Fable - Ask Wild Kelpies for a Prince

[Saang Lusce]

The silence was unbearably heavy and allowed the Lord's thoughts far too much freedom to wander and imagine. The death of his family members as consequence to his actions? Made him sick to his stomach just thinking about it. Made his resolve splinter. In that moment, he was stricken so forcibly and suddenly by a desperate need to return home, to see their faces and hold them in his arms just to be sure what his mind conjured up hadn't actually happened -

"Ianthe I-"

She placed something between them.

"They bring luck, for the next few trials..."

Saang blinked and instantly the need evaporated under the new wash of fresh confusion. His hand reached down to gently pluck the little thing up and inspect. He turned the doll over in his palm - so tiny it might've been one of the fae he'd killed today. Pressure built up in his chest as the doll made him think of little Sybille and how tiny she felt in his arms. Fierce as the sun, but so very very vulnerable in their home.

He couldn't leave. He had to see this through, he had to ensure the trust and alliance with the kelpies. He needed them to help save his family.

"Th-thank you," the words sounded over a broken voice. A mightier fae might've told her that they had no need for luck but Saang was just so grateful for her support. He looked up, and reached over, and before Ianthe knew it had drawn her into a hug of warmth and blooming waves of fondness.

 

[Ianthe]

Oh Vysha, was he going to cry? Ianthe's eyes begun to widen with the thought she might have to comfort a crying Saang and she moved as if to draw back when something even worse happened. He hugged her. There was no time to do little more than give a disgruntled noise of pain and terror as she was crushed to his chest and locked in tight. Her arms awkwardly hovered in the air unsure what to do with them and her body was as stiff as a starched sheet in his tender embrace. Ianthe couldn't actually recall the last time anybody had hugged her. Had she even been hugged before? Surely someone must have hugged her before... but no memories of her mother, father or siblings sprung to mind. Wrongtoe certainly would never stoop to hugging and she had no others in the way of friends.

In the end she decided upon patting him awkwardly on the back as she had seen some adults do with their young here when they were distressed.

"There, there," that's what people said when comforting another, wasn't it?

 

[Saang Lusce]

To his credit he did not cry, though he might've if they weren't surrounded by kelpies eager for any sign of weakness. The emotions were ripe for it and Saang wasn't a fae to deny himself of feeling things and letting them move him to action. Luckily it was the stark dichotomy of his warmth against her frozen discomfort that kept the tears in check.

"I'm sorry," he said while still holding the embrace, "I've forgotten myself but I can't help it."

Kelpies didn't like to be touched. He knew this, absolutely and fully, but sometimes these things just sort of got away from him and Ianthe wasn't just any kelpie. The pat and the there, there proved this much.

Saang let a tight chuckle out as his hold on her eased before releasing her, a trying smile on his face once more, "You can hit me for it later, if you want, but I need you to know how much I truly appreciate what you're doing here." For now, he would give her back her space and maybe try to sleep now that he felt somewhat better.

 

[Ianthe]

"Just..." Ianthe eyed him up warily as if she expected him to launch himself at her again. Her whole posture screamed that this time, she would be ready to run. "Don't do it again."

Though I suppose it wasn't that bad.

No, that was land dweller thinking! Her nostrils flared and she gave a small snort to rid herself of such ideas. There was nothing wrong with a good punch to the arm. She would have to teach Saang so he didn't go and hug the matriarch and go and cause an incident that would be sung about for years to come. She'd be humiliated.

Now that it was done and out of the way she folded her arms over her chest and gave him a stern look.

"I'm not doing anything, this is all you Saang. You're proving the kelpies owe you their loyalty."

 

[Saang Lusce]

A smirk pulled at his smile, just enough to show he'd begun to lift that onus of dark empathy fatigue, "No promises."

Why, when this was over, if he survived, Saang suspected he would wish to hold her so tightly out of endless gratitude. Until then, he would see the inclination checked should it arise again. Her stern look stoked the small spark of amusement, but now that he had a grasp of his emotions once again he was also overwhelmed by how physically tired he truly was. Clutching the doll to his chest, the Lord dropped himself back onto the pelts with a flurry of red hair and a sigh.

