She let the pointless struggle leave her and stilled in his hold. She could not fight him. Much like she could not fight Valdr. If he was to let her down, what then? Was she to fight the king's guards? Was she to get herself and Arielle killed? She was as weak and powerless as she had always been.

What would it feel like to be strong and fearless like a Leoth she wondered, like Theodan. To be so powerful that even a King might fear you. The Zybar King had shown a glimmer of fear before the Leoth; as though even he knew that his men were no match for him. Another hundred Zybar would perhaps have a chance against him, but those gathered around the king's audience would have been dead in moments.

It made her wonder why the realm had never attacked the mainland before. What had kept them away for a thousand years when they could so easily wipe out any other army of Ethis? Why had the one realm built for war never once waged it? Her thoughts were loud and many as they danced around her head to the tune of panic that still bubbled and brimmed inside her.

The Goddess had saved her.

Arielle had saved her.

Theodan saved you. Again.

Why? For what purpose did she live still?

At least now she knew the Leoth was no loyal and devoted servant of the Zybar. He could barely hide his disregard. It dripped from his tongue with every word he spoke. This is not the kind of war Leoth fights. Whether this meant his mind could be turned against them, she did not know. Whether it meant he would switch allegiance and fight a war against the tyrant of Zybar to save Azura she did not know. But his gracious treatment of Arielle was curious. And his open revulsion to Zybar's war caused a small glimmer of optimism to flicker dimly against the rot of hopelessness inside her.

However as quick as it glowed, it was quickly engulfed by darkness, and guilt, the back of Fara's eyes burning from the threat of tears, the burn of knowing that Arielle's sacrifice had been based on another falsehood. Oh, of course, you are Galyn's wife, but you're also my daughter Fara, and oh how I have so longed for a daughter. Fara had stolen Galyn's love. True she had stolen it to stay alive, as a common thief might steal a loaf of bread. But she had not earned it. No kind of reparation would make up for what she had taken from Azura.

And even if she could, somehow make it back to Valdr, and even if she could somehow compel him to command his armies to fight against Zybar, what would it achieve? Azura's heir was dead. Arielle would soon be dead also. Valdr would be a better ruler than Torrik, she had to believe that. But there were not oceans of disparity between them, both so driven by greed and power and a bitterness over that which they were not and that which they had not. Neither would be kind to the people of Azura.

That left any of the ruling families left alive, or military rule. The mountain and sea tribes expelled by Sylvan could take control of the realm until new rulers were chosen among the noble families, but which option would restore Azura to her what she had been? Who would best give her back what had been lost to her? Her beauty and her grace, her city of gold, her love and laughter. The seed of hopelessness which had opened up within her began to grow, a weed sprouting, rot spreading, a plague within her.

She could not see the two Leoth soldiers to whom Theodan spoke in his foreign tongue, but she knew from the tone they used that the conversation was serious. He carried her briskly across the camp away from the king's enclosure without stopping or looking back, deep in conversation with the two deep-voiced Leoth's who wore many weapons.

Her thoughts weaved and unfurled until they reached his tent, where he carried her inside and set her down roughly next to his pallet, shooting her a look of warning as he did so.
He reached for his battle harness, which hung on the post by the head of it, and pulled it hastily over his tunic, fastening the straps deftly.

He moved to his weapon stand and slotted each of his swords to his body in swift, practised movements. Fara knew without a doubt he could do it just as effortlessly were he blind. His claws, extended as they were, did not hinder him - they'd shot out violently in the king's tent as he'd pulled her against him, his body trembling with caged power - as he fastened each catch of his harness to each carved sword. As he turned his head to slot his largest sword in its holder on his back, the great black beast that had helped kill Galyn, she saw that his teeth too had changed their form. A long sharp tooth was now visible on each side of his mouth, white and deadly against the smooth pink skin of his lips. The sight of it flooded her tongue with a sudden unwarranted thirst. She recalled his stolen kiss; how he pierced her lip and drank from her as he pressed his body into hers. A surge of pleasure coursed down her spine causing a stab of heat to bloom in the space between her thighs.

Theodan stilled suddenly, his head snapping in her direction. As he met her gaze he took a deep breath, his tongue sliding slowly along his teeth, a display which called to Fara's mind a predator looking upon its prey. She held her breath until a moment later his body relaxed, and he let out a small growl which sounded like irritation. He turned his head from her and refocused his attention on his sword. It was only then that she realised what his dressing meant.

