Private Tales The Horn Calls

[Glendora]

She felt the tiniest of threads woven between them at his words: I swear. Brow arched and sharpened at his words. Hand lifted as she made to study her immaculate nails.

"Oh?" She asked in a voice that was anything but innocent. As dangerous as the point of a spear. Twin moonlike orbs lifted away from her nails back to the Hunter.

Something in it for him?

Was not being executed or rotting away in the Night Court dungeons not enough for him?

"Like what?"

 

[Oakley]

Oakley pushed himself from the bookshelf and he pressed forward, invading her space and breathing her in as he lifted a knuckle to the underside of her chin, her skin a cool tingle against his. He let his breath out in a soft growl as he let his gaze trail the smooth, porcelain slope of her neck.

"You think after I tasted what I did, that I came all this way, got beaten in the mud, betrayed my King's trust and risked my life - just to get here and be dressed up in pretty clothes and told to keep my mouth shut?" his head shook slowly and he leaned closer to her ear.

"You, My Princess." he grinned and fanged smile, cheek grazing hers as he drew back just enough to look over her face. "You are what I want out of this. I may not be a male of the night court, and I may not be worthy of royalty. But, I am a hunter, and one way or another I'll claim what's mine." his head tilted, and he let the curled knuckle trail featherlight downward over her throat to feel the pulse under her skin.

 

[Glendora]

She did not move back as he pushed forward, determined to be an immovable wall, her back rigid. Nostrils flared as he stepped in and her senses were assaulted with his scent. The rumble of his voice she could nearly feel through her skin. The piercing gaze and nearly possessive whisper in his eyes and touch made her luminous eyes darken.

With the speed and practice of someone far more than a figurehead on a throne, he'd find his wrist suddenly snatched away, held within one of her hands, fingers tightening in a vice-like grip.

"How dare you," she hissed.

A slide of her leg behind his and a sharp push so that he might end up flat on his back on the ground. Her straddling his hips as she leered over him, the already high side-slit of her dress stretching further. A pose nearly identical to one they shared the night they first met.

"I am no one's to claim." Her knees would dig against him. That grip on his wrist probably nearly painful.

"Do. You. Understand. Hunter?"

 

[Oakley]

Oakley went down fast, grimacing at the impact on his already bruised muscles, but gazing up at her he drew a deep breath and slowly grinned..

"Ah.. There she is.." he growled, his own grey eyes now quicksilver as they watched her closely. If anything, he seemed to rather enjoy how this had gone, and the grip in which she held him with.

"You really are magnificent..." he said as the breath tumbled out and he marvelled at her. Her defiance, her strength and resolve, her fathomless beauty. Had she cowered from him, had she submitted so easily, she wouldn't have been half as stunning as she was right now.

His heart thundered on in his chest, and he knew it was hers. He knew that his path had been altered, and that its only course was to her, wherever she was, his life was hers and he didn't care about anything else.

"This hunter understands perfectly." he answered, and then he did something that most males would have considered incredibly stupid, for oaths spoken by fae were not gestures to be made lightly, and perhaps he was utterly mad but, Gods she was perfect.

"I, Oakley Farrow, submit to you, Princess of the Night Court." And he was entirely, hers to command.

 

[Glendora]

Glendora visibly flinched as he swore his oath. A mixture of surprise and shock flickering over her downturned face. Looking down at her skin, she saw ink-like markings of magic begin to swirl there A similar pattern to mirror on Oakley's own skin. Hers was a wolf and fox running through a wooded path with a bright moon high in the sky.

She wanted to shake him. To slap some sense into him. She found she was doing everything she could to keep what she suspected was happening behind locked doors. More locks and bars. And more doors. Burying it deep, deep down. Further down.

Even as her gaze couldn't stop lingering on that mouth of his.

"You don't eve-," she began. Head snapped to the door as voices rumbled just outside. She quickly lowered herself over Oakley and held one finger against her lips in a shhh gesture as she captured her gaze with her own, mere inches separating them. Twin moons flickered to the doorway and she took a breath, concentrating.

