The Princess and the Blade

[Soran Nightblade]

Havitharon tensed. He could only understand Tenara's part of the conversation, but when she provided a translation, his muscles coiled fiercely. He slammed the book down, hard, onto the wood bench next to him. It made a huge crack along the wood.

Havitharon himself didn't move a muscle. He spoke in a low, even voice. "Don't look at me. I want him to wonder where I am. But you need to know something." He sighed inwardly. He hated to give up information, but she needed to know. "This book is the only thing on this vessel I've been able to touch. I can buy you an opening if you need one to get to the sword, but that's about all.

[Emora Deen]

Tenara averted her gaze from Havitharon, biting back the urge to call him useless. Her heart fluttered as Elias poured himself another glass. "I have told you two specific lies since we met. Would you like to know them? The first is that I am not the Royal Cartographer..."

"You don't say," she said, chugging the whiskey and throwing the glass at him. He dodged it narrowly, and it sailed through Havitharon, shattering against the wall. Her fingers tingled as they came to rest along the table, as if her arm was going to sleep.

"I'm the Poison Master," he added, sipping at his drink. "Though, I much prefer being called Potion Master because I very rarely actually brew poison." He met her eyes. "The second lie I told you was that I was unarmed."

Tenara stood up involuntarily, and then twisted as the ship rocked. She reached for the sword, but her arms disobeyed. Her legs became jelly, and she fell along the bench.

"Careful," he said, tucking the bottle back into one of the crates as he stood. He edged around the table, using the beams running along the low ceiling to steady himself as he went. "Don't worry, you aren't poisoned. It's just... something to calm you down. So we can talk. I thought it would work fast, because I don't think my brother's men fed you very much on your journey. You can tell by the gaunt look of your face—a pretty face, I might add. They say the Princess of Hajara is of an unnatural beauty but I expected that to be an exaggeration."

Tenara hadn't thought about her journey. She had no way of knowing how long she'd been away from Hajara or how much she'd eaten, but it would explain a great many things. Like why she felt so weak, why it was taking so long to recover from the blood loss...

"How long?" she asked.

"A month, a little more perhaps."

Her eyes brimmed with tears. Her parents would surely think she was dead by now... No ransom notes, no word or sightings. If they had those things, they would have found her by now.

"Did my brother succeed in calling the being from the other world?"

Brother? Which brother was he? The second or the third?

Tenara stared at Havitharon.

Elias smiled, nodding. "Is that your ghost, I take it? Can he hear me? Can he understand me?"

"He's just a ghost..." she said. Why was she protecting him?? "I killed your brother. I ruined his little ritual. There is no being. Just a damaged sword."

[Soran Nightblade]

Havitharon could tell now that something was very wrong. Tenara wasn't moving well... something was off. Seeing the way Elias flaunted the bottle at her was just confirmation. He left the book on the bench and came up next to her. He focused as hard as he could, and attempted to grab her by the shoulders. A shower of violet sparks spread from his skin where he would have touched her. His hands passed through, but a spark of energy danced in the back of his brain, like a needle of sunlight straight in his eyes. He staggered back. What he hell was that? He tried again, and the piercing sensation hit again. It felt like energy was crackling down his arms and through his brain. His vision went white for a second, like he was looking through eyes that weren't his. Surprised, he jerked back and landed on the bench behind her. What the hell?

[Emora Deen]

Tenara felt strange. She wanted to look down but couldn't. What was happening? What was Thvoros doing? She couldn't deal with this right now. Not him doing... whatever this was. Sitting through her... in her. She wanted to be sick.

"I care not that you killed Edan," Elias said, waving his hand. "Emil will make a much better king, and I will help him be the king that Arken deserves as soon as my mother is out of the way. I need the monster my brother called to this world so I might rid us of a woman who has long overstayed her reign." 

"You want to kill your mother?" she asked, her voice hoarse. "Why don't you just poison her..."

His brow arched. "Oh, why haven't I thought of that?! You've solved it! Goodness, I'll be on my way."

She spat at him. He tsked her. 

"The being. Can he understand me? How do I control him?" He curled his hand around her chin and jaw.  She tried to lift her hands to pry his grip off but her arms wouldn't obey. Her legs wouldn't move. Her heart thudded fearfully in her chest, helplessness digging panicked knives into her. "Tell me, before I decide there is no more use for you and do as my brother asked."

"Kill me?"

"Arken does not need a war with Hajara."

[Soran Nightblade]

Havitharon watched as Tenara struggled to make her limbs move as she wanted. She was losing strength too quickly. He reached out to her again, touching the center of her back with his palm, and felt the same sensation spike into his vision. This time, he tried his best to hold on, to see what happened next.

"...he being. Can he... me? How... control him?"
"Arken does not need a war with Hajara."

Havitharon sucked in a breath. He could understand Elias's words. He clenched his fist, and he could swear he saw Tenara's hand twitch closed in the same motion. "T...enara," he strained, not sure if he was talking out loud, or in her head, or even with his own voice. "I think...I can.." he paused, trying to understand what he was seeing and sensing. The world had gone a deep shade of blue again. Everything around him seemed to be resisting whatever he was doing. The purple sparks showered around him as he forced his limbs to move.