'You are leaving? For battle?' she asked, a panicked edge to her voice. A notion slammed into her then, startling her: she did not want him to leave. She wanted him to stay with her. She felt safer with him near her. The king's men could come for her at any moment, and whether he had believed Arielle or not - she did not believe that the king was finished with her. Theodan turned to her again, his eyes narrow and dark with incredulity. How dare you question me? Was what the unforgiving look in his eyes demanded. She lowered her gaze from his. 'It is only... If you are gone and the King's men come for me-.'

'No one will take you from me,' he growled. 'Not even a King.'

Her head snapped up, his words twisting something inside her. Hadn't Valdr once promised something similar?

Yet she knew, Theodan was nothing like Valdr. Theodan, she knew, had honour in him, something Valdr had never possessed or even understood. The Leoth had enslaved her, yes. Had degraded her and commanded his pleasure slave beat her. Had slaughtered unnumbered Azurians. Had ended Galyn's life with a single slice to his throat. Had brought Arielle to King Torrik as his spoil. Had helped destroy the land she called home. But there was honour there; a horrifying, hideous kind of honour, but honour all the same.

Surely to possess honour in some form was better than possessing none at all? And if she was to survive this thing, if she was to help repair Azura, then she would need his help to do it.

Looking back at the dark forbidding look in his eye, she felt the momentous nature of that task. Such hostility seemed to burn there - even when he had kissed her it was as though he resented her for it. So why then had he refused the king's offer?

This was the only part of what had happened in the King's tent that Fara could not understand.

'Perhaps you should have made the trade the King offered you,' Fara said, her voice quiet with uncertainty. 'Nysa of Therolis would have made a far less troublesome slave for you.' Theodan said nothing in response but she saw his jaw clench, eyes narrowing darkly. 'Prince Galyn was willing to risk his kingdom to wed her, such was her charms,' she continued.

This was a dangerous game she knew, but she kept her stare level with his. His breaths began to come fast and hard, his rage simmering just beneath the surface. A tremor of fear coursed over her at the dark look of warning that crept into his eye but because her survival depended on it - and because she desired to know - she asked the question that burned the tip of her tongue.

'Why did you refuse him? Why did you not make the trade?'

He moved suddenly, crossing the space between them in three large strides and then his body was crowding hers, eclipsing her completely. He reached up and curled a sharp-nailed finger under her collar and pulled it toward him, lowering his head so that their lips all but touched. She could feel the heat from his breath on her lips and her mouth throbbed with the memory of his, her tongue flooding again with a deep thirst.

'Have you forgotten so quickly what this signifies, Cassine of Achaeia,' he sneered her name. 'It serves as a token of ownership. It bears my name as you bear my scent. It renders you my property by deed and by spoil law. It removes you from the influence and authority of any other, alive or passed. It means I command and you obey, and it remains as such until this is removed from your body by my hand alone,' he tugged her ever closer, his grip firm on the collar, his teeth bared now. 'Think you that I would so easily give up that which belongs to me?'

A blaze of anger seared up her spine and an older, deeper buried memory rushed to the front of her mind.

You belong to me Fara, me. And if you ever leave me know this; I will tear the four realms apart until I have you returned to me. I will set fire to every inch of this land until there is nothing left but you and I and the scorched remains of the fallen. She took a deep breath and stared him down.

'By deed and by spoil law it may be, but I belong to no man, commander,' she fired back. Not anymore.

His eyes burst with tiny sparks of light and she saw a trace of a smile ghost across his mouth. Letting the collar drop, he took hold of her chin and twisted her head from him. Then he drew his nose up against her cheek and inhaled deeply. An image then; of him sinking his teeth into her neck, ripping out her throat, feasting on her blood as she bled out on the ground beneath him. Her useless pathetic life at an end at last. Her heart thundered in her chest, as the awful unbidden heat pounded between her thighs, screaming at her for some release.

'But you forget, female. I am not a man.' He let the words linger there along with his mouth, on the crest of her cheek, before he let go of her and stepped back from her body. His eyes flickered with light as he stared down at her. 'Now prepare yourself. We leave for Leoth at once.' He turned and strode from the tent, leaving her alone.

Leoth. He was taking her to Leoth? What did that mean? When would she return? Would she return? How could she have any hope of saving Arielle or Azura from across the ash sea? Yet, neither could she stay here. The king would return for her, she was certain of it.

Please protect The Queen, Goddess. I beg of you keep her alive until I can save her. Please protect your most humble of servants. Please watch over her, I beg of you.