A shadowed shroud would envelope herself and Oakley. To those about to enter, it would look as if the small library was empty. Her illusion was immaculate.

 

[Oakley]

He took in every little idiosyncrasy on her stony features as her mind processed what he had just done. He felt the oath sink deep into his skin, and knew she'd feel it too. He was braced for whatever lashing, verbal or otherwise, was about to come his way, his silvery gaze narrowed almost defiantly. It was done, and there was nothing that she could do or say to make him take it back.

The voices didn't draw his gaze from her face. He gave not a single fuck about who was out there, not whilst she was straddled atop him, staring down at him like that. He remained at her mercy, and quite clearly still rather enjoying himself.

And then she moved closer, and he silently cursed that finger she held there between her lips and his. His lips kicked into a small smirk that dimpled one cheek, and he drew in a long and deep breath as her magic shrouded them from sight.

Oh the things he thought of right now. Her scent was intoxicating, and it sent him into a heady trance that challenged his self restraint. It was everything not to put his hands on her. To kiss her right now, and he wore that struggle on his face as he watched her in silence as someone entered the room.

 

[Glendora]

She caught the smirk on his lips from her peripheral. It made her own lips press tightly together, eyes flashing a silent warning to him, clearly substituting for a verbal lashing. His oath wasn't the only thing getting under her skin.

Quiet padding of careful footsteps.

A pause.

Then an uncertain voice.

"Mistress?"

A familiar one. Glendora's magic dropped immediately as the kelpie came into view. "Uki," Glendora breathed in relief and recognition. The kelpie female was dressed in uniform. Eyes silently taking in the scene before her. Her green hair braided tightly down the back of her neck.

"It's not what it looks like," she growled as she finally released Oakley and began to pull away.

Uki just lofted a single driftwood brow, considering Oakley.

 

[Oakley]

Oakley turned to look up at Uki through the bookcase, his brow quirking and his lips kicking into a roguish curl of amusement that was dashed immediately as Ora pushed herself up and off of him. He growled with irritation and let his head fall back with a dull thunk, his chest rising and falling in a deep breath and a purposeful huff.

"That depends entirely on what it looks like.." he rumbled quietly. If it looked like him being cock-blocked by a fucking kelpie, then that was what it looked like. Oakley propped himself up onto his elbows and crossed his ankles, clearly making himself quite comfortable here on the library floor as he looked up and between the two females with a flash of a grin.

"Are you going to introduce me to your friend?"

 

[Glendora]

Then Uki's considerate gaze fell upon the princess herself. It only made Glendora's scowl deepen. A small growl of warning leaving the base of her throat. Oakley might spot the twitch of Uki's lips.

Glen's gaze swept back to Oakley, making the floor look far more comfortable than it was. She didn't like that she was becoming for familiar with his half-smirks and grins. She was beginning to understand them. Uki walked around the bookshelf and looked between the two.

"My second in command, Uki. Though to my brother, she is only a member of the kelpie army."

Uki took a half step forward, surprise now coloring her features as Glendora's own face softened a moment. "Also trusted friend and confidant."

Glen took a breath and looked down to Oakley, a gesture toward his lazed-about-form. One her body was reminding her that she'd just been pressed against. "This is-"

"Princess Glendora," Uki cut in. "Are you sure he-"

"Yes. He will not betray us." Her bright eyes fell back to the Hunter.

They both knew, he didn't have a choice for betrayal.

Uki did not look convinced.

 

[Oakley]

His eyes flicked from one to the other as they spoke, his fingertips drumming idly on the floor where he lazed. "I see." he flashed a smile.. "An honour to meet one her Highness trusts so dearly - you must tell me your secrets, Uki.." he mused to himself.

"This is ... Oakley.." he finished for Ora as though reminding her of his name whilst he opened his collar and shifted the dirty shirt he wore to one side to look down upon the fresh oath inked into his skin, spread from his collar to his shoulder. The silver moon in the night sky, and the fox and wolf that ran together through the autumn leaves.

