Part IX: Dulcius ex Asperis
Torio cracked the door to her room open momentarily, peering out into the hallway. It had been some time since Casavir had walked her back to her room, and the entire Keep seemed dead silent...she figured it couldn't be past midnight yet.
She slipped out the door and padded silently down the halls; there was a heavy, cold feeling in her stomach as she went over what had happened earlier that night, and it was with no small amount of trepidation that she pressed against Sand's door and rapped on it gently.
Sand threw open the door. He had been leaning against the heavy wood frame, waiting for her. He knew she would be coming as soon as it was safe to do so. He pulled her into the room, slamming the door shut, and pressed her against the door, his hands running through her hair, kissing her fiercely.
"Oh gods, dear girl..." His mind ran through the 'what ifs' so quickly he couldn't even begin to express his thoughts.
Torio's entire body seemed to melt with relief as she entered the relative "safety" of Sand's room. She merely made a nonsensical sounds against Sand's mouth as he kissed her, her back flattened against the door behind her while her arms slid up around his neck, clinging to him in a frenzy.
After a moment, she managed to inhale deeply, and pull her mouth back from his. "It was close," she muttered, staring into his oh-so-blue eyes. "I've never seen Nevalle act that way before..."
"It was peculiar, wasn't it?" He led her to the bed and sat on it, holding her hands. Without asking her, he began casting the Reaving Dispel spell again, lifting the Torture glyph from her and onto him. APermanency spell sealed it into place and Sand lay back quietly on the bed, his mind mulling over the events of the evening.
The Torture spell seemed to him heavier and angrier, pressing down on his ribcage. He watched her out of the corner of his eye. "I would have had to activate it, you know. Since removing my enchantment - that's the only spell I have access to now."
"I told Nevalle I'd speak to you and...find out the truth, as it were." He continued gazing at her. "So what is the truth?"
Torio snorted, resting her elbows on her knees as she sat on the bed. "What do you think? You know where I've been spending most of my free time, Bodaes." Her head sagged forward, and she pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers, shutting her eyes. After a long moment, she said, quietly, "I know what you would have had to do, Sand." She pulled her hand back slightly, rubbing the fingers together and inspecting them, her browed furrowed intensely.
After a long stretch of silence, she said, "Despite what Sir Nevalle seems to think, I am not steeping the Keep with secret spies from Luskan." She chuckled, a bitter edge to her voice. "It is the end of all ironies that it is one of the few times I am not embroiled in some elaborate plot that I am threatened with torture. Tymora must laugh at me, sometimes."
She fell silent again, her face broodingly thoughtful. She had been honest all evening, something she wasn't prone to do; her instinct had always led her to twist words to suit the situation, and to bring about the best possible outcome for her, earning her a reputation that rendered most of her political peers terrified to even trade words with her.
Now, however, her infamous reputation was a hindrance more than it was a help...she was no longer in the serpents' den, where such tactics could earn her favor. And what was more, she couldn't go back.
She glanced at Sand sharply and then sighed, placing her hand on his leg lightly. "If you feel you need to replace your enchantments, Bodaes, then do what you must."
Sand folded his hands across his stomach, his eyes always on Torio. "I believe you, dear girl. To be perfectly honest, I do not always trust you but I believe you in this instance. I will tell Sir Nevalle and do my very best to convince him that you areable to communicate the truth without threats to your life." Sand paused; the silence was pregnant between them. He watched her small frame, slumped in defeat. He was a little surprised she was so upset that Nevalle did not believe her; though he had to concede that the threat of torture was a good motivation for fear.
He finally spoke up. "Why would I put my enchantment back on? Then you would take back your end of the bargain and I simply would not be able to pass the long tedious hours at the Keep without your company. Besides - if I had wanted to, I would not have removed the Torture spell to my person, now, would I have?"
Torio glanced at him, smirking; her voice was offhanded as she said, "It's a small Keep...I'm sure we would still run in to each other." She examined the nails of one hand absently. "In the Library, perhaps?"
Sand turned his head so he could see her form lying besides him. "The Library." He grinned at the memory. "I'm surprised, to this day, nobody has said anything about it - considering the state we left it in." He reached out and touched her bare arm with the back of one slender finger. "Have you ever been tortured?"
