He was halfway across the Ash Sea when he felt the change start in his body, felt the draw of Leoth in his bones, felt his blood begin to push power to his exhausted muscles.  The heat of the rising sun faded behind them as the roar of the ocean continued far below. Only the call of the night lay ahead, the call of home. 

Nux received the surge before he did, shooting forward in great leaps across the night sky, miles falling away on each leap as her wings worked hard against the whip of the wind around them.  He knew not whether Cassine slept, but her body was still and tense; a small silent heap of bone and warmth pressed tightly against him.  The scent of her fear had been diluted the further away from Azura they had travelled, the wind carrying it off, the cold air drowning it almost completely.  Left over, was her body's own simple aroma - a delicately spiced floral, much like her blood.  

At the first sight of the mountains through the low cloud, Nux reared her head before moving to begin her descent.  She tilted her wings upwards, before folding them back to slow her speed. Grabbing tighter on the reins, Theodan guided eastward, planning to route the Xohr Wall which at the moment was being battered by the full force of the Kyhr Wilds below.  The extra weight and unbroken journey meant they would have to land near the cliff edge and take Whisperwood on foot, she would not have the strength to carry them up the mountain home.

She had carried them against a hard northerly wind and he wasn't sure either how she would make it over the Wilds without a dip in ascent - meaning he was attempting a dangerous landing at low level, in the dark. The Xohr Wall stood looming and large; grey cragged rock which had stood a thousand years and would stand a thousand more. Only one vicious inlet of the realm could be breached without scaling the Xohr Wall and that was manned by the eye of the Visier and the Brightswords. And the current division had been trained by Theodan himself. 

Onward they flew, Nux swooping wide around the Xohr Wall, where a short distance out from the cliff he spotted another mass of black rock. The Ossian. It shot up out of the sea at a harsh angle and at the sight of it he knew how to get them the extra height they needed to complete the landing.  Gently, he began guiding Nux toward it, even though she knew now what he intended. Nux had to keep a quick speed due to the sheer force of the wind they pushed against, a speed which was on its own far too quick before attempting to land, but Theodan reasoned that even if they far overran the cliff edge itself, then the forest bed was flat enough and soft enough that the spring would offset any harshness from the landing.  He hoped his reasoning was correct. He had, after all, landed Nux a thousand times, in all conditions.

The moment they began to descend toward the Ossian, he felt Cassine's fingers grip his thigh, causing a jolt of heat to shoot upward to his groin. He gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on the rein, urging Nux forward with a gentle kick of his heels against her flanks.  Cassine began to whisper a soft prayer into the neck of her cloak; another whispered plea to her long-dead Goddess.

Nux reared and whinnied as they flew closer toward, edgy as the thought of landing grew near. He knew well that the landing was painful for her; a strain on the hock and the knees, hooves sometimes cracking under the pressure of a badly timed one.  He tried to steady her, sending her a few quiet words of comfort as he rose up in the saddle to a half-standing position. Leaning over Cassine, he smoothed a hand over the Varveh's mane to calm her.  

Standing offered him a better view of The Ossian's peak, a flat-topped mass of moon bleached rock which protruded from the sea like some great stone beast.  With Nux now angled toward it, he pulled once on her rein - a long pull to indicate what he needed her to do, and immediately she began to ascend slightly, before levelling off. He pulled once more and she began to descend quickly toward The Ossian.  He thought they had missed it but then he felt her hooves scrape over it before she bent her hock and knee and used it to thrust them upward into the air once more.  With this last added speed and height Nux was able to gallop through the air, gliding with ease over the lip of the Xohr Wall. 

Pulling her reign once more at the last, Theodan angled their weight backwards again for the landing, and with a practised arch of her back, Nux touched down on the soft green grass of Leoth smoother than he could have hoped. Stored speed carried them forward through the trees at a high pace until she slowly began to fade and they came to a slow canter a short distance from the base of the mountain.  Theodan reached around Cassine to unclip the flight harness from Nux's saddle and himself, before climbing down from the Varveh to take the rest of the journey on foot.

