Author's Note: Trigger warning - This chapter contains a brief (1 sentence) description of rape in the third paragraph. A little fluffier Ravenna here.
A frantic prodding dragged Ravenna from her sleep. As she surfaced from the underworld of dreams, the prodding in her mind became a desperate grasp, a panicked battering. And it wasn't Finn. She knew his touch, and his thoughts were usually cohesive and pointed. This was the unskilled, primitive derangement of a despondent individual, projecting pure emotion into the Queen's consciousness. But only a few times had she ever felt the touch of a mind other than that of her brother. This one was unfamiliar.
Her curiosity piqued, she roused herself from her chambers and began gliding through the halls in search of the mental beacon. As she stalked down a dimly lit stone corridor, the touch strengthened and the emotion grew more pointed. As she neared a closed, wooden door, the raw intention became clear: help. The individual clung at her mind frantically in hoping to find a savior. Perhaps this was their lucky night.
Ravenna suddenly flung open the door, enraged by what she saw. On the ground scrambled a guard who was thrown back when she burst through the door, and behind him against the back wall of the small room facing Ravenna was Faolin. But she wasn't alone. Over her mouth clamped the hand of another panting guard as he forced himself repeatedly between her legs, his breeches around his ankles while Faolin's skirts tucked around her hips.
With a hateful twist of the Queen's wrist, both men's heads whipped unnaturally with resounding cracks as they crumpled to the ground. Her gold bangles jingled as the men's lives vanished. Faolin sunk to the ground, gasping for breath as the Queen approached her.
Ravenna gazed down intently at the trembling woman.
"Stand up," Ravenna said quietly as she stood before the huddled woman. Faolin didn't move.
"Stand up!" Ravenna ordered with a growl, gripping Faolin by the arm and effortlessly dragging the woman to her feet.
"Look at me, child," Ravenna whispered, turning her harsh grip on Faolin's arm into a gentle touch on Faolin's cheek. The Queen directed Faolin's visage to her own. As the raven hair parted across the woman's cheek, Ravenna saw thin streaks of tears dripping down Faolin's cheeks.
"They were too strong?" Ravenna questioned knowingly.
A silent nod from the woman trembling in her hands.
"We shall remedy that soon enough," the Queen hummed. Freya's huntsmen would train Faolin, and this wouldn't happen again. She had ambitious plans for Faolin contingent on Ravenna's trust in the woman. Plans to mold Faolin into an even more formidable force.
"Come to my chambers, and let us speak a while," Ravenna ushered, taking Faolin's limp arm and looping it through her own.
In silence the two women trekked back through the cavernous halls to Ravenna's rooms, Faolin limping as she clung to Ravenna. The Queen led Faolin through the main bedroom and into an adjacent bath room, the ceiling domed and buttressed like a cathedral and the looming, floor-to-ceiling windows gazing sightlessly out into the midnight realm while crystalline moonlight filtered through the glass. An expansive pool occupied most of the floor and the water lay placid and midnight among the tiles.
"Get in," Ravenna urged, releasing Faolin's arm and ushering her towards the dark water. "You should clean yourself after their touch." Not even a seer could have uncovered what uncleanliness those guards' bodies hosted.
As Faolin tugged at her dress, Ravenna rested in an ornate chair under the windows, still garbed in her cream sleep gown and flowing, white night robes. She surveyed the ageling unabashedly as Faolin shamelessly dropped her skirts to the tile floor and tied up her long tresses. In the silvery light Ravenna was reminded what an exquisite creature the woman was, her lean limbs and gentle curves reflecting the moon beams. Faolin glanced at the Queen and Ravenna nodded imperceptibly in permission before the raven-haired woman slipped into the water, ripples echoing over the glimmering surface.
Faolin's touch had retreated from Ravenna's mind during the Queen's chaotic encounter with the guards. But Ravenna wasn't obliged to forget the phenomenon so easily. The Queen rose from her chair and glided to face the windows, surveying the night-blanketed ocean, wave crests twinkling with the touch of stars and moon.
