Completed The Morning Dew

Arastan pouted playfully has shook his head. "No, I won't do it." He laughed as he hugged her tighter. There had to be a way he could have his cake and eat it too.

He suddenly yelled out "Malon!" He normally never let the servant into his room, because he did not like being waited on, but there were always exceptions...within a few moments a knock come from the door and a gangly-looking servant stepped in. "Yes, my lord?"

"Bring us the best wine you can fine in this palace. Only the finest!" He said with a cheer. The servant looked from Arastan to Taliyah and then bowed. "Right away, sir." The servant was gone just as quickly as he had come.
 
He was adorable when he pouted and it made her chuckle every single time. Taliyah smiled at him as he called for Malon and she snuggled into his chest as they waited.

She was curious how long it would take for the man to find the finest wine in the palace but it was a surprisingly short time before the two of them had full glasses of wine in the their hands.

Taliyah took a sip and let out a soft mmmm. She had been drinking some wine since she had come here and she was starting to remember that she liked the stuff.

"I will enjoy the night with you if you tell me why you chose me out of all the survivors to help the most..." She had wondered this from the beginning.
 
Arastan was in the middle of a loud laugh and pouring himself another drink when she asked the question that had him sober up for just a moment.

"I...don't really know. You were the first person I saw...I caught your scent while I was attacking the cult and I just followed. When I saw you, you needed my help so that's what I did."

In truth, he had thought about this a few times since that day. A small part of him was worried that he had stuck with her because he saw her as a damsel in distress. Would he get bored of her now that she was no longer weak and helpless? He did not want to believe that was the case.
 
Taliyah felt bad that she had ruined the mood and she took a long drink of her wine. "I suppose I can accept that answer," she said with a smirk. She was trying to lighten the mood back up. "I appreciate everything you have done but enough seriousness!"

She took another drink and smiled apologetically at him. The warmth was settling in her stomach and she liked the feeling. It would hit her head soon. She just did not know how soon that would be. Two glasses? Three?

She finished the one she was drinking and held it out for a refill. She did need to catch up with him after all.
 
Arastan laughed as his momentarily melancholy disappeared instantly. He took the bottle of wine that he had sat beside the hammock and filled her glass to the brim, spilling a little bit over onto him, which only made him laugh more.

"Yes, no more seriousness!" This was a more childish/drunkard side of Arastan that he had not shown off as much around Taliyah. "The trip we are going on is to Fal'addas. I've heard so many amazing things over there that we need to see. It's going to be incredible."
 
Taliyah let out a squeak as some of the wine splashed on here too. "Also, no ruining my dress!" She giggled and took a drink. Giggled? Taliyah had never giggled before. She knew that. Taliyah did not giggle...yet she had. Damn alcohol after a long time without it.

"I have never been there, but I think anywhere with you will be incredible..."

What. The. Fuck. Was. Wrong. With. Her?

Taliyah wanted to shift so she was laying longways with Arastan. She did not want to flip them out of the hammock though. Decisions decisions.
 
"Oh, I assure you it will be. Especially Fal'addas, the place is old and run by a bunch of geezers stuck in the past, but the place is amazing. The area around it is filled with incredible sights and people."

Of course, there were some small detours that Arastan planned on making while they were out there, but Taliyah might like those too.

He saw what she was trying to do and smiled and grabbed her by the arms. He tried to be gentle, but also grip her strongly. He picked her up and swiftly helped move her so that was laying the long way with him. The sudden movement once again threatened to spill them onto the floor, but Arastan shifted his weight at the last second to keep them in the hammock. Maybe Arastan had spent too much time in this hammock if he was this comfortable in it.
 
Taliyah laughed as Arastan moved her to lay with him and almost killed them both. Death via hammock...it had to be a thing. She held her hand out for her glass that he had placed safely on the ground before moving her. Once she had it, she took a long drink and looked over at Arastan.

"I am just excited to be traveling with you, honestly. I like being with you, Arastan. I feel at peace and happy." She took another drink and then another. Why was she talking about feelings? Alcohol. Damn it all.

"This is a very comfy hammock," she followed up rather quickly before she got embarrassed by the silence between them.
 
"I...I do too Tal. It's been so long since I just had someone I could talk to like this." He pulled her closer into his grip and relaxed deeper into the hammock if that was even possible.

He wished that this moment could last forever. Since that was not really possible, then he would settle for just having a damn good time. He grabbed the bottle of wine and poured a good amount of wine into his mouth spilling more than a little bit onto himself.