He took Nux by the muzzle and began to lead them through the wood and onto the steep incline towards the top.   With each measure of distance they travelled, he breathed deeper and easier; the rejuvenating power of the trees soaking into his bones, his muscles, his blood.  Home.  Cassine was mainly silent, but every now and then he heard her shifting in the saddle, the occasional moan of discomfort loosing quietly from her lips.  When he looked back at her he found her looking cautiously around the dark trees of Whisperwood, eyes wide and curious. As the journey wore on she hung her head and appeared deep in silent contemplation. 

It was almost high moonrise when they reached the peak of the mountain, the flat grove of the fells he knew so well announcing the very outskirts of Teredia. The moonlight split through trees, harsh yet elusive, and he saw his home for the first time in what seemed like years, though it had been only half a moon cycle. He was hungry and longed for nothing but a hot basin of water and the comfort of his own bed.  Cassine, he realised then, had not uttered a word to him since they left the surface of Azura, and her thoughts were deafeningly silent.

He knew he should mention to her that the growing feverishness in her bones was nought but the change in character of the air. Leoth air was overpowering to the human senses until the body grew accustomed to it. He knew he should mention to her the toxicity of the flora and fauna, so she did not come to any harm during her time here.  He knew he should mention a great many things to her but he did not now trust his tongue were he to let it loose in this exhausted state. 

He led Nux to the foot of the great living tree and into the shelter built into the rock at its base. She'd be unharnessed to allow her to roam the forest this night of course, to rebuild her strength from such a journey. But he led her to the pool of freshwater which rushed through Teredia from the highest peak and bade her drink first.  As she did he reached up to unfasten and lift Cassine down from the saddle. 

As he set her down she swayed a little, her eyes heavy with exhaustion.  When he saw the collar pressed against her throat he felt a glimmer of guilt.  He thought of Queen Arielle cuffed and chained and he saw reflected back at him from her eyes a beast no different from the Zybar. For an instant, he considered unlocking the collar from her throat and throwing it over the cliff's edge.  How quickly would she run from him then, he wondered.  How far would she run from him then, he wondered.

She gazed up at him, that heavy, almost soft, look in her eye which he knew was not tenderness. It was nought but the remnants of the tonic he had given her in Azura.  He thought of how she had looked at him as she'd spoken to him in Leoth outside the tent. Words spoken quite as they might be had she meant them.  Words that in truth, he knew, he could only dream would pass her lips. If he dreamt of such things that was.

'You are in Leoth now,' he told her.  'The waters surrounding our land are poisonous to your kind - so I would urge you against trying to swim to your freedom. Some of the trees natural to this land can also be poisonous to your kind - so I would also urge you against trying to run to your freedom,' he explained.  'You should also know that the inscription on this collar gives me complete power over you here. In Azura it was a token, in Leoth it is absolute - do you understand?'

Her face had hardened as he spoke, a sharpness settling over her tired features.  She looked different here, under the Leoth moon; more ethereal, more like the statue of Azura herself, more as though she could belong here.

'Do you understand?' He repeated.

She raised her chin. 'Do I understand that you have brought me here to this venomous island of yours to live out the rest of my days as your prisoner? Do I understand that you are my master and that I am your slave by deed and by law? Do I understand that you have complete power over me and that I am nothing more than a collared possession of a ruthless warrior?' she asked.  'Yes, Leothine. I think I finally understand.'

He had not expected the sharp tone, so meek and fatigued she had looked a moment before. But then, she oft surprised him. It took him a moment to consider the measure of his response.

