Fable - Ask Wild Kelpies for a Prince

[Saang Lusce]

Lusce Manor
Following the debacle of the Goblin Market


This evening had not gone at all as planned. What should have been an easy trip to the Goblin Market to find Ianthe, explain the mission, and bring her home had turned into nothing short of a drive by kelpie-napping with a hint of sibling abuse along the way. Two Lusce daughters had been grounded, one had been kicked in the face so forcefully her nose had been broken, and now Mama Lusce was on the warpath.

Saang hated when his mother was in a foul mood, it made everything else he had to do at least a thousand times more dramatic.

He'd extricated himself from his mother's temper after putting the girls to bed, and made his way into the southern wing of the manor where his quarters, his parents quarters, and the guest rooms reside. Ianthe had stayed here with his family plenty enough to know her way around by now, but that didn't mean he shouldn't still check in on her. It was only proper - manners, and whatnot. But also he didn't trust that she wasn't already enacting an escape.

Knok knok knok.

His knuckles rapped on her door.

"Ianthe ... may I come in?"

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe was straddling the window ledge when there came a soft rap rap rapping against her bedroom door.

Tea with the Lusce Matriarch had been nothing short of a torture most foul. In fact, Ianthe had been tortured in her life in the typical fashion - blades, the plucking of nails and the like - and she would have skipped into the torturers chair rather than had to listen to the whatever-the-fuck club the woman called her underground women's rights movement. Ianthe hated fairytales and that, that was nothing short of one. Women might get rights in the Night Court but it would be Duanann women, not the likes of Ianthe, so what was the point in even talking about it?

Torture.

The second she'd been allowed to leave she'd all but ran for her room where she'd barricaded herself and plotted her escape. An escape which had boiled down to jumping out of the second storey window. Not her finest but...

Ianthe gave a frustrated noise as she glanced from the door to her foot dangling out the window then back. With a curse she flung herself back into the room and onto the bed.

"Sure."

Here came lecture number two...

 

[Saang Lusce]

That took far too long to answer.

She was absolutely trying to escape. Saang entertained himself with imaginings of just how she thought she'd be doing so as he tried to open the door.

It opened ... an inch, and abruptly stopped against ... something. Whatever it was rattled in protest.

A long, weary sigh escaped the Warden as he plonked his forehead against the door, "Ianthe ... the door." Saang gave the door a little shovey jiggle for good measure. Rattle rattle rattle. Sure, he could have just he-manned it open and destroyed whatever was on the other side, but then he'd have a mess to clean up.

 

[Ianthe]

Oh... right

Ianthe glanced at the dresser she had shunted in front of the door to stop the Hell Spawn she had kicked from somehow entering her room. She didn't trust the little bastard not to get in. If she hadn't planned on going out via the window she might have set up some sort of trip wire. Strictly for protection. Any maiming in the process was merely a side bonus.

With a giant, long suffering sigh she rolled to her feet and begun shoving the dresser off the door so it could fully open. When it did she was standing a good few feet back with her arms folded sullenly over her chest and a look that could only be described as Kelpie rage on her face.

"What?"

 

[Saang Lusce]

He waited patiently, eyes wincing as the terrible, horrible, no-good, very-bad sound of dresser legs scrrnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnk-ing across hardwood floors announced the clearing of the door. You could take the Kelpie out of the wylds but you couldn't take the wylds out of the Kelpie. What did they have to worry about at home? Polished coral floors? No, he didn't think so.

When the soul grating symphony of gouged mahogany paneling stopped, he heaved a deep sigh and slowly pushed the door open. Kelpie rage met Lusce perturbance. Probably not quite as striking, but that was besides the point. He wanted to chide her about the floors and he almost did, but then his eyes spied the open window with the curtains billowing in on the salty sea breeze and the man's expression went flat as a pancake.

"The window? Really?" The obvious choice, but outside that window was a two story drop over a several-hundred-foot-high-sheer-rock-face-cliff with treacherous, boulder filled waters below. Saang's shoulders slumped slightly, jaw jutting out to the side, he took a sharp inhale through his nose and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.

