Fable - Ask Wild Kelpies for a Prince

[Ianthe]

There was a hushed murmur as the fire seemed to incinerate his clothing and even Ianthe raised both brows. Had he really just destroyed that suit, or magicked it somewhere else? The Duanaan were full of tracks like that. She realised, with a start, she was staring as she tried to puzzle it out and quickly looked away, her cheeks blossoming with colour.

The Matron cleared her throat.

"Yes - ahem. As I was saying, 100 cuts from the Deathsister," she held the blade aloft once more with a flourish then brought it down in a slash across his chest deeper than she had the last time. With a sickly smile she passed the blade to the next kelpie.

 

[Saang Lusce]

"Haaaa-nng-" said Saang in reply, eyes quickly widening and tightly shutting against the sudden and intense prickling of pain across his chest. An action and pain and setting the likes of which had strong historical relevance to the Lord. This was ... not - well, had he known what this challenge was ahead of time he might've insisted on something else.

This challenge would not trigger in the duannan the grit the kelpies were perhaps hoping for.

As the second cut lashed across his abdomen Saang tried not to think about those glacial eyes. Frigid hells, what was the song? The one they'd learned from an inuit tribe when they were young and exploring the vast realms of (Saang bit back a sound as the third slice cut across his shin, hitting bone. His hands in their fetters rolled into fists.) the tundra?

Inuit language wasn't something he used often, but he'd learned it in fluency and implored its power among the mortals when he needed.

Something Ga do ... Ga do da ....

"Ga do da tsv ya dv ne li," he began to sing to himself at first as the song slowly filtered through the pain and the memories and the other things he was trying not to think of.

"Tsi-sa.
O ga tse li tsa gve wi yu hi..."

Felt like it was working.

Saang flinched as another slice opened a line across his left thigh. Alabaster now gleamed with crimson as the wounds lay open much longer than usual. That damn knife must have iron in it...

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe thought the song at first was a way to distract him from the pain and a pang of guilt curdled in her gut. She could have found some loophole way to have warned him about what was coming today so he could have meditated and focused his mind. The first few kelpies who stepped up to deliver their own cuts - to thighs, to the neck, to his arms - seemed to think the same too and from the manner in which they sneered at him they clearly thought it made him weak.

But then she had caught the change in his scent.

From the sharp way other kelpies were now turning to look at the prone man everyone had caught the change in his scent. Disgust was replaced by... Dark Mother, if this took much longer they would need to send the children away for the night. A few females - and a few men - seemed to meander their way closer with lust written in their own eyes, biting at their lips. Yes, Saang might find himself with more than a few wedding wreaths after these challenges being laid at his feet.

Ianthe snarled.

 

[Saang Lusce]

He was maintaining, he thought, quite well. The song continued, and when it ended he began it all over again. Who knew 100 cuts could take so long? It was nearing cut 50 (he thought?) that things began to unravel for him. The sanguine stains of his alabaster figure had begun to pool on the table beneath him, and though Saang tried not to strain too much, there'd been a curious pause in the administration of stinging pain which caused him to look up in slight confusion.

Was it over? It couldn't be over. There was still quite a queue but ... oh me, he'd not realized they'd been staring. Why were they staring? Did they find the scent of his blood appetizing? Were they just going to devour him after he'd been tenderized enough? Ianthe, you might've warned him this was all a farce.

Truly she did not value her freedom if this was to be his en-

Saang's firelit gaze settled on the face of the next approaching kelpie and he suddenly went even more pale. Though he knew it could not be him, the kelpie male held a look about him that was an uncanny match to Prince Tulok and the way he gazed upon him with a hunger and lust made Saang lose his mettle. The kelpie held up the blade, his own gaze skating over the canvas of flesh before him, and settled near his nethers with dark delight. The blade followed, slicing slowly below the duannan's hip line.

The sound that left Saang's lips could not be stopped, the groan of ecstasy as images of his once Prince and lover flashed vivdly before his mind's eye.