[Emora Deen]

"Wait..." Tenara said dizzily, not sure if she was speaking to Havitharon or Elias. The dizziness felt more from whatever Havitharon was doing.

She moved and Elias flinched. "That's... you shouldn't be able to move. Even a little."

"Take. Me... home," Tenara said. She was finding it hard to use her voice, as if she were having to fight someone else to use it.

His hand slid to her throat, tight but not choking. He pressed over her, pushing her against the cushioned bench. Gods, what she could do to him with her magic... But what good would come from killing a second prince of Arken? Hajara still held the wounds of a civil war, even now, almost thirty years later. It was powerful, but would it prosper in a war with Arken? Look how long the war had lasted with Ighten. Hundreds of years of fighting... "Help me... get home... and I will tell my parents not to go to war... with Arken. I will help you... kill your mother. I will ask the being to do it."

"So you control him?"

[Soran Nightblade]

Havitharon shuddered. Something unfamiliar was being pried open inside him the longer he touched her. But if he let go, she might fall limp to the floor, and they'd lose what little control she had over the situation. Keeping the connection was almost impossible when she was fighting him this hard, but it seemed like it was helping somehow. He tried to whisper as he strained, "Do you need.... your power? If it's right now, I think... I might be able to..."

[Emora Deen]

He mentioned her power and all Tenara saw was several city blocks demolished and heard the sound of screams. Her power. He could give her her power... All she wanted since it had been taken was to hold it. To use it to protect herself, and now he was offering it to her and she was afraid.

"No," she said, and it was both an answer to Havitharon and Elias. Tenara hated the tears in her eyes. "Help me... get home." A pleading request to both of them. "And I will find a way to make Thvoros whole... and he will kill your mother." A promise to the creature within her, and the one before her.

"What's to stop you from having him kill me? From you killing me, if I let you live?"

"Hajara... doesn't need a war with Arken."

[Soran Nightblade]

Anger bubbled up alongside the other sensations in Havitharon's chest. This woman had dared to babble all that nonsense about not being a Yurivis. About having no intention to claim him. And not 3 hours later, here she was laying down missions to weigh against his freedom. He ignored his own mind's protests and pushed harder into the strange connection he'd just forged. His senses, now shared with Tenara, glared into sharper focus. It felt like if he wanted to, he could...

Tenara's right twitched. Then, her hand shot out and grasped the hilt of the sword. In a movement too swift for human muscles, she swept the blade up to the side of Elias's neck. "Oh," his cold voice snarled through Tenara's lips. He pressed the blade hard enough to draw a track of crimson along his skin. "Looks like I don't need her permission to kill you."

[Emora Deen]

Elias stiffened, arching his chin up and his neck away from the blade. "Fuck," he said, eyes going wide. He stared down at the woman, at her rage-filled eyes. It was her voice, but the words...

"Is that you, Ghost?" he asked, lifting his hands into the air. A sign of peace on his world, and he hoped not a sign of something else on this guys. "That's a very interesting trick... I mean you no harm. Her either."

[Soran Nightblade]

He sneered at Elias. "Oh, you cannot harm me. But I intend to hurt you." He used Tenara's left fist to punch him dead in the ribs. It send him staggering backward. The tip of the sword zipped to the center of his chest, pinning him to the wall just hard enough to cut into his ribs, but not enough to break through his ribcage. Yet.

"Take off everything you're wearing," he ordered. "And tell me how to restore the woman's muscle control. I'm bored of moving for her."

[Emora Deen]

"Take off..." Elias blinked at him, but had no intention of arguing. He stared into the woman's eyes. His fingers wiggled. "A ring. Middle finger. Scrape some of the gold into a glass with liquid and drink it. It will take a minute. Shall I undress now or after you get your drink?"

[Soran Nightblade]

"Middle finger. Understood." Havitharon swung a heavy kick into the side of Elias's skull, throwing him to the ground. Tenara's heel smashed down on his wrist as he landed, pinning it. The sword slammed down hard just above his knuckle, carving off his middle and pointer fingers. The rings chimed wetly against the floor. "Whoops. Got 2 by mistake," he said cruelly, and reached down to retrieve the rings. "Stay right there and undress while I prepare your drink."

[Emora Deen]

Elias howled, writhing on the floor and curling a hand around his injured one. "What the fuck! Ahhh...." He heaved air into his lungs, clenching his eyes and trying to block out the pain. Blood spilled across the floor. He was in too much pain to think about stripping, but the idea of losing more fingers because he wouldn't rid himself of his shirt and pants was motivation enough. He groaned, dragging his tunic over his head. He had to pause, breathe through the pain.

[Soran Nightblade]

"Good. The rest of the rings, too," Havitharon added, keeping the sword tracked on him as he prepared two glasses as the man instructed. When the man was fully disrobed, Havitharon kicked everything he'd removed toward the forward berth and scanned him for any other jewelry or tools that might contain poisons. Finally, he handed the naked man a glass of the concoction. "You first," he ordered.