The Princess and the Blade

[Emora Deen]

Laurius looked to the vampire, thumbing the rock in his pocket that was his link to the sorceress woman, as well as Ren and Tenara. "I don't know how long we'll be," he reminded the king. "We've likely beat them here, if they are heading here. We will have to wait, and if it turns out they are not here then we will go on to Arroes. It could be..." He dared not say how long it could be. Weeks. Months. What if they never found them or it? Were they allowed to come back otherwise? "We'll keep you in the loop."

---

Tenara flinched at a gust of icy wind. It blew across the snow-covered earth, tossing tiny pieces of snow into the air. As she moved, a sound clinked at her chest, and she looked down to find a pendant dangling from around her neck, clinking sharply against where Havitharon's horn lay against her breast. She touched it, confusion creasing her brow.

"That's Mr. Spiky II," her aunt said as she approached, reaching out to touch the talisman and run her thumb over the sapphire she'd turned ruby. "He had an issue crossing back into this world, so we put him here."

Tenara pulled the medallion from her aunt's grasp and curled her hand over it. Ren? she asked, testing. As she thought the word, her gaze lifted from the pendant to where Havitharon had been, and then behind the spot, where Laurius Marr's opulent mansion had sat. Now, it was nothing but charred stone bones.

[Soran Nightblade]

*Yes,* he answered her softly. *This...is me now. I apologize that it's not something more practical.* He rubbed absently at the scarred-over tattoo on his hand. Compared to a sword that could imbue her with the skills to fight any threat, a piece of jewelry was hardly useful.

Across the yard, Vlad reappeared in the snow, already marching toward the house.

[Emora Deen]

It's beautiful, Tenara said, admiring the way the morning light glinted on the jewel, turning the inside of it different shades of deep red. Her aunt patted her back and brushed past her, through the door.

A blip in the snow, a shadow appearing out of nowhere, caught Tenara's attention, and she looked up to find her father marching towards her. She opened her mouth to say something, but all the words seemed to catch in her throat, tangling up on themselves. So, she ran to him, flinging her arms around his waist.

---

Laurius stared at where the vampire had been, and then looked down the path ahead of them. "You'll blend in well. You look like a demon," Laurius said, motioning him to follow. "We'll say that we are here for the library, for researching a weapon to build for the crown. If we are here for study, they will house and feed us in the dorms." He frowned deeply, disliking the idea of staying there with a bunch of young, up-and-coming, back-stabbing, rich snobs. "Did you mean it, what you told him? Are you going to leave her?"

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi wanted to ask what a demon was, but his next question caught him unguarded. "I swore not to let my existence bring danger into her life, and yet it has. I have failed to protect her, and I do not know if I can properly Love her. If I stay, I could prevent her from finding what she needs. I could even come between her and her family. Should I not leave?"

[Emora Deen]

Laurius kept walking, not certain why Havi's words made him angry. He felt this odd protectiveness towards the girl who clearly loved this being, and who he knew would be hurt if he left. "I think its ultimately up to you," Laurius said. "It matters not what I think—whether you should or shouldn't go." He grew very quiet as they navigated the path, coming to a place where it began to incline with craggy rocks and dry earth. The sulfuric smell seemed to thicken in the air, and Laurius brought his sleeve up to his nose. It was hot, far too hot for the clothes they had on. He paused to start shucking the coat, but kept the scarf at his neck to pull up around his mouth. "I would do it with mercy," he said. "Don't just disappear."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad stopped when his daughter threw her arms around him. A swell of relief revived his somber mood. He had expected her to be angry with him. After all the time they'd been separated, he didn't want to fight. "You're up. Do you feel a bit better?" The vampire placed his hand gently on the back of her head.

Spiky II immediately straightened where he stood by the window, looking every bit like a cat with its fur standing on end. His alien eyes seemed to be trying to shoot tiny darts at the vampire, but when he spotted Vlad looking back, he panicked and jerked his gaze aside. A smirk pulled the corner of Vlad's mouth. This one's amusing.

--------------

Havi could sense the judgment in the merchant's words. He wanted to dismiss the man outright, but then he thought about everything they'd been through together over the past weeks. A flicker of pointless hope squirmed through the bars of the cage he'd been building around himself since her father's decree.

He ruminated on Laurius's words as they trekked through the desolate landscape.

"Why?" he asked the man he was following, long after Laurius probably considered the matter dropped. "Why did you say she wishes for a true Bond over me? Did she tell you so?"

