Heirot

Havitharon's eyes widened. He'd never seen a Yurivis act so unguarded and sloppy. "While you've been laying around napping, it looks like the storm blew us all the way back where we started. Even the gulls are laughing at us," he said, holding back a smirk.

She pushed up, silver hair covering most of her face, and glared at him through the strands. "I'm sorry, why don't you just hop in my body and get us wherever it is you would like to go? Hmm?"

"Are you sure? If I do, you won't be able to fawn over the asshole who paralyzed and tried to kill you," he smiled toothily.

Tenara snarled. She grabbed the bottle and threw it at him, disappointed as it sailed right through him and struck the wall behind him, cracking and spilling what was left of the drink on the floor.

Elias looked up from the table at the closed door, he glanced back at his bag, waiting.

Tenara glowered at him. "He's the third born prince of one of the most vile kingdoms of our world and, yes he drugged me, and yes, he might have thought about killing me, but I had almost convinced him to help us. We have a common enemy. The one who likely masterminded ripping you out of your world is his mother, and she is the closest thing to Yurivis you will find in this world."

"You weren't negotiating, you were losing control of your limbs! And I didn't intend... I really have no idea how I did what I did. You collapsed. I was trying to hold you upright. I just thought, you would be better to deal with than if I were left with him." The words embarrassed him, and he wasn't sure why. It wasn't as if he were professing his love. "If it comforts you, I don't think I have the strength to do it again."

He sighed and combed a hand through his long blue hair. "You shouldn't have allowed him to keep his tools. He was in here before, watching you sleep and messing around in the closet."

She stiffened, glancing at the door. She watched it a few minutes longer. "If he wanted me dead, he would have killed me while I slept," she said, more to convince herself of that than him.

She climbed out of bed, standing in front of him. She ran a hand through her hair to shove it out of the way. "Look, I know we don't trust each other, but I don't want to spend my days wondering which one of you is going to kill me first. I can't tell if you want me dead or if you want to help me. If possible, I'd only like to worry about the one of you. So what am I to you?"

He met her gaze, observing her for a long time in his blue-tinted vision. Her request was a reasonable one. "...It's clear now that you didn't bring me here." He glanced at the sword, but said nothing. "You're also the only person who can see or hear me. And my only source of information about this place." He scratched at his head. "Now, you're my whole world. It feels like if you don't look at me, I'll cease to exist."

He froze, shock crossing his features. What the heck was he talking about? He had not meant it to sound like that! "I'm...saying we have a truce."

Tenara tilted her head at him, her gaze appraising. "Truce..." she said, mulling the word because his previous ones had sounded very... far beyond just a simple alliance, and she wasn't certain how she felt about it... or what it meant. "I would shake your hand, but I can't touch you. Perhaps we should read your book to see if we can rectify that?"

The door thundered with a knock and Tenara jumped, whirling on it. She might have pressed her back against Havitharon if he were solid. "We should probably talk about last night," Elias's voice said from beyond the door. "Since you're awake."

Havitharon frowned at the door. "Let me out first. I will watch from behind him."

Tenara nodded. She took a deep breath and opened the door, finding Elias standing on the other side. She glanced to his hand, finding it neatly bandaged now, his rings on once again. He stepped back towards the table, to his black bag that seemed... bulkier. Had he packed it full of things? Was he leaving?

She paused a moment, waiting for Havitharon to pass through the door before she stepped out and went to the table, sitting across from Elias as she did the other night. "Forgive me if I refuse anything you offer to eat," she said.

He nodded. "You owe me two fingers."

"I owe you nothing."

"I wasn't talking to you," he said, smiling. He reached to his bag and began to open it. Tenara stiffened, glancing to Havitharon. "I had some time this morning to think it over and I had thought that killing you would probably be the best course of action, but as I am not good at making sound decisions, I have decided to agree to the proposition you presented last night. I came here to get a weapon to kill my mother, and it seems you are the weapon. I will help you get home, if you help me put my brother on the throne." He reached into his bag and dragged out a bundle of neatly folded clothes and a pair of black ladies boots. "And as a show of good faith, here's something other than my dead brother's robes to wear."

He slid the bundle of Arken clothing towards her. She blinked at him. "How..."

"Magic bag," Elias said. "I put a note in, my servant back home gets it, and he places the items into this bag's twin. I could ask for food, but I don't know if you'd eat it." Tenara's hunger flared like wildfire. Food... Real food...

Havitharon crossed his arms and leaned against the stairs that led up to the deck. He watched Elias's hands like a hawk. Now that he was no longer joined with Tenara's senses, he couldn't understand a word the guy was saying. He could only stare in confused distaste when the man procured women's clothing from his bag. That could only mean that either the prince brought those along for himself, or he expected to encounter Tenara in advance. "Do all Princes have such hobbies in this world?" he muttered.

Tenara pinched the fabric, lifting a piece and admiring the texture. “He has a magic bag,” she said. “It allows someone in another place to give him items if he requests them. He requested clothes for me as a show of good faith. Apparently, he has decided not to kill me.”

“So he doesn’t understand what I’m saying? Unless you tell him or he hears it through you?” Elias asked.

Tenara didn’t answer. “How do you know my shoe size?”

“I took a guess,” he said. “If they are wrong, I can ask for another pair.”

“Can you have them—“ she almost asked him to send word to her parents but knew immediately that wasn’t going to happen. Trust an Arken servant? She was risking everything just trusting their prince.

“Let’s get on our way, shall we?” Elias stood. He flexed his injured hand and left up the steps to the main deck.

Tenara dragged the clothes into her lap. “He’s going to want your help killing his mother,” Tenara said. “I promised him your help last night and it was wrong of me to do. That choice is yours. I won’t be your… Yurivis. I can deal with the consequences, if he holds on his promise to help us get to Hajara. I can find a way to help kill his mother, or another means to repay the debt.”

Her effort not to coerce him into acting for her made an impact on the phantom. He thought about her words carefully. "If he brings us there in safety... if," he emphasized, "I will consider the issue then." Not only would he be shocked if they got to their destination, but he'd be doubly so if the man's issues turned out to be something he wanted to resolve. That was assuming he learned to understand his abilities by then. He was certain now that he had some kind of power here. The lunatic who summoned him wouldn't have done so otherwise. He knew it had something to do with the sword. If he told the girl, she might be able to help him test some theories, but he didn't trust Tenara enough to draw her attention to it. What was clear, so far, was that any time Tenara exerted control over him, or vice versa, she was also touching that sword. He was bound up to it somehow. Until he knew the details, he wouldn't reveal such a weakness to anyone.

"I'll consider it," he repeated, mostly to convince himself he meant it. He picked up the mage's tome thoughtfully. "You said his clan is your enemy? Why shouldn't he simply betray you?"

Tenara sighed. “He might. His… clan… is everyone’s enemy. But, he seemed genuine in his desire to overthrow his mother and… you did cut off two of his fingers and he’s still wanting to ally with us.”

She stood. “Why don’t you see if there is something in there to make you a little more solid? I’m going to change and help on deck.”

He looked down at the book she referred to. He supposed there weren't a lot of other options but to seek answers there. He brought the tome up on the deck, allowing the woman space to change in privacy. He picked a spot near the mast, where the sail partly shaded him from the blazing yellow sun. It also allowed him a vantage point to keep an eye on the prince. He opened the book to the spell that had summoned him and re-read it for the dozenth time. Then he studied the illustration of the sword, and something caught his eye.

He carried the book down to the cabin. He looked around for the sword, but it seemed she hadn't left it unattended. "Tenara?"