The Place That We Call Home
by Azar the Kinslayer
"I know my dreams are made of you
Of you and only for you
Your ocean pulls me under
Your voice tears me asunder
Love me before the last petal falls"
-"Beauty and the Beast" by Nightwish
Disclaimer – I do not own. Do not sue.
Author Notes – An interesting chapter, I feel. Some Raven/Kori/Richard interaction, and checking in with Tara/Gar/Victor as well. Oh and the action begins.
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Chapter Seven – Irritated
7.1
A week. They had been in Tamaran for one whole week, and Raven was chaffing at the delay in return to Gotham. She had known it would take longer than this, logically, but with nothing for idle hands to do and the sidelong glances she kept receiving from Prince Ryand'r she was ready to fly away again. She considered once or twice stealing a horse and leaving on her own, but her father's men were still out there, and she had no idea how to get to Gotham from here. She tapped fingers against her hip as she paced the length of the small rooms he'd stayed in from their first night here.
Today the Prince was to go riding with his Lady to be. It sickened Raven, this false courtship they were playing out. There was no real love between them. They had known one another for one week. One week. That was not enough time to draw a reasonable conclusion about someone's character and their suitability as your mate. Even she, an empath, knew that and she could see more about a person's character than most if she chose to delve into it.
A knock at the door startled her and she turned, a swirl of gray skirts and instinct making her hands glow black. She thanked the star she had been born under that she was alone. She knew she was wound too tight. Biting her lip, she crossed to the door and eased the clasp open. She opened the door just a bit and looked out to see Richard standing there. He was dressed in riding clothes, and looked rather dashing if her mind had been free enough to consider such things. He smiled in welcome, and she returned the expression as best she could, despite her stress and concern.
"Miss Rachel, I am glad to see you here. Would you be willing to join us on today's ride? The Princess's chaperone has taken a chill and rather than ask her older nurse to ride with us, I thought perhaps you would join us." he asked. She had intended to find a very quiet, very secluded place to practice her spellcraft today, but she had no reason she could give that would excuse her, so she inclined her head politely.
"I would be honored to join you, m'lord, if I had anything suitable to wear. I have only what the Queen has so generously given me to wear." Servants clothes, without the standard that would mark formal service. She had no riding habit, and while she could probably ride in these skirts, she knew quite a bit about the propriety of that and wouldn't push her luck.
"I am sure the Princess will be willing to find you something to wear." he said firmly. He offered his hand and Raven looked at him, a little surprised, before she raised her own hand to gently rest two fingers on his wrist. It was too intimate a gesture for a prince to offer a common woman, and Raven knew it. She wanted to look longer at him, to surmise his intentions, but as they reached the door to his suite, he dropped his arm and she returned her arm to her side. Her eyes narrowed as he stepped out of the main door and she spotted the princess waiting beyond.
"Miss Rachel has agreed to join us, Kori." Richard stated, and the princess smiled politely enough. Raven wasn't stupid enough to miss the raw dislike in the girl's green eyes. Raven's own violet eyes narrowed imperceptibly and she bowed politely to the princess. What in the world was that woman's problem? If she disliked the common riding with her so much, perhaps Richard shouldn't have asked her to come. When Richard looked at Raven again and smiled, it hit the sorceress. She was jealous! That was galling. What in the world did the woman have to be jealous of?
7.2
"So how long are we going to be here?" Tara asked finally. A week of luxury and good food and high society had been fun and all, but she was a lowest rung of the ladder kind of girl and she was also getting a little nervy from all of the servants always watching them. Garfield and Tara had no defined role in the prince's party, much like the refugee woman, Rachel. The three were always watched, and the rumors were getting larger and larger. The one that cast Garfield as the prince's personal pet (having come to light upon discovery of Garfield's talents) had angered Tara to the degree that she'd caused a minor earthquake. Thankfully it had not been linked to her yet.
"Another week or two, I guess." Garfield answered mournfully. He was as bored as Tara herself and probably felt caged with all these thick stone walls. Tara was trying to remember why they'd come with the prince, actually. She couldn't come up with a reason, and she wanted to return to the jungle where things were simple. Then again, she wanted to be with Gar too.
"No! Oh come on, I'm mindlessly bored!" Tara exclaimed. "I need some excitement!" She rolled over on her bed, one of two twin size in the room she shared with Garfield, and grinned at him. "Do you want to go into town with me? Please please please, only for a little while?" She gave him her best pouting/begging look and clasped her hands under her chin.
Victor laughed from his chair across the room. He was peering over the top of a thick, dusty old book. In the last week he had become a good friend to the two youngest members of the party, especially as he had little idea what was to be expected of him as the untrained prince's advisor. Richard seemed to handle things quite well on his own and Victor was hesitant to throw his opinions into the discussions of state.
"Does this invitation extend to me as well?" he asked almost casually. Tara grinned and bounded off of the bed.
"Yes! Oh please come with us, Victor!"
7.3
Raven rode behind the prince and his lady, and though they'd found a docile mare from the stables for her, her attention was still on riding and little else. If she listened too intently to what the prince or princess said, she was likely to get angry and she still wasn't the best at controlling her powers when her emotions spiked. Letting out a light sigh, she shifted her hands on her reigns.