[Emora Deen]

Tenara held her father tight, feeling the tension she hadn’t realized she was holding ease. It wasn’t so much that she didn’t feel safe with her mother, there was just something about being close to her immortal father that brought a sense of unquestionable protection. “I’ll be fine,” she said, and it had to be true. The urge to profusely apologize welled up in her, and then she remembered that, at least this time, her captivity wasn’t her fault. Still, a bud of guilt for having dragged her parents all the way to Ighten, for being in danger again at all, nagged at her. Other thoughts swirled in her mind, and she wanted to ask how long Havi would be gone, or how he’d get back. She didn’t want him gone at all, but there was this feeling in the air that seemed to convey that it mattered very little if she wanted him to stay. He would be back, she told herself. She had Ren, and Laurius would never abandon him. She squeezed her father tight again and said, “Home.”

—-

Laurius blinked at the revival of topic and glanced back at Havitharon like he was the densest man he’d ever met. “I think that Tenara would like very much for you to be hers, is all. Probably just as much as she would like to be yours.” He continued on the incline. “She was very concerned some other female would bond you and take you away from her. I know Tenara doesn’t want to own you, but she definitely wants to put a ring on it.”

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad folded his arms around her shoulders, crushing her ever so slightly, as per usual. "We love you," he said, "whether you're fine or not. Let's go home."

A few minutes later, all five of them appeared in the front entryway of the palace. Ren nervously withdrew his hand Lelana had grasped ("so he wouldn't get lost"). His eyes scanned the huge entranceway and found it familiar. He had been here only once, on the night of the ball where Laurius had approached Tenara for the first time. No one had been able to see him then, in his spectral form. This time was different.

The moment they appeared, half a dozen servants immediately spotted them. They rushed to attend to their returned royal family. Only one went the other way, announcing "I'll go inform the King!"

The rest clustered before them and fussed profusely. Tenara's personal handmaid looked moments away from bawling. Only Vlad was spared this treatment, as he had the staff well trained to leave him be, especially when he looked as pale as he currently did. Ren stood rod-stiff as two dutiful maids asked if he had any injuries. "No, thank you, Yurivie," he stammered, his head going blank.

_____________

Havi's steps faltered as his words jogged a memory.

"I am yours, just as you are mine." Soft words spoken while they stood blanketed in moonlight.

What if those words hadn't been meant to gently decline the Bond? What if she had meant the opposite?

"I see," he murmured... "so she wants to put a ring on-" He blinked as he realized the words he was echoing. "Put a ring on what?" he demanded. His thoughts raced to the 'adornment' she'd used when she came to his chambers. Anxiety pitched his voice up. "What does it mean if she gives me a ring?

[Emora Deen]

The port made Tenara's head spin, but she managed to stay on her feet, even if the people moved around her in swirling, dizzying paths. The first thing she noticed was the warmth in the castle. It wasn't heated, it was just Hajara's natural desert air. She began to tug at the strange clothes she'd gotten from Havitharon's world, which seemed to trap her heat so well that she began to sweat. She imagined Ren was feeling much the same.

---

Laurius chuckled as he turned, heading further up the winding mountain path. "Well, it means your hers," he said. "'Til death do you part... You sound concerned. Worried about finally being tied down, Havitharon?"

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi broke out in a sweat, and not just because of the volcano. "I did not realize that was what it meant to her." He crouched down, head spinning. "I had no idea. I just returned it to her after we finished..."

[Emora Deen]

Laurius slowed and turned back, brow furrowing. "Ugh, are you okay... pal?" Havitharon looked like he was going to faint or vomit. He walked back and put his hand on his shoulder. "What did you return? I'm sure its no hard feelings. She might still have it."

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi planted his face in a hand, shaking it slowly. "The ring she gave me." His eyes widened. "She was so concerned about the size, too. She probably thought I didn't like it. I had no idea." He spun up to his feet, turning back the way they'd come. "I need to go back. I need to tell her I want it."

[Emora Deen]

Laurius arched a brow and folded his arms. "Well, getting to Hajara is going to take you two months on foot and sea, and I don't think the vampire's going to hop back over the border because you want Tenara to marry you now. Best get that book back. At least you'll have some bargaining power. Maybe you can find her a ring at the market."

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi stared at the barren trail behind them, feeling defeated. If this was what Tenara wanted, he could no longer think of following her father's orders. Even his oath to her mother felt flimsy in comparison to the promise Tenara had offered. "Yes... we have to find the book. I cannot leave her, but I must not pull apart her family either."

He turned and went back to Laurius. This time, instead of following behind him, he kept pace at his side. "Thank you. For explaining. I almost made a terrible mistake."

[Emora Deen]

Laurious laughed. "Of course. What are friends for?" His brain paused then at the word friend. Before, he had had business acquaintances, sexual acquaintances, and staff, but he could scarcely call any of them friends. Sure, there had been staff he was fond of, and sexual partners he preferred, but... no friends. He wondered how Ren was doing, what he was doing. "Knowing Tenara, she probably didn't take offense to you handing the ring back. Your customs are peculiar..." He thought about Havitharon's world and shivered. "Glad we made it out of that place alive."