Chapter 12 - Une Nouvelle Aube

"A New Dawn"

(This chapter is rated M for adult content. If that's not your thing, skip this chapter and we'll pick things up with the next one. Otherwise, you know what to do. – Nas)

The combined members of Prince Nuada's household were fretting, but none more so than the Herald. Some twenty minutes earlier, the High King Apparent and his intended Queen had returned, astride the Hound, to the rooms on the outskirts of the Troll Market. Quietly and seemingly with little fanfare, they had stepped into the Great Hall, greeted the household together, and then retired. Since then, Nylian, the Herald, and WillLily, the bogart, had been directing a complete mess of Fae here and about; seeing to it that the Hound was fed and resting in the main foyer, that each of the Corvids had returned and were accounted for, that food and drink were being set up in the antechambers and bedrooms, and that salves and bandages were being procured in a timely fashion.

Some hours ago, when Nuala had first cried out in shock while sitting in the library, it was unfortunately clear that she would be sharing in a series of broken bones, severe cuts, and gashes in need of immediate attention. In many ways, Nylian had taken it as a mixed blessing. On the one hand, he could technically monitor the Prince's progress and general state of being through Nuala's albeit macabre indications. On the other, it meant that he had to watch his Princess suffer without offer of solace. As the night wore on and the injuries became more pronounced. there had also been great and growing concern that something had gone terribly awry and that the Prince might not actually survive the Hunt. And even now that he had returned (much to everyone's relief), his subdued demeanor and relative calm indicated that Nuada was hurt more than he was letting on. This was cause for concern.

In the furthest bedroom, the Prince sat with his back to the fireplace, leaning, as was his habit, ever so slightly to his left. Ailith smiled as she picked up a pot of balm from a nearby table and glanced over its ingredients; surreptitiously observing Nuada begin to gingerly rub at the area just below his right arm. He looked almost exactly now as he had in her dream; sitting in the same posture, wearing the same loose linen shirt and black pants, and with the same mildly pensive expression.

With a few kind words, she had finally sent the last of the household servants away, reassuring them all that she would see to Nuada's injuries and that yes, despite the fact that some of them appeared rather egregious, he would be quite alright. And so would Nuala.

Ailith set the pot back down onto the table and approached Nuada. He raised his head to acknowledge her but said nothing.

"You've won." She smiled, eyeing him thoughtfully. "I would think you'd be feeling more celebratory."

He made a soft, but bemused, noise in response. "I can assure you, Ailith," he answered. "I am quite happy, but I am afraid that anything truly triumphant will have to wait until I've put myself back together again."

Ailith almost laughed, imagining a rather grim version of Humpty Dumpty in that moment. On still bare feet, she padded over to next him. She liked the way the dying firelight colored his hair with reds and yellows and the way that the lengthening shadows blended into the darkness around his eyes. What she didn't like, however, was the deepening purple stain spreading out from the base of his neck and disappearing under his collar to form a bruise that likely extended from his shoulder all the way to his sternum. Ailith tilted her head genially.

"Take your shirt off."

He raised an eyebrow but didn't move.

"Please."

With careful, pained, movements, Nuada managed to do as she asked; pulling the garment free over his head and dropping it to the floor at his feet. She appraised him again. The wounds were significant, but nothing beyond her skill to mend.

With tentative and unsure fingers, Ailith finally reached out to him and laid her palm tenderly against his broken collarbone. She could instinctively feel the break, just beneath her hand, shifting ominously from side to side as he breathed. She chanced a look into his eyes and was not surprised to find him watching her intently, his gaze a soft golden color in regards to her. For the moment, she enjoyed the simple contact; feeling the warmth of skin and the rhythmic rise and fall of his breath. Then, as he continued to endure the touch, she released a slow sigh and used her concentration to call upon the light that now freely moved through her, just behind the flesh of her fingers. She summoned it easily and let it flow from where she touched him and into the injury there. Nuada drew in a sharp breath, but remained still as the ancient light and eldritch magics did their work, streaming between them in white-gold threads like glass-dappled sun. She could see the angry purple beginning to fade, could feel the bones knitting back together stronger than before. She could sense him beginning to relax as the pain subsided into a curious heat he wasn't quite sure how to parse.

Ailith smiled down at him, quite pleased with the results of her work. She met his gaze again, noting the subtle ways in which he seemed both attentive and hesitant.

With a boldness she would not otherwise have ever demonstrated, but for all that had transpired this night already, Ailith leaned forward and deftly sat down on Nuada's lap by way of straddling his hips and bringing both arms over his shoulders to steady herself. From there, she was actually able to support most of her own weight by curling the tops of her feet into the sidebars between the legs of the chair. For his part, Nuada seemed slightly surprised but not bothered and simply brought his hands down to rest on the tops of her thighs as she leaned back from him.

