The Princess and the Blade

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi vaguely registered the man's words. His focus had been deteriorating over the course of their conversation, the dark creeping in on his consciousness. Laurius's voice was the only lifeline keeping him together. Any time there was a break in the conversation, he'd briefly panic that he was lost in the darkness completely. "N-not much... to l-lose," he struggled. "K-keep talking, p-please. And d-don't let go."

[Emora Deen]

Laurius began changing the stones, one by one, and told Havitharon the ingredients for a time-release explosive, the amount of light a burnbutter bush needs to produce its acidic salve, the way the light hits thin shavings of moldavite crystals. An hour later, the sun was low on the horizon, and he was working by candle light to place the last stone.

"How are you feeling?" he asked as he reset the prongs.

[Soran Nightblade]

*Stable again. Just exhausted. Like I just had each of my teeth torn out and sewn back in.* Havi sighed. The man didn't deserve complaints right now. *Sorry. The stones are extremely sensitive, yet you managed to restore them without causing any damage. It's a thankful thing that you have quick and steady hands and the skills to repair them.*

He reached out his reacquired senses and tried to get a sense of Laurius's condition. The man had been hunched over him for hours setting those crystals. Saving his life. Had he even eaten? Things had gotten so blurry during the surgery. There had been black-out level pain each time a stone was extracted, and nauseating relief when Laurius's voice inevitably led him back to the surface. *What about you?*

[Emora Deen]

Laurius eased into his armchair. I'm fine, he said. In truth, he felt numb. Autonomous. He didn't even register hunger. He hadn't eaten anything since lunch the day before, but he had no desire to find nourishment now. Besides, the only thing left to eat were his poisoned apples and whatever he'd stolen from the groundskeeper's cabin. We should rest and start out in a few hours. I don't want to wait until morning, but I need... I need to rest. Just a little.

[Soran Nightblade]

"Rest. I will guard you," Havi promised.

____________________

The flap behind Elias opened, and Narissa pushed Ren inside ahead of her. The Ivis moved only as far as he was shoved, then stood placidly still. His lips were swollen, and bite marks and bruises colored his face and neck. "This one wants to see to our prisoner's wrist," she said, lip twisting in scornful amusement.

[Emora Deen]

Elias appraised them before climbing up from where he’d been pressed over Tenara. He smeared his hand over his face, wiping blood away, but it only pooled back into the cut where she’d torn his lip with her teeth.

Tenara sat up slowly, shoving her skirts down with one hand and rearranging herself into some semblance of order. She finally found the courage to look up at Ren, and her heart sank. She couldn’t find words. They were choked back by horror. “You… what did you do to him?”

“He seems to have paid a high price for helping you, Princess,” Elias muttered, pouring himself a glass of amber liquid into a tin cup. “Try not to kill him in the first week, Narissa. Reign your sister in.” Elias nodded to the leather and cloth he’d brought earlier and hadn’t used because she wasn’t ‘good enough’. “You’ll find the materials near the bed.” Again, he touched his lip to blot the blood, admiring it with a furrowed brow of irritation.

Tenara finally shook the horror off, turning her gaze hopefully on Elias. “Sunset. He should be here, if it is. Don’t send him back to them.”

[Soran Nightblade]

Narissa mock-pouted. "Aw, we just played a little. He had to do something to make up for his useless dick. Right, pet?" She blew in his ear, and he twitched.

[Emora Deen]

A dark chuckle rumbled out of Elias.

“Leave him alone,” Tenara snarled at Narissa, climbing up to her feet. Her useless hand hung limp at her side, but her other hand curled into a fist. Rage boiled beneath her veins and she wanted so badly to let it free. All her life she hated how volatile her magic was but right now she would give anything for it slip out and blow everything up. “Get out. You’ve had your fun.”

[Soran Nightblade]

"Oh, 'princess', I'll decide when I'm done with my plate," Narissa said darkly. "You seem awfully interested in this one. Well, I suppose it's only natural to want a replacement. After all, you have a vacancy. Shall I share the scraps when we're done with him?"

