Fable - Ask Wild Kelpies for a Prince

[Ianthe]

Maybe it was the alcohol still in her system, or the hangover that clouded her senses, but it was far longer than she was proud to admit before Ianthe sensed there was somebody watching her eat. It startled as a prickle along the back of her neck, and then her arms. Her eating slowed just a fraction as she shifted her fork subtly enough to...

With the quick reflexes the kelpies were known for Ianthe turned and launched the fork prongs first before the assumed enemy lurking in the doorway.

 

[Saang Lusce]

THUNK.

The fork sunk home right into his sternum and took him so by surprise that it knocked the wind out of his chest.

"Huuh!" went Saang before his hungover legs gave out from beneath him and he crumpled in the doorway.

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe stared at the slumped Lord trying to puzzle out what in this image was wrong.

Stalker - wounded - check.
Breakfast - mostly undisturbed - check.
Satisfaction - deserved from a good throw - lacking.

Why?

"Oh," the realisation dawned on the kelpie like the slow revelation of the stars on a cloudy night. "OH. Saang!" leaping to her feet she nearly tripped over them, then the chair, as she stumbled towards him and dropped down to the floor by his side.

"Shit, shit, shit. Why were you just standing there for fuck sake?!" she cursed and shook him as though it might shake sense into him.

 

[Saang Lusce]

"G-good morning," he greeted her meekly from his newfound place on the floor. It wasn't the first time he'd been here, not even the first time unintentionally, but most definitely the first time from a drive-by forking.

"You just looked-" hnnnnngngngng as she shook him, "- so peaceful."

A hand latched unfirmly around one of the hands presently shaking him in an attempt to get her to stop.

"I didn't want to ruin the moment... but I guess I did anyway." He smiled through a wince and a sudden realization of something as he carefully pushed himself to sit up, "This seems to be a running theme for me with you lately."

And a glance down to the fork in his chest, now dripping blood all over his bathrobe and parquet floors.

"I suppose I had this coming."

 

[Ianthe]

Without bothering to wait for his permission nor to give him a word of warning, Ianthe reached out and yanked the fork from her previous masters chest.

"Oh so it's my fault for just sitting there looking peaceful?" she waved the bloodied fork under his nose as she lectured. "Weren't you the one who made the rule about not sneaking up on kelpies? And you better clear this blood up, I'm not getting the blame after D just washed the floor," with a glower she stood then, after a hesitation, offered her hand out to him.

 

[Saang Lusce]

"HGUH-" said Saang, eyes bulging, as the fork was then retrieved from his sternum. He was too hungover to take any of this with grace. He bit back a whine and eyed the kelpie as she stood before mouthing the word OW.

A hand lifted to rub at the holes left behind, smothering the wound with internal flames that bled through until it sealed shut again, leaving behind four little pinprick scars among a criss-crossing mesh of his tribal tattoo collection. He was about to make the massive effort of getting back to his feet when he looked up again to see her hand waiting for him.

Unusual.

"I am not blaming you for anything," he took her hand and clasped it firmly, immediately reminded of her strength as she hoisted him to his feet with seemingly little effort.

But he didn't let go, "Wait... please? I want to say something to you."

 

[Ianthe]

Memories of the previous night rose unbidden in her mind and she attempted to snatch back her hand.

"We don't need to talk," she said briskly, half turning back towards the breakfast table. "We drank too much. Lets leave it at that."

 

[Saang Lusce]

She drank too much. Saang had barely enough at the party to even feel it. His drinking happened much, much later after Ianthe had already been put to bed.

His grip snugged around her hand just enough to give resistance against her retreat and try to tug her back, but if she really struggled she'd slip free.

"I'm sorry," he said, the words exiting loudly from all the hours spent holding them in, "Ianthe, I'm so sorry."

"I should have never left your side last night. I should have stayed and danced with you the entire night."

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe froze.

Saang had apologised to her before over the years of course. In fact, she had told him off numerous times for apologising: it was embarrassing for both of them. But this apology was different. It wasn't about her mistreatment or the wider political bindings that had ensnared them both it was... personal. Had she said aloud why she had been upset to him? Surely not. She hadn't been that drunk... had she? The apology made her feel vulnerable. Like he had peeled everything back and glimpsed a truth she hid behind sneers and rage.