"Perhaps," Saang admitted as lifted the doll again to look at it in the sliver of light cast through the edge of the tipi flap, "but I would not have found them or been able to broker this test without you."

 

[Ianthe]

That definitely sounded like a threat and Ianthe swallowed nervously. The worst thing was was that if she behaved well she was only  more likely to recieve one. Being mean and he would assume she was upset and give her one. There would be no telling when the hug would come now. She shuddered at the thought.

"I'll give you the finding them thing, but you've withstood worse without me," she glanced over her shoulder to the tent flaps beyond which the merriment was still going. A strange expression crossed her face for a fleeting moment before vanishing into her customary scowl.

"You should get some rest, tomorrow will..." she pressed her lips into a thin line. "You're going to need your mind sharp." She stood up to go. "I'll keep watch outside."

 

[Saang Lusce]

Withstood worse without her. Yes, she supposed she was not wrong there, but his doubts that he'd find, let alone gain an audience with a Kelpie matriarch without her were quite strong. Either way, he'd not let her come away from this chapter of theirs unrewarded. So long as he made it through, anyway.

"Rest..." the fae offered a wilted laugh, "right."

He would have preferred her to stay in the tent with him, but would that have given the wrong impression to the clan? What impression would her sitting watch all night outside give? Saang supposed he never put much thought into the dynamics of these things, but it made him wonder if this whole ordeal would help or hinder Ianthe's life afterward ... once she was freed. Would she want to join up with a clan?

"I would like you to stay," he looked up at her as she stood, the words tumbling out of his mouth before he could stop them, "...if you want to. Would that ... look bad for you if you did?"

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe studied him with an unreadable expression. Staying because he needed comfort was not what a kelpie should do. She should be out there, protecting her Handler from the biggest threat around here. That was what the urges brought on by the runes in her skin bade her do, but what if his biggest threat was his own mind? Yes... the kelpies would not attack, not now they had started the ritual. It would be sacrilege of the highest order to stop. Yes, she should stay. Stay to protect him from himself.

Whatever you need to tell yourself.

"No. They already think we are fucking," the kelpie said with her usual bluntness and sat back down. After the hugging incident she kept her distance though. "It's only your kind who care about our purity or bloodlines. A kelpie is a kelpie as long as they pass these trials in the Clans."

 

[Saang Lusce]

Though his scarlet brows lifted at the notion, Saang could not say he was overly surprised. Such was the nature of fae - though among the duannan of the Night Court is was horribly degrading to bed what would be thought of as a lesser fae. He supposed he'd never thought of her in that light having never believed Ianthe to be a viable option for himself that wouldn't land him in some purgatory of shame within the Court. One day he'd be expected to rule his house with a high fae of noble bearing at his side and heirs on the tree.

A kelpie would never be considered for such a role in the Night Court. But ... perhaps they were in other courts?

"I see," he replied to her at length, finding himself now more curious about the prospect ... but from her point of view, "What do kelpies prize in potential mates?"

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe looked at him as though he had asked the most ridiculous question in the world.

"Strength, of course," even if they did not care about bloodlines or specific talents, a weak mate was useless and only begot more weak kin. "But..." she conceded, her head canting to one side as she thought further on the word 'strength'. "Not all strength is physical. You need strong healers, you need strong leaders, you need strong hands to raise the young. And then there is strength which is not always good; if you can lift the largest rocks but you cry at the dark," another shrug.

"Often these trials are the best way to see you are strong, many find their mates after. Perhaps a mare will lay a bridal wreath at your tent after," the notion seemed to amuse her.

 

[Saang Lusce]

Strength. Yes he supposed that made sense, but there were all sorts of strengths and surely these tests did not challenge only one kind?

"But..."

Ah, there it was. The Lord nodded in understanding as she explained, still gently holding the doll in his hand as he listened. Made him wonder if the captive kelpies held challenges as well? Most of them were raised from foals, so he supposed that unless their unit held any mature wildings, they'd not have learned of such things within the Night Court. Would that ostracize them from being able to join a wild clan? Would they even want to? Might they band together and form their own? Perhaps a mare will lay a bridal wreath at his tent after.