'Do not think, female, but listen, and listen well.' He took a step closer, lowering his face to hers. 'My power over you here, under this moon, is such that you cannot even begin to comprehend.  My name carved onto the leoth steel that you now wear against your skin could, if I so desire it, make you crawl on your hands and knees and bark like a dog. So powerful is it that I could, if I so desire, make you consume your own flesh as though it were the sweetest and wildest of forest fruits,' he moved his mouth to her ear and lowered his voice.  'So powerful is it that I could, if I so desire, make you love, worship, and service me like you have no other.' 

He took a deep inhale of the skin of her neck, his teeth extending hungrily at the soft feminine fragrance that hung there.  He could hear her heartbeat hammer against the surface of her skin, the vein loud and tempting, her breath short and sharp. When he stepped back from her, her mouth was partially open and her eyes were wide and fearful once more. 

'I urge you consider this when you feel the need to let your proud tongue loose around me as you so often do. I urge you also to consider how well you are treated when your fate this night could be far far worse.'

This forced something into her, for her mouth -  which was poised and open in preparation - snapped fully closed. She swallowed once and lowered her gaze from his. 

'Now do you understand?' He asked.

'Yes, my lord. I understand.'

He felt a stab of annoyance at the show of submission - something he found he did not understand.

'Good. Now come.' He growled before stalking out of Nux's stable. 

The entrance to his home - which before this had been his father's home, and before that his fathers before him and so on - was cloaked in shadow, hidden under the large spiral of rock and tree which been married together over centuries. Stone and bark enveloped each other under the moon like lovers taking their final embrace. This meant that it was not easy to enter Teredia without instruction or invitation - and Theodan preferred it this way. The courtyard was silent, the central fountain dead and rotting for many moons now, weeds dripping from it like blood from open wounds.

They stole across the moonlit space like intruders themselves, Cassine following behind him on quiet, hesitant footsteps as he headed for the Serves' door built into the southern side of the great tree. The Serve's door was open to the night air as they approached it and the warm amber glow of the cookhouse fire spilled out onto the pale rock floor.

Inside, Mor was bent over a large steel pot which he could hear bubbling on the stove, and the hot scent of her stew made his mouth water appreciatively.  She muttered in whispered Leoth to herself much too focussed on her current task to hear them enter behind her.

By the hearth, Pyrus, his aged Timberwolf lay fast asleep. His ears pricked up the instant they entered and he sprung up and trotted over to Theodan, his tail wagging lazily in greeting.  It was the sound of the wolf's nails on the rock floor which captured Mor's attention, and so as she turned she cried out with fright at the sight of them.

'Ethis and the Gods, Theo!!' she exclaimed, startled. 'Think you to give my heart it's final farewell!!? It's you! Thank the gods it's you!'

'You were expecting someone else, Mor?' Theodan asked, reaching down to smooth a hand over Pyrus's silken grey coat. The wolf butted his hand, his tongue lolling out to lick across Theodan's open palm.

'Well, I was not expecting you! Is the war over?' she asked, a weighty look coming into her wise eyes. 'Azura has fallen?'

'She holds on for a few more days,' Theodan replied, flicking a brief censured look at Cassine, glad that she could not speak Leoth. Mor nodded gravely, her mouth turning up in disgust. She was not agreeable to war. Or Zybar. But had learned long ago to keep silent about matters which did not concern her.

The Timberwolf circled him once before lopping off back to the heat of the fire. Theodan tensed as Mor approached him, hoping to the gods she did not intend on embracing him here, in front of Cassine.  Such a show would not do. But as he considered how to deflect the move should she attempt it, Mor spotted Cassine for the first time it seemed and the cook's attention quickly shifted to her.

'And what have we here...?!' she gasped, smiling a wide toothless smile as she wiped her hands on her apron.

'She does not speak leothine,' said Theodan.

Mor nodded, before switching to the human tongue. 'Why you are a pretty little thing, are you not?' 

'A pretty Azurian spoil.'  Theodan corrected, also in the human tongue. He saw Mor stiffen, and Cassine glared at him before lowering her eyes to the floor, her hands knotting in front of her.

