The Princess and the Blade

[Soran Nightblade]

Despite Kosa's presence, Havi closed his eyes by instinct and leaned slightly into her touch. Pride swelled within him that she'd understood what to do.

Kosa's jaw nearly dropped to the cave floor. "W... well met," she murmured. Then she noticed Tenara's injured hand. "Oh! Princess, how did you become injured?!" She turned a sour look on her harem. Your Ivie seem the worse for wear also."

Havi made a warning sound low in his throat, and Kosa crossed her arms at him. "Well, as long as everyone can walk, I suppose."

"I will carry her," Havi said. His gold eyes flicked up at Tenara. "If you permit me."

[Emora Deen]

Tenara nodded to him before bending with a strained breath to grab the sword from the moss. She held it to her with her good arm, cradling her injured one close to her belly.

“We fell down a crevice,” Tenara said, offering what was probably a poor excuse for how they looked, but it was the only non-violent one she could think of.

“A crevice that leaves hickeys,” Laurius muttered, knowing the woman was unlikely to understand him.

[Soran Nightblade]

They walked nearly two hours through the larger tunnels before bluish lamps began lining the sides of the corridor. A few minutes later, they arrived at a huge entranceway built of fine stonework and painted with bright oranges and golds. The gate gave the impression of walking into a whorl of flames. At either end of the gate was a female guard, and one of them stopped the odd group.

"Kosa, have you moved up from delivering Mai parcels to delivering Ivie?" the woman teased.

"Even better," Kosa smirked. "I brought her brother."

The guard began to laugh, scanning the group. "Alright, alright. Who's really-..." Her words fell off as she studied them a second time. She hadn't paid any attention to the male carrying Tenara until now, but this time, it registered.

"M...Marquis!"

"Let us through please, Tassiva," Havi said, ignoring her facial contortions.

"Your sister already retired for the evening," she murmured, squeezing her head as she thought through the situation. "Should I wake her?"

"I would be grateful if you didn't."

The guard raised a brow at him. It was no mystery how cross Mai was going to be. Tassiva didn't particularly relish the task of heralding his return. "I suppose it can wait until the morning. Or at least until my shift is over," she sighed. She clapped, and a servant popped up from the room behind. "Pia, see my brother to his room, and also a room for?" She paused to get clarity on the rest of the group.

"My Yurivis will stay with me. Please treat the rest of her harem as guests."

Pia just stared at him as if he was speaking in tongues. Havi shook his head at the questions in both servants' expressions. "In the morning, please."

And so, they were reluctantly guided the group through a corridor lined with mosaics, over a stone bridge, past the closed doorway of the great hall, and into a hallway with smaller rooms adjoining it. If not for the smooth stone ceiling, one could almost forget the compound was underground.

Pia stopped beside the first door on the right. "Marquis, your room. Do you need anything for the night?" She looked at him uneasily, clearly hoping to be finished interacting with him.

"Wake the physician, please," he asked her. Just as before, his tone was polite, yet cool. It placed a metaphorical distance between them that stifled any possibility of further conversation.

"I will see if she can be roused," she agreed, opening the door for him and retreating immediately. "The others will be next door?"

"Please." Havi carried Tenara immediately inside.

Pia looked up at Ren and Laurius with a soft smile and nodded, her whole demeanor relaxing now that Havi had parted from them. "This way, Ivie," she said, guiding them next door. "Do you need anything before you retire?"

[Emora Deen]

Laurius noted the change in the woman’s posture after Havitharon closed the door. Judging by how people treated him, Ren wasn’t the only one wary of the Ivis. “Whiskey would be nice,” he said, but let himself into the room, not expecting that request to be met. He was actually looking forward to the solitude, of being alone with Ren. He could better talk to him…

——

Tenara took in Havitharon’s room with wonder. So this place was his? It felt strange to be here, in this foreign world, in a place he had only ever spoke of with disdain.

But she was thankful for the warmth, and even more thankful to be alone with him again.

“We are safe here?” She looked up at him, thankful to be in his arms but also knowing he’d been carrying her for hours and was likely so tired.

