Private Tales Where Even the Stones Scream

[Keres]

Her brow creased faintly No, she didn’t believe he would allow it. But if their blades had found her throat when they had the chance, there would have been precious little he could have done to stop it. He wouldn’t allow her death because she was 'his'. Because if she was to die, it would be by his will alone. And because he took far too much pleasure in breaking her himself to let anyone else ruin the game.

She shook her head slowly at his insinuation, dark hair clinging to her damp cheeks. Afraid? She denied it, but she wouldn't give breath to the word knowing her voice would betray her, crack open with everything she was holding back and betray the lie.

When his hand came to her cheek she tried to turn away, am instinctive recoil, but his grip tightened. A sharp nail brushed close to her eye, not quite touching, close enough that the message was clear. Her jaw locked, teeth grinding as she held his gaze, refusing to flinch even as the threat hummed between them.

But the fire inside her was guttering.

The adrenaline that had kept her upright bled away, leaving dizziness in its wake. The room swayed, her vision darkening at the edges as her legs began to weaken beneath her. She scowled at him through it, hatred burning hot, even as her strength failed.

“I… hate you,” she breathed, the words barely more than a rasp, before her legs gave way..

 

[Alarak]

Alarak caught her, other arm wrapping around her waist to hold her. She had been through much, he supposed. Poisoned and beaten. Scarce any rest.

A crucible, refining away impurities.

"Hate can make you strong," he replied softly as he held her there. Then the king lifted her. A flash of pain slipped through his features and his knee seemed almost to buckle for a moment. It was gone just as soon as it came.

Stepping back, Alarak raised a hand and wrapped his will around her, levitating her with nothing but his mind. He gestured over to the bed and slowly she drifted to it. He lowered her down atop fine sheets dyed in Tyrian purple, plundered from some merchantman in years passed.

Alarak stood over the bed, hardly moving, a frown creasing his brow.

"There is still some of the poison in your bloodstream."

He rested a hand on her forehead and briefly closed his eyes, muttering a spell under her breath. His palm glowed an ominous red and a surge of heat tore over her.

"I've purged it."

Keres

 

[Keres]

Panic flared the moment her feet left the floor.

She twisted weakly in his hold, fingers clutching at the front of his tunic.. Her body betrayed her, shivering despite her effort to still it, knowing he'd feel every tremor. She hated that. Hated the way exhaustion stripped her bare.

Weakness was punished. Vulnerability was punished.

But her limbs ached, heavy and unresponsive, and when he set her upon the bed she folded in on herself instinctively, drawing her knees up. She could not make herself look at him looming there, watching. The sheets were softer than anything she remembered. She should have recoiled from this place, from the dark elf’s bed, from the perverse safety it offered.

But there was nowhere else she would have felt safe enough to close her eyes tonight. They would come for her again, and right now she had nothing left to give, no strength to fight, no fire to burn them away. If she could just sleep. Just for a little while.

When his hand settled against her forehead she flinched, then stilled. Heat poured through her, searing and strange and achingly familiar, and a quiet sound slipped from her lips before she could stop it, a breathy sigh, half relief, half surrender. She pressed faintly into his palm, eyes squeezed shut against the red glow.

It felt good. His magic always did.

Her lashes fluttered, heavy as stone, the world narrowing to warmth and the distant crackle of the hearth. Her voice came in a whisper..

“I can’t go back to my chambers…” she swallowed hard. “Threnody…” The name faded as her eyes slipped closed, sleep dragging at her whether she willed it or not.

 

[Alarak]

"Shh. Rest," he smoothed away a strand of hair from her face as sleep took her.

Outside, the storm raged on. But within his private chambers she was as safe as anywhere else inside the fortress. Alarak knew Ravenna would be furious at the failure of the Wardens to get rid of Keres. A knot he would need to untangle eventually.

The king moved to stare out the window and at the dark, wind-whipped surface of the sea far below.

The hours passed and eventually the storm broke.

Daylight came to find Alarak resting in the bed beside Keres. He wore a simple black silk robe with silver embroidery that hung half-open, loosely bound by a sash at the waist. Nothing beneath save the lines of gray musculature. He wore sable trousers as well, though his boots sat by the door.

Alarak held an ancient tome in his hands, the vellum of dubious origin, studying the words.

Keres

 

[Keres]

Sleep claimed her utterly; deep, dark, and mercifully empty. No dreams clawed at her mind, no memories stirred. She felt weightless upon the feather-soft bed, cocooned in warmth, aware only of a steady presence beside her. It was enough. Enough safety to let her guard finally slip, to let her body take what rest it had been denied. One arm had drifted across the sheets in sleep, her fingertips brushing fabric, his robe, before stillness took her again.

Light eventually found her. It seeped through her closed lids, coaxing a faint furrow into her brow. She stirred, eyes squinting open as she blinked the haze away, disoriented for a heartbeat. Then her focus sharpened, and she froze.

Her hand drew back at once, fingers curling to her chest as she stared at him in silence. Reclined beside her, absorbed in a book, he looked… almost ordinary. Relaxed. Normal, in a way that unsettled her more than his cruelty ever had.

She turned away quickly, pushing herself upright, a hand dragging down her face before combing through hair that had dried into unruly waves. The storm inside her chest had quieted, but it had not vanished.

With her back to him, she spoke softly, the question heavy despite its calm.

“What are you going to do about Ravenna?..”

 

[Alarak]

Ah.

She wakes at last.

And as ever, a thorn in his thoughts. Pricking him. Barely conscious again for a handful of moments and already pressing him.

It was almost impressive, if it did not irk him so.

"Ravenna will see reason in time," he didn't glance over at her, finishing the sentence he'd been reading before her interruption. "Until then, I will take additional precautions lest you end up food for gulls below the fortress walls."

He had never let a slave sleep in his chambers before, much less his bed.

Not since...

But no matter.

"You'll remain here. For now."

Keres

 

[Keres]

Keres let out a soft, humourless scoff, turning just enough to glare at him over her shoulder.

“See reason?” she echoed. “I don’t want her to see reason. I want her to see punishment.” Her lips pressed thin. “Or am I the only one you ever see fit to punish?”

She shook her head faintly, irritation threaded with exhaustion. “I may matter little,” she muttered, “but I didn’t think you were the sort to let open disobedience pass so easily.”

Carefully, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and rose. Her body protested, muscles stiff, bruised and aching, but she stayed upright. She tested her balance once more, steadying herself with a slow breath. Then his words caught up to her.

Remain here...

Her spine stiffened. “I don’t want to stay here,” she said at once, the refusal sharp, instinctive. Just as quickly, the image of her own chambers surfaced, blood on stone, a lyre fallen silent, and her voice faltered.

For a moment she said nothing, gaze fixed on the floor. When she looked at him again, it was wary, quite aware that she was in no position to be listing out her demands to him. She was certain he'd remind her.

“Perhaps.. a room closer to this one?”

 

[Alarak]

"Fascinating. Issuing demands even after near murder. Or perhaps it made you bolder."

Alarak let out a dry laugh.

"You will stay in this tower. Not in this room."

His hands shut the tome with a solid thud and he set it aside.

"But for this very moment, you will indeed stay here. If I dared you to walk to the lower level you would try and likely fall and fracture your skull halfway down," his lips twitched.

"I will excuse your present tone on account of your feats yesterday. And... I will allow you a diversion of your choice. Do you wish for a book? To paint?"

Ah. But she might be unable to read. Village girl.

Alarak cocked his head to one side.

"Sit back down."

Keres