'A spoil that you have frightened half to death, Theodan,' she chided, in Leoth once more, shooting him a look of admonishment. 'What in the Gods have you done to her?'

'Must you always think the worst of me?' he sighed, ladling his cup full with wine.  'I have done nought but save her life, and received nothing but trouble for it.'

'Then you are her hero then, that is what I am to believe is it?' She gave him a doubtful eye.

He drained his wine. 'Yes, Mor. I am.'

'Mhm, well more fool you, Theo, for heroes are not well treated by this world - is it not so?'

Then, switching back to the human tongue, Mor moved to ask Cassine if she was hungry and if she had a thirst. She glanced briefly at Theodan, as though seeking permission to answer. He gave her a small nod before she turned and answered a polite 'Yes, I am both thank you.' To his cook.

'Kalle is on the hunt?' Theodan asked, moving towards the stove with the intent of filling a bowl with Mor's stew. 

'That he is,' Mor nodded, guiding Cassine to the large serving table. She lowered herself to the bench, perching on the end of it like a small frightened bird.  He felt a stab of guilt over his words in the stable. Then he felt annoyed about the feeling of guilt.  Why in the gods did she make him feel so many things he was not used to feeling?  Guilt, regret, fear.

'Jhaan is in the stables then?' Mor asked as she disappeared into the small pantry.

'He remains in Azura, in service of Elyon and Draden.'

'You left him behind?' She poked her head back out, eyes wide, aghast.  'You left him there in that war? That poor boy?!'

'He is no longer a boy, Mor,' Theo frowned.  'And he is of more use in Azura than he is in here your cookhouse.' 

She gave him a look of undisguised disapproval as she set a plate of bread and soft cheese down in front of Cassine.

'Mhmh.  Well, you have the right about one thing.  It is my cookhouse,' she said witheringly.  'Now, off with you and leave me to sort out this poor frightened thing here... shooooo!' She waved her hands at him in a sweeping motion. Cassine looked between them both, clearly confused by the sharp tongue of the leothine woman standing beside her. With a tired sigh, he moved to do as was bid of him, but not before filling a jug with wine and refilling his now empty bowl with more of stew.

As he exited the cookhouse he threw one last look at Cassine, who now had a woollen shawl wrapped about her shoulders as Mor fussed around the kitchen.  Sensing his eyes on her she lifted her head to him, but only for a moment before letting her gaze fall back to the plate before her, eyes haunted and lost.

He tried to force his guilt to stay behind in the cookhouse as he made his way through Teredia's deserted halls. Deserted was not an unusual state for Teredia.  He rarely had guests; the odd meeting of the council was held here in the summer months, and Elyon and Draden visited in the winter when the hunt was better - but Teredia's days as a lively and bustling domicile were far behind it.  He could barely remember it himself.  He had been but a child when life and laughter and warmth filled these cavernous spaces.  When that one fateful day his father closed the doors and curtains and disappeared into the bowels of the great tree never to resurface again. Now it was as cold and harsh as the ocean which battered the Xhor Wall far below it. Mor, Kalle, Jhaan and the occasional visit from the occasional female was all the company he required. 

And thoughts of that, of female company, burned through him as he reached his chamber, whispering in his ear, calling to his tired lonely blood.  He had not had a female since Iaria and his body felt it. It was pulled tight and hungry with need despite its fatigued state.  His room was dark and cold and he thought briefly about starting a fire but could not summon the energy for it. 

Instead, he lit one of the oil lamps perched on the fireplace and brought it to the table by his chair at the unlit fire.  He took a seat and rested his wine jug between his thighs and let his head fall back against the chair as he closed his eyes. What repercussions would he suffer for this, he wondered.  For abandoning his command, for deserting the war, for disobeying a King. For shielding and stealing away the prin-.  He stopped his thoughts dead.  He could not utter it. Even in his own mind.  She could not be.  It was not so. Had not the Queen said so herself?