As she had thought about doing for so long, Ailith finally reached up and laid her fingertips against the royal scar across the bridge of his nose. Feeling its length and breadth with an amiable touch, she was pleased to find that it did not actually go as deep as it first appeared, instead remaining reasonably superficial as it dipped from one cheekbone to the other in evidence of his rite of passage.

"I'd rather you not try to heal that one." He commented offhandedly.

Ailith clicked her tongue in mirthful admonishment and moved on to one of the deeper lacerations just above his eye. Beneath the pad of her thumb, that one too was quickly wiped away; closing without so much as a blemish to indicate where it had once been. The wounds on the side of his face followed until she was able to slide her hand down his neck in a benignly teasing caress. Ailith noticed that his breath hitched slightly but he did not attempt to pull away.

In the flickering light, Ailith began to explore him as she liked. Finally free of barriers and cages, she set about finding all the most sensitive curves and hollows of his chest and back and reading a story in each battle scar and old trauma inscribed on his skin. The lines and cross-hatches read like Ogham and seemed to contain a kind of storyteller's magic all their own. As she did so, she also took the time to discover each injury and to carefully heal it away with the powers and memories that had only been so recently restored to her. She had so much to tell him beyond this; about herself, about all that had brought them together at this time and place, about the Trees and the Court of the Sun, about the future before them. But, for now, it would all have to wait. The Geas had other demands and it was not keen to wait.

When she arrived at the deep wound beneath his arm, she took the time to soothe the fevered skin and close the cut from the inside out. That way, he wouldn't risk accidentally reopening it through his normal activities later on. And then the two broken ribs were detected and set, massaged away before ending with a rather pointed stroke to his side. But as the injuries receded, something else was taking their place. In short order, the entire endeavor began to take on a much more sensual aspect to it than either of them had anticipated and Nuada was not unaware of the shift in responses she was starting to draw from him.

Ailith, however, seemed somewhat lost in thought, though she still continued to touch him in increasingly indulgent ways.

"Nuada, can I ask you an…. awkward question?"

He couldn't help but smile. "Of course."

"I understand twin-sympathy but…I'm not quite sure exactly how far it goes. I mean, I know that you and Nuala share in your wounds and that, in this way, you are also sharing in their healing." She poked him playfully in the ribs. "But, now that I am here, it concerns me that I might be causing some other…. problems. Especially without something of a prior warning? It just seems…. rude."

Nuada chuckled lightly. "No. While my sister and I share many things, such experiences as that are not usually one of them. She tends to know where I am and will know my general state of mind. She is also privy to how I might be feeling overall, if she is close enough, but she will not be…. involved. Not in that way. Unless you decide to mark me, that is."

Ailith couldn't help the blush that spread across her cheeks at his words and was thankful to the thickening gloom within the chamber for hiding just how bashful it made her look. When he tilted his head back and looked up at her affectionately, however, she had no hesitation in closing the distance into their first kiss.

The Geas was a strange thing, no matter who was subject to it or how. The bonds it formed were powerful, often more so than any other force known to Man or Fae, and, as such, those who experienced it often described the feeling as one-part deep-seated instinct and intuition and one-part inevitable and unchangeable movement of the cosmos. For both Ailith and Nuada, that first kiss could have become a world unto its own; care and concern shifting to hunger and desire that was just as much a reflection of their own passions as it was the next beat in a familiar rhythm that called the world to dance. When it finally broke, Nuada reflexively pulled her as close as possible, lest she try to part from him. He need not have worried, however, as Ailith brought her arms up from his shoulders to loosely wrap them around his neck.

"Ailith." He started, leaning back slightly to look up into her eyes. "Is this what you want?"

The smile he received in response was mischievous and sly.

"It is." She replied, whispering the words against his lips with an impish grin. "If it wasn't, I would not have taken the time to heal you so carefully. The pain would have stayed you well enough."

Ailith heard the soft growl as his eyes left her face and drifted down her body. She turned her gaze momentarily to the fireplace behind him, silently willing the embers into an ambient smolder. Beneath her hands she could feel the tension returning to him, feel the sparks of arousal moving up his back and into his shoulders as he leaned into her embrace. His touch, however, remained reticent; controlled.

He shifted beneath her on the chair, pressing the length of his body against her as his hands slid around her waist to hold her tighter against him. Ailith reached up to card her fingers through his hair and let her head fall forward as she felt the first touch of his mouth against her neck. Taking in his scent, she was pleased to find that he reminded her of woods and rain, and something like the hint of new spring leaves on a cool gust of wind. Before the final battles of the Hunt, she had not been entirely sure she would come to him right away but as she began to delight in the gentle caresses he gave to her hip and back, Ailith reveled in the passion Nuada was coaxing from within her.