"Don't...don't look at me like that, you were given free roam of the wylds in exchange for keeping your oath to the crown. You're being called in to duty," that had been the best deal he could broker for her when he'd saved her from her prison. She owed him and she knew it. "I apologize for the manner in which you've been called-" almost literally dragged in, "back in and I'm sorry about that entire debacle with the girls at the market. They weren't supposed to be there, but the little one is ...crafty."

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe stuck her chin out defiantly at his exasperated questioning of her escape routes. Fear was not a thing bred into Kelpies, and what little made it through by the natural laws of biology were promptly beaten out of them. A drop like the one she faced below barely caused her to batter an eyelid now. A tremendous thing for war horses, not so much for fae being told to climatize to the new order of things and given a life of their own for the first time.

Her expression soured into a sullen sulky thing as he pushed on with an apology. Apologies from Saang always made her uncomfortable and she couldn't quite place her finger ever on the why. Was it because he was the Master here when it boiled down to it? Or was it because of the invisible chain she felt about her throat, that sense of owing him?

Her nostrils flared as she gave a sharp snort.

"She's a cu--" Ianthe just caught herself before the slur then clamped her mouth shut and gave another frustrated snort. "What am I being called in for? The war has been quiet for years since the last battle..." and the disaster that had apparently been.

 

[Saang Lusce]

"She's a cu--"

"She's FIVE." Saang deadpanned at her, arms crossing at his chest. The age of his youngest sister seemingly having escaped her awareness. Though kelpies did not enjoy much of a childhood ... or, at least they hadn't. She hadn't. Now it was different, but Saang couldn't be sure just how much time Ianthe spent in the wyldes with her own kind anymore.

"Quiet does not equate to peace," the Warden responded with a frown, "some would say it is the quiet before the storm, but I'm more convinced we are sitting in the eye of the hurricane. Intel reports that Tulok is ramping up his army again ... he's breeding shucks and enslaving everything he can get his hands on to bolster his numbers. Prince Kana'ti has issued orders for recruitment, Ianthe. I need your help. I need you to lead me to the wild kelpie clans and help me recruit for the war."

His frown deepened, "Tulok already outmatches us in scale. If we can't meet him on the battle field and he wins this war ... no fae within a thousand leagues of Eretejva will be spared from his brutality."

 

[Ianthe]

The sounds of the crashing waves against the rock called to her like a sirens song and she drifted back towards the window to sit with her back to the wilderness beyond. It tugged at her, urged her to push herself backwards, but the echo of the Voiced command still hummed in her veins along with her reluctant vows that now trapped her in this situation. If it was possible her face turned even more sour and grim by the time he had finished.

"They don't want to fight, they're sick of fighting," so was she. At least... sick of fighting in someone elses war for someone elses crown for someone elses pride. Ianthe wanted to fight for her. Though she supposed Saang was right and that if Tulok won then that freedom would vanish or she would have to say goodbye to her homelands forever.

Swimming in warm seas just wasn't right.

An idea seized her and her head jerked up.

"Just come away with me, we can hide you in the wylds," and then her debt would be repaid by saving his life in turn. "You might prefer it."

 

[Saang Lusce]

It was the words he already knew and expected to hear, but hoped he wouldn't. The idea of war was taxing, the action of war was nothing short of soul-consuming. He was tired, too, he also wished for peace so he would no longer need to leave his family and risk his life on the battle field. The Warden's expression fell visibly - he might've been the best option to lead the Kelpies given his affinity powers and skills, but Saang was by far the most reluctant leader. When he lost a kelpie to the slaughter of battle it effected him deeply.

The thought of losing Ianthe ... whom he had become so very fond of over their years working together. He couldn't bear it, but he wasn't sure she understood that.

"I know," he offered finally, gaze dropping as well, "I know they don't. But soon they-"

"Just come away with me, we can hide you in the wylds," and then her debt would be repaid by saving his life in turn. "You might prefer it."

