The Princess and the Blade

[Emora Deen]

She tilted her face into the warm touch of his hand, giving a weary laugh. “Well, I guess we know what happens when I don’t hold back. I lose my fucking mind.” She was still buzzing, still aching with the need to be filled, but… at least she had some measure of sanity. At least she wasn’t going to take advantage of him…

Tenara held his large hand to her cheek. Her gaze swept down his neck, and chest, and belly to the length of him hanging heavy against her. Now would be the perfect time for a dunk in a fountain. But, even as she thought about the cold water, exhaustion sobered her up. She wanted to curl over and sleep… Her brain was torn between too many thoughts and emotions, all of them exhausting.

She reached out, brushing her fingers along him, a gentle caress up his length to his belly. She placed her hand against the muscle. “I’m sorry I lost my head… Do you… do you need help?”

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi's abs twitched against her fingers. Whatever he wanted to say went out of him in a rush of air. "I will if you keep on touching..." he huffed. Heat rose to his neck and horns as he realized what he'd said. "I mean, I am satisfied, and it is not your responsibility to..." That sounded even weirder. He bit his tongue and cast his golden eyes to the side. "You can always touch me, if it pleases you, but I'm concerned about you right now. You're using too much power."

[Emora Deen]

Tenara smiled softly. It would please her... But the rush of her magic was fizzling quickly and exhaustion was pulling her eyelids heavy. It felt wrong to leave him as he was. She'd done this to him. Her magic and her hands... Her fingers brushed along his skin before she adjusted his clothing back to the way it had been and tucked her skirts down towards her knees. She was too tired to untangle her panties from around her ankle. "When we are safe, I'll make it up to you," she promised in a weary murmur. Her hand touched his face before flopping onto her chest. "I'll have a taste of you, I think..." The words drifted away, and so did she. The rubble above them gave an ominous groan, a shower of dust squeezing through the cracks.

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi's body strained for a moment as the weight of the rubble sagged back onto him. "Tenara?" he checked on her while scrambling to re-balance his weight over her. He hadn't expected her to fall unconscious, and it worried him. He got his arms and knees leveraged properly enough to feel like things were holding stable. "Tenara..."

She was completely out, and he still didn't know how injured she was. He stopped talking and saved his breath to focus on the weight above him. He didn't know how long he would need to make his strength last. The blood pounding in his ears made it difficult to listen for noise from outside their fallen prison. With nothing to do but focus on his body, the pain in his leg felt more jarring now, dominating his thoughts. He forced himself to look at the sword and finally appraise whatever damage it had taken on. About a third of the way up the blade, a pronounced divet had been warped into the blade, presumable from being lodged between the rocks earlier. He'd shaken off a little rust before, but this was the first time the sword had been damaged in such an obvious way and mapped so clearly to his own body. He stared at it, fascinated and horrified at the same time.

Janky leg notwithstanding, it was his arms that began to give out first. He closed his eyes and focused as the faint tremor in his muscles eventually grew into full-out shaking. He lowered himself to his elbows, nearly lying on Tenara, but he needed his forearms braced to stop the muscles from folding under him. Shit. He took strained breaths and attempted not to think about anything at all.

He had no idea how much time had passed when he first heard the creaking of wood above him. Voices, and more pounding as heavy chunks of debris were hauled out of the way. Someone was moving the wreckage, and doing it fast.

"...uch time does he have?" a faint voice that might have been Tenara's mother came vaguely from outside.

"Not a lot." The low male voice was one Havi didn't recognize. More crashing sounded from outside as whoever was out there tore through the rubble. The noise grew louder, and dust swarmed down around them. There was a pause, and then, "I hear them. They're both alive."

"Here," Havi called, and immediately choked on the dust. He struggled to stop coughing, his muscles shaking dangerously with the wasted breath.

Havi could feel the movement through his back now as something far too strong tore and snapped through the pinned joists and cobblestones above him. Tiny shafts of light began to glow like undersea creatures through the dusty air around him. He wasn't sure if it was seconds or minutes later, but the weight on his back was hauled off as if it were some feather pillow. Arms and some kind of magical force wrapped around him, lifting around his chest and hauling him up with surprising gentleness.

"He's breathing.

Havitharon looked blearily at the figure lifting him. He could barely make out a scarlet eye silhouetted against the blinding daylight above them. "Vladimir?" he strained, vision blurring.

"No. But close," the voice answered him.

"Hand him here," someone called from further up.

Havi tried to move on his own, but his muscles felt like melted wax as he was lifted up into a new set of arms and pulled out. "Tenara," he coughed. It was so bright, and his eyes were too polluted with grime to make sense of his surroundings.