"And don't worry.." he murmured as he studied it with a self-satisfied smirk before his gaze lifted back to the kelpie with a wink and a conspiratorial whisper.. "I can't tell a soul."

 

[Glendora]

"I don't want to know, do I?" Uki asked, gaze flickering back to her leader, clearly ignoring Oakley's rhetorical musings.

Glendora felt the beginning of a headache behind her eyes as she lifted them away from Oakley and back to the kelpie. She offered the other female a look. "Show Oakley around. Get him better attire to blend into this court and a place to settle in." Ora pinched the bridge of her nose, eyes closing for a moment.

"I take it the dungeons are not an option?" Uki asked somewhat hopefully.

Glen's eyes snapped open, her hand falling away. Gaze traveling back down to the hunter. "Not for now, anyway," her own smirk, dangerous and warning flickered briefly in his direction. "I need to return to the gathering," her fingers plucked up the empty champagne glass from the shelf she'd discarded it on earlier. "Before my brother misses me."

Gaze went back to Oakley once more, pointing the empty glass down at him. "You. Behave."

 

[Oakley]

The smugness slipped slowly from his face and his lips parted, about to protest to being left with the kelpie, but he decided against argument when dungeons were mentioned and he looked offended.

“Hey now.” His brow furrowed. She’d ruined enough of his fun as it was, and his silvery eyes narrowed on her. He looked even more affronted when Ora left the option somewhat open and he let out a quiet huff.

He hadn’t been prepared for the emotions that rushed through him at the sudden reminder of who she was, and who her brother was. His skin heated at the mention of him and the thought of the control he knew the prince had over her..

You..Behave…

She had forgotten his name again, it seemed. He who had given her his life. His jaw tightened slightly, his mood soured. “Of course. My Princess.” He rumbled as he pushed himself to his feet and gave a formal bow.

 

[Glendora]

My Princess.

Two ordinary words that were somehow infuriating and maddening coming from Oakley's mouth. A quick nod to Uki and an intentional look to Oakley. With a swish of her long dress, sway of her hips, and a tug of the sleeve of her gown over the markings of the oath on her arm, she swept from the room. Against instinct, not looking back.

Uki would weigh and measure Oakley with her gaze and motion for him to follow her. The opposite way the Princess went. Through a set of hidden doors and down a smaller hall. He'd find himself shown to a smaller room with a window overlooking the wave-dashed rocks of an angry and cold sea below. Though small, the room still had a four-poster bed, wardrobe, and small desk, and thick floor carpet.

Uki would point him toward the closet where this strange male could find clothing that would draw less attention to himself.

"Do you think you'll be able to restrain yourself? No matter what you might see her majesty go through? Because if you do not, you will be putting more than your own life in danger." The question was boldly asked by the kelpie, a lot of judgement in her eyes as she looked at Oakley.

 

[Oakley]

What he’d done was slowly starting to dawn on him. It had been impulsive, but he’d hoped she’d see it as devotion, not desperation. When she left the room, the pain was physical as he fought the urge to follow her. He stared at the door, and he loathed himself and how he must look. Like a fucking dog..

Was she really as cold as she chose to appear?… If she was, he’d endure it. A fucking cell in the dungeons of this place would be less torture than returning to the Autumn court without her. She was going to destroy him and it seemed, she didn't give a fuck.

Rage writhed under his skin as he reluctantly followed the kelpie through the halls and to the little room, his eyes catching the light as they swept over it. His prison, he assumed. Those eyes cast themselves over Uki next, a feral warning as she spoke and he opened the closet..

"Am I not restraining myself now?" he growled as he shrugged out of his coat and tossed it aside, loathing the judgement she looked at him with. A muscle twitched in his jaw as his mind circled scenarios, and he seriously had to question whether he could handle even the thought of another putting their hands on her in any way, let alone witnessing it. The beast that he housed in his flesh snarled in his mind as Oakley pulled his shirt over his head baring his heavily scarred back, peppered with fresh bruising.