Saang's eyes switched back to her, briefly incredulous at such a suggestion and giving no effort to hiding his doubts and misgivings about such an idea. "And just leave my family here to be tortured and killed for my selfish decision? No, absolutely not." But this wasn't the first time he'd entertained the thought of taking his family away from this all and it only got harder to deny the possibility of a better life for them each time his father announced another betrothal for another sister.

He frowned, armored gauntlets balling into loose fists, "It's not that simple, Ianthe."

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe took a step back as though he had slapped her. Making such an offer had not come lightly to the kelpie who for her whole life had had nobody to care about but herself. It was anything but selfish to her. She should have, in retrospect, maybe at least considered the possibility he might have wanted to take his family with him but then again had he actually met his brat of a sister? The moment of hurt was quickly overrun by one of anger and irritation. Perhaps a tiny, tiny speck of jealously too.

She folded her arms over her chest and rearranged her expression back into a scowl.

"You High Fae never think it is that simple. With all your morals and your politics," she rolled her eyes skyward then gave a small snort. "Fine, if take you to them and can I go?"

 

[Saang Lusce]

"BECAUSE IT'S NOT THAT SIMPLE!" the bellow left his chest like a clap of thunder and he hated himself the moment it did. His eyes blazed with the burning of too many emotions and the air became saturated by waves of pent up anxiety.

"The lives of others hang on every decision I make at court and on the battle field, every single day! Every word I speak, every gesture I make has the potential to end disastrously for someone! One wrong move and five innocent lives snuffed, at a minimum. Do you think I revel in that?! If I died tomorrow do you know what would happen to my family? They would be DEVOURED by the Court - my sisters little more than vessels for producing heirs, sold off to the highest bidding noble male for a life of matrimonial torment, abuse, and chains. Just like what happened with you and your people under the Mad King. Do you think I want that? I don't want that for anyone, it has nothing to do with being a high fae."

Perhaps he was wasting his breath. Ianthe didn't see things the same way he did, she hadn't ever experienced the idea of family. He pitied her in a way because she didn't know that love, but in the same token he envied her the detachment of it all. He wanted it to be that easy.

Wanted that he could just walk away from all of it, uncaring of the fates of those he left behind. But Saang felt too strongly and deeply for any of that. He'd never abandon his family - he'd die first.

Blood boiling with anger, heat radiating from his form, he stared at Ianthe with the vestiges of his fury filtering off through the glow of fire in his eyes. "Yes," he said at length, tearing his gaze away from her, "take me to them and help me engage in a peaceful parley until an agreement is struck, then you can go."

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe's nostrils flared at the heat rising in the room and she took another step back to the window. There were no flames yet other than those glistening in his gaze, but the smallest glimpse of embers and the kelpie would be taking her chances with the rocks at her back. There was nothing in this world that would make her stand in a room of fire. The very real threat of her worst fear appearing in a confined space made his words fall on dead ears - not that they would have been much more receptive before. If she had heard the Lusce sisters had been sold off Ianthe would have barely battered an eye. What he spoke about, the torture, the fear, it had been every second of her life for 400 years; it was normality. At least their cages would have been gilded with gold sometimes. But Ianthe? The lesser fae? Her own mother would happily drag her back to a life a mistreated dog would pity.

Her jaw clenched but instead of saying anything she let her face go black and abruptly bowed at the waist.

"As you command."

Do the job. Get out.

"Goodnight."

And never think of the man before her again when she did.

 

[Saang Lusce]

"As you command."

The self-hatred folded in on itself. Saang grimaced at the words. This wasn't what he wanted. None of this was what he wanted. He couldn't help the continued lick of heated anger surrounding his figure, stoked by the impossible circumstances and no-hold situation. It set his jaw and fists clenched so tightly he could have shattered solstal armor.

"Goodnight."

This entire interaction had left a hideous taste on his tongue, and he turned with a scowl and left, closing the door sharply behind him. Saang half guessed she'd be gone by morning, out the window or some other way - wasn't as though she were locked inside. Ianthe had always been free to move about the estate when she stayed.