What happened next could also not be stopped, but a pale pole drawing erect with such glory that the mothers had to shield the eyes of the attending foals.

 

[Ianthe]

Several gasps and cries of delighted echoed down the ranks.

"Well," the matron mused, lips twitching as she strained not to smirk. "I suppose there is little point continuing when I think we've all had our answer."

Ianthe fought the urge to tear out her hair. She should have been proud, pleased even that this Challenge had been so easy for him, but she found herself in that icy pit of rage instead. Not at Saang, but at the other kelpies. She told herself it was because she did not want him to be let off lightly. That she was concerned they diminished the Trials by letting him sail through. That it wasn't about the various kelpies now quickly slipping away to make a bridal wreath.

The matron unbound Saang's wrists and ankles then offered him a cloak made of pelts much like the other older Kelpies wore with notes of pride.

"Your skin has proven tough enough to bare the brunt of war," she was trying not to laugh. "Take this cloak so that you may save your own for when the Tribe needs it the most."

 

[Saang Lusce]

Gods. Oh gods. He wanted it to continue. Had to nearly sever his tongue from letting the plead for more leave his lips. No Saang - you've closed that chapter of your life hundreds of years ago. This was not your Prince. This was just your fantasy ... coming to life beneath the stare of strangers.

The Night Court Lord let his head fall back upon the table as the Matron called for an end but ... not a finish. Lamentations would follow him from this moment for eons, he was sure. The tale of the fire-haired duannan, standing tall through the 100 cut challenge. He might've been embarrassed for himself if he had a shred of dignity, but the fact remained that Saang was what he was and no duannan lord would blush for the appraisement of his natural form. At least that's what he told himself.

But he wasn't proud of that moment and he actively had to bat away the tingle of continued desire brought about by the Matron loosing his shackles. He'd nearly invited her to leave them but held his tongue on that as well. By the time she draped the cloak over him the crowd had already quite dispersed.

Saang slowly sat up with a groan, pawing faintly at the lines of dribbling red criss-crossing his visible self. Yes, he was in pain, but it was a strange sort of feverish sting connected to a long history of feverish lust. He could not say he resented it but...

"Thank you Matron," he offered quietly to her as he pulled the cloak over his shoulders and afforded himself some modesty, "I apologize if I have made a mockery of your challenge...had I known what was to come I may have advised a ...different course. I am willing to face an alternative in its place to earn the respect of you and yours if you think it prudent."

 

[Ianthe]

There was a few snickers and titters from the crowd but the Matron shook her head.

"The trials impact us all in different ways; some are easy and others are not. The trials are not here to make your life unpleasant, despite what your little blue haired friend might have said," her teeth flashed in a grin and then she waved a hand which was the cue for the crowd to disperse. A few did - especially those with young kelpies who were asking very uncomfortable questions now - but a lot of them hovered to talk to Saang including the dark haired beauty who had delivered the final slash.

Ianthe wanted to snarl at them all but there was no threat in their manner. Maybe it would help Saang to get it out of his system in time for tomorrow, the Dark Mother knew how that challenge would impact him if this had done... well this! Unable to bear seeing which he chose, Ianthe turned and stomped back to the camp to find something strong to drink.

 

[Saang Lusce]

"I see..." Saang replied, still unsure he was fully comprehending the concept of these trials. With a sigh he nodded his thanks to the Matron and stood from the table, "she said very little other than that they would test me in ways I would not expect."

Well, he certainly hadn't expected this, though the idea of blood-letting in a kelpie clan did not seem so out of place now that he was beginning to better understand this ... foreign culture.

"Thank you, Matron," Saang gave her a short bow, holding his expression against the sting of his fresh cuts, and righted to look for Ianthe who... had rather very suddenly disappeared. She was as easy to spot among this clan as she was in the goblin market. Her hair was not so common among the wild kelpies, he was learning. In that moment he wasn't given much time to look, as soon as he seemed to finish with the Matron he was suddenly surrounded by kelpies. His eyes went wide at the various offers to tend his wounds, fill his belly, and sate his lust.