Arastan hiccupped a moment then chuckled before leaning into Taliyah and whispered "We could have a happy night together. I don't know about it being peaceful." He laughed at the last part before leaning in to kiss her.
 
Taliyah laughed when Arastan drank from the bottle and she finished her glass at the same time. He was way more drunk than she was but she was feeling good and fuzzy with her whole two glasses. Damn captivity had really messed with her tolerance.

Arastan's whispered words sent chills through her entire body and before she could respond, his lips were on hers. She smiled and kissed him back, the empty glass falling into her lap and no doubt leaving a stain. Taliyah brought her hand to his cheek as she parted her lips to deepen the kiss with more passion.

The little bit in the back of her mind told her that this was a terrible idea. He was a prince and she was nothing. They were drunk. They should not do this. She shut the door on that voice and just continued to kiss her Prince.
 
Arastan smiled but never broke the kiss when he felt Taliyah deepen the interaction. This was what Arastan really enjoyed, getting lost in the passions, ignoring whatever else the world had to throw at him. He could just focus on one thing...her.

He continued their passionate kissing as his fingers trailed over her shoulders before his fingers stopped at the shoulder of her dress, dangerously close to pulling it down.

Then, there came the noise of someone clearing their voice behind them. Standing in the doorway was a tall, regal elven woman that seemed to radiate an authoritative aura. Her porcelain skin and white hair, accompanied by a white dress with accents of silver seemed to give her a rather cold appearance. Something only improved by her icy facial expression.

Her youthful appearance did not exactly make sense with her authoritative and mature demeanor, but with elves, one could never be to sure.

"I believe my son has a busy day tomorrow and he should perhaps get some rest."

The way she spoke left little room for an argument like she was used to whatever she said being immediately followed out. This entire time her cold gaze never wavered from Arastan and Taliyah.

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Taliyah pulled away from Arastan as soon as she heard the throat clear. She would have jumped if it was not for the fact that she was in a hammock and being held tightly against the Prince. She felt the blush of embarrassment creep up to her scarred cheeks and she bit her bottom lip.

The woman was stunning and scary. She tried to move further away from him but she could not seem to do it without falling out of the hammock. Taliyah just looked at Arastan with a pleading face. She could not not - would not - say anything to the Queen in her drunken state.
 
Arastan would have rolled his eyes all the way into the back of his head if he could when he heard the voice. Just once he would like it if his fun was not ruined by his pestering mother. He looked at Taliyah sadly before lifting her up and gently placing her feet on the floor.

Of course, as soon as he managed to get her out of the hammock, his several close calls caught up to him. The hammock twisted and he spilled out onto the floor. Arastan laughed as he slowly got up to his feet,

"Ah, hello mother. Would you like a drink?"

The queen of Aellevanda showed no signs of finding this situation even remotely humorous. She sighed in contempt as she looked at her son, before slowly turning to look closely at Taliyah.

"Please leave him for the night. His...hobbies require that he sleep...alone." She mentioned the last part as an afterthought.
 
Taliyah was standing now and she reached out to help Arastan but he was on the ground before she could even attempt to catch the hammock. His mother was clearly not amused by any of this and Taliyah just looked at the ground. This reminded her of when she got in trouble at the fighting pits. There was nothing she could do but nod and obey.

"Yes, apologies, your highness." Taliyah said quietly before scurrying off the balcony and out of Arastan's room.

She closed her door and leaned against it with a sigh. She was so torn right now. The Prince had kissed her and she had kissed him back. She had enjoyed it, but the look his mother gave her made her feel like the slave fighter she had been for the majority of her life.

Useless, disgusting, and nothing.

Taliyah crawled into bed after she had cleaned up some and it was not long before she fell asleep. The sleep was not restful though. She tossed and turned and worried.
 
Taliyah would hear the sounds of an argument brewing while she fled from the incident. That argument would last deep into the night, which was ironic since the Queen claimed that Arastan needed his sleep.

Eventually, the fight ended with the sound of something crashing before the Queen exited the room, perhaps with sign of tears on her face.

Eventually, Arastan did call for a servant to bring more wine, but he never called for Taliyah, deciding to let her sleep. He might be a drunken mess at the moment, but he understood the effect his mother could have on people.
 
Morning finally came and Taliyah just rolled over to face away from the window. She couldn't face Arastan today. Or ever. Maybe it was time for her to leave and go somewhere else. Where? She had no idea. She had no home, no family...she was alone in the world.

She did eventually get out of bed and dressed in dark blue pants with a sky blue top. It really brought out her icy blue eyes. She crept out of her room and slowly - very slowly - made her way to Arastan's room. She knocked lightly at his door as she looked down the long hallway to make sure the Queen was not about to sneak up on her.
 