Fara glanced around the space. Prepare herself. She had little to nothing to carry with her; no clothing, or belongings. Except... She dashed across the tent and threw back the fabrics of her pallet to retrieve Galyn's amethyst hairpin, which she had buried deep inside the rough hay-stocked pillow. With nowhere on her person to secure it, she reached up and nestled it deep into her hair, securing it tightly before pulling a section of hair over to shield it from view.

Then, because she knew the journey was likely to be long, she went behind the wooden screen and relieved herself in the steel bucket she chose to think of a chamber pot. The relief of it relaxed some of the tension in her body, but as she stepped out from behind it and saw Theodan entering the tent, she froze, affronted. Heat bloomed her cheeks but he bore it no mind at all as he came toward her carrying a swathe of heavy rough linen the colour of bleached stone.

'The journey north is cold. You will require a cloak,' He said brusquely, holding it out to her.

She nodded and reached out to take it from him, but instead, he moved behind her. Glancing backwards she saw that he meant to help her put it on, and so she raised her arms up to allow him to ease the fabric over her head. She noted that it smelled distinctly feminine and faintly familiar and she wondered for a moment if he had taken it from Iaria of Asalla. Pulling it down over her body, he let it drop weightily to the floor, his hands moving then to her neck to unfurl the long hood made from extra fabric. When he brought the hood up over her head she tensed, fearing he might find the hairclip even though she had taken pains to ensure it was well hidden. He flattened the fabric over her head and came around in front of her once more.

The sleeves of the cloak were long, long enough to touch the ground, but as she brought her arm up to inspect it she saw that it was shaped to allow her hands to remain free. The cloak skimmed tightly over her breasts and hips, the skirt trailing a touch too long for her frame.

Casting an eye over her briefly, he gave a small satisfied nod letting his eyes travel upward to meet hers. As he stared at her the look in his eye seemed to soften and brighten, and when he opened his mouth to speak she held her breath. He was interrupted by Jhaan, who entered unannounced carrying a small bronze goblet which he handed to Theodan.

Theodan turned offered the goblet to Fara.

She shook her head. 'No thank you. I am not thirsty,' She did not want to drink anything for she wanted to avoid having to endure the mortification of relieving herself before him again.

'You will drink it,' he ordered. When she shot him a look he sighed, impatiently. 'It is necessary - a calming draught to settle the body. The journey can be... overwhelming the first time.'

'I do not understand.'

'You do not have to understand,' he replied. You must trust me.' He almost smirked. Trust him? Was there a term for such ridiculous a notion?

As Theodan held out the goblet, from which emanated a faintly sweet aroma, she glanced guardedly at Jhaan. The Leoth offered her a small nod, coupled with a soft reassuring lilt of his mouth. Before her nerve wavered she reached out and took the cup from Theodan and drained its contents. It was not unpleasant. In fact, it was surprisingly appetising. It reminded her of a thick sweet wine, but more syrupy in texture. As it coated the back of her throat a warm and pleasing heat burned across her mouth, spicy and almost ticklish before it slipped down to settle comfortably in her stomach.

Theodan took the empty goblet from her and handed it back to Jhaan. 'Now, we must leave,' he told her. 'While the moon is still high enough to guide us. Have you all you wish to take with you?' He glanced about her person.

'I possess nothing,' She replied.

He blinked, his eyes flickering brightly a moment before he nodded. 'Very well. Come.'

The instant the air hit her she felt it. A delightful and numbing heat spreading downward from the very top of her head. It moved over her chest slowly, tingling across her stomach and thighs as it wisped through her veins. It coated everything around her in a mist-like glaze, so that she had to move to steady herself on the post outside the tent. Offering his arm, Theodan moved by her side, and she allowed him to guide her forward, towards where Jhaan now stood. The varveh was already saddled and waiting, Black as night and large enough to obscure the moon entirely from where Fara stood. Had it always been so monstrously large?

She gulped as a slow roll of nausea moved over her, clouding her head and causing the very ground she walked upon to tilt. The first smatterings of panic rushed at her, a breathlessness, a deep heat in her head that felt unsettling and odd. But the sensation dispersed almost the instant she felt it, replaced by more of the delicious gauzy warmth. It felt much as though there was a dance going on within her. 'Wh- what.. have you given me?' She asked, breathless.

'The effect, to begin with, is startling,' Theodan explained as she moved slowly with his assistance. 'But when the body becomes accustomed to its characteristics, it will be more... pleasant.'