Normally he would have taken them up on such kind and generous offers, but after that episode of flashbacks he just ... wanted some space?

"Ah-haha..." the Lord gave an awkward laugh, lifting a hand to ruffle at his wind-woven hair, "thank you. So much. Truly - but I really must, ah, must..." where was Ianthe? Gods he needed her to rescue him before he commited some social faux pas with her people, "must insist that I complete your trials before I explore your..." a very young and vivacious kelpie opened her cape to reveal her very fetching naked self beneath.

Saang blinked, stared, blinked more, "explore your body..." he muttered, then caught himself and shook his head in alarm, "bountiful culture! Please excuse me, thank you so much, I must be off for a flight to clear my head."

"I'll clear your head, darling," said the naked kelpie who he purposefully did not look at.

One moment Saang was attempting to navigate his way clear, then next a vibrant flash of light filled the air within them and both the duannan and his new cape took to the sky as his magpie form with a squawk, winging off for some peace and quiet.

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe stomped her way through the camp and found herself on the black sanded shore where they had first arrived. She didn't hesitate as she stripped off her clothes, dumping them into a small pile like others had done up and down the beach, and then threw herself into the icy waves. Kelpies didn't necessarily need to submerged themselves in water every day like the merfolk often did, but the longer they went without salt water the more they found it impacted their abilities. Like thinking straight in Ianthe's case.

There was a flash of light beneath the waves and then the large scaled beast shot away from shore out into the depths.

She wasn't sure how long she swam for but eventually her insides stopped feeling as though someone had tied them in a knot then proceeded to stab them. Hunting and killing a narwhale helped. She heaved the carcass back the land a few hours later, hurling it up the beach.

 

[Saang Lusce]

Thank the sea gods that a Kelpie's hair transferred to its beast form. The magpie had sat just off the water's edge along a rocky outcropping for several hours. Resting, healing, waiting for the return of the teal-colored waterhorse. When finally she arrived with kill in tow he opened his wings to swoop down with a warble.

"There you are," said the bird as it landed on the kill, feathered ruffled in a wind that had picked up over the course of the day, "I thought you'd fled in embarrassment. I've been trying to return to the tent but it's been swarmed since this morning."

And honestly the prospect of walking through that swarm terrified him more than anything thus far.

 

[Ianthe]

The scaled horse's nostrils flared at the bird. Her ire had just begun to calm and here he was, feathers all puffed up, getting in her space again. It was only the 400 years of brutal training that stopped her from giving in to that base, feral rage and lunging at him. Instead she shut her eyes and let her kelpie form dissolve, leaving her naked but for the blood of the narwhale. She wiped a bit of it from her mouth then licked it off her hand.

"So? Go fuck one of them then. The others will back off then."

 

[Saang Lusce]

"I- what?" the bird's feathers freely ruffled in response, a puff of smoke billowing up and away from it as it flapped its wings, "That's not - I am not here for a bedmate, Ianthe, I am here to help save my family!"

Saang thought he'd made that perfectly clear from the start. Fae he may be, promiscuous he may also be, but this wasn't a jaunt into the wilds to play games with the kelpies, this was a serious matter of business.

But also, "Why are you mad at me?" he could sense it rolling off her like ten-day-dead-whale stink.

 

[Ianthe]

"Who said I'm mad?" Ianthe said with a too-blank face. Her words too, were far more neutral than any she had ever said. "Why would I be mad that the whole herd wants to fuck you? I don't care. Why should I care?"

She kelpie turned back to her kill and, grabbing its tail, she hoisted the fins over her shoulder and began hurling it further up the beach. She had a knife back at her tent that would be perfect for skinning and gutting it.