He turned to her, his tattoos chest heaving with rage, and he tried his best to ignore the pain in his broken ribs with every breath he took. "Why won't she leave this place?" he asked, resisting the urge to scream at her. He was pacing now, dragging his hand through his hair and down his face.

Gods, he was so fucked, and not in the good way. Why the fuck did she have to be who she was?

 

[Glendora]

Uki tipped her nose into the air as if she was catching a scent. Sharp-eyes never left Oakley's face. His movements. Those marks on his back.

Her face turned stony.

"That is not a question for me to answer." Her tone more gentle than her expression. "I'm sure the princess will have more time for you...later. And for now," she huffed, her hand coming to rest against the handle of the shortsword strapped to her side. "Don't fuck anything up."

Meanwhile, Glen had rejoined the soiree. Kana'ti busy with his delegates but uncannily glanced up as she re-entered. He gestured his sister over with a lazy snap of his fingers. She knew better than anyone it was a command.

But her face was a mask of smooth ice. A mask that many a female in this court learned to wear in order to survive. Not just to survive; to thrive.

"Glendora," Kana'ti purred. "Come sister. This is a prince from one of the many Summer noble houses. He has agreed to donate a generous amount to our cause. I did promise him one thing, though." Kana'ti's smile was all sharp teeth.

Glendora dipped her head to the prince. "And does this prince have a name?" Ignoring her brother's little game.

The prince stepped forward. He had dark-red hair that hung in intricate braids down his back. Golden-cruel eyes. And for a moment, she found herself comparing his features' to Oakleys before she could wrangle her thoughts back into focus.

"Lord Bencroft, but you may call me Ben," his hands found her palm as he brought his lips to the back of her skin, lingering there for a time that went beyond appropriate.

 

[Oakley]

"Will she?" he asked doubtfully with a sneer to himself. His hand tightened into a fist and his muscles strained as he fought the overwhelming urge to punch a hole in the wall. His entire body ached, and the skin across his chest seemed to burn.

He dragged in a breath and drew a tired look over Uki as he pulled a fresh, black shirt on, his gaze snagging the blade she pawed at in warning. His eyes flashed Silver and he growled quietly, tugging on a fitted black jacket with some fine silver stitching.

"What is she still doing here? She'd be safe in the Autumn Court, she could have stayed there. She could leave right now. Whether she wants nothing to do with me or not I'd still see her safe.." his jaw clenched.. "But I can't leave this place without her, so it looks like I am a resident of the Night Court now whether she or you like it or not." he growled quietly, avoiding his own scrutinising gaze as he smoothed out his sleeves in the mirror.

"Perhaps this will be more to her Highness' liking." he huffed.

 

[Glendora]

"If safety was the princess' main concern I doubt she would be the female you swore an oath to," Uki spoke dryly. A quiet huff. "If you are to blend in here, you need to act like a male of this court. You are above it all. Act like you belong here and own it. Do not address servants. Do you understand? Would you like a tour of the grounds?"

Uki was buying Glendora more time. And Oakley in a way. Time for him to adjust. Time for her to take care of what she needed to take care of without Oakley as a distraction.

Back at the soiree.....

"A pleasure, Ben," Glen's voice didn't waiver or betray her true emotions. She dipped her head lowly in respect and withdrew her hand from his only as his grip loosened. Ever the picture and illusion of subservience.

The red-haired prince grinned. "Your brother told me you would be willing to show me around." His tone implied he expected a lot more. Kana'ti's grin matched the summer fae's.

"Yes, dear sister. Business tonight, playtime tomorrow. You are dismissed," he waved his hand lazily in her direction.

"Until tomorrow," Ben purred, his golden gaze shifting back to her brother.

Glen dipped her chin once more in respect and gathered her gown in her hands as she curtsied deeply before turning away. Her own silver gaze flaring for a moment, letting her mind wander at all the ways she could gut them both.