"She's next," someone said.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele spared Havitharon a glance as they hoisted him to the top of the pile before she scrambled to the hole Knight had made and watched as he reached in. A second later, he pulled Tenara effortlessly out, half holding and half floating her up to safety. The sword trailed behind her, spinning in the air as some invisible tendril of power pulled it up. She snatched it out of the air, clutching it to her chest and holding back tears of relief. She resisted the urge to go immediately to her daughter and snatch her away from her father, to hold her and hoard her as a dragon would their gold.

Knight had not seen Tenara in months. Tenele had sent him to search for their daughter in the homes of the nobles and kings most likely to have taken her. It had likely caused more harm than good, but she didn't regret it. She would have burned the world to find Tenara, to spare her what fate they thought had befallen her. Tenele hesitated following them up the mound of debris, the trail of thoughts led her back to what had made Tenara flee in the first place. Her heart ached, but she shoved the thoughts down. For now. It only made her want to hold Tenara more, and Knight deserved to have time with her. The last he had known, someone had taken their daughter, and he had searched tirelessly for her when he could. Now, he had hold of her, and it seemed cruel to take her back.

[Soran Nightblade]

Knight carried his daughter and set her carefully on the ground. His long black hair brushed the sandy road as he leaned close to focus on the sound of her breathing. His daughter... they'd all been looking for her for so long. His mismatched eyes twitched up as he realized Havitharon was watching him. Tenara's strange protector was sitting up, though he didn't look ready to do much more at the moment, and staring at him. "You have something to say?" Knight asked him. A portion of his tenderness for his daughter colored his demeanor toward the alien as well. After all, the man had just protected her life.

Havitharon's jaw worked, but he didn't seem to have the right words. "Thank you."

Knight nodded, his eyes returning to his daughter. Havi knew nothing about his strange rescuer, but he could swear he saw mourning in his eyes. Alarm started up fresh inside him. "She is strong," he said.

He'd said it partly to convince himself, but the words seemed to give the stranger some kind of comfort. The sorrow cleared from his expression as he grinned proudly and said, "Yes. She will recover, and thrive." He looked up to her confused and alarmed protector. "Be at her side when I am not."

Havi wanted to ask what he meant, but the man rose gracefully and turned toward Tenara's mother. "It is time," he said with a note of apology as he touched her cheek. "I have used him past his limit."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele cupped Knights hand to her cheek, eyes watering. “When Vlad’s better, I will call you for a proper visit. I promise.” She kissed his palm and then wrapped her arms around him, hugging him to her. The sword hung tight in her grasp along his back. “I love you, Knight. Thank you.” Her voice was tight—a confession and apology in one. “Sagra Reion.”

She buried her face in his chest, to hold him but also hide from the pain of his dispersion.

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi stared at their interaction. The male he'd just met embraced Tenele so intimately that he felt like he was seeing something he shouldn't. Then the stranger shuddered, holding her tight, and was gone into thin air.

Just beside where he was sitting, Vladimir Dracul materialized just as suddenly. The vampire took form standing beside him, and immediately collapsed. Havitharon lurched up on half-responsive legs to catch him and tumbled safely to the ground with Vlad on top of him. The vampire's body felt hot, and he looked disoriented. "Vladimir?" he called to the man, rolling him carefully to the side.

Dull garnet eyes drifted open and slowly recognized him. "Tenara," he growled.

"Next to us," Havitharon said, sitting up so he could see her lying on his other side.

The sight of his daughter safe seemed to make the vampire dizzier. He glanced at the streets around them, the onlookers edging in from the alleyway. "Not here."

Havitharon could guess his meaning. "We'll move you both back inside."

He nodded, but looked unwell. "Get my wife," he said.

Havi looked around. He'd last seen Tenele embracing that other man before he disappeared.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele was kneeling over them both a second later, fingers brushing over her husband’s face and taking it in her hands. “Rest, my love. He got her out—them out.” She turned her gaze on Havitharon. Since he’d arrived, aside from curious questions to gain more information about him, she had mostly been standoffish and cold or downright angry at him. The look in her eyes now was nothing short of complete gratitude. She released her husband to cup Havitharon’s face lightly in her palms. Tears burned her eyes. “She’s alive because of you. You could have shielded the sword but you chose her.” She sounded as if she were in disbelief, as if it had been so hard to imagine what her daughter had said was true. Havitharon meant her no harm. He cared for her. Protected her.

Tenele appraised him a moment more before releasing him and casting her gaze over their catatonic or nearly so forms, seemingly trying to calculate how she was going to get them all inside.

“Get back!” She shouted to the group coming towards them, slinging her arm in their direction. She placed a hand on Vlad’s chest, as if that would be strong enough to hold him down should he decide the strangers were the answer to the pain churning inside him. Even this was a risk, her pulse being so close to him. If he was so far drained his hunger got the better of him…

She could feed him, but the amount he would need to get on his feet at all would be more than she could give. Aside from the fact it could kill her, it would leave four of them useless.

“Can you walk?” she asked Havitharon.

