Disclaimer: I don't own any of these fascinating characters and no copyright infringement is intended by this story.
A/N: Nuala's romantic relationship with Nuada is a complicated one and only subtly hinted at in the movie, but given the nature of their bond (she's incomplete without him), it's hard to believe she isn't drawn to him in every way imaginable. Their entire family is rather interesting and they remind me a lot of the Borgias (especially the dysfunctional aspect and intrigue). Reviews welcome.
Deadly Duet
by Venetia L.
She first saw his reflection in a wishing pond. His pale form was still clad in ivory armor and he looked unrepentant and almost cruel in the eerie bluish light. She broke this icy image of him with a fistful of pebbles.
"My precious angel," he said only half-mockingly, "I'm shattered by your love for me."
She turned her face abruptly away from his, bruising his heart, and hers.
Wisely, he let her brood awhile longer before capturing one of her hands in his. "You and I belong together and always will."
She watched a minnow skip along the pond's surface and then dart below—a bit player in the dark drama about to unfold.
"Even now you believe he's right."
She felt the sharp sting of his indignation and winced. "He wanted our hearts to be free of hate. You wanted to annihilate the humans. He decided to save them."
"Then he should have been better prepared to defend our people from them in the years after. Instead he dismantled the golden army and left himself no way to enforce the truce without more loss of life on our side. He surrendered our people's future needlessly and then without even a fight!"
His eyes burned like molten gold while hers misted over from reliving those tragic events.
"The golden army was an evil, destructive weapon created by dark magic. It was unconscionable to use it to massacre the human race," she said softly.
"There was no other way to ensure our freedom from invasion and oppression," the realist in him retorted. "Sometimes you have to choose between two evils and our people's welfare has to be our primary consideration."
"No, we have a higher responsibility to serve the common good, and preserve other life and the earth from further devastation," she said evenly.
He pinned her with his stare. "And did your conscientious choice ever accomplish this?"
She tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let her escape so easily. His grip on her wrist was gentle, but firm. "The golden army can't harm anyone anymore, but our people are still hurting. We can help make a better future for them if we go back. Live beyond the martyr, Nuala. Learn to breathe again for your people. They suffer on your account."
She stumbled backwards and nearly fell when he suddenly released her. She reached out instinctively for him and he caught her easily before she could tumble to the ground.
"Our return could make a world of difference in their lives," he said ambiguously.
oOo
From her swing under a giant ebony tree, she could see him still watching out for her at the edge of the pond. Only his yearning to improve their people's survival odds in an increasingly hostile world matched his concern for her.
"If you swing high enough, you can almost see where the Guardian's Gate is hidden in the Blue Mountains. It's probably a day's journey from here at most."
She peeked in the direction he indicated, but couldn't see anything yet. The sleeves of her silk gown fluttered like wings in the wind as she swung higher in the air.
For the first time, she grieved with him for leaving their people leaderless. With no members of the royal family left to act as their official head of state or commander-in-chief, the magical creatures were now a marginalized minority without even proper representation in the larger world. They were also at high risk of falling out with one another without their rightful leader on the throne to preside over them.
She slid off her swing and returned to his side full of misgivings suddenly. "I don't know if I dare trust you."
He turned his face calmly towards her. "Our people need us both, Nuala. They need a king and a queen to lead them. Our two voices and lives forever entwined to guide and inspire them."
Her hand went involuntarily to her heart. His own hand reached over to cover hers, scorching her skin with its warmth. She flushed under his ardent gaze, suddenly shy and uncertain how to respond to him. His presence always disturbed her in such a confusing way.
"Then don't trust me," he said. "Let our heart guide you instead."
He withdrew his hand from hers and observed her silently. Then his eyes grew hard and wary again. "Come, Nuala."
She thought she saw the proud curve of his back lead her deeper into the rainforest.
oOo
She lost herself in the hibiscus bushes and orchid strands there, but by evening she was caught in the embrace of a different plant, one which had wrapped its arms protectively around her delicate body while she rested on its crimson bed of thorns.
She thought she felt his pleasure and pain at finding her at last asleep next to him.
Then she heard a harsh, familiar voice come between them. "If you lie with the devil, he will steal the last breath from your body before he ever releases you."
She gasped when she saw the interloper glide out from behind the waterfall: a dark phantom with wings; a gargoyle with long, gleaming talons and dried vermilion streaks faintly marking its chest and back.
"He knows you still fear and mistrust him, but without your help he's marooned here." Its eyes brimmed with ghostly concern for her.
She shrank back from it. "You're wrong about him," she said quietly. "Our people are disadvantaged, divided and demoralized because of his absence and our inaction on their behalf. They need a strong and caring leader now more than ever."
The gargoyle remained unmoved. "Their lives were forfeit a long time ago to avoid further bloodshed on both sides. I chose peace on earth instead of war and destruction for all of us."
"Our people are only living in peace on borrowed time with no hope for a better future. You have not prevented war between humans, and the earth is dying on their watch. I will not be your sacrifice or my brother's keeper any longer," she said trembling.
Her fingers searched for a weapon and found her dagger. It felt cold and slippery like a small viper in her hand.
Stunned by her defiance, the gargoyle lashed out at her with its long, sharp claws. "You must not help him to leave here!" it hissed at her.
Somehow she spun out of the gargoyle's reach, but she fell into the pond when it made another vicious lunge at her. As she struggled to get up, it swiftly followed her into the water and dragged her under the surface. She tried to pry herself loose from its lethal grip and felt the blade of her dagger scrape across its side, drawing blood. The gargoyle flinched, but did not release her. The dagger slipped from her grasp, and time slowed as she started to lose consciousness underwater. Then she heard the gargoyle's distant roar of pain and felt it being forcibly peeled off her. When she drifted back to the surface and could breathe again, she saw Nuada fighting off the gargoyle at the edge of the pond.