Arastan had woken up earlier than usual and with a blistering headache. In some way, it was forcing a punishment on himself. His hedonistic tendency had resulted in an awkward situation for Taliyah.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he probably knew something like that would happen, maybe he even wanted to start a fight with his mom. Still, he should probably apologize to Taliyah when he got the chance.

He had gone and practiced with the sword, not because he had any desire to improve, but more because it was the simplest workout/punishment that he could think of.

On his return back to his room he spotted Taliyah knocking at his door. He smiled and silently walked up behind her.

"Who are we sneaking up on?" He asked with a grin behind her.
 
Taliyah was ashamed that she had jumped slightly when Arastan spoke from behind her. She had not heard him at all and that bugged her more than a little bit. She turned slowly and smiled awkwardly at him, "I was coming to see how you were feeling this morning and trying to make sure that your mother was not lurking..."

She felt bad for saying that but not bad enough to apologize. The Queen clearly didn't like her and she had no idea why. She had done absolutely nothing to her, Arastan, or Aellevanda so the hostility was unwarranted and unappreciated.

"Why does the Queen hate me?" She asked bluntly.
 
Arastan smiled at seeing her trying to put out a relaxed posture so as to make her comfortable. Of course, that was destroyed as soon as Taliyah asked her question. It was something that he was sure he was going to have to deal with, but he thought that he could push it off a little.

He scratched the back of his head as he took a moment to think of the correct words.

"She doesn't hate you. She's...She is just mad at me. I...I have a habit of dodging my 'princely' duties, according to her. She just thinks that you are another reason that I am not focusing on my role. I'm sure she would like you if she ever just spoke with you." He was not sure of that at all.

"It will be fine. Once we get going, I'll technically be performing my duties and still traveling with you, so she can't be mad at that."
 
Taliyah smiled at Arastan and leaned against the wall next to his door. "When are we leaving?" She was excited to be with him even if it was with a whole delegation of people as well. She was not sure how long the trip was going to take but he made it sound like it was going to be a while.

"Also," she started and looked down. Did she want to bring this up? Should she? "I think we need to talk about what happened last night...especially if we are going to be traveling together..." Taliyah looked like the shy, unknowing girl she had been when she had first been rescued.
 
"We will leave tomorrow. I have to get a few things ready before we leave. You should do some packing too. We will begone for a few months."

The second question was far more difficult for Arastan to answer which made him hesitate to answer.

"It was...definitely something...It was just the drinks getting to us." Right? That was what he knew his mother wanted to hear, and that was what he thought Taliyah wanted to hear. Anything more would make things too complicated between them.
 
That was not what Taliyah wanted to hear but she did not press the issue. She just smiled tightly and nodded. "Right. I will go pack..."

She nodded at Arastan and headed back to her room. She was not sure what to pack besides clothing and her sword. She did not really have anything so packing was easy enough.

Taliyah did not leave her room again. She spent her day being upset with herself, sipping on wine, and reading.
 
Arastan watched her walk away with a worried frown on his face. He should have told her his feelings, but that would just made things more complicated. All of this was getting complicated.

For the rest of the day, Arastan went out of his way to keep himself busy. That meant actually performing a few 'princely' duties that his mother and father were surprised to see.

This trip was going to be fun.
 
The next morning a servant came to fetch Taliyah and her bags. She was a little disappointed that it was not Arastan who greeted her but she figured he was busy getting ready to leave. She was not special and did not warrant any special treatment.

She stopped to see the weapons master on her way to meet Arastan and the delegation. He smiled at her and handed her silver sheathed rapier and a note. She smiled as she read it and held it to her chest for a moment before she tucked it in her pocket. Taliyah picked up the sheath and drew the rapier with a gasp. It was beautiful and perfect. Perhaps his words the previous night had been a lie.

She attached the rapier to the sword belt that the weapons master had given to her and headed out to meet Arastan. She was ready to get out of the city.
 
Kill him now!

It was still early in the day and the nagging of his captain of the guard and his advisors were already threatening to make the young prince snap. He did not need to be aware of every minute detail of this trip, and if they thought they could keep this up for weeks then they were sadly mistaken.

His slow torture was ended when he caught sight of Taliyah. His smile grew even wider when he saw the sword at her hip. It looked perfect on her. Without anything else being said, he quickly removed himself from the badgering of the delegation and walked over to Taliyah.

"So, what do you think? You like it right?"
 
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