The Princess and the Blade

[Emora Deen]

Laurius returned a few minutes later and found Artisuren washed and dressing. He smiled at the man, all full of warmth. The memory of their encounter was still fresh. He still felt the warmth of climax running through him, felt the lull to curl up on the bed with the man and sleep. Instead, he went to the princess and adjusted her on the bed, picking her legs up and shifting them onto the mattress. He plucked her shoes off and dropped them on the floor.

He disappeared for a moment into the bathroom and returned with the last remaining towel from the shelf, swiping the damp thing over her mouth and nose to clean the rest of the blood away. Then, he sat and took her hand into his lap and began to tend it.

"So, Arti, what did it feel like when her power worked on you?" he asked. "What did you see and feel? Who were you speaking to? Were you hallucinating?"

[Soran Nightblade]

Artisuren scowled at the man. "Artisuren. And none of your fucking business."

[Emora Deen]

Laurius smiled as he began looping the bandage over Tenara's hand. "Arti, it is my business. You are mine, remember? Everything involving you is my business. Tell me. Now."

[Soran Nightblade]

The Ivis glowered at him. "What do you want to hear? That her power feels like warm cake and a blowjob? You were there; you must have seen everything. Thvoros certainly did. He was in the same state as me, right next to her. Now, he's conveniently left. Did he tell you I was bond-broken?" He paused, stiffening. "Did he teach you to shatter the bond, just so you could tame me yourself?"

[Emora Deen]

Laurius took in Artisuren’s story with an ever increasing wide-eyed stair. There was too much to parse. Her power felt like what? Thvoros who? And he was in the room with them.

He held up a hand. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who is this Thvoros? Some kind of god of yours? I only know what the princess told me. She said you were in rut, and then she corrected to you being in some sort of… pain because you could not be with your lover. I did what I thought would help you. That’s all.”

[Soran Nightblade]

Artisuren's expression showed he no longer believed a word the man was saying. He had been too ill to focus when they all entered. He'd been burning alive and drowning at the same time. What were they talking about when they arrived? Why had all three of them been working together?

"Thvoros is a nutjob who kills for sport. He refuses to accept a bond, and he looks down on everyone who does. He chuckled. "Is he here for the same reason I am? The great Thvoros, so above us all, made to kneel by a complete stranger?"

[Emora Deen]

Laurius’s brow furrowed as he tried to understand what the being was saying, and then it dawned on him. He glanced down at the sword hanging on Tenara’s hip. He tied the bandage on her hand and reached for it, drawing it carefully from the scabbered so not to wake her.

Could it be? Had her phage been with her the entire time? Was that who Artisuren was speaking too?

Laurius admired the blade and then his gaze flicked to the being in the corner. “This Thvoros… does he have another name?”

[Soran Nightblade]

Artisuren took note of Laurius's confusion. It weakened his theories about his intentions with these people, which was a relief under the circumstances. He brushed the goosebumps off his arms. "He's the prince of house Ruthe. Havitharon Ruthe."

[Emora Deen]

“Havitharon…” Laurius mused, admiring the sword as he choked up on the hilt. “So you were seeing her phage. The one from the ball. How is she doing it? How does he come and go out of corporeal form?” Laurius thought about it. “She knew too much about your biology. She knew what you were experiencing which means he must have also experienced it?” He laughed. “She tamed him as I tamed you.”

Laurius tightened his grip on the sword. “Can you hear me, Thvoros?” Laurius asked the blade, giving him the name that Artisuren had used.

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi pulled his mind up from the darkness. He'd been in a kind of slumber, steady on Tenara's hip, but now he sensed movement. An unfamiliar grip settled over him, and somehow he knew it wasn't Tenara holding him anymore. He swam through the exhaustion, trying to sense what was going on around him. He could feel the vibrations of Laurius's pulse against his neck, and his words reached him in the darkness.

"Can you hear me, Thvoros?" Laurius's voice asked.