There was a deep gash across the gargoyle's back and left wing where Nuada had slashed it from behind to save her from drowning. Other than favoring its injured side more, the gargoyle moved with savage grace and power. Nuada wasn't facing an old, infirm opponent, but a lethal predator in its prime and one, moreover with intimate knowledge of him. Her heart suddenly feared for her twin. This was a very different encounter than the one in the old abandoned factory and the gargoyle meant to be the last one standing this time. It was attacking him with such ferocity and resolve, only Nuada's superior agility and cunning saved him from serious injury. Dodging and blocking the gargoyle's razor sharp claws, Nuada was a dangerous blur of lightning strikes and breathtaking spins and flips. His spear whirled and cut through the air with graceful, deadly accuracy almost too quick for her to follow. Like the gargoyle, his experience and training in skilled combat made him a disciplined and fearless fighter. Each new more daring assault launched by the gargoyle was repelled with remarkable deftness and precision. Then realizing Nuada was still vulnerable through her, the gargoyle forced him to fall back to protect his queen.
"Your heart will never be safe with her," it warned and turned threateningly in her direction.
Moving swiftly to intercept it, Nuada slammed into the gargoyle as it took off and the force of the impact sent them both hurtling through the air above her. Still locked in combat, they finally plummeted towards the pond like a burning meteor about to change the world forever. A giant ring of water exploded upwards as they burst below the surface. She watched it fall around her like liquid glass.
A terrible hush descended on the pond and she nearly blacked out from the unbearable pain in her chest. Her moment of truth had arrived with yet another duel to the death. Her life would always be inseparable from his. Nuada didn't just complement her; he was vital to her. He wasn't just the best mate for her; he was the only mate possible for her because of their bond. Her future with him had endless possibilities for growth if she dared to live beyond this moment. A pair of teardrops fell from her eyes as she reached out to the other half of her soul.
"Don't weep, Nuala." Her heart's wish rose out of the watery depths beside her. "I'd never leave my queen unguarded and alone in paradise with so many shadowy figures around." A wolfish grin curved his dark lips.
Then she felt his fingers press something light and reassuring into her right palm. The dagger he retrieved and gave back to her shone like a small scepter in her hand.
He saw her shiver slightly in the night air and responded immediately to her discomfort.
"We need to dry off," he said lifting her gently out of the water and setting her down somewhere drier.
He shed his sopping wet armor, boots and tunic before joining her on the carpet of moss and ferns; grass and jumbled tree roots. She couldn't look away from his well-muscled torso and her fingers on their own volition reached out to trace the half healed wound above his heart, the one she inflicted to prevent a holocaust. He remained very still under her touch, careful not to startle her wandering fingers from exploring his chest with any sudden movement. Her own wet gown was barely a translucent film covering her. It clung to her slender figure attracting his appreciative gaze.
"You need to get out of those damp clothes, Nuala." His voice sounded strained and husky as he started to unwind the sash around her waist.
"Nuada, don't look," she said bashfully trying to keep her gown from separating as the sash fell away.
"Why ever not?" His eyes took in her delectable curves and the feral grin was back. "You're exquisite."
"Please, Nuada." She picked up the sash and to his surprise, used it to blindfold him.
"As long as I can still taste and touch you," he said wickedly and trapped her body beneath his in a brazen move of his own.
"Nuada!" she cried out in dismay.
Even without help his mouth unerringly found hers, melting the awkward tension between them in a searing kiss. She felt his strong and graceful fingers gently stroke and caress her through the gossamer silk until her skin felt unbearably swollen and sensitive wherever he touched her. When her fingers became entangled in his hair, he peeled away the last of the flimsy material separating them. She gasped softly as he slid out of his trousers and pressed the full length of his lithe body against hers. Now only the silk ribbon ends of her sash trailing down his back swirled teasingly between and around them.
She arched against him shyly and heard him growl deep in his throat. His kisses grew more impassioned and his lips lingered hungrily at her throat and softly rounded breasts. He parted her thighs with barely restrained longing, but took her gently, brushing kisses on her eyelids and cheeks while slowly moving inside her. As they spiraled towards bliss together, she wrapped her slender legs tantalizingly around him to give him even deeper access to her and felt his pleasure build to an almost unbearable intensity before unleashing a wildfire through her veins and his. She felt him shudder above her as if in a fever dream and then her own breathless release blended perfectly with his.
Her surrender to their shared bond, to love and to him touched him profoundly.
"My precious angel and my queen," he murmured, bringing her left hand to his lips and kissing each and every finger lightly.
He slipped off the blindfold and drank in her luminous beauty. "See," he said teasing her shamelessly, "no one needs clothes in paradise."
The heat in his gaze made her blush even more adorably. "Then why not stay longer?"
His eyes darkened to a more serious shade. "Because I prefer dreams over fantasies."
"You're my dream," she said softly.
He heard the catch in her breathing and the inevitable slowing of her heartbeat. His kiss was deep and achingly tender while she waited in his arms for the first light of dawn.
oOo
She thought she saw the gargoyle again shadowing her flight to wakefulness, but when she looked around there was only a dead moth with sheer black wings nearby.
"You betrayed him in the past. He will never trust you again with his dreams."
"Then I must trust him with mine," she said finally burying her fears and doubts.
oOo
"Open your eyes, Nuala."
The trap sprang open to reveal a lone flower stalk in full bloom. It rose before her like a magical spear tipped with a fiery star aglow in the early morning sky.
She unfurled her wings and floated up to the pale blossom. Then she gathered its precious seeds of hope to her and flew skyward.