"Saang?" a quiet voice from the hallway he recognized as the most elusive of his sisters, Saelia, "Is everything alright? I heard... terrible shouting."

The man wilted internally, "Everything's-" falling apart, he wanted to say, "...don't worry, little doe, no more shouting." Saang moved toward her, lifting a hand to gently shepard the woman under his arm and walk with her back over toward the northern wing of the manor where her room was, "won't you tell me what you've been up to? I feel we haven't talked in ages."

Saelia smiled, "It's only been three days."

"Ages..."

Why couldn't it be this easy with Ianthe? How bitterly he hated the fact that she did not know this love.

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe let out a breath when the door banged shut, separating her both from him and the fiery heat that drove her senseless. Without fear clouding her mind in its mist she could think clearer and she drew back from the window which she was all but stood on the ledge of. The howling winds and the crash of the sea spray against the rocks below was comforting, welcoming. A stark harshness that had been her lullabies for as long as she could remember.

She threw herself dramatically down on the bed instead and pulled an all-too-perfect feather pillow over her head. Then screamed into it. She would have trashed the room to get out her frustrations and anger but she was scared of Saangs mother just enough that the thought was only a fleeting one. Once she had screamed out her anger and punched the pillow a good many times, she rolled onto her side and tried to force herself to at least rest. She'd need all her strength for the wyldes and the kelpies who called it home.

Morning came all too soon and Ianthe rose with the dawn. She made sure to leave the room exactly right before heading for the kitchens down the servants corridors she felt more at home using.

 

[Saang Lusce]

Saang ... didn't sleep well and did not join his family in the dining hall for breakfast. He took his meal in his room and excused himself from his mother's curious check-in. He was prepping for a dangerous assignment and needed time to strategize but oh, dearest mother, would you mind braiding my hair? Shyreen obliged, smiling fondly all the while and left him with a warm kiss on his head and a supportive squeeze of his shoulder. The girls were informed not to disturb their brother.

He arrived in the servants mess hall of the manor's lower levels a while later, black traveling cloak hanging over his shoulders while the faint glimmer of his scale suit shown through the open hem. Saang hadn't be sure he'd find here still here, but relief and a certain sense of fondness filtered over his face as he spied her blue hair among the various fae servants.

"Master Lusce!" the head servant immediately rose from her seat, wings beating frantically in the air, "Was something wrong with your meal, M'Lord? Did we forget anything?"

"No, Metti, everything was fine," he offered her an easy smile and lifted a hand to dismiss her worries, "I am just here to collect Miss Ianthe. Have you seen that she has everything she needs?"

"Of course M'Lord, we're always happy to serve Miss Ianthe."

Saang looked to Ianthe, his smile fading as he held back his usual you know you are more than welcome to eat with my family upstairs. Given everything that had happened last night, it was probably best she had her space ... away from Sybil and Sio.

"Are you ready?"

 

[Ianthe]

The hairs on the back of her neck rose on end a second before Saang walked through the door. As others rose in a little wave of bobbed curtseys and bows, the kelpie purposefully turned a cold shoulder in his direction and shovelled another mouthful of her breakfast into her face. Far too much of a mouthful. But she stubbornly chewed it with puffed out cheeks and shot a glare in Metti's direction when she called her Miss in front of Saang. That old hag wouldn't ever call her Miss to her face. She'd been switched enough when getting under foot to know exactly where Metti thought her place was in this household.

Metti gave her a placid, innocent smile in return.

"N-" she begun to answer round what was still in her mouth until she realised her bowl was empty. It had decidedly not been just a second ago. Fucking Domovoy. She threw her spoon down and stood up with a huff. "Looks like I am," her eyes ran over his form in open criticism then she snorted when she found a noticeable lack of things to criticise. "Let's get this over with," Ianthe grabbed up her pack and without a backward glance for any of the servants stalked off through the door that opened into the courtyard.

 

[Saang Lusce]

Well he wasn't wanting to hurry Ianthe along. Whether they left right away or in twenty minutes time made little difference to him. They had, what he believed, a several days long journey through the open ocean of the wylds to track down the wild kelpie clans. He much rather she leave with a full belly than-

"Looks like I am,"

Commence intense frowning.