 

[Saang Lusce]

The magpie squawked as its perch was unceremoniously yanked out from beneath it, sputtering and fluttering onto the frigid shoreline. Fae couldn't lie, but Ianthe certainly wasn't telling the real truth.

"Ianthe I can feel the anger rolling off you like waves from a hurricane," had she completely forgotten his affinity? Perhaps she could have, he did make a strong effort not to invade the inner emotions of others when he didn't need to. Not like he had when he was young and reckless.

Besides, Ianthe was angry 70% of the time, but this felt different.

This felt ... fuck it. Saang delved deeper, sifting through the tumult of petulance for its source and finding-

"You're..." he blinked, "you're jealous?"

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe was inches from the birds face within a matter of seconds, teeth bared and snarling. If death had a face it was the one the kelpie wore now.

"Don't. Touch. My. Emotions," his empathetic abilities were certainly what she hated the most about him. Not that he held her Reins, or the fire that as a water fae she should have found abhorrent, no it was the constant dread of knowing that at any moment he could pierce her mind and discover the parts of her she went to lengths to keep hidden. For a reason.

She didn't bother to contradict what he said however. That was a lie even she could not find a loophole for and, naturally, that brought with it a range of other emotions. Disgust, humiliation, anger, a sense of betrayal and hurt. The nasty part of her hoped he felt those last two. She turned away from him and continued on her walk, the carcass leaving a bloody trail behind her.

 

[Saang Lusce]

"I wouldn't have to if you would just TELL me what was wrong!" the magpie yelled at her retreating form, looking like Ianthe had just put out his fire with a healthy dose of very cold water with very big ice cubes mixed in.

And she just kept trudging.

"Ianthe!" Saang called after her, but made no effort to give chase. He could have ordered her to stay and talk, but that sort of thing went against his own morals where the connection of commander to kelpie was concerned. All the noise had drawn the attention of some other kelpies nearby who had recently surfaced at the waters edge, or walked up the path to see what the trouble was. Saang didn't linger to give them any time to figure things out, and swooped off to find somewhere to perch and stew for the rest of the day.

At this point he didn't necessarily need Ianthe's assistance anymore. She couldn't help him with the trials anyway, and the clan seemed much more eager for his presence after this morning's ...debacle. But he'd made her a promise, and surely she wouldn't neglect that? Surely of all the kelpies he'd raised and trained under his command, she would want for that freedom no matter what? She was angry at him (why?!) and jealous of the attraction the other kelpies held toward him. It made no sense to him. Was he getting a warmer welcome to the clan than she had? Had she never been sought after as a mate - that seemed utterly nonsensical. Ianthe had all the qualities that made for a prime choice, yet he knew her to remain unattached.

This was just too complicated.

He did not return to the tipi for the rest of the day, nor that evening either.

 

[Ianthe]

Jealous. Jealous. The word felt like an accusation and a betrayal all in one made worse by the fact she did not fully understand why she felt such things. Saang was her Handler. She had never thought of him in any other way other than to mark that he did not beat her the way her other Handlers had. Maybe she could admit to caring for him just a little but that was in a practical sense; if he died her reins would be passed to another, more unkind Handler. So how could she be jealous?

She hacked at her kill as she thought, not bothering with clothes as they would only get bloody. The other kelpies sensing her mood gave her a wide berth.

Ianthe had never known love. Her parents had been cold, her siblings downright villainous when their paths had crossed. She had never watched it happen either; kelpies were bred for their lines not their own interests. Perhaps if she had she might have understood that the care she felt towards Saang was a small part of that word. A bud that could bloom into a flower.

She ate her fill and then slept in the stinking skin she had cut out rather than go back to the tent. Her keen need to protect him sated knowing that the kelpies here no longer wished to do him harm, even if he seemed to think them lusting over him was some kind of torment. She slept fitfully and it had nothing to do with the smell.

The next morning came and begrudgingly she went in search of the bloody bird.