"Faolin," Ravenna addressed the woman without turning to face the pool, "What were you doing roaming the castle at this hour?"
A moment of silence trickled between them, only broken by the sound of the bath lapping at the edges of the tile and gently kissing Faolin's skin.
"I couldn't sleep, my Queen," Faolin replied weakly.
"Does something trouble you?" Ravenna probed. Faolin was keeping something from her.
"Your Grace, I—." Faolin's voice faltered and choked as a sob rose in her throat.
Perhaps the interrogation could wait until tomorrow. But no, Faolin was vulnerable now, and Ravenna needed answers.
"Faolin, I need the truth now," she said coolly, folding her arms into her robes as she continued to gaze out the windows.
The sniffling subsided.
"Ever since my beginning years, I've had an ability to venture out with my mind. To explore the world with thoughts, if that makes any sense," Faolin replied quietly.
"Yes, I know exactly of what you speak. Mindwalking."
"Tonight, I felt the faintest nagging of distress, like someone else with this ability reaching out to me. Its persistence kept me from sleep," Faolin explained. "So, I went out to find the source, and you know the rest."
Surely Faolin hadn't touched Snow. Snow White was far up in the most secluded tower. And to the Queen's knowledge, Snow White had no ability to mindwalk. Unless a mindwalker intentionally reached out to search, someone without the ability couldn't project their emotions to a mindwalker.
"In truth, this ability has been in my family for centuries, and I've only ever encountered a few who also maintain the skill," the Queen began carefully. "Because of this fact, I sometimes neglect to keep my mind in check. What you felt was likely me or my brother suffering a fitful bout of sleep."
Although Snow's existence was no secret among the court, the Queen had intended to expose Faolin to the girl in a carefully controlled manner once she knew absolutely that she could trust the woman. Now was not the time. However, the reveal of Faolin's ability greatly increased the woman's value to the Queen.
Ravenna shut her eyes to the starlight and tentatively ventured out with her mind, easing towards Faolin's ebbing despondency. The tendrils of Ravenna's mind snaked around Faolin's.
Can you control it? Ravenna communicated.
A jumble of uncertain swirling thoughts. No.
Rapidfire. Cold, dark water.
A flash of a dark memory. Yes.
Faolin's resolve shimmered like a mirage. Sometimes, she concluded.
You will learn, Ravenna replied fluidly. I will teach you.
The Queen flexed her mind around Faolin's, constricting it.
Realize your mind as an extension of your body, Ravenna minded. Parts, muscles, reaches, limits.
She squeezed tighter, Faolin's thoughts beginning to tremble under the pressure.
That's it. Consciously mind your thoughts as you would your body. Feel it, Ravenna implored. The first time she felt true pain in her mind was when she realized its definite nature, its ability to be used just like any other body part. She tightened her grip, and Faolin shuddered under the pressure.
Faolin groaned from the pool as her thoughts took on a pleading tone.
Ravenna pivoted to face the pool, her robes whirling around her. The raven-haired woman had planted her hands at the edge of the pool, head down as her ribs heaved.
Faolin's thoughts became more frantic, but one word materialized.
Ravenna.
No one referred to her by that name save Finn and Freya. For a moment the Queen wavered.
"Please," Faolin choked from the water. Ravenna knew her pain. When something constricts your mind, your thoughts become obsolete. Your mind becomes empty and meaningless, making way only for fearful despair to take hold as you lose track of time and yourself.
Enough, Ravenna wisped.
"Enough," the Queen breathed once more as she retrieved a blanket from a table by the windows and approached the pool.