He stood there as she eyed him up thinking very much that he wished their day wouldn't begin this way. But Ianthe was on a warpath, it seemed, and off she went. The Lord of the manor heaved a heavy sigh, kindly bid the servants goodbye, and left with their wellwishes echoing at his back. They liked him immeasurably more than his father. Since the Lusce Patriarch had moved into the capital there had been significantly less deaths and injuries to the staff. As in zero - by the hands of a Lusce, anyway.

He followed the kepie out into the courtyard and through the gate that lead to the clifface path. At the very least the weather was clear, if very much on the brisk and frigid side.

"Ianthe... would you-" Saang trotted after her, the woman could book it when she was peeved, "would you please wait for just a moment. I have something I need to say to you."

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe's bad mood didn't dissipate as she left the manors thick walls but it certainly diminished a little. 200 years she had been free of that wretched dungeon but thick stone walls still made her tense. She much preferred sleeping outside whatever the harsh weathers near a body of water. It allowed her to remember she was free of that hell. What was left of her bad mood was, of course, entirely Saang's fault and it probably would not ease until she was rid of him.

She hadn't realised quite the kind of pace she had set until she stopped and looked over her shoulder to see him still clambering up the path. Impatiently she folded her arms over her chest and studied the way the rosy dawn caught the highlights of magenta in his thick red hair that really made it look like a living flame.

"What?" she snapped, angry at herself for letting her mind wander in such a manner. Ianthe clamped her mouth shut then took a very deep breath and tried again. "There's nothing more to say, Master Lusce, I'm here to do a job that I said I would do. Neither of us are going to enjoy it. You want to get back... here," her eyes flickered with disdain to the manor. "And I want to be anywhere but. Let us just focus on that common goal, shall we?"

 

[Saang Lusce]

All the words in his head that he wanted to say were caught by the tide of Ianthe's anger and washed away from his conscious thought. He couldn't be sure if this was simple ire or if she had actually grown to hate him, though the idea of either option cut deep. Saang felt the boldness in his heart lapse at the edge of her gaze, like a confident and competent Captain at sea watching a maelstrom approach on the horizon.

It was beautiful and horrible all at once.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you last night," he said, trying to offer a verbal olive branch that he felt certain she'd refuse ... or take and snap into tiny pieces, "it was wrong. You don't deserve to be yelled at for being upset about the position I've put you in."

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe's nose scrunched up. She didn't enjoy being angry but when she was little more than a young filly, she had learnt that angry was better than sad. Sad was a weakness. Sad could be exploited. Nothing got better when you were sad. But anger? Anger was a fire. It could make a person powerful, and drive them even when they wanted to be sad. At some point in her 600 years of life, Ianthe had simply forgotten how not to be angry.

It was why she hated it when he looked at her that way. Why she hated when he was nice. She simply didn't know how to exist without anger.

"It's... it's fine," she turned away and aimed a kick at a rock. "I'm sorry I kicked your sister in the face," kind of.

 

[Saang Lusce]

He desperately wanted to reach out and hold her reassuringly like he would with his sisters, but time and again Saang had to remind himself that Ianthe was not like his sisters. A stark contrast in upbringings and culture had likely severed any hope of the kelpie being receptive to comforting gestures. Much like so many other things that instilled in him a deep discontent within the Night Court, he was staring at the back of one right before him.

The Warden witheld any words of gratitude for her apology namely because he wasn't sure she really meant it, but also he wasn't certain what to say. Thank you? It's ok? Kicking his baby sister would never be ok and he couldn't say thanks for a half measure, but he appreciated the effort all the same.

"She will remember it ... forever, most likely, but if it puts even half the amount of fight in her that there is in you, I know she'll grow up stronger for it. I just hope she doesn't hate you, it's the last thing I want ... more hate."

A heavy sigh sounded at Ianthe's back, mixing with the sounds of the ocean raging against the cliffs below, "Ready when you are."

