by James Hunt
"Whatever you have done to her, undo it Zek." Kalek said coldly.
"Did it ever occur to you that when you threw me out there was only one place for me to go?" Kelria scolded him. Tamain was as shocked as Kalek at her boldness. "I am not with you anymore. Not your order, not your people. I'm tired of my own people trying to kill me because I'm in the way! I haven't done anything wrong!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. Her voice echoed and reverberated off the walls. Both men were equally taken aback.
Kelria was crying scared tears; she had never let her anger out like that before. But she stood her ground firmly. Kalek lowered his sword.
"The two of you...?" Kalek asked, trying to be delicate. "Do you know what he plans for you?"
"Freedom. Freedom is all he offered me." Kelria gritted through her teeth. Tamain relaxed. Kalek returned his sword to its sheath, and ran a gloved hand over his face to wipe away the dripping water from his swim He took a moment to process her words. Kelria had reached him, but it was still a hard concept for him to swallow. "Leave, Kalek."
"I need to know more," Kalek said and rested his hands on the hilts of his weapons. "If I am to entrust the second most precious woman in my life to him, I need to be able to trust him."
"No you don't." Kelria argued. "You only need to trust me. This is my choice." Kalek crossed his arms over his chest in defiance but started to take a step back as he reluctantly accepted her request.
"Would you help me understand this then? Or is my ignorance my penance for my greatest sin?" Kalek countered trying to be friendly.
"Get out Kalek." Kelria growled.
"No, wait." Tamain interjected at last. He had been content to let this play out and see just how much fire his little mouse had to stand up to this Leaf Knight. But there was an opportunity here he couldn't let slip. "He has his reasons, and something good can come of this." Kelria turned to glare at Tamain, but he threw his hands up defensively. "Hear me out. If you trust me." Kelria covered her exposed chest with her hands and stepped back reluctantly.
"Kalek," Tamain started, "I am Tamain, of the Discarded." He paused to let that sink in, but Kalek apparently hadn't a clue what he was talking about. "I suspect you would know what that means if you bothered to interrogate the Zecairins you encounter before you murder them. Not all of us are your enemy. But I will explain..." Kalek didn't move, but merely listened stoically, almost casually. He showed no annoyance, aggression, or sympathy. Tamain coughed to clear his throat and collect his own thoughts. "Kelria is not here against her will, she can leave whenever she wants. I thought I would make her the offer of a new home, as it seems she is out of sorts with her previous one. And... negotiations ensued." Tamain looked to Kelria to see if his clever phrase entertained her at all, but the girl had returned to her cold, hardened state and locked herself away mentally. All of his hard work thawing her out had been undone by this Knight's mere presence. Tamain sighed in exasperation -- Lunarians had their own personality quirks as well it seemed.
"The Discarded," Tamain began, and stood before Kalek with his hands grasped behind his back and his feet firmly planted. He was naked, but it seemed to make Kalek more uncomfortable than it did Tamain. "...are exiles - Children of Zecair that have been banished because the red elixir they are given as a child did not take hold. If it did, I would be under the same 'corruption' your beloved Queen recently cured herself of." Tamain walked over to his trousers and proceeded to clothe his lower extremities. Hopefully, some modesty on his part would help Kalek loosen up.
"Please extend my heartfelt congratulations to your queen. She is the only elf I have heard of that has beaten the curse." Tamain said with a smile, as he buckled on his trousers. Kalek gave Kelria an aggravated look, but still remained silent. "Oh, very well." Tamain complained and approached the Leaf Knight casually. "If it will make you feel better, you may strike me for stealing her away from you. Although I doubt she views it that way." Kalek looked as if he was about to take the Zecairin up on his offer, but the frankness of it all, and how he had cut right to the source gave Kalek pause. But there was a sudden tremble of fear in Kelria that told Tamain it best not to tempt that tiger.
"No? Hmm," Tamain said before he could swing. "Then let me say this. We could be allies." He paused to let that settle in. "But not until this blood feud ends. Not settled. Ended." Kalek gave the Zecairin a curious look. Tamain had finally said something that intrigued him. "You will need allies if you are to win back your Queen's throne. More if your kin hope to survive the hell that is coming from Zecair. It is time you started to think... unconventionally. We, my comrades and I, can no sooner lower our guard than you can. But it must start somewhere, and with someone making the first move. So let this be it." He offered Kalek his hand, and the overconfident smirk on his face turned dark and serious. "This I extend to you, and you alone, Kalek. Each of your kin will have to grasp it of their own accord when they have earned it. Take my hand and I swear neither myself nor any under my command will harm you nor hinder your path. It will remain offered until you grasp it, or until you give me a reason to rescind my offer."
Kalek took Tamain's hand without another thought. Kelria broke from her sulking and looked up, shocked. Tamain hadn't expected such a sudden acceptance either.
"The world I knew was turned on its edge when we recovered Princess Niyana, and her friend Kelria." Kalek said solemnly. "The laws of our people and the oath I have taken no longer serve the needs of my Queen, and I cannot look to those principles for guidance. I have already started to think unconventionally. I will speak to my Queen of your proposed alliance, and see if she will hear what you have to offer."