Torio's mouth twisted. "Not extensively, no...unless you count having to share a library with Aldanon." She lay back on the bed next to him. "Garius was...not kind, during any time that he felt we were falling short of his expectations. Lorne received the more physical reminders on how to behave, whereas I was...administered to a bit differently."
He wriggled his body closer to her so that they were touching shoulder to shoulder, but kept his hands folded over her stomach. "Excuse my curiosity, Helkaer. If you don't feel comfortable speaking about it, we can cease and go on to further unpleasant topics - all of which seem to be lining up for us, awaiting their turn."
Torio laughed. "So take my pick?" She bent the elbow closest to him, reaching up and tracing his shoulder with her fingers while she looked up at the ceiling, chewing her lip thoughtfully. "It doesn't necessarily cause me any discomfort; I admired the tactics many of the mages, including Garius, used. Lorne was impetuous, difficult to control; he angered easily and raged unstoppably for long periods of time, and yet Garius was able to bring him under heel. He was more subtle, with me; he delved into my mind, showed me images; left my mind in places that were...ah..."
She trailed off, then said grudgingly, "Well...it's slightly unpleasant to think about, but it was still impressive." Her mouth twitched sardonically. "And effective."
"Images." Sand shuddered slightly. "I can only imagine what Garius would have shown you. Well no - I'd rather not imagine, but I suspect I know of their ilk." He looked at her, looking at the ceiling. "Well...I admire your strength and the fact you could even respect him, after what he did to you, I suppose. Either that - or you are more forgiving than you first let on. Which bodes well for me, I suppose."
He returned to staring at the ceiling himself. "Tell me - what horrifies you more? A broken mind or a broken body?"
She mulled that over. "I shudder at the thought of not having my mental faculties in tact," she said quietly, after a moment. "I suppose I would agree with those that claim the flesh is transient. I've seen powerful beings overcome the limits of flesh through sheer willpower alone; while creatures like Lorne were a slave to their bodies, letting pain rule them." She shook her head imperceptibly, making soft shifting noises against the bedding as her hair slid over it. "No...my mind is everything I have. I would probably give up every ounce of flesh I had to keep it intact."
She glanced over at Sand's form next to her slyly. "Although, I must admit Sand, you make the idea of being a slave to my flesh irresistibly tempting, most times."
"Hmm. I must agree with you. My mind is invaluable to me. Your mind is invaluble to me as well." He laughed, rolled over on his side and kissed her on the forehead, the serious moment temporarily broken. "I think I'm more a slave to your flesh, dear girl."
One of her eyebrows arched up languidly over her eye; she lifted a hand and toyed with the front of his robes momentarily. "Are you, now? Tur en' llie tol ent di'thang nae amin sarko?" Master of your mind and slave to my flesh?
She tilted her head against the mattress to look up at him leaning over her, her eyes hooded for a moment as her mouth twisted caustically. "Let us hope that said flesh can stay intact long enough to enjoy its dominion over you, then." The fingers that had been idly toying with his robes suddenly sank into the cloth, gripping it and pulling him down, holding his face a mere hairsbreadth from hers. "Because if it doesn't, dear wizard, my mind will be rather steadfast in finding a way back to repay you the sentiment." She tugged hard, pulling his mouth against hers and kissing him roughly, her fingers twisting in his robes.
Sand found himself being pulled to Torio and rolled on top of her, returning the fervor of her kiss with his own, feeling the way her hands were clutching him. His heart was hammering inside his chest. This whole night was a wild ride from nearly having to torture Torio to now lying on top of her.
That moment went it appeared Nevalle was determined to have him activate the spell, a part of him had died - he had considered refusing and had wondered what the Knight would have done if he had not listened to his command.
He remembered her desperate, pleading voice and his heart gave an involuntary clench. Sand gazed into her clear gray eyes a moment, a thousand words running through his mind; but only one made it to his tongue.
"Torio."
She watched him for a moment; her breath came heavily, after they pulled apart from the kiss, and she could feel all of it rising and falling in her lungs, pushing her chest up against Sand's body and then feeling it sink down into the bed again with each inhale and exhale. He said her name, inches from her mouth, his voice strained and deep and unlike anything she'd ever heard.