Her eyes flickered from their usual chocolate hue to violet. Chocolate. Violet. Chocolate.

"You have responsibilities. I understood," she looked away.

 

[Saang Lusce]

"That's true," he nodded, slowly moving toward her where she stood rooted to the spot, "I do have many responsibilities and you have always been understanding. But," his brow furrowed.

Many truths had been told once the drink began to flow last night, even if they hadn't exactly been provided as elucidation to questions. Disdain spat at him for his actions to shield his sisters, the truth had been plain to see between the lines.

"My sisters are old enough now to face the consequences of their own actions. I've been their only protector for so long I couldn't see them as anything but babes needing protecting."

He still had a hold of her hand and his grip loosened, only to squeeze it meaningfully, impressing that same comforting warmth he'd given her while she was sick, "I asked you to join me at the event because I wanted to see you and spend time with you. I missed you ... and I squandered it on things I should have left alone. Things that outgrew their need for my attention long ago. Things that need to learn to live their own lives in their own freedom."

"You had every right to deny my request but you showed up and that-" Saang frowned, "do you know how happy that made me to see you there?"

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe squirmed uncomfortably. She knew a reasonable female would rush to ease his guilt and assure him that his actions had not really upset her, not truly, for she was understanding and caring and sweet and--- Well the kelpie was none of those things and never would she be. For her to say such things was such a lie the fae rules that bound their kind wouldn't so much as let her move her lips to mime the words. She stared at their hands instead as he used it as an anchor around which to pivot himself. Move closer, move her closer, change their positions from a man keeping a woman against her will to one asking her to stay.

Her heart shuddered in her chest at his last words, ached with relief to finally have had that question answered.

"No, I don't," she replied flatly, shrugging on the well oiled armour of anger and cruelty. "I don't understand why you wanted me in the first place -- or why I went," she sucked in a breath and finally pulled her hand free, running it through her shaggy blue mane. "You got what you wanted from the Kelpie packs, Saang. I don't understand what you want from me."

Or why I jump to do it.

 

[Saang Lusce]

His own eyes lingered on their hands as well, knowing just how rare it was that they shared physical touch at all. The kelpies of the Night Court feared touch for many good reasons, and even if he had been a gentle handler it had not stopped the others from using their might to keep the kelpies in line. His brow knit as he thought on this, watching her hand free itself from his own and feeling the void within his palm profoundly.

"You," he pressed on with the most simple response he could muster, taking another step closer and lifting his gaze to her own, even if she would not meet it. With the height difference his head bowed to lean in toward her, and though he above anyone should know not to stand so close to a kelpie, he didn't care.

He'd take every fork, blade, and scathing word she had straight to the heart if it meant being close to her.

"I want you."

 

[Ianthe]

Stubbornness kept Ianthe's feet rooted to the ground, refusing to give up an inch as he stepped closer and closer. But she wished for once she had given up space if only so she had somewhere to go, somewhere else to look when he finally announced what it was he wanted. Her mind leapt traitorously to a conclusion that would only lead to heartache. Sense told her it couldn't be that. Couldn't be the thing that in the darkest parts of the night she allowed herself to quietly dream on.

"To do what?" she attempted to feigned casual ambivalence but her voice broke towards the tend, the intensity of the look in his eyes stripping away all the little tricks she employed to create her armour.

Ianthe swallowed and finally took a small step back.

"Please don't play with me about this Saang..." she whispered hoarsely.

 

[Saang Lusce]

To do what.

Saang had to hold back on the smile he felt creeping into the corners of his mouth. She was playing obtuse on purpose, but he supposed she had the right way of it. He'd spent plenty of his years luxuriating in the ability to hook the lust and desires of others on his line. There was a queue of broken hearts miles long in the Night Court and he often had to dodge exes whenever he was at Court. Though his father had wanted to marry him to the Princess, petitioned it even to the young Prince, no decision on the matter had been made.

And wouldn't be until after the war between brothers was settled.

Lately, though, his bed had remained empty for want of something he did not think he had any right to have.