Perhaps a what?

"A-buh-bwuah-bwhat?" Saang blinked at her, his cheeks suddenly taking on the same shade as his hair, "you're joking, right?"

No, he certainly must have heard her wrong. No kelpie mare would want to marry him, even if he did survive the trials. He represented all the things they hated, didn't he?

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe again gave him that look.

"No, why would I joke? This is the perfect time to find a mate," she flicked her blue hair over her shoulder - a keen a sign she was irritated with him and this line of questioning. If it were anyone else she might have thought they were mocking her but his blush said otherwise. Did that indicate he wanted one? That he would be pleased? For some reason that infuriated her.

"If you complete these trials you are a part of the clan and the clan needs new blood. You will be expected to provide offspring one day and then they too will come and do the trials when they are grown to see if they are worthy enough. This is the way."

 

[Saang Lusce]

"Ah-haaa-" Saang's eyes had grown rather wide during that explanation, rounding over a jaw slack with a sudden wave of new and bold horror. He'd been shirking that particular duty for ... practically his entire life. Holding out for something that he wasn't entirely sure of. Something special, for certain, and it had become increasingly difficult to stave off the stares of his sisters who had no say in the matter at all.

"This, ah, this would have been good information to share at the beginning," the fae dropped his head back into the pelts and turned his candleflame stare upwards into the shadow of the tipi top, bringing his free hand up to wipe it down his face.

He might've said no to the entire endeavor had he known. Maybe. Probably not. He would have at least liked the opportunity to give it a good think before quite literally diving into the deep end of these frigid waters.

"Gods," he breathed, attempting to get his stuttering heart pumping again, "what else don't I know about the terms of this engagement with the clan?"

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe's irritation only grew at the almost hysterical laughter and the look of impending doom on his face. Were kelpies not good enough? As soon as the thought the question she knew the answer was no; Saang was a Lord of the Night Court. Lowering himself to bed a lesser fae? Unthinkable.

"I don't see why it is a big deal. They do not ask anymore than what your family does - and you could even keep your kelpie wife here if it bothered your Lady wife. Or you just let her know your berns are kelpies too."

Ianthe looked away towards the tent flaps and sounds of merriment.

"If you want them to fight for you, don't they deserve the same treatment as your blood?"

 

[Saang Lusce]

A kelpie wife and a Lady wife in the Court?

Oh no. Oh no no no. The thought of even one wife was terrifying enough, but two? He could not even imagine the backlash he would face in the Court if the very notion of him not just breeding with a kelpie, but marrying one got out on the vine. Much as he was a proponent for the wellness of his Kelpies and much as his heart was beginning to open to the idea that they alongside his family deserved the same quality of life ... over three and a half millennia of prejudiced culture was not so easily erased.

Saang tilted his head to the side to glance down at her, expression solemn as he looked at her while she looked toward the sound of her people, "No," he replied quietly, then let his eyes drift back up into the darkness where he knew his morals had grown, "they deserve better."

"I was ready to set my sisters on a path of forced and torturous marriage because that is what was expected of me. I've commanded and enslaved your kind for thousands of years, sent them to their deaths for my King first and my Prince after. I must admit I thought nothing of it for a very long time because that was the way of things."

"You were the first to make me realize how wrong I was."

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe did not turn back to face him but the way her head cocked to the side indicated she was still listening. She realised she knew very little about his life really. There was no reason for her in the past to bother herself with it; what happened "upstairs" only impacted her when war broke out. The politics were not something they were even allowed to have a voice on so she simply hadn't bothered to learn about it.

Not until the civil war anyway.

"Me?" Her eyebrows rose as she looked back at him. What could she have possibly done to have brought on any such revelation? "Was it kicking the little gremlin in the face?" She scrunched up her nose. Ianthe hadn't missed the look the little brat had given her when they had parted; she had deserved far more than a kick.

 

[Saang Lusce]

"Yes," was his initial response before her immediate follow-up cause him to double-take, "what? No!"