"Come," Ravenna invited as she unfolded the blanket holding it across her body with open arms, ushering Faolin to her. As the sniffling woman dragged herself from the bath, she nestled herself in Ravenna's arms as the Queen wrapped the blanket around the dripping woman. Faolin shivered as another sob ricocheted through her limbs. Ravenna drew back from Faolin and surveyed the woman's beautifully dark features in the silvery night. Faolin's gaze fell to the floor as tears dripped silently off her cheeks. The Queen lifted gentle fingertips to Faolin's face, brushing at the tears.
For a moment, remorse slipped across her mind as she considered the pain she had heaped on Faolin's mind in addition to that incited by her guards.
"Beauty is a curse and a blessing," Ravenna breathed. "It is a formidable weapon, but when control slips away, that weapon can turn on the wielder just as quickly. I know your pain."
Ravenna had lived many lifetimes and was no stranger to the dangers that beauty drew: the insatiable lust of men, the fiery jealousy of women. When she was weaker, she too had experienced pain at the hands of a man. But she would train Faolin, strengthen her, and then none but Ravenna herself would be a threat to the woman.
"The night is exhausted and so are you," the Queen whispered into Faolin's dark hair. "Let's sleep and worry no more about tonight."
Just as she had many months ago under the peach tree, Ravenna found in herself a touch of that same tenderness she only ever held for Finn and Freya.
The Queen led Faolin, crying gently, back into the bed room and guided the woman onto Ravenna's expansive bed. As Faolin lay petrified on her side, Ravenna shed her night robes and slipped into the sheets facing the sniffling woman. The Queen lifted a hand to Faolin's tear-streaked cheek, brushing away the droplets once more.
"Sleep now, and forget about the world," Ravenna hummed. She closed her eyes, reaching out her consciousness toward Faolin and engulfing the woman's mind in her own tranquility. Faolin's sharp breaths slowed and her sobs subsided as Ravenna felt the woman's mind faintly slip into oblivious sleep.
Ravenna awoke to someone's touch at her back. When she opened her eyes, the gentle, pastel sunlight trickled in from her creamy curtained windows, tossing a sleepy glow around the walls. As Ravenna turned she saw that in her nakedness Faolin had nestled close to her in the night to alleviate the cold. The blankets twisted around the woman's slim waist, leaving her torso bare. As Ravenna faced Faolin lying on her side, a slight shiver trembled the woman's limbs, and she drew herself into Ravenna, resting her head against the Queen's chest and pressing her body against the Queen's. Ravenna draped her arm over Faolin, her lithe fingers drifting across Faolin's bare back.
The Queen stretched out her consciousness, gently pushing against Faolin's dormant one. But like a placid ocean filled with monsters, fantastic dreams raged beneath Faolin's quiet surface. Ravenna edged along that membrane of sleep, feeling the wild dreams drumming against the interior, threatening to break the film and spill. With a little pressure Ravenna surged through that film. But as she did a darkness came roiling out, tendrilling through Faolin's paralyzed mind. Nightmare demons crawled through the wound in her consciousness and began ripping at her defenseless mind.
As sleep slowly relinquished Faolin's limbs, she stirred faintly against Ravenna's body, shaking the night from her mind. But as she did, the inky darkness relentlessly trickled into the corners of her consciousness, and her body began panicking as its mind was overtaken. Faolin's breaths came hot and fast, her throat struggling to drag in air. Her hips jerked and her arms struggled against the Queen. Faolin's eyes shut tighter. Ravenna hushed her, holding the woman more closely to her in hopes that her conscious mind would surface and fight off the nightmare. But sobs began piercing through Faolin's throat, her body moving more vehemently against Ravenna's. As Ravenna fought to hold back the dark clouds in Faolin's mind, she also fought to hold down Faolin's frantic body.
The Queen battered against Faolin's mind, desperately attempting to rouse her from her limbo of sleep. She flipped on top of Faolin, holding her down as Faolin cried and struggled and Ravenna urged her to wake. Finally, Ravenna found a crevasse of consciousness in Faolin's flooded mind, and pried at it, forcing Faolin into reality. The dark-haired woman surfaced with heaving breaths and drops of sweat and tears rolling down her cheeks as Ravenna relaxed her grip and collapsed on the bed beside Faolin.
