about Vlad's current state?

Tenele nodded. "She will learn to control it," she repeated to them, backing up Knight's position on the matter.

Talon fell silent, nodding. He surely wasn't about to argue Knight on the subject given his current disposition.

Tenele knew she should lay Tenara in bed, but she didn't want to let go of her. Not yet. Not when she just got her back. "She's a sweet child. She doesn't mean anyone harm. She's very bright. I have no doubt she will learn very quickly."

Knight raised his chin and held out a hand to the queen. "The device," he said coolly. "There is no more time."

Sinead dropped her gaze a moment, then looked at him proudly. "I am the device." Her mouth twitched upward when he stiffened in shock.

"Sinead, I don't think-"

She raised her hand and stopped him. "You wanted gentle. Take me to them, Knight."

The guardian slowly unkinked his shoulders. "My lady, in two minutes' time, please dismiss me," he said to Tenele without taking his gaze off the queen.

Tenele nodded slowly. She glanced between the two of them. "Two minutes," she repeated. She wanted to say more, felt that she should, but she had no idea what else to add.

Tenele carried her daughter over to her bed and laid the child against the pillows. She sat on the edge, brushing her finger's through the little girl's messy hair, and waited for her husband to return.

Knight stepped away from Sinead, turning to the half elf who was his reason for life. "I love you, Tenele," he whispered, and closed his lips warmly over hers. "Teach her how strong she can be," he smirked at her. "To hell with everyone else."

He reached out and took Sinead's hand without much relish, cast Tenele one more smiling gaze, and was gone.

Tenele smiled. "I love you," she told the God just before he disappeared.

Talon smirked as he sat in on of Tenara's very tiny chairs. The wood groaned as he settled into it. "Three men."

"What?" she asked him.

"You have the heart and bodies of three men." He shook his head. "You, my sister, are obviously spoiled."

Tenele smiled softly. "So it seems," she whispered, and started counting minutes.