Then his face went red for a different reason, "No, of course not. That's not it at all. I'm still cross with you about that."

His hand was at his face again, covering it in disbelief. It muffled the heavy sigh that withered into the silence, and though his present posture would not make it so visible, his shoulders slumped somewhat, "It was the day I gave you your so-called freedom. You, one of the cavalry's most prized warriors, allowed to live beyond the confines of the Court. To roam and live a life as you saw fit so long as you reported for duty when called."

"No other, no other kelpie had ever been given such a concession," Saang gesticulated in the air with his hands, crossing them above in the shape of an x. "That was the moment that set an entirely new track of thought concerning your people. It got me thinking that there was no other major court that enslaved fae like the Night Court. Not even Summer, for all their prejudices. I began to consider the idea that ... that there were better ways."

"And then you ran from me in the market when I came to call," his brow furrowed, "and I understood finally where I went wrong. I don't want you to run from me, Ianthe. I don't want ... anyone to run from me. That's not the fae I want to be."

 

[Ianthe]

There was no mistaking the lack of regret and blatant smugness in Ianthe's face when he shouted at her; he might as well have given her a badge of honour for all the good claiming to be cross with her did. It would take a lot more to change a Kelpie's mind that violence of any kind was not the best answer. The look did fade however as he went on to explain and her head canted once more to the side as she considered it. Naturally, she saw nothing wrong in her own actions that day but nor could she understand why Saang had not liked it aside from it being irksome. For someone to run from you suggested they saw you as a threat and that was an honour. Wasn't it?

The kelpie tried very hard to think not like herself as she considered that. Of the way he was with his sisters and even the servants of his household. No... she supposed she could see how he enjoyed that more. It just seemed like far more effort.

"I'm sorry," she said uncomfortably, the words not ones she said often, "I didn't intend to cause these... feelings with my actions."

 

[Saang Lusce]

That was an exceptionally generalized apology and it did not make it clear just what, exactly, she was apologizing for. Saang shortly eyed her, feeling rather certain it was not for kicking his baby sister, but he wasn't want to decline such a rarity among kelpies as a honest-to-goodness I'm sorry.

"Thank you for understanding," he replied gently, wishing she was not so averse to touch so that he might've offered her a gesture of assurance, "perhaps, one day, you will not wish to run from my presence." A truer test of this would not be seen until she was freed of her chains, but that day was not today.

The Lord sighed again and in the silence felt the weight of the day settling into him. He was much more tired now than an hour ago drowning in empathetic misery. This talk had helped settle his nerves some and soothed the burned fringes of his emotional powers. To think he'd find such healing in a kelpie ... it was surprising to say the least.

"And thank you for talking to me. I think I may be able to sleep now."

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe gave a curt nod and then turned once more to face the tent flaps.

"Sleep well," you're going to need it she finished quietly to herself. Today's challenge had in many ways been the easiest; a test of physical strength that most fae could pass. Of course, the kelpies had picked such innocents to goad the Lordling, but none of them had really thought he would fail at this hurdle. Not when he controlled the Night Courts cavalry. Tomorrow though... Tomorrow tested another kind of strength.

Ianthe didn't sleep a wink. The revalry had died down sometime in the early hours but she had not trusted the quiet nearly as much as she did the noise. Two had stood near the entrance until a low warning growl had scuttled them on. Males. She was sharpening a blade when a third head poked through and it was only years of training that stopped her from slimming the blade up into the Matriarchas eye. The flash of teeth told Ianthe she dared her to try

"Bring him," was all she said before leaving again. Ianthe shook Saangs leg far gentler than she should have.

"You won't want breakfast today," Ianthe imparted cryptically then climbed out of the tent.

 

[Saang Lusce]

The little kelpie doll snugly clutched in his hand at his chest, Saang had slept, though restlessly. Dreams of the prior day haunted him ... though nightmares might've been a far better term. He was not agitated to be awoken, and readily welcomed it at the touch of cold on his leg - however gentle. The Lord's eyes opened where he lay, taking far longer to focus in the dim light of the tipi, before shifting wearily toward the shape and sound of Ianthe.

Won't want breakfast?