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi tensed under Tenele's light touch. He was unsettled by the contact, but the strange kindness in her eyes was so much like Tenara's that he couldn't bring himself to push her away. Then she was off, trying to manage the crowd. Havi directed his attention back to the vampire, who looked like he wanted to throw up, or kill something, or both. He had been listening attentively, whether Tenara realized it or not, when she'd told him stories about her parents to pass their time together. She'd spoken of her father, and how his body worked. If he was injured, did that mean he needed to consume blood?

"Can you walk?" Tenele was asking him.

"Yes," he said without hesitation, gathering himself to stand. His leg ached furiously, but he knew that moving couldn't make it any worse. The injury lay with the sword. He decided to ignore the sensation and forced himself to stand normally. "Can he be carried?" he asked Tenele. He wasn't asking if the vampire was heavy. He was asking the same way one would ask if a snake would bite if petted. "If so, I can take them both."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele appraised Vlad, hesitating. She was torn between the uncertainty that Vlad would make it, and not believing Havitharon could carry them both in his condition. “If we move quickly. If he becomes trouble, drop him and get Tenara inside. I’ll handle him.”

Handle him. Hah. But she had more experience dealing with Vlad when he was less than himself.

Besides, Atul wouldn’t be far from arriving. He wouldn’t know why he was summoned to form Knight. He would think something awful had happened and would drop everything to come back to them.

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi surveyed the unconscious Tenara and her injured father, who was giving him a strange look. If we move quickly, she'd said. He tried to ignore Vlad's stare and knelt beside Tenara first, easing her upright. He pulled her against him, chest to chest, and hoisted her under her bum so her limp form slouched against his shoulder. He looked down to the vampire next, extending an arm to him. Vlad took it, still looking half amused and half infuriated, and let Havi more or less haul him upright. Vlad's muscles refused to help much as Havi bent to leverage him up across his other shoulder.

Havi paused, holding his breath for a moment. His leg was trying to let him know it couldn't do this, even though he knew perfectly well it could. His arms were a different story. The shooting numbness down his muscles reminded him that he's already taxed them earlier in the cave-in. Vlad chuckled, and Havi shot a look over his shoulder. He wasn't sure he wanted to know what a man like Vlad was chuckling about in a situation like this.

"Thirsty, Vladimir?" he asked.

"Don't flatter yourself, Spiky. You smell... like shit," the vampire seemed to stumble to finish his thought.

Havi flexed his shoulder without much luck beneath the vampire's weight. He didn't have time to let his arms get any more exhausted. He could get them to the palace, at least. "Let's go," he said to Tenele, and drew close to follow her through the crowd.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele nodded and led him through the crowd, towards the palace. At the end of the alley, the guards trying to manage the chaos and crowd circled them, offering some buffer. The guards took over guiding them towards the palace, which allowed Tenele to circle back and hover close to Havitharon. She appraised Tenara as she drooped against Havitharon's shoulder, blood seeping from her ears, likely a side effect of the holy circle. She danced around Havitharon to Vlad. "How are we doing?"

[Soran Nightblade]

"Oh, I'm fine... just letting him feel...like he's done something useful," Vlad murmured through the splitting in his head. But he also knew his wife well not to keep his mask on for her sake. "Not you. I won't be able to do it nicely," he warned his wife, so low Havi almost didn't hear it. He clenched his jaw and scaled the marble palace stairs as swiftly as he could without jarring his cargo. The guards folded around them like an armored partition, blocking the onlookers from making out what was happening.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele nodded. He was talking. Joking. That was a good thing. It meant he wasn't so far gone that he'd take a chunk out of Havitharon or Tenara. "I'll find you someone."

At the crest of the stairs, a flash of blue caught Tenele's eye. Atul appeared, stumbling on his feet. He had someone by the collar. They were bound, looking disheveled and bloodied, as if they'd lost a bar fight. Atul lifted his gaze before he shoved the bound man down to the ground and snarled, "If you move, I'll have you drawn and quartered instead of beheaded, do you understand?"

The man cowered for a second, but as Atul stepped away to approach them, his head jerked up, eyes searching for a way out.

Atul was nearly to them when his knees buckled. Tenele rushed to help him stand, wrapping her arms around his waist. They were a mess, the lot of them. "You should have rested."

"I couldn't rest not knowing if you or Tenara or Vlad were safe."

Tenele nodded. "Are you hurt?"

He shook his head. "Knight took more than usual..."

Tenele nodded to their husband draped over Havitharon's shoulder. "Vlad was injured. He needed to compensate..."

Rami's gaze settled on them, and more specifically on Havitharon. It was hard to forget him. Surprise widened his eyes, and then his gaze fell on Tenara slung over the monster's shoulder. Atul glanced back to check on his captive and found the young Hajaran man lurching up to his feet and bolting down the hall in the opposite direction. He gave an exasperated growl.