"It is a start," Tamain smiled, genuinely pleased, and shook his hand. Kalek took his leave immediately and without another thought or look to them, returning by diving back down through the cavern's pond. He left Tamain stunned, and looking at his palm in disbelief. Kelria came to lean on his shoulder and looked down at his hand to try and see what he was looking at.
"Do you always have this power over people?" She asked, and rubbed her cheek against his broad shoulder affectionately.
"I could not have become the leader of the Discarded without it. Do I look like the type that would lead through tyranny?" He said and tilted his head down to nuzzle against hers. "What have I gotten myself into now, my little mouse?" he asked accusingly. Kelria pulled his face to hers and kissed him lovingly on the lips.
"Why Kalek?" she asked, searching his gaze for an answer while slowly dragging her hands up his arms to drape around his neck.
"Because what he did to you is eating him alive." Tamain said sadly and caressed her cheek. "Could you not feel his pain? He took my hand because he hoped it would earn your forgiveness." Kelria looked away sadly. It wasn't something she wanted to talk about right now. Tamain took her chin and guided it back gently so he could look into her eyes. "You are no stranger to pain and suffering, why look away now?" She couldn't answer him. The question caught her off guard, and she didn't have an answer -- or didn't like the one she came up with. Tamain searched her countenance for understanding, but she tried to pull away.
"My talent is not in magic, or swordplay, not even in charming beautiful women," Tamain said softly when she finally met his gaze. "It is in reading people, and listening to the words they do not say. With my magic I can hear everything that is uttered as it is carried on the wind. But sometimes what we say is not how we truly feel, and I have come to understand the difference. That is how I have kept The Discarded alive in this terrible place."
"What am I not saying right now?" Kelria dared him with a hint of mischief in her eyes.
"That you want me to take you to bed," he smiled and stroked her cheek lovingly. "so that I won't see the pain in your heart, and the wrath and mistrust you are desperately trying to hold back."
Kelria's pretense fell away just as her forehead fell onto his chest. She wanted to sob out her pain, but it wouldn't listen to her, it never listened to her. She always h
ad to bottle it up inside because there was nowhere else to put it. Tamain wrapped her in his arms and held her tightly.
"I, I don't know what to do with you," Kelria said oddly sober. "You confuse me, and clear my head at the same time."
"Shall I entertain your previous inclination while you deliberate?" He said with a hint of mirth. Kelria had forgotten that he could also be so pompous.
"My lord has my permission," She replied, uncertain to what he was referring, as her wits had already been dizzied by the turn of events this morning.
Tamain lifted her up into his arms, and carried her back to their fur bed. He laid her down gently and kissed her cheek, her neck, her collarbone, and further... This was a lovers kiss; soft, slow, sensual and arousing. His fingers drifted over her skin, following the curves of her shoulders, her sides, her hips and thighs.
Kelria moaned softly from his soothing touch. Her body moved and responded to his touch; stretching and arching into his lips, trying to force his path onto more sensitive and pleasurable areas, but he would have none of it. Tamain thwarted her and maintained his teasing course of paying homage to the softer parts of her body. Even the ticklish areas had been well subdued by his sensual kisses. As his tongue playfully licked the backside of her knee, and his teeth nibbled a tendon she cooed softly. All her suspicions and tensions had once again been expertly disarmed by her dark-skinned lover.
Tamain came to a slow stop between her legs, and eased himself down between them. His lips traversed her smooth belly until they reached the small patch of brown hair below. His mouth nuzzled her wet womanhood before gliding those skilled lips up her inner thigh. Kelria arched her hips up to meet his lips, wanting him to devour more of her flesh despite herself. All restraint and wariness had been discarded and she wanted more of him on her skin. Her hands found his head and her fingers wound through his hair in response to her growing excitement. It was the sign he was waiting for; Tamain looked from his ministrations to her - her cheeks flush and red as she moaned softly, and her chest heaving from her excited breathing. She was ready for him.
All she had come to know of Zecairin intimacy was shallow in comparison to the depths to which his tongue reached as it parted her labia and caressed her wet folds. Kelria's body rose up to meet his tongue, her breath caught in her throat, her eyes rolled back with a flutter as her lover brought to her a new experience. As that wonderfully articulate tongue danced and caressed her exposed clitoris she squeaked despite herself. The more he manipulated that sensitive bud, the more she writhed underneath him. When finally she broke and gasped for breath, he eased back to soft caresses of her labia and allowed her to catch her breath lest she black out from trying to savor all of this new experience. From the frantic rhythm of her breathing he could tell she wouldn't last much longer, so he gave her a moment to taper off as he kissed and suckled her lips into his mouth. When she was ready, he resumed caressing circles around her bud with the tip of his tongue. His warm hands caressed her stomach and chest, and gave only momentary distractions to the building excitement within her.
Kelria peaked - instinctively grabbed handfuls of his hair, and clenched her thighs against his cheeks as her body trembled with the release of pleasure. It lasted for a good long moment before her muscles relaxed, and she cooed appreciatively as her body started to involuntarily go limp.