"I think we're boring poor Rachel, Kori." Richard said with a faint smile. He must have heard the sigh. Raven might have been a little embarrassed if it had been anything more than that. As it was, she didn't care much what the prince or princess thought of her at this moment. Her mind turned to her ultimate mission and she forced a small smile.
"Nothing of the sort, m'lord." She said quite formally. "It is just such a beautiful day that I'm feeling a bit tired from all the fresh air." She was lying through her teeth, and hopefully at least Richard could see that.
"Have we kept you too long, Miss Rachel?" Koriand'r said with sickening concern. The demon in Raven stirred at the weak emotion and she forced those emotions down. Instead she forced a light laugh.
"Oh no, of course not, Princess." She said quickly. "I am fine."
Koriand'r did not look convinced and looked to her betrothed. She spoke to him this time. "Perhaps we should turn back. I think that Miss Rachel is getting just a bit sunburned, and the hour is growing late. Soon it will be the midday meal, and I am expected to eat with my mother and sister." She explained. Raven could admire at least her control of the situation. Raven had never had such control, because she had never been allowed to.
"As you wish. Now, ladies, let us turn back." With a show of expert horsemanship, he pivoted his horse and gave a smile to each beautiful young woman with him. Raven did as she'd been instructed, pulling the horse's head around. It did not want to listen, but finally Raven won and turned the horse. Of course Koriand'r performed brilliantly. Raven tried not to glower. "Rachel, I thought perhaps you were being modest when you said you were no horseman, on our journey here, but you really are not." He teased good naturedly.
She narrowed her eyes and glared. "I was not lying, Prince." She replied snappishly. Koriand'r looked between them and looked a bit distressed.
"Do not tease her, Richard! That she is not a born rider is no shock. Most have no reason to ever be up upon a horse, and have not had the training of a soldier to fall back upon." She turned earnest green eyes on Raven and Raven wondered why she couldn't hate this woman. "Please forgive him. He does not understand why a woman might fear a horse or why she might not fall into this sort of thing naturally."
Raven was mute for a moment before she inclined her head. "No damage done. There is no reason not to poke fun at what it quite obvious." She kept both hands on the reigns, but had a desire to cling instead to the pommel of the saddle. She really was not comfortable with this.
"You could ride behind me again, if you are truly that uncomfortable." Richard spoke finally, his tone not jovial anymore but a bit concerned. He hadn't meant to distress the woman. Raven felt her temper growing. She was no delicate flower, she could ride well enough to suit, and even if she did not like the feeling, she could still do what needed done.
"No thank you, Prince Richard." She replied stiffly.
They rode back to the castle in silence, and had Raven been less irritated and thinking clearly, she would have noticed the people at the edge of her perceptions.
7.4
The first warning came at dusk. Soldiers on the horizon, the call went out. Enemy soldiers. Demon soldiers. Rumors spread on the wind, thick and heady. Panic began to build until the king took his throne, dressed quite formally in full battle harness, and began to give orders.
Richard would fight for Tamaran, as it was the land of his betrothed. This was the alliance the marriage would solidify. Richard felt his heart in his throat as he raced about. He had not his own formal armor with him, not planning for full war. He was outfitted in the harness of a Tamaranian soldiers and went about as the king's right hand, beside the prince Ryand'r. The two would lead the soldiers into battle, as honorable princes should. Komand'r and Koriand'r were both trained archers. All members of the royal house would be in the thick of battle, for the Queen would join her daughters on the wall with the rest of the archers.
Richard did not like his betrothed to be in danger of battle, but he mused that she would be safe enough on the battlements. He stole a glance over his shoulder at her as he rode down into the city. They would take this battle outside of the city walls, to protect the people as best they could. Richard looked for a shock of red hair, to see Kori once more before he rode in defense of her lands, but spied instead Rachel. Her violet hair was black in the coming night, but there was no mistaking her. She stood on the battlements, an icon as the woman of this royal house should have been. What was she even doing out there?
"Come, Prince Richard." Ryand'r spoke from his side, and his attention was ripped to the present. How old was this man? He was younger than Richard's bride to be. Was he perhaps seventeen? Too young by far to be leading troops into battle, Richard decided. Richard himself was but three years older. Too young to be dying.
"Let us ride, Ryand'r, as brothers." He offered his gauntleted hand. Ryand'r accepted it and the two had an understanding before they turned to ride through the city's main gates.
7.5
Tara clung to Garfield's arm as they watched the soldiers ride past. Victor had run off moments ago, back towards the palace, but the younger two members of the party were shock still and silent. Terrified. They spied Richard towards the lead of them all, but neither called out. They had still been down at the city when the call had gone out, and now they could not get back into the main palace without some proof of who they were.
"We'll fight." Garfield decided. Tara looked at him, surprised.
"This isn't our fight!" she insisted. She could think only of herself dying at the hands of the demon soldiers beyond the walls.
"It's not Prince Richard's fight, either, and he's riding out to fight directly!" Garfield insisted. Tara shook her head.
"His wife lives here."
"Betrothed." Garfield corrected. "And he's fighting because he knows it's the right thing to do." he countered, challenging her with his eyes. She felt her stomach sink and finally nodded. If he would fight, so would she.