Saang's brow pinched in confusion after her departing rear end and he found himself altogether more confused by the notion that he wished he'd had a bit more light to see that rear end all the clearer on its way out. He shook his head and wiped a hand over his face, fingers lingering to rub at his eyes. Sitting up, the weighted bile of anxiety hit his sternum like a bad case of reflux.

A weathered and experienced warrior of the Night Court though he was, things of unknown nature easily got to him. Singularly today, not knowing what to expect for the next challenge ... and also having no where to keep the little doll on his figure. The waterskin he wore had no pockets to speak of, so what was he to do with it?

Moving to a crouch, he shuffled to the tipi entrance and slowly drew himself out into the light of dawn, "What do you mean?" he asked after Ianthe.

 

[Ianthe]

Two lines of kelpies greeted Saang as he exited the tent. They stood silent, solemn, without a hint of last nights jubilations to be seen. These were seasoned, hardened men and women who would not think twice before ripping out a persons throat. Ianthe waited half way down the make shift corridor and motioned at him to hurry up in a fashion that seemed to scream you're embarrassing me.

The kelpies began to beat a rhythm against their chests.

The column snaked all the way around towards the cavern they had first met the Matron inside of. Stone closed him on one side and the seat on the other; she wondered, briefly, if he noted of how much care they had taken to remove anything flammable from the area. Ianthe stopped before the Matron who was stationed behind a large slap of rock that in the last few days had acted as a table. Once Saang had also bowed the beating stopped. Silence fell.

"Saang has proved his strength and cunning on the field of battle," the Matron's voice echoed across the gathered kelpies. "But it is not just the strength of magic, or a sword, that is important. A warrior's whole body must be strong and resilient. Today's challenge will test that strength of the body."

Ianthe refused to look in Saang's direction.

"Lay down," the Matron instructed, waving a hand towards the obsidan black table.

 

[Saang Lusce]

It wasn't the beating of chests or the ominous stone slab that cause a cinder to set alight in the Lord's gut. Saang and his cavalry had fought through all ends of battle misery and horrors - the beat of their war drum and hooves against the frozen landscape of Eretejva was enough to strike terror into the hearts of the most steadfast. It was simply the unknown that lay before him, gleaming obsidian with the beastly history of these people.

He still wasn't sure why Ianthe said he wouldn't want breakfast, and the concern leaked into his confusion as he was told lay down.

Curious how that Matron could make him feel so small when he so towered over the entirety of the clan. With a final stray look at Ianthe, Saang moved forward to the table, set himself down, and lay back.

 

[Ianthe]

"Bind him."

Ianthe kept her face perfectly schooled as four fae males stepped forward to bind the Lord to the table with thick iron shackles. From the darkness the matron removed a nasty looking knife with an edge that seemed to slice the shadows themselves. She ran the tip down his chest and the young kelpie resisted the urge to snarl. He had to do this and if she could do it, so could he.

Couldn't he?

"During war your body must take many hits and yet you must continue for the good of the clan," she explained even as she made the first cut, a tiny one across his arm. "You will receive 100 cuts, one each from members of the clan gathered here today. If you endure, you will pass the second trial."

 

[Saang Lusce]

"Ah," said Saang, but not in pain. More like he'd suddenly realized he'd left his curling iron on at home.

The Lord looked at the Matriarch, his face a mixture not of fear or the profound horror she likely was expecting of him, but ...flushing pink in embarrassment. Her first cut did nothing as it sliced across the gleaming sea-serpent scales of his water armor. 100 cuts indeed, and none of them would penetrate that.

"Apologies," he said gently to her, calmly lifting his head to look down at himself, "I might've disrobed first."

No matter. With a sigh he let his head fall back to the stone and with his bound hands he curled and then snapped his fingers. The sound rang sharply and profoundly through the cove, followed by a flash of flames over his body. They lasted only a moment before dissipating, and in their wake was his naked self; bright and alabaster, like chiseled white granite in the morning light. The ladies would get a two-for-one show today perhaps, if only he could remember that silly song to keep him thinking about ...

No, don't even spare a thought.

"Please proceed."