Nysa of Theorlis beguiles you with lies as she beguiled my son, King Torrik. This girl is not my son's wife.

And yet....  It was entirely possible that the Queen had lied to the king, to the gathered Zybar, to the Leoth who had killed her only son and heir.  The Queen had known exactly what fate would befall her son's wife should the Zybar king have her in his possession. It was a fate not unlike her own. Worse perhaps. The king had known it too. And thus it was entirely possible that at this very moment base torture or dark magic was being used to loosen the Queen's tongue to the truth of it. It was entirely possible that at this moment the king's men had stormed Theodan's tent in search of the missing Princess of Azura.  In which case Theodan's swift exit from the camp had only helped confirm all.  You fool. Thoughtless, idiotic fool.

'What in the gods have you done?' he whispered aloud.

'What in the gods have you done?' the voice spoke from the dark.

He was out of his chair with his sword drawn in an instant.  But as he took in the figure standing just inside the terrace, he relaxed, letting out a breath as he sat back down. He rested his sword against the chair and lifted his wine to his mouth. 

'Once you marry you will have to stop climbing into the bedchambers of males which are not your husbands, you know this?'

She laughed softly and moved into the room. 'It will take more than a marriage to tame me, you more than any other know this.'

He said nothing but silently agreed. She came to sit on the floor by his feet, her lithe legs crossed in front.

'Have you another cup? I have a deep thirst.' Her eyes lit up with intent as she licked her lower lip. He shook his head and she reached out and took the cup from his hand and drained it entirely.

Her hair was braided back from her face in its usual style, intricate designs which meandered over the top to form a crown of sorts. The lengths of it hung loosely over her shoulders and lay now in a pool of rare silvery-white in her lap.  Her eyes and mouth were coloured in her usual dark blue stain, which for some reason seemed harsh to him now.  She licked her lips once more as she handed him the empty cup.   

'Why are you here, Vala?' he asked as he took it from her. 

She was not offended. 'I should ask the same of you. When I felt you were home I confess I did grow worried. It is soon is it not? Do not tell me that you lost this silly war? That you return home drenched in defeat? That the Zybar lie dead in a river of their own disgusting and feral blood?' Her eyes lit up with hope, a sad smile lingering at the corners of her mouth. 'Oh please tell me that it is so?'

He smirked. 'The war goes well, many brave and noble Zybar still live,' he told her.  'But it is better you do not ask why I am here.'

'Ah,' she sat up. 'Then it must be as you missed me. It must be as you hunger for me like no other. I know how you struggle with confessions of deep feeling but actions speak far louder than words uttered you know...' She joked, reaching around her body to loosen her tunic.  He moved forward in the chair to capture her hands, to stop her. As their eyes met he gave a slight shake of his head. 

This time she was offended. 

A half-frown fell over her sharp painted features. She held his gaze a moment before turning her head away from him on a sigh, to stare into the unlit fire.  'You encountered him?' she asked, distant now. 'The Zybar dog I am to gift with a pack of heirs.'

'I did.'

'And is he worthy?'

He said nothing, not wanting to lie, not to her. He refilled his cup and held it out to her.

'Tell me something of him at least,' She demanded, turning back to him. 'Tell me of his honour and his passion.  Tell me of his valour and his love for his realm.  Tell me that he rode into battle with pride and fearlessness.' She paused, before speaking again, softer this time.  'Tell me that he is all of the things that you are...'

He saw in her eye then a hope and fragility that he had not seen in many years.

'I cannot tell you any of that.' Neither could he tell her that he had not once this war rode into battle with pride.

'Then tell me what good you are to me?!' She hissed.

'Tell me why in the gods you agreed to such a match?' he asked, incensed suddenly.  'Why would you agree to such idiotic, foolish heroics? Why?'