*Thvoros? Heh. Your new pet give you some information?* he derided. He'd never tried to communicate with anyone other than Tenara through the sword before, and he wasn't particularly trying now. *Keep your hands to yourself.*

[Emora Deen]

Laurius chuckled. “Both of you have such wonderful, warm personalities.” He admired the sword, stroking a hand along the blade. “Keep my hands to myself? It’s a little late. I’m already holding you. Artisuren, would you like a turn?”

[Soran Nightblade]

Artisuren's eyes lit with interest. With that sword in his hands, he could control Thvoros of Ruthe however he wanted? He approached slowly and accepted the weapon Laurius was offering him. "How does it feel to be at my mercy, Thvoros."

Havi chuckled coldly. *I honestly have no clue who you are.*

Artisuren scowled. "You're about to learn."

*Am I, now?* He rallied his exhausted mind as much as he could and pressed himself outward, into the Ivis's thoughts. "You're about to learn what it feels like to rip your own dick off," Havi warned, jerking the man's hand toward his belt.

Artisuren flinched backward, dropping the weapon like it had burned him. He hissed out an untranslatable curse and clutched his hand to his side.

[Emora Deen]

Laurius tilted his head. “Interesting,” he mused, hesitating to pick the weapon back up. He did, eventually, holding it a little more delicately than before. “Be nice, Havitharon. We’re all friends here. We’re just trying to understand your parameters, how you work, how she makes you work.”

Laurius stepped back to Tenara and looked her over, admiring her. He noted the iridescent scarring on her arms, reached a hand towards the dropped fabric over her breasts, curled a finger at the center and pulled it down to admire the larger, iridescent scar marring the space between her breasts. His finger lightly brushed the mark.

“How did she survive?” he asked the blade. “Did you save her?”

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi felt sick as yet another pair of hands grabbed him. He really didn't have the juice for any more stunts, so he hoped possessing Artisuren's arm had been enough.

He thought about snapping at the man, but then, be also remembered Tenara had followed him here to trade information and learn more about the sword.

"She saved herself," he said. "I think she spent so much power that she blew out the spell from the inside."

He scanned his senses, using the air and vibration in the room to perceive his surroundings. "I would advise keeping your hands to yourself until she wakes, unless you want to find out if she can do the same thing to your skull.

[Emora Deen]

Laurius stared at the scar a moment longer before heeding Havitharon’s advice. He readjusted her dress, leaving it as he found it, and moved away from the bed to sit in the chair that Artisuren had stolen. He left the sword lying next to her.

The hours ticked on. Laurius moved around the room out of boredom, with Artisuren keeping his distance. Her sleep turned restless and just when he thought she might wake, she didn’t. The sun edged into dusk, and the room darkened. He lit candles and picked up the sword again. “How long does she usually sleep afterwards?”

But just as he was asking the question, standing over her with the sword, her eyes fluttered open. She saw him. He saw her. He didn’t understand the fear in her eyes, the panic fluttering out of her. She saw his hand on her sword and she flailed, kicking her leg out and striking him in the groin.

Laurius doubled over on to his knees, clutching the sword a little tighter as he wheezed out a breath.

Tenara was on her feet, not exactly steady. She was looking around, confused. It seemed she didn’t understand where she was.

He held up a hand, offered her the sword. “Princess. You’re safe. Tell her she’s safe,” he choked out to Havitharon as Tenara snatched the hilt from him.

Tenara looked the room over, finding Artisuren, and then Laurius on the floor, but didn’t spot Havitharon. She held the sword tight and pointed the blade at Laurius. “What did you do?”

Laurius frowned. “What? Nothing.”

“What did you do?!”

“Princess, I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

Tenara’s panicked gaze turned to the window and the night outside. She could see the lights of her city, hear the bustle of the market down below the open window. Reality settled in. She wasn’t on the ship. She was in Laurius’s room. He hadn’t taken her. He hadn’t taken the sword. She hesitated.

“I didn’t touch you,” Laurius said, holding up his hands. “Well, I didn’t touch you in… Look, the only questionable thing I’ve done today is rail the absolute daylights out of Arti over there—based on your advice, I might add.”

*Havi?* she thought to the sword. Are you there? Please be there.