 

[Oakley]

Oakley's jaw clenched a little tighter at the kelpie's answer. He couldn't deny that he'd rather enjoyed the certain edge the Princess had to her, but he couldn't help but wonder if that had been all that had drawn him to her. It'd been her scent, first. It'd ensnared him and intoxicated his mind before he had ever set eyes on her. Even then, it had not truly been her that he'd first set eyes upon..Would it have mattered to him what she looked like, or whether she had been a meek-minded coward?

He doubted it. She was cold and she'd teased him beyond an inch of his own sanity but had she demanded he be imprisoned and tortured he'd still have stayed. It just so happened that she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever set eyes upon, and the cold resistance had only made him crave her all the more.

Oakley let out a tired growl in frustration at Uki's instruction and offer of a tour.. "Not particularly. But I suppose you're stuck babysitting me and you're not going to allow me out of your sight?" his pale eyes rolled.

"Fine. A grand tour of this shit hole it is." he gestured toward the door with a huff.

 

[Glendora]

"Yes, I clearly don't get paid enough to deal with adolescents," Uki intoned dryly. "Let's go. Oakley." Uki would show him the rest of the wing where his room was situated. It actually wasn't too far from Glendora's own room. Luckily for them both, Kana'ti occupied an entirely different wing than his sister, so they would at least not have to worry as much about his gaze or running into him.

She'd show him where the kitchens were. A banquet hall. More casual dining areas and smaller meeting spaces, and some training grounds and stables. Most of all the places were underground or built within the dark, rocky cliffs. Due to the storms of their location, the cold, and the rock giants, this court had adapted.

Uki even pointed out the direction of the dungeons but there were many doors never explained, other than for him to keep his nose out of them. As Uki was leading him back toward his room, Glendora found them both. Her face still set in that glacial-mask though as Oakley came into view, her eyes would linger a tad on his new look before settling on Uki.

"Have you read Katya's report?"

Uki shook her head and hooked a thumb over her shoulder at Oakley, "No, I've been entertaining him all evening."

Glen frowned. "We have one in the wings. I need you to be ready at midnight."

Uki clenched her jaw, "You should not take this one yourself, it is increasingly dangerous. You-,"

Glen interrupted, "While I know you have my interests in mind you know there is no one else for tonight."

The two females stared each other down, silently.

 

[Oakley]

Oakley could not have looked more bored if he'd tried. He was irate, and frustrated more that there were traces of Ora's scent here and there that he had been forbidden to follow. What angered him the most, however, was how fucking stupid he felt. He had never been more afraid of a female in his life than the one who now held his entire soul in the soft palm of her hand.

He who was nothing to she who was everything..

He had heard how terrible a thing it was to be rejected by one's mate. A rare thing, he supposed, considering how rare bonded mates were. Midir's grief had been harrowing to behold, and his friend had never been the same since he'd lost what he'd never had.

Oakley barely took in a single thing Uki told him. He didn't care about what rooms he could and could not enter when the only one he cared about was the one She was in. Fuck he was pathetic. How Midir had the strength to walk away....

The thought alone had brought a sensation of physical pain to the very centre of his chest, and he felt it tighten that bit more as Ora found them. Oakley watched her as she studied him, but he didn't say a word, retaining his cold and stoic expression as the two females spoke.

His brow furrowed slightly at Uki's warning however, and there was no amount of biting his lip that could stop him from asking.

"One what?" he frowned.

 

[Glendora]

Uki turned to Oakley, lips parting.

Glen interrupted her, voice lowered. "Set it up. Usual time. You," silver eyes turned to Oakley. "Follow me." Uki clenched her jaw but dipped her head to the royal at the order. Turning tightly on her heel, she slunk away. Glendora didn't wait for Oakley to agree or respond. With a sweep of her long gown, she would lead them back toward her chambers.

It wasn't safe to go into any detail until they were inside her rooms.

