Some angst awaits.

Love

Dorian Havilliard walked the steps up to the second floor of the relatively empty inn in deep thought. He was alone for once, since he was busy before the meeting of the armies only days away and as King and liaison, he had to be there for most meetings. Tired and starved for a certain white-haired witch, the sapphire eyed man opened the door to their shared room. His demeanor dropped when he noticed she wasn't there, but it soon recovered when he took in the flying leathers on the chair-neatly piled up and folded.

The door to the bathing room was almost fully closed, but there was space in between the door and the wall. Dorian smirked, inching close and tilting his head at the sound of water.

An open door meant only one thing between them: an invitation.

With the sly grin still in place, the King softly pushed the door, opening it further.

Manon was there, lying on a filled tub and facing away from the entry, her hair down and floating half in the water, her pale shoulders flushed by the heat. Lust tickled up his legs and spread across his body in an instant, memories from the night before filling his mind. Perhaps she would be up to some more adventure in the warm water.

As soon as he was about to touch her, Dorian paused.

Something was off.

For one, she would have turned to look at him, as her sense of smell was almost as good as the Fae. Secondly, the steam floating up from the tub was unusually dense, suggesting very hot water. Third, she was hunched over, her legs pulled up to her chest and her head resting on one of her knees.

"Manon?"

The witch didn't answer, but her head moved. "Go away."

That hurt more than he would be willing to admit. "Are you alright?" His concern was palpable.

She took her time with answering, something he'd gotten used to. Whenever she spoke, Manon was honest and direct, which meant she had to think before she uttered any words. "I want to be alone."

Dorian would have gone, but the worry was too great, so he settled for something else. "The water is too hot; it looks like a hot spring in here."

"Dorian."

"Yes?"

She turned to him and his eyes widened at her face. For a moment he thought it was the heat that was causing the red on her cheeks and nose, but a look into her eyes said otherwise. They were rimmed with red and half mast, like she…like she had been crying…and for quite some time.

"Go away."

Dorian didn't know what to do, he'd never seen her like this before so he stayed put. "Witchling-"

Manon looked away again. "Leave."

"Something's wrong," he pried, "what happened?" He thought over the past few days, recounting their moments together and trying to find clues as to why she was like this now. The last time he saw her had been for breakfast that very morning and she had even smiled at a stupid joke he had said.

When she kept quiet, he dared step toward her and though she tensed and he heard her take a breath, she didn't tell him to leave again. Dorian kneeled down next to the tub, the want and desire sucked out of his body. She looked as lost as he had felt the day he woke up without the collar around his neck. "You don't have to talk to me, but I'm not going to leave you alone."

Her gold eyes watched the water, the steam making him itch for the faucet. "Fine," she muttered, but she still didn't look at him.

Swallowing, the King awkwardly moved away, only to sit with his back against the side of the tub. They remained in silence for a while and he let out a sigh in relief when he heard the water stop. The steam cleared up quickly, and soon there was nothing but their breaths and the wind outside, clinking against the half open window in the main bedroom.

"I spoke to a Crochan today." Dorian froze, not wanting to make a mistake and have her shut down again. "She called herself a…clinician. A sort of 'therapist."

The young man had never heard any of those words before. "What does that mean?" He asked quietly, his eyes on the towel rack.

"This witch studies books and speaks to many people of many places and different races, or so she and the others with her proclaimed." A pause. "She invited to have a talk with me to 'examine my state of mind." Manon let out a sharp breath.

"I only agreed to speak with her because it would show good relations. That I was willing to speak to one of their self-proclaimed experts in a 'new field of study…" her voice trailed off, as if entrapped by the memory.

"What did you talk about?" The conversation must have been significant for it to affect someone like Manon in this way.

He heard the water splash a bit, which meant she moved. "It started out simply enough, she asked me about myself and my Thirteen, giving snippets of her own life in between to seem like she wasn't just inquiring. We spoke about her childhood and how she got into these 'behavioral' studies and then I told her about Abraxos and how the wyverns came about. She asked about my time in Morath and my relationship with Elide."

Dorian finally turned to her, only to find her eyes on him. He nodded, urging her to continue. Miraculously, she did. "She asked about my grandmother…" her eyes narrowed, "and about the…methods she used when I was a witchling and later on, when I was her heir and Wing Leader."

"This 'therapist' said something about that?"

Manon placed her fingers on the bridge of her nose, like her head hurt. "The Crochan took out a book and a series of papers with handwritten notes. She read out different statements and asked me if any applied to my grandmother. Most of them did, and when I asked the significance of the exercise she-" the words caught in her throat and Dorian was not about to let her cry.

"Hey, look at me." When her beautiful gold eyes turned to him, the King spoke, "you don't have to tell me anything else if this is hurting you." He stood up and offered her his hand. "Why don't we get you out of this tub and have our dinner in bed?"

The witch considered it, or so he hoped, before her fingers found his. She was cold to the touch, product of all the time she spent in the water. Quickly, he gave her towels, helping to dry her hair and watching her place on a robe with rapt interest. "I'll go order the food and then I'll come back, what do you want to do?"