She stopped moving and turned her head to glare at him. He moved in and out of focus, moving too fast or too slow for her eye to see. 'That is not what I asked.'

'Nought but a mixture of plant sapling and Leoth wine,' he sighed. 'It eases.. travel sickness.. in humans.'

She required to sort the words out carefully before being able to speak them aloud. Though her body had slowly begun to regain its stability, her mind seemed to be losing its. 'I do not... suffer... travel sickness.'

'All humans who ride Varveh suffer it, female.'

She looked up at him, marvelling at how luminous his skin looked under the light of the moon, a smooth white marble that reminded her of the statues in the Courtyard of The Goddess. It was not permitted to touch them, but Fara had, often; her eyes closed as she glided her hands along the smooth curves of marble, pressing her fingertips to the cool stone which had been lovingly carved by the priestesses themselves. All at once she had the greatest desire to touch him too, to brush her fingers across the smooth flawless skin that arched across his cheek, the curve of his jaw, the cushion of his mouth. She understood then the Leothine were born to the night, blooming under the watchful eye of their beloved moon. Leoth the Dark had given them this gift, although many - including her - had always seen it as a curse. A creature who could not bask in the warmth of sunlight had always seemed cursed to Fara. Until that moment.

Unable to prevent herself, she reached up for his cheek, skimming the very tips of her fingers down the curve of his jaw and across toward his mouth. At her touch, his body stiffened, and she watched, hypnotised as the shape of his breathing changed; quickening, deepening as her fingers made their way across his lips. She felt the heat of his quickened breaths brush her fingers. She skimmed the back of her hand up across his cheek again before slowly drawing her hand from him. When he finally opened his eyes she saw those same spectacular glowing orbs shining back her, as bright as they had been in the moments after he'd kissed her.

'Eraphyr alea estys perseneor...' He whispered.

Perhaps it was the proximity; the fact that she could see just how his tongue moved in order to create each of those foreign sounds; or perhaps it was the elixir which swam in her veins, but for the first time, Leothine sounded like the most beautiful language she had ever heard.

'Eraphyr alea estys perseneor...' she repeated a soft whisper.

It was the wrong thing to do.

His eyes darkened immediately, the orb swallowed by blackness as he stepped back from her.

'So convincingly you speak words you know nothing of,' he said, his tone sharp.

She blinked slowly, her jumbled mind beginning to clear as he turned to pull her with him towards his Varveh. Jhaan was standing by its head, smoothing a hand down between its eyes as he whispered softly to it. Along with the sturdy saddle, a bronze and leather buckled harness reached across its wide breast and around its flanks, flanks which looked far larger than they ought to be. Fara blinked again, certain her vision too was hindered by the draught he had given her, but as she got closer she saw what had tricked her eye. The journey can be most...overwhelming the first time... She gasped, her eyes and mouth rounding from the sight she saw before her.

From the point of its shoulder and curving along the barrel of its body were wings. Huge and black as night, they trembled visibly, a soft tremor moving over them as the beast whinnied softly. Its large eyes flickered, not unlike Theodan's did, as Jhaan continued to whisper against its muzzle.

As Theodan approached the Varveh, it stiffened. Not in fear, but in the way a soldier might stand to attention for his superior, its eyes brightening still further. Silver to a pure bright white. Starlight which could see for a thousand miles in the dark. She watched as Theodan dipped his head to the beast in a gesture of respect, before placing his hand flat on its forehead, smoothing it down between its eyes as Jhaan had. When he spoke, however, it was in a firmer tone than the one which Jhaan had used.

'Come, she must scent you,' Theodan commanded Fara, reaching his hand out to her.

Fara moved forward slowly, letting Theodan take her hand. He turned her palm upward and brought it to the Varveh's muzzle, and she wished then that she had some dried fig like that which she used to bring Ophidia. She remembered Theodan ridiculing her for comparing a Varveh to a horse, but the truth was, at close quarters, she looked very much like one. She was larger, much larger, large enough to carry a fully grown Leoth into battle, but everything about her was equine in quality. She was breathtakingly beautiful and as she opened her oversized nostrils and took a loud snort against her palm, Fara felt overawed by just how beautiful she was. The sheer power that emanated from this great beast was so overwhelming in fact, that she felt the tears rush up against her eyes before she had a chance to stop them. Here before her was the only creature alive that could gift those without it the power of flight. The only creature alive that could allow you to see the four realms as only the gods saw them - from far far above.