She fixed him with a hard stare. A hard stare which at the last moment almost cracked. Which almost allowed the softness he knew she had inside her to spill out onto the floor between them.

'You know why,' She whispered.

He looked away from her into the burning flame of the lamp and took a sip from the refilled cup.  'Heroes are not treated kindly by this world, Vala,' he said after a moment. 'You know this.'

She stood, fixing her hands sternly on her hips.  'I came here to fück you, Theodan. Not to be lessoned by you.' 

'Then you find me unwilling this night,' He sighed. 

She flew at him then, striking out with her nails which caught the crest of his cheek and tore open the skin.  Her teeth were bared as the chair toppled backwards throwing them both to the floor where she climbed upon him, straddling him.  She let him capture her wrists but lowered her head to sink her teeth deep into his throat. It caused a surge of renewed desire to flood to his groin. She immediately began to move against him, sliding her strong agile body against his, heightening his need. She moved sensually against his arousal as she sucked deeply on his open vein and all of a sudden the feeling was blissfully welcome. It cleared his mind and set him alight and in a moment his unwillingness was but a memory. He felt his own nails elongate and his teeth pushed past his lips, hungry for her, desperate for her flesh. The tips of them pulsed with want, aching with the need to taste, with the desire to consume.

As she licked her way up his throat to his mouth he ripped open the loose fabric of the tunic she wore and gripped a handful of her breast and squeezed hard, The tips of his claws piercing through the warm supple skin.  She cried out in pleasure and released his neck to let him suck at her breast. He licked at the wounds to close them, sucking gently on the hard nipple.

'You reek of human. And it does not appear to be your bitch of Asalla. How curious...' she murmured as she pushed his head back to the floor and kissed him hard, nipping at his lips before pulling away again, teasing and frustrating him with her mouth before thrusting her blood-drenched tongue back inside him. 

Theodan's mind flashed with the image of Cassine then, her golden throat exposed as he spread open her thighs and pushed his way inside her slight little body.  He saw her golden eyes go wide and her blush pink mouth part before she whispered his name with a drug-like desire. He thought of her giving her flesh would be as he pierced her throat.

He groaned aloud and moved suddenly to flip Vala onto her back before he began to pull roughly at the laces of the leathers she wore. He heard the fabric rip against the force of his nails and he yanked them down before she kicked them the rest of the way.  As he reached for his own laces to free himself, he brought her barefoot to his mouth and nipped gently at it before scraping his teeth expertly up the inside of her thigh. She giggled breathlessly a moment before wrapping her thighs around him to pulling him downward, urging him inside her.  

'... Gods how shall I learn to live without this...' Vala panted, forcing her wrist up and into his mouth. His teeth closed around it gratefully, and she cried out as he bit through her soft warm flesh, her thick, familiar blood spilling down his throat. 

It took a moment for him to understand what was wrong.

It took a moment for him to notice how deeply unsatisfying she tasted, how savourless and bland she was now to his hungry tongue.  Her image had obscured everything. Rich honey-coloured hair.  Soft human tongue and mouth. Wide fearful golden eyes.  Intoxicating ambrosial blood.  He growled and let Vala's wrist fall from his mouth in frustration.  Then, gripping her by the hips, he turned her over onto her stomach and pulled her up onto her knees. He placed his hand over her head to obscure the silver of her intricately braided hair and closed his eyes.

For the first time since they had begun this thing, he did not take her throat as he entered her. For the first time - the last time he now knew - since they had begun this thing he felt only guilt as he took her. And for the first time since they had begun this thing he thought solely and completely of another as he moved inside her. 

With every thrust, Vala disappeared and Cassine was conjured. Cassine, calling his name over and over. Cassine beneath him, uncollared and overcome with desire.

Cassine. Cassine. Only Cassine.

When he came he bit hard on his tongue to prevent himself from roaring her name aloud. As he came it was his own blood that coursed down his throat, washing away the dull, expired taste of Vala.