Would he have done it? A part of her knew that he almost would have had to; either that, or risk the knight's wrath, and apparently Nevalle's wrath was on a much larger scope than even she could have guessed. She slid her hands from his robes, her fingers running up his chest and along the sides of his neck to press against his face, cupping his jaw. What if he had refused?
What if he decided that all of this risk and mayhem and near-misses with knights just wasn't worth it anymore?
She let her arms slide around his neck and merely pulled him down against her body, sighing as she felt his weight press down on her. She turned her head slightly, so that her cheek pressed against his, and murmured back, "Sand."
Sand held his face to her, breathing steadily. He closed his eyes, feeling the softness of her curves beneath him, her hands and arms holding him to her. Neverwinter took an uncanny turn towards Luskan tonight and it left him feeling ill.
You ran from this - risked life and limb to be free of this.
Never thought you'd see it again, did you Sand?
"Would you have forgiven me? What...what would have happened to us afterwards?"
Torio turned her head, nuzzling his neck with her cheek, feeling the thick strands of his dark hair brush across her skin momentarily. "I'm not sure what might have happened," she said quietly after a moment. Her voice turned a little dry as she spoke, trying to combat the sick heaviness low in her stomach as she contemplated what Sand might have done. Or what shemight have done, afterwards. "I've hardly forgiven you for your comments on my dress during the trial, let alone torture."
She ran a hand up the back of his neck, stroking his hair slowly, her voice serious again. "We do what we have to, I suppose...it is a good thing that nothing happened." She kissed the tip of his ear lightly. "Amin pai byr sol o shyr shi mai aerolia syraer eirodi, Bodaes, sysesi os bai." I do not think it would be so easy to toss you aside, Bodaes, torture or no. She sighed. "But I would prefer to never try and find out if our...agreement would withstand the test, if that is acceptable to you."
Sand watched her lips move as she spoke. She seemed paler this night, her face drawn and tired. Well - what do you expect? She was nearly tortured for information she already truthfully provided...
"And I've hardly forgiven you for Ember. I would say we're equal in this regard but I suspect one of our crimes is slightly greater than the other." He shifted his body slightly so that he was still lying on top of her, albeit to one side so he could look at her profile in the dying light of the candles.
"It is good that nothing adverse happened tonight. The paladin was concerned about you; he was even more concerned about my involvement in everything. Hopefully I have deflected him well enough."
Sand began tracing her face, running an index finger from her forehead, down the bridge of her nose until the tip. "Still, it worries me that one day we won't be able to dodge this arrow so well. If I ever had to...torture... you - I would let you activate the spell on me after. To balance out the playing field. I would hate to be in your debts, Torio Claven."
"Yes, the paladin was a lucky stroke tonight," she said sourly. "He doesn't seem to think so, but I...we...owe him much. I don't think he quite realizes what exactly he stopped from happening, but..." She trailed off, her eyes half-shutting languidly as Sand's finger traced down the front of her face.
Her eyes opened fully as she looked at him. "Activate the spell on you?" The idea was novel, true; this was, after all, Sand...he had cause her no end of misery, and frustration, and humiliation, and...
...pleasure, and companionship, and relative freedom with that reckless, somewhat selfless casting of the Reaving Dispel
"A conundrum," She said out loud, watching him carefully. "We shall have to see. I don't particularly relish the thought of causing you indescribable agony..." She arched a brow up at him. "...although that opinion might change after you administer such favors to me." She nudged her head back slightly, so that his searching finger brushed down off the tip of her nose and across her lips. "But your offer is well and duly noted." A sly smile tugged at one corner of her mouth, and her voice was light when she said, "I never knew you could be such a glutton for punishment, Sand." She opened her mouth and closed her teeth around the tip of Sand's finger, biting it gently.
"A glutton for punishment? I amwith you, aren't I, dear Torio? Is that not punishment enough or do you hope to wreak more havoc upon my poor defenseless self?" He ran his fingers down her chin, trailing lightly across her white throat and then between her breasts, resting it upon her supple flesh.