He whispered something into her throat she did not quite catch but the possessiveness in his voice sent unexpected pleasure coursing through her. She felt the growing ache inside of her become more demanding, calling out to him of its own accord along the psychic bonds the Geas was quickly cementing. She no longer even needed to answer him verbally for him to feel and understand that he wasn't simply being accepted as her mate but beckoned.

"Nuada." She whispered his name breathlessly in his ear as she felt his hands begin to pull at the stays on the front of her dress, dexterously undoing them, the fabric falling loosely around her as the bindings unraveled. He turned her in his arms slightly away from him, mainly so that he could ease his fingertips under the material, gather it up, and pull it away. With a flirtatious snarl, Ailith grabbed the edges of the bodice before she was bared to him.

"Oh, no you don't!" Ailith smirked, nipping him lightly on his bottom lip.

"Don't what?" he replied blandly, though his amused expression clearly showed that he took this to be a lover's game.

"I'll not have you tearing things off or causing a ruckus." She clucked, airily glaring down at him with no amount of actual reprimand.

"Very well," Nuada nodded, meeting her gaze calmly. "How will you have me then?"

With a playfully indignant sniff and a toss of her head, Ailith moved out of his embrace and stood up, holding the dress around her tightly as she walked backward from the chair and further into the room. He sighed deeply, almost contentedly, as she turned from him to allow the dim firelight to play with the shadows weaving across her skin. But his eyes quickly came to life with an ardor that had long been bereft of him as he watched her slowly begin to drop the folds of cloth from her body. Her bare shoulders came first before the smooth, pale, expanse of her back and then the rise of her hips. Even in the darkness, he could still see the characteristic lavender markings down her sides and the star-like dimples in her lower back that indicated the true nature of her otherworldliness. If and when she chose to change her current form to that of the purer state of Nature she was capable of, it would be here that the transformation would begin. From there, the discarded garment revealed her rounded backside as she finally let the dress fall at her feet. She looked over her shoulder at him.

"Come to me." she stated, suddenly feeling rather bold. In an instant, he had left the chair and crossed the room. Then, she was in his arms and his mouth was over hers and it was desperate and necessary and perfect. The warmth of his skin against hers caused a bit of gooseflesh to rise, or it was the growing excitement of finally feeling him alive and wanting against her. Either way, it really didn't matter. Ailith immediately took a liking to his strength and quite enjoyed laying into him with a smattering of small bites and kisses for no other reason than to see him respond with an ever increasingly feral drive to possess her.

With a smile, she allowed him to continue roaming exploratorily over her body as she carefully reached forward to undo the ties at the sides of his pants. He had removed his armor, tunic, sash, and boots earlier when the Herald, assisted by the little bogart, had come to collect all the things that needed mending and cleaning. Now, with the loops unthreaded, she was able to simply push the last of his clothing off of him and take in the clean, smooth, lines of his body unhindered. Nuada was, without a doubt, beautiful. He was also built like a great, predatory, cat with a compact, lean frame that did things to her she was sure she had not felt before.

Leaving the last of their clothing where it had fallen, Nuada gathered Ailith again in his arms, wryly soliciting another kiss as he pulled her into him completely, letting her feel the extent of his excitement pressed to her thigh. Breathy pants were swallowed and regifted, and Ailith began to feel as though her legs would give out beneath her. As if reading her mind, Nuada quickly lifted her, bringing her legs up around his waist, and carried her the last few steps to the edge of the bed. He allowed her then, to slip from his grasp as he laid her down onto the coverlet. She was wan and lovely against the darker bedclothes, her hair spreading out into a glittering halo around her head. He did not leave her for long though, and gracefully descended down over her body so that he might lean in to kiss her once more. Her fingernails dug sharply into his shoulders as she tried to pull him flush against her. With a stifled laugh, he rolled his back so as not to allow her good purchase against him.

"I told you." Nuada remarked softly, his mouth still barely in contact with hers. "If you mark me, I can make no promises about any potential…. rudeness."

Ailith huffed and growled at him with a measure of annoyance and frustration she didn't remotely feel. But instead of arguing with him further, she settled for enticing him back into an ardent kiss. The unmasked need and desire in his kisses felt like he had stolen the fire from the hearth and was using it to burn away her very core; her insides beginning to twist and torment her as he left her lips to trace a line down her neck and onto her chest. She moaned deep in her throat as he continued his way down, tasting her body and taking a hard nipple between his teeth. She squealed at the new sensation and bucked her hips against his, which, unbeknownst to her, had a remarkably strong effect on him. For the second time since their return, she called his name.