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi's quarters felt more like a library or den than a bedroom. Shelves lined with what looked like very old books covered most of the walls, and there was a sturdy desk in the corner. There was a small bed in the corner, closer to what one might find in a soldier's barracks than a Marquis's bedroom. "Please forgive the shoddy mattress," he said gently as he eased her down onto the blankets. There was a small stove in the corner, similar to the ones they'd had in Kishva's estate. He went to it and added some powder from a glass vial next to it, and it flickered to life, casting additional heat into the space. When the hearth was blazing, he looked around at the space. "It feels like I've been gone decades, not a few months."

____

"Water, and something simple to eat, please," Ren said to Pia, bowing his head amicably.

"We have some extras in the kitchen. I'll be back soon," she smiled.

When the door was closed behind them, Ren sagged backward against it. "We're safe, for now," he murmured.

[Emora Deen]

Tenara touched his blankets, running her hands over the strange texture to the fabric. It was only slightly different than what she was used to. “It’s perfect,” she said, and it was. It could have been a rough cloth sack, a bed of nails, anything was better than where she’d been, and it was infinitely better with him. “Will your sister be angry at you for being gone? Or me for…” She glanced at his horns. She meant his injury but she could have just as easily been speaking about the gold rings that hadn’t been there before.

—

Laurius looked around the room, wondering if this was a guest quarters or a place to house males. From what he had gathered from all the discussion of their customs—minimal that it was—being male in this place was unpleasant. But, Tenara had claimed them as hers and he suspected that offered them some protections, though he couldn’t be sure how much. And, if it came to her somehow proving her ownership…

Laurius pinched the bridge of his nose for a second as he tried to process what had happened in the last two days. When he opened them, he spotted Ren leaning against the door. He reached out and cupped the man’s cheek. “We’ll be alright.” He didn’t know why he was saying it. Ren had just said they were safe, but for some reason he looked like he needed reassurance of some sort. “How long before she comes back?”

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi's gaze followed hers to the pendant around her neck. "She will be livid, but she will not find fault with your actions. A Yurivis from another Web would not be familiar with my sister's rules. No matter how primitive the Web's culture, any Yurivis would seek to tame a healthy, unescorted male who went into flame in her territory. Her anger will be with me, for not holding to our agreement and for leaving without explanation." He sat on the sheets beside her and gently tamed her hair with his fingertips. Leaning against his chest while they walked for hours had mussed the silver strands into a wild nest.

"It is surreal, being here with you," he said quietly. His fingertips strayed from her hair, ghosting over a red mark at the nape of her neck. Worry flooded up in him, but he repressed his questions. She could talk with him about it when she was ready. Not to assuage his guilty curiosity. Instead, he leaned over slowly and kissed her just above her ear, watching her reactions like a hawk. There was no guarantee she would want intimacy after everything that had happened.

____________

Ren's shock-green eyes met Laurius's as he touched his cheek. He misinterpreted his master's question, since it sounded too close to his own anxious thought process. "It won't take her long. I wouldn't be surprised if she arrived in person within the next few days. If Korvis survives his wounds, there may still be something the Princess can do. Though she'll have her own share of problems." He shook his head. "I never meant it to be this messy."

[Emora Deen]

Tenara closed her eyes at the gentle feel of his fingers in her hair, even if they snagged on some knots.

She was less skiddish with his touch now because she knew it was him. When he'd touched her earlier, it had been from behind or out of the blue, and she was still new to his presence again. But he was here, and he was the only one here, and so, when he kissed her head, she leaned into the feel of it. Relief flooded her, only for it to be stolen by the nagging worry that she smelled like someone else—like she was no longer his.

"Is there a bath?" she asked softly, drawing her head away from his touch.

----

He's still thinking of her... Laurius realized. The strange coil of irritation in his chest had less to do with jealous and more to do with the fact he didn't like how frightened Ren seemed of her. He had nothing to be frightened of. But, the merchant did nothing to steer Ren back to the true meaning of his question. He let the being's anxieties lead them where he seemed to need to go.

"I'm sure Korvis will be fine. I think there was at least one of those abomination pills left for him to scarf down..." He edged further into the room, admiring it. "What could the Princess do, though? She and I know nothing of your customs. We'll need to know the legalities in order to keep everyone safe. Might need to break out the gold paint on those horns of yours and claim you went into rut again and she sealed the deal..." He rubbed his temples again. Was he tired? Hungry? Both.