 

[Saang Lusce]

He'd taken up a perch not far from the clan's cove, settled on an outcropping of stone and bathed himself in white flames throughout the night for warmth, comfort, and to cleanse any remnants of iron from his wounds. By the first pale light of dawn the Magpie had awakened, taken a flight across the landscape, and then took up residence atop the Matron's home to await her own arrival to the day. Upon her appearance he gave the matron time to go about her usual routine, then during a lull in activity when she sat down to her morning meal, the bird alighted upon the ground nearby.

After some startled confusion, the Duannan assumed his fae form - fully clothed once more in his serpent scale armor suit and the pelt gifted to him by the Matron just the day prior. Saang greeted her respectfully and asked to join her for her meal.

Surprisingly she agreed.

So they sat and supped, and when Saang felt it appropriate for conversation he asked the Matron about her clan and her own rise to her position of leadership.

 

[Ianthe]

Sorelia's tale was not that dissimilar to most Kelpie Matriarchs. When the old woman who had led the herd before had become too weak to properly lead, she had killed her and taken her place. She had been a wild one in her youth, so the woman said of herself, and had never lusted for such power before. At times in her long life she had even believed that she would be a Wanderer, much like Ianthe herself was. Returning to the herd only when the call of the ocean was sated.

It didn't seem to bother her in the slightest the old woman had been her own mother.

"If my children were any sort of caring, they would do away with me soon before my bones give me any more jip," she cackled and stretched out her legs where they did indeed pop. Joining them were a few of said children and they all gave her wary smiles.

"You killed Khalead only last month, mother. I do not think your old bones have given up just yet," one of the older looking lads said. The Matriarch only grinned - a sinister thing that only grew worse when she spied a stroppy Ianthe approaching.

"Maybe I won't have to wait for one of you - Ianthe, you look particularly pissed off this morning," the old woman crooned. Ianthe drew up short seeming to notice for the first time Saang was not only not alone but who he was with. She hesitated then seemed to decide consequences be damned and continued on her warpath.

"Isn't it time for the final trial?" she demanded, arms crossed. From her damp hair it was obvious she'd bathed before coming here as well as found new clothes lined with pelts to keep her warm. The Matriarch sighed and got to her feet.

"I suppose you are right. Well, Lord Saang. Are you ready?"

 

[Saang Lusce]

How horrible. But then again, Saang supposed he shouldn't be terribly surprised. Kelpies in the Night Court were murderous heathens, but it wasn't as if the Night Court had a whole terribly lot to do with them being that way - they merely used the kelpies greatest strength to their advantage. But children killing their own parents?

He took a moment to think about doing the same, and while a year ago he would have balked at the thought ... Saang surprised even himself to find that he was giving the idea consideration where his father was concerned. Completely unsettled by that fact, the duannan was actually glad for Ianthe's seething arrival. Was she ... was she still mad? Had she woken up that way?

The Lordling frowned. Deeply.

An exchange of glances was given to the young kelpies nearby before he set down his bowl. Another kelpie in this instance might've snarled that they'd be ready when they'd finished their meal, but Saang wasn't looking to stir trouble and - truthfully - his stomach would be in knots until the last challenge was over. It was perhaps best he not delay, "I am, Matriarch, thank you for allowing me to share your morning meal."

With a deep breath he pushed himself to his feet, remarking not for the first nor last time how much taller he stood over the clans people, before motioning for her to take the lead."

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe tapped her foot impatiently, arms folded her her chest, as she watched the matron get to her feet. She'd seen the woman bend herself in half to avoid the swing of an axe and knew very well Sorelia was taking her time to deliberately annoy her. If Ianthe had been smarter she might had checked her attitude and bent to get the woman to hurry up, but the young kelpie was not built that way. She had champed at the bit her whole life and she'd rather die than take another between her teeth. Even if the reins belonged to her own clan leader.

The Matron took her time but made her way back to the same cave as the previous day. The same slab was there along with the binds but sat atop the slab was a goblet. Other kelpies had drifted after the little group so by the time Sorelia had taken her place the crowd had gathered. A hush settled over them as she took up the goblet.