"Oh my shadowcat..." she tried to speak. "I've never..." she panted. Tamain crawled atop her and kissed her panting lips to silence her. She reached for his hard cock, and wrapped her fingers around it before he pulled her hand away. He kissed her fingers and her wrist.
"Another time, my lovely mouse." He smiled, before sucking one of her fingers into his mouth and biting it playfully. "I would stay here forever with you, but there are more wonders I would show you first. Starting with the rest of my world... The Discarded. Let us bathe first, then I will take you to meet them. Lend your voice to theirs so we can decide how to better assist your queen." He played with the hair around her ear, and casually caressed the tip of it.
Kelria could hardly deny him anything at this point in time.
* * * *
Kalek found his Queen standing still in a new robe surveying the scenery below the side of their mountain. She seemed especially interested in the small human compound not far from the foot of it. Like typical human encampments, the tree line had been cut back, and visibility was clear on all four sides of the structure. Four long walls surrounded a generously sparse interior with a half dozen smaller buildings and one larger main building. She had found a near perfect vantage point leaning against a fallen log. Had a walker-by not noticed the bright blond hair above the bark edge, they would have missed her completely. Kalek wasn't sure whether to remind her of the need for stealth, or trust she had done it on purpose.
She heard him approach and glanced slowly back over her shoulder. Kalek waited respectfully for a moment, until she nodded to him to approach. As he grew closer he saw the shimmer of the illusion she had erected before her -- a camouflage to disguise her presence to those viewing from below but not from behind. His judgment had been premature, and he scolded himself for it. His Queen was more formidable than he first assessed. Kalek came to stand beside her, but maintained a respectful step away.
Niyana approached casually, came to stand before him, and leaned into him, pulling his arms around her waist as she leaned the back of her head against his shoulder. Kalek was barely taller than her, and her ear was uncomfortably close to his mouth. Her casualness aside, even had it been any other woman he would have flustered at this and maintained his distance. Kalek wasn't sure he was allowed to tell her no, however. Not as a knight, not as a subject, not as a male.
"Your father has suggested I take a prince-consort," Niyana spoke softly. There was no flirtation in her voice, but a troubled thoughtfulness. "I dismissed him for a brief time so that I could collect my thoughts. I am sure your mother would recommend you before another, Lord Kalek. But I am not so sure." She folded her hands over his and held them over her stomach. She kept her gaze on the Monastery below and let the mountain breeze blow over them. "What are your thoughts? Please speak honestly." Kalek considered her posturing for a moment, as this was most confusing to him and very distracting.
"More important matters should concern you." Kalek offered politely.
"Please share your feelings with me as well. I would appreciate their counsel."
"More important matters should concern you." He repeated with condescension and derision in his voice.
"Has Iala caused a rift between the two of you?"
"Rifts will heal in time." He muttered.
"Had I been lost to my corruption, what would you have done differently, as Knight Commander?"
"I would have taken you back to Lunar in hopes that another Cleric may try to purify you."
"And if we were arrested by my brother? Or worse, attacked on sight?"
"I would have defended you to my dying breath."
Niyana relaxed against him and nestled her cheek against his.
"I see what Kelria saw in you," Kalek did not tense up at her words, somehow he knew this was not a courtship. "Could I call you friend?"
"I would be honored."
"And should I desire to call you more?" Kalek did not answer right away. He was starting to see the thoughtful, strategic side to his Queen now. The words she spoke before and her actions now had erased all preconceptions of her abilities. If this was a test, as uncomfortable a question as it was, he trusted that there was no wrong answer.
"As a Lord and a man, I would be honored. As a knight, I would be disappointed." He finally said, but without any judgment in his voice. Niyana chuckled.
"I need knights now. I've had enough of men for a time." Niyana smiled and squeezed his hands affectionately. "Friend Kalek, I need a counselor - someone that is not your mother, nor your father, and who is not afraid to stand up to either of them. There are a few Knights I believe could perform this task, and I would
ask you for a suggestion. As my friend, I cannot choose you for this task." She gave his hand another squeeze. Kalek relaxed, relieved. Deep down he did not want that responsibility right now. His family was already at odds with each other over recent events.
"I would recommend Brylen. He is rough, experienced, but also idealistic to a fault and not afraid to voice a dissent. However, he can accept orders he does not agree with."
"Done." Niyana said and disengaged from him. "Did you find her?"
"Yes," Kalek said excitedly. Niyana turned, and arched an eyebrow at the sudden burst. She looked at him and could almost see the smile he was trying to withhold. A breeze picked up and tossed her long hair behind her as she held her hands before her demurely. Acting like a queen was a new challenge for her as well, she had to present herself as more than a Knight, and more than a woman. "But that issue is a bit more complicated, and requires some unconventional thinking." Kalek prompted, setting the stage for the boulder he was about to drop. Tamain's choice of words had stuck with him so profoundly it made sense to reiterate them. Niyana smirked and arched an inquisitive eyebrow. This less rigid side of Kalek was much more attractive. But she had to push those thoughts aside. "Kelria has defected to a rogue group of Zecairins called The Discarded." Niyana's good mood soured, and her jaw locked up tight. She would have thought this a joke, if she did not know Kalek better.