"Piles and piles of wreaths outside my tent..." even if he hadn't been back since he'd left for his campaign through the clans, he knew those piles had grown. Each subsequent clan he'd garnered membership with had come with countless more. He'd become a spectacle and something of a celebrity.

"And there's only one wreath that interests me...but it hasn't been made yet."

"I want you at my side as my mate, Ianthe," the space between them remained and he looked at it with understanding. There would be no forcing Ianthe against her will anymore. This she had to choose for herself. Instead of stepping forward to close the distance again, he offered her an open hand, palm up.

"But you have to want it, too... I gave you your freedom to live the life you wanted. The life you deserve. And I wouldn't blame you for not wanting this after all we've been through."

 

[Ianthe]

The kelpie stiffened at the mention of wreaths outside of his tent. She had tried not to think how many more he might have gathered as he had toured the other clans. She had spied hints of the other tattoos, marks, talismans and skulls the other clansmen wore to mark themselves over Saang's person both last night and this morning. If he had passed those like he had her own tribes, she had no doubt he had awoken every morning to a fresh pile of kelpie mares and stallions asking for his hand.

A muscle feathered in her jaw as she ground her teeth, that wave of green rising inside of her made worse by her hungover state.

"No you don't," she crossed her arms across her chest tightly as though attempting to hold her very heart together.

"You just aren't used to not having me around. You love another. I saw it during the trials. I don't... I don't share hearts with others," her nostrils flared as she let out a harsh breath. That trial had stuck with her the most.

 

[Saang Lusce]

"Trials?" it took him a moment to puzzle that out. Now with dozens of trials freshly under his name, he had to recall that the only ones she'd been present for were those of her own clan. The second trial where he-

"Ah-" and that did color the fae's cheeks with a flush of embarrassment and shame, which was rather unlike him given how promiscuous and free he'd been for the vast majority of his life. "You speak of Prince Tulok."

A somber note then filled his expression, brow setting over the resolution he'd made to himself at the tail end of the third trial.

"It is true. I did love him for many years ... though I have not loved him for a long time now." Too much had happened between them since the splitting of the Court. Saang had changed while the Prince grew only more horrible. "What you saw is not something I am proud of. He haunts me and I hate myself for it."

"You should know I intend to kill him and break his throne. I mean to end this war on my own terms."

 

[Ianthe]

That made the kelpie blink. And blink again. She opened her mouth to say something before closing it. A tense silence settled between them and Ianthe could think of nothing to break it with. What he said was treason. Treason far beyond the 'treason' they had all committed in picking a Prince.

"I am too hungover for this conversation," she declared finally and rubbed her temples where a throbbing headache had begun to pound, though she suspected it had nothing to do with the alcohol in her system and everything to do with the implications of another layer to this bloody civil war.

"Is that why you want me as a mate? To fight on your side? Do you think I would not do that for you anyway?"

 

[Saang Lusce]

"Hm," a sympathetic smile and hushed laugh that agreed with her on that end. This... had probably not been the best time for such a heavy conversation, but he had not trusted her to hang around long enough for there to be a right time.

The fingers of his open hand curled inward and his eyes dropped to stare at it. He'd of course been willing to accept her rejection if it came to that, having weighed the likelihood that she'd tell him to fuck off and answer with a fist to the groin.

This was at least going better than he'd expected, but not as good as he had hoped. The fork to the chest was a surprise.

His brow pinched at the suggestion that he'd only wanted her for the fight and he frowned more deeply. "Fighting with you by my side has often been the greatest of thrills in my life," those fingers curled into a fist, "and there is no one I want at my side for this war more than you. But that is not why, Ianthe."

"The reason I stopped loving him ... why I want you as my mate, is because I fell in love with you."

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe could list perfectly the name of every lover Saang had taken since she had begun to feel her eyes linger on him as he had left the Stables. Each one had been written with a knife into her very flesh and a pain she had been willing to bear. It had reminded her of how stupid she was to indulge in the fantasy he might one day look at her the way she looked at him. She had never thought when he would finally confess his love, it would be a similar pain.

Her face crumpled.

"I have given you everything you have ever asked of me," she whispered hoarsely, her hand fisting and coming to rest against her chest where her heart hurt with every beat. "I can't be another mark on your bedpost Saang. Please...don't do this to me. Don't say pretty things like you have to your other lovers if this will end the same as them."