"Mmmmm." She stretched up against his hand reflexively. "I could never miss a chance to wreak havoc on your delectable self, Bodaes." She glanced at him archly, her blood alighting at the feeling of his hand pressing against her skin. "Although I would hardly call you poor and defenseless." She reached up and pressed her hand over his, sliding his fingers along the low cut neckline of her dress, until they reached her shoulder, where she curled them under the edge of the fabric. "Quite the opposite, in fact..." she nuzzled his neck as she guided his fingers, pulling the dress slowly off of her shoulder and down her arm, "...you seem to constantly need reminding that there are others around here just as dangerous as you."
Her mouth had maneuvered close to his ear, and now she pulled the delicate, lobeless shell between her lips, pressing her teeth around its edge. She held herself there for a moment, applying a slow, steady pressure, inhaling the tanged scent of dormant magic that always seemed to cling to him like a fine cologne. It had an angry, smoldering undertone to it this evening that made her heart race wildly...
Sand began slowly sliding the dress down her torso at Torio's behest, moving the delicate fabric down inch by agonizing inch. He stopped when the material was stretched taut over her breasts. He could see the pink nipples barely beginning to peak out. "I have never forgotten, Helkaer, of the danger you pose to everyone at the Keep, me in particular."
He gripped the silk by her bosoms lightly with his teeth and began the pulling the fabric down, his eyes gazing appreciatively at the two mounds of flesh as they were freed. He freed her arms from the dress, letting it bunch up around her waist and he gently held her wrists to the bed. "So dangerous, in fact, I wonder if it wouldn't be wiser to keep you restrained to my bed permanently. I'm certain I'd be able to find just the right spell..."
She inhaled sharply as she felt his mouth close around the low neckline of her dress, his breath trickling against her skin as he drew it down. She stretched out, arching against him as she felt his fingers close around her wrists; the finely spun linen of his robes slid coolly across her bare skin, and she shivered slightly, her flesh prickling in delight. "A fate that would most certainly not be worse than death; if all such sentences are given thusly, I think I could develop a taste for imprisonment." She lifted her head up, trying to catch Sand's mouth with hers, wriggling slightly against his grip.
Sand laughed. "A taste for imprisonment? You, dear girl? Well." His eyes shifted around the room. "Perhaps we should test that out." He kissed swiftly, his hands finding her dress and pulling it down over her hips and letting the fabric fall to the floor. He ran his hands up from her ankles and calves, tracing lightly over her thighs, skipping coyly past the building heat between her legs until once again, he was holding her wrist pinned to the bed, the silver bracelet cool against his palm. "Do you trust me, Helkaer?"
Torio gasped, her head falling back against the bed as the dress was peeled down off of her body and tossed aside. She twitched under his hand, her mouth twisting downward slightly in disappointment as he forwent her already aching loins and grasped her wrists again.
She eyed him curiously. There was an intense, fervent light in his eyes as he looked down at her that intrigued her. "I trust you," she said cautiously; with a smirk, she added, "...enough, at least."
"'Enough' is enough, then." There was a robe, draped across the back of his high desk chair, with a belted sash... Sand cast Animate Rope and the silk material leapt up into the air. He gazed at Torio, his hands lazily controlling the sash, watching her reaction. With a flick of his fingers, the sash snapped around her wrists, pulling her arms together over her head, binding them together and then tied itself in a complicated knot to his bed's headboard.
He licked his lips, feeling the familiar surge of power - over the captivity of another - a feeling he hadn't experience...well, since he left Luskan. But this time it was coupled with another sensation - raw lust. "It's a potent aphrodisiac - power over another." He leaned over her, his hair falling around his face. "Do you still trust me?"
Her body arched instinctively as her arms were yanked unceremoniously over her head, her wrists lashed to the headboard in the blink of an eye. She felt a dangerous rush of adrenaline shoot through her blood as she stared up at Sand, kneeling above her, his hands manipulating raw magic as if it were nothing more than water in a basin, rippling at his command. Her heart was beating quick and steady, so hard that she was certain Sand might see it pulsing against her bared breasts like some caged animal. She felt intensely exposed, her torso stretched in a long line against the bed, the wizard's robes scratching and shifting against her skin as Sand moved and gestured above her.