Fara smiled up at her, curling her fingers under her muzzle to stroke her jaw, just as she had done with her master a moment ago.

'She must scent your intention with her before she will allow you to mount her,' Theodan explained in the same soft but firm tone he knew was meant for the Varveh's benefit, not hers. 'Keep your thoughts and intentions pure or she will reject you.'

It was not difficult. Fara could not muster an impure thought towards the beast if she tried. It was a magnificent creature, perhaps the greatest in all creation. Theodan whispered a few more words in Leoth and the Varveh lifted her head, kicking up some sand with her great hoofs before nudging her head against him almost playfully.

'She will carry you,' He told Fara before hoisting himself up onto her saddle in one quick and graceful move. When he reached out his hand Fara let him pull her up onto the beast with ease, where he settled her in front of him. From over one shoulder he brought a thick leather strap across her chest and fastened it to the saddle by her opposite thigh. He brought a second across the other shoulder and did the same. When she was harnessed to the saddle, the Varveh, and to him, he took hold of the reins and pulled once, eliciting an eager whinny from his beast in response.

'Serve Elyon and Draden as you would I. They are your masters until I return.' He told Jhaan, in the human tongue. She wondered if it was a way of letting her know that they would return. Jhaan looked up at his master with a pensive set to his features but nodded his acquiescence.

'As you instruct, commander. I will pray to the Dark One to guide you safely to the home isle.' The young Leoth gave Fara a smile - genuine and warm - which she returned, hoping that he would see her gratitude in it. Jhaan looked again at the Varveh and whispered a single word in Leoth which to Fara sounded like a farewell. Pulling on the reins once more, Theodan grunted a single, loud command to the Varveh which caused her to shoot forward at once, forcing Fara backwards against the warmth of his body.

The beast built her speed quickly, too quickly, bursting forward along the beach at an impossible pace. They were moving away from the camp, first up the grassy incline which ran parallel with the shore, and then east away from the tents. When they had travelled a distance along the grass verge Theodan jerked the Varveh's head northward, so that she turned and began back towards the edge of the grass verge. At his instruction she jumped, gliding high over the incline to land gracefully on the sand, her gallop barely breaking pace as she did. As her speed increased in another sharp jolt forward, the wind crashed into Fara's lungs, her heart surging as she struggled at once to breathe.

'Breathe slowly and deeply, it will help calm your body for what is to come.' Theodan instructed against her ear. What was to come? She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and then another and sure enough, she felt her heartbeat begin to slow, her body settling to that warm calm once more. When she felt able to, she opened her eyes, but the moment she did the cold ice breath slammed into her chest once more at the sight.

The sea. Black and loud and endless. Rushing towards them at lightning speed.

They were heading straight for it. He was riding them straight into it. She sunk her nails into Theodan's arm and let out a small gasp of terror as she clung to him tightly.

'Calm yourself, female. This is not how you die,' he whispered close to her ear, an almost amused lilt to his voice. Then, a moment later: 'If you cannot trust me then trust her...' From the side of her eye, she saw a shadow, as though they were being chased by something huge and black. When she turned her head she saw that nothing chased them. The Varveh's great black wings had begun to extend slowly outward, the tremor that rolled through them transforming to a loud beat.

As she felt the first speckles of the ocean hit her skin she turned her head towards the front and held her breath, her eyes closing tight of their own accord. They crashed straight through the shoreline, the sound of a powerful gallop giving way to the sound of even more powerful waves. Fara felt her stomach flip and her legs lose all feeling as the sound of the waves crashing around them changed. It gave way to a sound much like that of a great ship's sail's being pounded by the wind. Or the sound of a great beast's wings as it took flight. Theodan tightened his hold on her as she felt them both keen slightly to one side. When she opened her eyes she let out a single strangled gasp of shock, her body freezing in a bone-deep panic.

'Breathe,' he said again.

She took a deep breath, and then another until her heart began to slow once more, and with it the calming warmth that crept back in and settled over her. When she blinked open her eyes she saw the ocean fall away, and the shore with it - a land ravaged by war disappearing evermore behind them. At the sight, a feeling of such complete weightlessness coursed over her, together with the sense of finally being free from something she had not until that moment considered to be a prison.

Of course, she was not free, the collar around her neck bound her in servitude to a Leoth in deed and in law - a Leoth who at this moment was carrying her away from the only home she'd ever known.

But in that moment, as she soared up into the sky atop a great and powerful beast, Fara felt more free than she ever had.