 

[Saang Lusce]

An eyebrow twitched at that. Yeah, that sordid past of his was always going to come back to bite him in the ass and he had no excuses for his behavior aside from the usual.

"That's..." worry lined his brow now, "that's a completely fair concern. I have a bad track record, I know."

Words wouldn't fix the past. Nothing would.

"I don't have anything pretty to say that can undo it. I am sorry you had to know me at my worst. But the truth of the matter is, I haven't taken a lover in years. Pleasure has long since fallen in priority to what matters most. Keeping my family safe. Securing a future for those I care about that doesn't involve all the horrible things they've had to endure till now."

He looked back to Ianthe, his hand slowly withdrawing, "I've earned the trust of the clans but I've lost yours somewhere along the way. For that I'm sorry. I didn't come here expecting anything from you, certainly not a decision on your part. I know it's not that simple but I needed you to know how I felt... and I will do what I can to earn back that trust. I care about you. Deeply so... and I just want you in my life, even if it is only as friends and allies."

 

[Ianthe]

The part of herself she kept a secret yearned to take his hand when he let it drop, but Ianthe had suffered too many losses, too many broken promises, to let that foolish part of her take control right now. Saang might have treated her fairer than the other handlers, might have given her her freedom but he had also told countless lovers that he loved them. She had heard him sigh over every shade of eye colour, think of songs for shades of hair from red to purple, had seen him forget them all as a new favourite took centre stage.

She didn't want to be forgotten.

As an ally - perhaps even a friend - she couldn't be forgotten. Not like his faceless lovers. Wasn't it better to be at a safe closeness than be burnt?

Ianthe blinked back tears.

"I need to go," this had all been a terrible mistake. Stepping round for him she made for the door.

 

[Saang Lusce]

"Please don't," he reached for her again, this time gently hooking a hand around her shoulder, "don't go. Don't run away from me. Stay here - I'll give you all the space and time you need."

"I want you to stay."

He wanted to know she didn't hate him completely. The idea of her running out of his life nearly gutted him and he cursed himself for the complete and utter bungle he'd made of the event. Why. Why had he allowed the immaturity of his sisters to steer him off the path of the things he wanted most?

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe stiffened at his touch but she did stop, though she could not bring herself to look at him. There were too many things she wanted to see in his face. Knew there would be just enough there to convince her he truly felt what he said. She didn't believe him to be a liar - the fae couldn't lie after all - but...

"You're not in love with me Saang. You miss having me around and... I think you've convinced yourself you care for me in that way," her voice cracked with pain but she ploughed on before she lost her nerve. "And I can't... I can't let myself enjoy the lie because it will kill me when it bursts."

 

[Saang Lusce]

Enjoy the lie...?

For a moment he'd been willing to let her go, but that line changed his mind with great immediacy. His bare feet padded after her, "You know I'm not lying," there was a very strong inclination to let the desperation of his feelings out in his words, but kelpies did not view that sentiment with any respect.

No, he had to buckle down, especially now that he knew she'd enjoy anything with him at all.

"You know I can't lie!"

"I am in love with you Ianthe," Saang stated again. Loudly, clearly, with undeniable conviction.

"There are no pretty words because what I feel for you cannot be described by anything but the truth," she was right. He'd recited countless pretty words for countless pretty fae - pretty words to walk around the lies.

He reached for her again, trying to stop her, "If you do not want me then look at me and tell me - because if it is not you, it cannot be anyone else."

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe knew she was letting him catch her. She could have danced out of the way of his hand as it reached for her arm again when she had tried to move past him. She could have put him on the floor even now with his hand on her. She could have and she should have... then why didn't she.

Her eyes stayed on the hand on her upper arm as she gathered the last of her strength to do what he demanded.

"I--" Ianthe raised her eyes finally to his with every intention of telling him where to kindly fuck off with his false proclamations. But the moment she looked at those eyes, eyes she knew better than her own, her throat closed up. She could only stare at him as emotions she had never been taught to handle, for she had never been allowed to have them, crashed through her.

A single tear rolled down her cheek caused by emotions with no other healthy outlet.