Her nostrils flared with a sharp intake of breath as Sand spoke. His hair brushed across her skin, barely a whisper against her collarbone as he bent over her. "Do you still trust me?"
She swallowed hard, clenching her jaw as she gave the sash an experimental tug. It didn't budge. "Sand," she said...her voice came out throaty, nervous...excited. "What are you going to do?"
"What am I going to do? Why, dear girl, whatever I please." He smiled darkly. "You are my prisoner now, aren't you?" Her voice had a vulnerable quaver and he wondered briefly if Torio had ever been quite at the mercy of another like this.
His blue eyes scanned the room again, then down at his own robes where a black sash was cinched around his waist. A few flicks of his fingers and the sash undid itself, loosening his robes. His fingers wove in the air, bringing the long silk over Torio's legs. With a decisive snap of his fingers, the silk wound itself around her left ankle and then snaked around the footboard, fastening securely. A second silken binding was magically fetched from the wardrobe and without another word, Sand grabbed it out of the air.
"I think I'll secure this one myself, personally." His hands stroked her calf tenderly before grabbing her ankle and tying a knot around her foot, pulling her legs apart and then tying it to the wooden footboard.
Torio shivered as the first silk sash ran down her leg, snaking its way to her ankle, where it yanked her leg out, lashing it firmly to the bedpost. She sucked in a hissing breath, her skin rioting with sensation as Sand's fingers trickled across her calf...she jerked reflexively when he clamped down on her ankle, and practically whimpered as she felt the sash tighten, firmly tying her down.
She could just barely bend her knees if she strained at the bindings, and she shivered again at the cool Keep air caressing the inside of her thighs and running over the super-heated center of her body. She watched Sand carefully, her eyes narrowed into slits as she tensed her body, pulling at the bindings again.
"So, wizard," she said slowly, "It appears I am somewhat at your mercy." She licked her lips; her throat was suddenly dry as she stared up at him.
"And so, Ambassador, it would appear that you are..." Sand murmured. He slid off the bed, pulling the robe over his head and tossing it aside. He stood at the foot of the bed, his eyes very slowly taking in the sight of her bound, stretched out body. He saw the way her muscles tensed as she pulled on the silk cords.
Now what to do?
What do you do when you have your arch nemesis and lover tied up and bound and presented to you like a delectable morsel on a 300 thread count platter?
Sand quickly realized that her being both his enemy and his lover meant, in the end, the very same action. He smiled at her and quickly moved to his desk, out of sight of Torio and began rummaging through the desk drawers.
Torio twisted against the bed, trying to turn and follow Sand with her eyes as he walked out of her field of vision. She listened, her heart hammering, as the noises of various bottles rolling against wooden drawers could be heard, papers shuffled, and a few indeterminate sounds mingled in as Sand shuffled through... something.
The bindings didn't give. She let out a slightly frustrated snort at the relative sturdiness of the knots the spell had tied. "That seems to be...mmph!...a handy spell to have; tell me,Bodaes, how many times have you cast it?" Her body was clenched low in anticipation as she strained to listen, hoping to get some inkling of what he was looking for by the clink of glass, the slide of fabric...
...the metallic ting of a knife blade, maybe?
Her mind raced through all the possible things a wizard with an alchemical bent would have hidden in his room, her breath coming faster as she waited...
Sand shot a look over his shoulder at Torio, vainly struggling in her bonds. He chuckled. "I have never cast the spell for this nefarious reason, though it makes me wonder what other spells can be used for such...carnal gain." He pulled from the drawer the item he had been searching for and walked back over to the bed, keeping it hidden in his palm.
He stood over her, watching her, his hardening member beginning to strain the fabrics of his pants. He smiled coolly at her and then reached back, loosening the leather tie in his hair, shaking out his long dark hair. His keen observations had not failed to notice that she loosened his hair whenever they were together. He bent over her again, brushing his lips against her lightly, while with his right hand he trailed a white feather down her neck, and across her nipples. "Some of the cruelest torture implements are also the gentlest, dear girl."
