The Princess and the Blade

[Soran Nightblade]

Artisuren clenched his jaw and wished he wasn't so relieved the man was up. "What I need..." He repeated, recognizing the words from earlier, when that princess had translated for him.

He was intruding on the man's sleep, and he hadn't been called to his bed. He wondered if the question was some kind of trick to see if he understood his place. Or a setup to make him beg for intimacy, as he'd suggested earlier.

Stubborn anger danced over his thoughts. Who was he, another Ivis, to test him? He glanced around the room for ideas, and his eyes fell on a chess set stored on a shelf beneath the nightstand. "Is that a game?"

[Emora Deen]

Laurius thought Atrisuren was referencing his request, but then he saw the phage’s eyes on a shelf. His brow furrowed. “It is,” he said. He slipped out of bed and lazily walked over to the shelf, pulling the chessboard from it and carrying it back to the bed. He set it on the unruffled side, sitting down near it. “Do you have chess where you’re from?”

[Soran Nightblade]

He sat up a little straighter. A thrill went through him as he realized this might work. Artisuren looked at the game sitting on the bed like he was trying to decide whether to approach a stray dog. "No... but it looks similar to something from my world." He sucked at his teeth, hesitating. "Can you teach me?"

[Emora Deen]

Laurius eyed Artisuren a moment and then went about explaining the rules of the game and how the pieces were allowed to move. Per his usual, he did everything in a matter-of-fact and analytical way, explaining everything as if it were a common subject, easily grasped on the first go.

“Shall we play?”

[Soran Nightblade]

Artisuren listened quietly to the explanation, growing more and more frustrated. Laurius's clear explanations were patient and organized. To his annoyance, the man's teaching style was more one of patient explanation than directive statements.

He'd nearly given up when Laurius suddenly said "Shall we play?"

The Ivis glanced at the board, hope refreshed. "Yes," he said. When Laurius began to set up the pieces, Artisuren swiped up a handful. "I want to set the board," he declared, and set his jaw stubbornly.

[Emora Deen]

Laurius smiled and parted his hands, motioning to Artisuren that he had control of the board. He was curious to see how much the phage had retained.

Laurius cast a gaze to the window and the dark city beyond. Stars burned bright above Hajara’s capital city. He yawned and brushed a hand through his curly copper hair. “How are you feeling?”

[Soran Nightblade]

Artisuren hesitated, queen in hand. He wasn't sure how to interpret the question. If he told this man about the heat beginning to throb through his veins, what would he do with that information?

A fleeting memory of before, when the other man's body had painted liquid pleasure down his back and filled inside him, made the Ivis flinch. "Bored," he said flatly, and placed the queen at the center of the board.

[Emora Deen]

Laurius’s nose scrunched with an amused smirk. He clenched his teeth together before he rattled off lurid comment on what they could do to alleviate that boredom. The princess’s judging face appeared before him and his smirk withered.

He took the queen and placed her where she belonged. “Chess is likely the wrong game to play to alleviate boredom.”

[Soran Nightblade]

Artisuren clenched his teeth, frustrated. "I will set the board," he said again, and placed a pawn in the corner square. Tell me, he thought, glaring at him.

[Emora Deen]

“If you insist on setting it wrong. The pawns go on the next row.” He picked the pawn up and moved it into the correct position. “Place them in a line going this way.” Laurius drug a finger slowly across the board, indicating the squares they belonged in.

[Soran Nightblade]

Artisuren twitched as the subtle command eased through him. It was a simple kind of relief, like having his back scratched with a broken leg, but any order would do. Finally! He lifted the smaller pieces and put them one by one down the row Laurius had indicated. He touched the next piece, his eyes flicking to the man expectantly.

[Emora Deen]

“Place that one there. And then this one here. The rook goes in the corners. When you’re done with that, do the same on the opposite side,” Laurius said with a sigh. Another yawn escaped him and he flopped over onto his side, fingers dancing over the top of one bishop.

A breeze blew in through the open window, the smell of the sea came with it. He could almost hear the waves along the docks from here. Soon they would sail back to Ighten. He had to admit he was missing his home.


“Tell me about your world,” he said to Artisuren.

[Soran Nightblade]

A flash of satisfaction soothed his nerves with each piece he set down according to the man's instructions. He went into a daze as he obeyed, finding himself anxious for Laurius's voice between each instruction. When the board was fully set, he frowned at it. He still craved and itched. He wondered if he should stand abruptly and upset the board just so he would have to reset it, or if that was too suspicious.

"Tell me about your world," Laurius's words stopped him before it was too late.

He picked at the already-chipped ear on one of the Knights. His thoughts had immediately gone to Kishva. The throb in his veins felt worse. "What do you want to know?" he asked.

[Emora Deen]

Laurius shrugged. “What does it look like? Were you married? Do you have childre?” Laurius frowned. He had asked the question and realized he didn’t want to know. He didn’t feel guilt at stealing Artisuren from his world. At least, he hadn’t when he’d viewed him only as a weapon. He was still only a weapon, he told himself. “What color is the sky?”

[Soran Nightblade]

Artisuren looked at the board and moved a pawn out two spaces. "It is cold there, and less green. The temperature is steadiest under the ground, and that is where we live. Instead of the plants you have here, most of the life there is different varieties of funguses. The sky is not as blue. It is closer to violet, and less bright. Kind of like this place at dusk."

He'd put off the man's other questions, but answered simply, "I am... was.... bonded. I have sired one child." He didn't meet Laurius's eyes as he fussed with the board. "Is it normal for men here to do... that with other men?"