"The first test was a test of primal strength, the second of strength against pain. The last test will prove the strength of your mind. Within this drink is Milthrane; a drug that will put you into a deep sleep and trap you within the darkest horrors of your mind. You will have ten minutes within your mind to find your way out of your darkest nightmares," she offered him the goblet.

"Do you accept, Lordling?"

 

[Saang Lusce]

Milthrane. Saang did not think he was familiar with it, but certainly it was something used and employed for torture by the Princes. That was more his father's forte. Torture ... hideous.

More hideous? What torture this would submit him to. For all his emotional guile, Saang could handle the physical pain with the best of them. He could march ceaselessly in war and fight until his body gave out in battle. But his mind ... his memories? Perhaps his greatest weakness of all. He thought he knew what his darkest horrors might be and for certain he knew Tulok's face would appear to him again - but what horrors awaited him he was not yet aware of? New horrors of his family, perhaps. His infantile worries made manifest.

"I do," the Lordling replied at length, giving the goblet a wary look, "but if you will allow me just a moment to speak with Ianthe before proceeding."

A strange request maybe, but Saang did not wait for permission. This was important. He turned and without a word strode to Ianthe, lightly clamped a hand around her arm with the quiet command of come with me, and peeled away from the crowd with her.

He walked with her until he felt they were well enough out of earshot of the main group, though it mattered not terribly much if a few did actually hear, and released her with a stoic look on his face.

"This is dangerous," Saang said to her in a low tone, "for everyone here. I will not have control of my powers once I go under and it is very likely anyone near me may fall victim to them." It wasn't just the power of fire he concerned himself with, but that of his empathic abilities. He'd kept them well in check the duration of his stay so far to the point that he was certain no one here even knew of them aside from Ianthe. She'd witnessed those same powers fill an entire legion of kelpies under his command with seething rage, or quiet them into a lull once battle had done. Tulok had, long before she'd ever met him, employed these abilities to the detriment of others in his court for the sake of his entertainment and whim.

Saang did not want any of that for this clan.

 

[Ianthe]

Ianthe looked like a sullen child about to be told off as she was led away. She was expecting another rebuke about the night before and she gathered that anger inside of her then formed it into a blade. If he wanted a fight right here - right now - then Ianthe was going to give him a full piece of her mind. She drew herself up to her full height, opened her mouth to say exactly what she thought of him poking around in her emotions and what she would do to him if he did it again, then blinked.

"What do you want me to do about it? It's the trial. I can't change the trial," she glanced towards where the kelpies and Matron were waiting patiently. Ianthe thought back to that display of fire on the first day of the trial. It had wiped out a whole village... Her eyes drifted to the tents beyond the crowd. Many people described her as cold and heartless but even she felt a tiny tug of worry about the young fae present.

"Can't you... I don't know, put it somewhere?"

 

[Saang Lusce]

"Put... put it somewhere?" Saang blinked at her as if she'd just slapped him, "No I cannot put my powers somewhere - that's not how that works!" he hissed, stood straight from where he'd been quietly speaking with her and rang a hand over his face.

"You know what I'm capable of," the Lord reminded her, "my own warning will likely fall on deaf ears. You must explain to them the danger once I go under. Move them further away - I don't want anyone here harmed by something I cannot control. I'm counting on you, Ianthe."

 

[Ianthe]

"If you lose control, My Lord, then it's not going to matter where I bloody move them is it?" she scowled, folding her arms over her chest. Hearing her own words parroted back to her made her realise how perhaps they sounded a little stupid, but then the Duanaan were a Higher being altogether. There were countless stories of heartbroken fae pouring their powers into shells and throwing them into the sea. Of course... that could just all be different versions of the one story but it didn't matter! How was she meant to know?!

And what the fuck was she meant to do about it?

"I suggest you just don't lose control. That's our only real option isn't it?"