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe's lips curved up into a smug, nothing-short-of evil, smirk. It was probably a good thing that Saang couldn't see it for it would have completely undone her apology and that, for Ianthe, had been hard work. There was nothing more pleasing however to hear he thought that the little wretch would be traumatised for months - if not years - to come by the whole thing. She hoped it played in her nightmares. And if it fuelled hate? Well, then the kid should thank her. Hate kept you alive in the Night Court.

They'd wandered to a part of the cliff where the rocks below were not so deadly even if the waves that crashed against its side were huge. Ianthe took a deep breathe and sighed in relief at the taste of salt and wilderness.

"I hope you realise how dangerous this is going to be," she commented, casting a final glance over her shoulder at him with her lips pressed together. Then, without another word, she dived off the cliff and into the waters below. Beneath the water her form vanished and a purple, silvery light suddenly pulsed. Then, from the waves popped a large scaly head of a kelpie.

 

[Saang Lusce]

He did, in fact, not see the disgustingly devilish look on the woman's face. Perhaps she'd forgotten how easy it was for him to read emotions ... Saang felt the dark mirth bubbling through her blood and sighed, eyes lifting toward the grey skies with no lack of exasperation. What had he expected? This was a kelpie he was dealing with.

"I haven't lived this long without some awareness of the constant threat to my life on a daily basis..." Saang replied, meeting her glance with his own face marked by lines of bemusement. He'd grown up in the Night Court, surrounded by fae who sought out every level of weakness to exploit and any excuse or opportunity to kill if it benefitted them. He may have been a male of high noble birth, but that had only made some things easier for him ... and others much more difficult.

Saang's gaze followed her figure as it dove with fearless abandon over the side of the cliff and into the waters below. With a final deep and leveling breath, the Warden leaned forward into his own diving arc, his figure shifting in a splash of red magic and reappearing in his large magpie form. Wings folded, he swooped down along the front of the cliff face, weaving through trees that clung to the stones, and pulled his dive as he neared the water's surface to skirt along the roiling and angry waves.

With the distance they needed to cover to get out to the deeper seas, he'd follow Ianthe's trail by air for now.

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe's deep purple eyes followed the males descent from the cliffs until the moment his body morphed into that of a bird. Even a high fae could get hurt diving head first into the rough waves if they were not used to it. Saang had been a handler of the Kelpies for longer than she had been alive but she worried about the last time he had truly swum with her kind. Was he out of shape? Those worries dissipated once he was safely in his magpie form and so she turned to dive beneath the waves and enjoy the sensation of the water over her true form.

There was an unexplained joy in the sensation of it.

Swimming naturally was the only time Ianthe felt real joy and she tended to get... lost in it. Which was why, even with the pressing need of time on her mind and the gravity of what they were heading for, the kelpie launched herself from the waves suddenly a good few miles on and splashed back down in an attempt to soak the bird following from above.

 

[Saang Lusce]

This would prove to be a difficult trail to follow if the kelpie didn't surface every so often for Saang to track. The magpie glided out over the waves, leaving the rise of the cliffs behind it, and watched with keen and beady eyes for the telltale glimmer beneath the surface. When there was nothing, Saang clicked his beak in disapproval. He could summon her through his Handler control, but he didn't like to have to. This wasn't their first mission together like this - she knew the protocol - but when the moments without a sign stretched out he felt himself getting itchy.

Had she really tried to swim off without him? Did she not understand the gravity of the situation he was in? It was so frustrating, sometimes, trying to convey these things to not just her but the other kelpies and indeed Saang reminded himself not to let it bother him - they were bred and raised this way - but couldn't she-

SPLOOOOOSH

The magpie squawked in surprise as from beneath the waves the untoward WATERPONY surged straight up into the air, nearly smacking into him in the process. Wings flapping as he flounced haphazardly through the air in an attempt to avoid a collision while remaining airborne, he managed only to right himself just in time for the brunt of the water to splosh across his wings.

"IANTHE!" the magpie screeched at him, flailing his wings about to rid them of water before dive bombing at her head when she next resurfaced, "You know I can't fly with soaked wings!"