Manon shrugged and Dorian felt the panic prick at his mind at her lack of expression. The ice she was usually filled with had melted away into a dry husk, as if she had burst and was now empty of all emotion. He left her alone for only a few minutes, taking the stairs two at a time, telling the kitchen staff at the inn's main floor to prepare a meal for two before almost running back to their room.

He found her on the loveseat, changed into a simple tunic with her hair unbound and with her head resting on her hand against the arm rest. "The food will be ready in forty minutes." She didn't even nod.

Dorian slowly walked to her. "What did the Crochan tell you?" He asked as he leaned down in front of her.

Manon glanced at him. "The statements she read out, she called them 'warning signs' or 'tactics."

He raised an eyebrow. "Tactics for what?"

"To identify an abuser."

The silence was deafening and it seemed like the world itself stopped as Dorian muttered, "abuser?"

"I knew her methods were…harsh, but I didn't believe-"

"Believe what?" It seems she was fine with his prying and so he kept up the questions.

"I didn't think she would find pleasure with it, or that her approach would make me so malleable, enough that I would seek it out and take it just so she would acknowledge me."

Dorian was finally beginning to understand, and it broke his heart to see her this way. "Despite who she is, she is still a part of your family and she raised you. Of course you'd try to get her favor."

Manon shook her head. "She manipulated me since birth, every single thing she said and did to me and those close to me was carefully calculated and executed just so I would act or do what she asked of me. It went on for so long I adopted her methods and used them on the people I loved just so she would feel pride for her heir."

Dorian kept his face serene, even though it was the first time he'd heard her say the word 'love.' It only made what she said worse.

"I killed my sister and reveled in violence because she wanted me too. All I did was for her approval and attention and now-" she stopped again as silver lined her eyes. "I don't know who I am. I don't know what part of me is crafted by her and what is actually me."

He grabbed her hand, tangling their fingers. "Every decision and action you made since you chose to defy her orders was you. Heck, even before that, you always took decisions while having your Thirteen in mind. And now, as Queen, you have never been anything but the child of peace your parents wanted you to be. And what's important in that statement is that it was your choice and no one else's."

She stared at him closely, her attention on him so fierce he was slightly intimidated. But her edge was slowly returning, and her voice gained some momentum when she spoke again. "There is something else," she admitted, "that troubles me."

The King sat next to her, their hands still entwined. "Like before, if you want to stop-"

"Your father was not a nice man."

It felt like he had been hit with an iron fist and for a long moment he was trapped within his memories. "No," he managed to say, "he was not."

"Does it make you uncomfortable? To speak about your father?"

It was his turn to hesitate, but he seemed to know what she was getting at. "My father did despicable things, some so vile they were virtually unspeakable. He was responsible for the death of an uncountable number of people and even went so far as to collar his own son to make him his mindless servant." He took a breath. "No, my father was not a good man."

Dorian looked at their joined hands, at the difference in skin color and at the small scars that littered them. She had more scars than him, he noticed. He opened his mouth and then closed it, thinking it through. "Even knowing all that, even knowing what he did to me…and even though I was the one to end him-" something he had never said aloud before, "a small part of me, or maybe a large one-I've given up trying to tell…still…loved him." He lifted his gaze only to find her eyes already on him, different emotions visible on her face. Shock, sadness, and understanding showing through. Despite appearing opposites, they were not much different and it had been no surprise that they seemed to be the only ones to notice.

"I tried to convince myself that I was heartless," she said.

Dorian smiled, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. He leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Good thing you failed."

"Quite spectacularly to be honest." He chuckled before she added, "I would kill her in a heartbeat."

"Yes, but that doesn't stop you from loving her."

"No…it doesn't." When he felt her head on his shoulder, he wanted both to cry and scream in joy, but the only thing he did was to tighten his hold on her hand. "Thank you."

He needed no explanation as to why she was thanking him so Dorian merely nodded against her hair. "Anytime, witchling, anytime."

It's been a long time I'm aware. I also said I would post a family fic. (I've gotten most of it down, I'm sorry about making you wait) Well, things change and inspiration hits at 3am with an unplanned theme. Always fun.

Anyway, there has been so much talk about Manon being a violent, man-hating witch that I decided to take a different approach with it. I hope my message and subsequent opinion of her character development and her actual personality is clear here.

ThePrettiestHell – They would definitely make great parents.

MarijaV - Really happy you enjoyed it! I really wanted to take a different approach with the last fic and Chaol, at this point, cerdainly does "like" Manon more than he did before haha

LittleAna – Every time I write about Manon and Dorian as parents I get a silly smile too haha

RubyAngelFire – I have an idea of how the Yeilding will work next book, perhaps I will write a future fic centered around that. I really just want all these characters, especially Manon and Dorian, to be happy.

Kargack – Chaol loves Dorian and if Dorian ends up with a witch and she does prove to be 'worthy' I do really think Chaol would accept her. The jurney to that acceptance won't be easy though and, as you mentioned, Manon and Chaol will forever butt heads haha

Guest – I'm glad you liked it! Dorian has a lot of potential to be cute and I wasted no time in showcasing that ;]

Popusoialexandrina – Loving your excitement! Hope you enjoyed this one even though it was quite angsty!

Thank you for reading, reviewing, favoriting or following!