[Emora Deen]

Tenara let out a terrible sound that sounded like something caught between a growl and a scream and launched herself at Narissa.

Elias put his drink down and caught her as she breezed past, a hand in her hair, snatching her back.

“Ladies,” he warned. “Come now. There are plenty of men in this squad to occupy yourselves with. No need to fight over one. I’m getting jealous.”

Tenara heaved angry breaths into her lungs, straining against the hold on her hair.

“But, I do think he looks quite done for the day. You can pick up your fun tomorrow, but don’t forget your task while playing. I need him to find that spell. Give him ample study time. Reward him when he’s good.”

[Soran Nightblade]

Narissa smiled. "As you command, my Prince," she bowed chivalrously. "Though I cannot make promises for my sister. She seems quite fond of her new chew toy." She handed the knife off to Elias and traced a finger over his as she placed it in his waiting palm. "In the morning, then." She turned and made her way out.

Ren kept his gaze low, shuddering as Elias gripped him. "What spell do you seek?" he asked the prince.

[Emora Deen]

Elias admired the dagger and released Tenara’s hair. She stumbled from the sudden freedom, having had her body full-tilt into getting her hands on Narissa.

“I want to make a god,” he said, and went back to his drink. He poured two more cups for them. “Like the one that killed Verin.”

His gaze lifted to Tenara, watching her. She tried to keep her face placid, confused even. Lots of people knew about the god who had killed Verin. There were hundreds of rumors. Most, if not all of them, wrong. The demons who had witnessed it told their own versions, and it all got watered down in the retelling. But then, he smiled and said, “Like the one who fathered you.”

“If you really knew who fathered me, you would not have stole me away,” she said. “You would run, and hide, and pray he never found out what you did to me. You would have burned me in that house with them and only taken Ren.”

Elias sipped his drink, looking thoughtful. “But then, who would I use to help make my god?” He reached out to brush her cheek and she shied away from him. “Have a drink, you two. I’ll see if someone will fetch us some dinner.” He ducked out, taking the dagger with him, leaving Tenara and Ren alone.

She turned to him slowly, uncertain what to say to him. She glanced at the wrappings on the pallet, and decided he might like the distraction of a task. “Will you… help me?”

[Soran Nightblade]

As soon as the words left Tenara's lips, Ren's dazed expression cleared, and he rushed to kneel beside her. His hands hovered around her arm. "I'm sorry. I couldn't come any sooner," he said breathily. He stared at her wrist and reached out a shaking hand for the bandage. He had spent over a month in her company, and she was a Yurivis. Her safety was sacred.
Seeing a female suffer filled him with instinctive sorrow. "I don't understand.... how could they even think of harming you?" He appraised the bruised and blackened skin of her swollen wrist. It was a bad break. "How could they do this?" he whispered.

[Emora Deen]

Tenara tried to wipe the tears as they came. She wondered what it would be like to live in a world where women were revered and cherished. Even after what those vipers had done to him... She swallowed hard. Instinct wanted to tell him that a broken arm was the least awful thing they had done to her or would do to her yet. The night was young, after all.

Instead, she said, "They are cruel..." She brushed his hair away so she could see his bruises. "After you help me, you should recede back into the dagger. You'll be safe there. They won't be able to hurt you, and they can't make you read the book."

[Soran Nightblade]

Ren looked at her and smiled gently. "I don't want to leave you alone here voluntarily," he said. It was the closest he could bring himself to refusing her instructions. "I will accompany you every chance I'm given." He leaned forward and licked a tear from the corner of her eye. There didn't seem to be anything sexual about the gesture. He reached down to her injured hand and brushed it very lightly. "I need to check if it's misaligned," he said. There was apology behind the words. Then his eyes caught on the gold band around her neck. "This thing," he realized. He traced his fingertips over the collar the way he'd just traced her hand, careful, searching.