"What happened?" Faolin breathed shakily.
"You tell me, ageling," Ravenna snapped as she disentangled herself from Faolin's body.
Realization dawned on Faolin's features as she took in her surroundings.
"My Queen," Faolin whispered, head down as she clutched the sheets to her bare chest. "I shouldn't be here. Not in your private chambers like this."
Faolin's humiliation fueled Ravenna. She lifted her arms and stretched luxuriously before standing from the bed. With a sidelong glance towards Faolin, Ravenna stepped into the bath room, reveling in the ethereal morning softness that flooded through the towering windows. She retrieved Faolin's discarded dress and returned to the woman huddled in her bed.
"Dress yourself," the Queen ordered. "The traveling company will be waiting soon."
As Ravenna turned to her wardrobe, a foreign thought twinged gently against her mind.
The Queen paused. Grateful. Just one word. Undeserving. An idea.
Thank you? Ravenna supplied, turning a knowing smile back on Faolin.
Thank you, Faolin repeated, meeting Ravenna's gaze.
Proficiency will be granted with practice, Ravenna echoed.
That night, Faolin began. In that night… Ravenna—
"Last night," Faolin verbally interrupted herself. She knew even thinking of the Queen in terms of that name was dangerously insolent. "You not only spoke to me in my mind, but it seemed as if your feelings became my own. You caused me to feel calm with greater strength than words alone could muster."
"Yes," Ravenna replied, dawning a heavy robe from her wardrobe. "It is possible to not only interpret emotion, but also affect it. For now, practice minding your consciousness as your body, train it like you would your muscles. Practice projecting your thoughts to me. Direct them intentionally so you can learn to control them."
Ravenna turned back to face Faolin as the dark-haired woman slipped into her dress.
"The traveling party will be preparing to depart," the Queen said, folding her arms into the sleeves of the lush robe. "Ready yourself and leave before the sun's height today. Request any additional provisions you may need from the castle servicemen. They know to expect you."
"Yes, your majesty," Faolin said with a nod, her head lowered as she exited the Queen's chambers.
Remember with whom your loyalty lies, Ravenna implored.
Faolin paused, glancing over her shoulder, and replied, Of course, my Queen.
Ravenna's chest churned contentedly as her ageling slipped quietly from the room.
As Faolin gingerly shut the Queen's chamber door, she turned to see Finn stalking towards her down the hallway. Faolin met his glare and quickly turned away, but before she could make her escape his voice hissed behind her, "Ageling."
Faolin winced and slowed her pace, cautiously turning to face the white-haired man. Finn approached her with glowering visage and hands innocently held behind his back.
"I had quite the mess to handle this morning," he whispered, drawing alarmingly close as he circled her.
"The Queen-" Faolin began hesitantly, forcing the painful memory of the night before from her mind.
"The Queen is beyond her senses," Finn spat accusingly as he stalked behind her. "You bewitched her with your childish ploys and now you bewitch her with your handsome intrigue."
Finn gestured to Ravenna's door, reminding Faolin of the implications of a night spent in the Queen's chambers. She knew there was no refute to satisfy the hostile brother. Faolin shied her face away in revolt from Finn's own cruel, battle-scarred countenance as he turned to face her.
"You may have entranced my sister," he growled deliberately, spittle roiling at the edges of his pale lips. "But I am not so easily influenced, ageling."
His murderous insinuations were not lost on Faolin.
"If you think I've influenced the Queen," Faolin began with a whisper, "perhaps you do not know her as well as you presume." The dark-haired woman turned and walked away quickly, before her resolve softened or her aggressor gathered his to respond. She smirked as she heard the man seething at her back before angrily pounding against the Queen's door - the same door she had been invited through last night without request.