And she was tired from...everything that had happened. She wanted to rip off her gown and thoroughly wash away the scent of the royal summer noble from her skin. And she had to prepare for tonight. And on top of all things, she now had Oakley to contend with. Even with the oath he'd sworn, he was a liability.

Sweeping into her quarters (something like this), she strides over to the large mirror over the vanity, catching Oakley's reflection behind her. Fingers reach behind her neck, fidgeting with the clasp on the jewelry she's wearing.

"I trust Uki showed you around?"

 

[Oakley]

You..​

He was running the risk of forgetting his own name at this rate. He fought back a growl, but his fists squeezed at his sides until his knuckles paled. His gaze drew over Uki as she left and he followed the Night Princess without a word.

The room she led him into seemed to be her own, and his brow lofted in surprise at that. His silvery eyes caught moonlight as they swept across the room and landed upon her reflection in the mirror, his expression stoic and quite fatigued, bordering on boredom in hopes of disguising all that which he truly felt.

"She did." he informed dryly. "Your Highness." his throat cleared and his jaw clenched, trying to resist the urge to help her as she fidgeted with the clasp at the nape of her neck. If she wanted his help, perhaps she'd ask for it, but he wasn't going to assume she'd accept it otherwise.

"I don't know what you're planning and clearly it's none of my business, but I assume you're planning on putting yourself in danger. If that's the case you best lock me somewhere or tell me to leave and never come back here." his brow furrowed, his jaw tight as he drew a steadying breath, waiting for her to break him.

"She said I'd put you in more danger if I interfered. I can't promise I won't. So, do what you must."

 

[Glendora]

A glance in the mirror's surface at his face, then at the door. Which was firmly closed and sealed. Her fingers stilled against the clasp of the jewels around her neck. Many a female in this court envied her. They dreamed of marrying her brother. Fighting for a scrap of a position that wasn't even elevated in a court where most females along the same status as servants. A royal and duanan perhaps barely a hair above that.

But to Glendora, these fine jewels that decorated her neck felt more like a collar than anything else.

And knowing her brother, Kana'ti, he knew how she felt about them and insisted on her wearing them.

With a firm twist, the clasp clicked open and the heavy weight was discarded along her vanity before she turned to face Oakley. Arms crossed delicately beneath her chest as she leaned back against the vanity. Long index finger tapping lightly against the sleeve of her gown. Right over where the mark from his oath was hidden.

"Is that what you want? Do you want me to order you away and to never see me again? Why would I turn away a perfectly good resource at my disposal?" And he knew very well that he was free to leave at any time. She did not have him in chains. At least not yet.

 

[Oakley]

"If that was what I wanted, I'd never have said what I did. If that was what I wanted, I wouldn't have tracked you all the way here for you only to forget my name." he frowned at her.. A resource?...

"What I want, Princess, is for you to leave this place with me - But I realise that allowing myself to believe myself worthy of such a notion was ridiculous and now I find myself in a predicament." he stepped forward, closing the distance between them in a few slow strides, his lupine gaze dangerous as it fixed on her.

"I will not sit idly by whilst you put yourself in danger.. I will not stand and watch males of this court touch you, nor treat you like something that is beneath them.." he snarled. "You may enjoy torturing me, but there are some tortures I simply cannot withstand."

 

[Glendora]

She didn't move one inch. Sharp gaze watched him. Stalking him as he stalked her.

"I know your name," she growled. There was a reason she didn't say it. Because if she did, the thing she'd felt. The thing she'd barred behind closed doors might slip out. And she had a feeling once cracks showed in that wall she'd built up, nothing would stop it from escaping.

And while a night court princess did not admit to fear easily. For that. She was terrified.

And as he closed the distance between them she unbound her arms and stepped forward herself, nearly clashing chest to chest as she stared him down. Pointed-finger coming up to tap into one of his pecks.

The thing behind the walls and door rattled to get out.

"I have been taking care of myself in this court for hundreds of years," she hissed. Nostrils flared at his scent. "Do you doubt my ability to continue to do so?"