Nuada lavished attention and affection everywhere he went. He lingered on her breasts before moving on to a particularly sensitive spot along her ribs, her fingers threading through his hair as his mouth found each dip and rise. Moments later, she felt his hand drift down between her legs, brushing his fingers lightly over her before he parted her delicate folds to press the flat of his thumb against her. She was wet and ready for him, but he did not take the touch further.

Ailith wasn't sure, in that moment, if he was teasing her or testing her. She felt her like her entire body was so wound up she could just explode and she wanted far more of him right now than he was giving. She twitched beneath him, wanting to lure him upwards again, to move him into a more compromising position where she might fit him against her fully. She felt Nuada chuckle against her, the vibration causing her legs to tremble and her heart to begin racing in her chest.

"Had enough already?" His velvety voice washed over her with the heat of his breath and she knew that if he really wanted it, he could keep her like this all day. But she was not the only one whose blood was being driven by the call of the Geas and the Geas would take no quarter. The time of the Feis was upon them.

"Nuada, please," she gasped, surprised at how raw her voice was.

Nuada raised his head and watched her for a moment; this being, this woman, who was near to driving him into madness and yet who had taken him from madness. He marveled at how her body sang at his touch, pliant and soft beneath his hands, and in that moment, he could not recall any other lover but her. The need to join with her, to mate, was also becoming overwhelming and as much as he might have wanted to draw out their coupling, to show her how much pleasure he could give her and to bond with her in the exchange, there was no chance of it right now. Not this first time, with the turning of Spring and Summer dragging them both along and into the maelstrom.

He moved back up her body, his lips meeting hers again in a surprisingly gentle kiss as he settled himself onto her, his manhood pressed against her center intimately. Ailith parted her thighs readily and began to move her hips gently against him, stroking him with the wetness there before whispering into his neck.

"Please."

Nuada gripped her hips and entered her with a single sure stroke. Her cry was muffled as she bit down on his shoulder, her fingernails embedding deeply into his back. It caused him to murmur lowly but he did not try to withdraw. He would likely be paying for it later but for the time being, to feel his lover stretched out underneath him, near delirious, had his heart beating hard against his chest and his mind spiraling into a white fog. He shifted his weight onto his knees and kept his grip on Ailith's hips as she wriggled against him for a tighter fit and crossed her ankles over the backs of his thighs in an effort to keep him as close as possible.

As she finally relaxed into his hold, Nuada growled before pulling out of her slowly and then lunging back in. She gasped loudly, nails digging harder into his skin and leaving crescent-shaped bruises she would be embarrassed to see later. Ailith did her best to remain receptive beneath him as he began to move within her, stroke after stroke of sheer ecstasy arcing through her body and threatening to twist her out of his grasp. Every time he left her and then reseated himself with each full, unrelenting, thrust, she felt as though she might break right out of her own skin and leave her body to his desires. Nuada was a passionate lover, however, despite his normally hostile outward demeanor and he was careful not to take her too harshly.

In truth, he had rather expected this part to be quick. Mainly because he had not anticipated her truly wanting him and had certainly not envisioned her so openly inviting him to lay with her in this way. If past stories of the Feis were any indication, he figured that they might come together for a brief moment somewhere in the reaches of the woods after the Hunt or near to where she would eventually go off to live. But certainly nothing like this. Now, her hands drifted over his sides as he continued to have her, enjoying the play of muscles in his torso as they worked to keep them both steady. They were awed at how they could also feel each other's desires: his want to press them into a deeper, stronger rhythm and her need for him to keep close against her. But he resisted, only for the fact that he was already so close to losing himself. In response, she caught his bottom lip between her teeth, biting gently before letting go.

Nuada moaned as she clenched around him, blithely smiling up at him before she dropped her hands onto his lower back and pressed her fingers into the muscles near his spine. It took a little effort to get him to move in the particular way she wanted him to, by raising his chest up and using the leverage of his thighs against her to achieve a depth and angle he had not been able to before. His breathing also quickly told her that this position was especially good for him and, if she was being honest, it was because she wanted to see his face as he came undone inside her.

Their eyes met as she took him all the way in again, his hands moving up her thighs to her hips and then onto the bed on either side of her so that he would not fall onto her as he moved. He began his impassioned rhythm again, but this time harder and deeper than he had previously. Ailith grabbed a hold of where ever she could, rocking back and then forward in time with him, even as she felt him moving solidly within her. His breath caught in his throat.

"Ní …féidir liom…" She heard him moan fervently. It was in his native tongue, but she understood him. He was close to his breaking point and wouldn't be able to hold out much longer. It was probably all well and good, she thought absently. Healed or not, they were both near to exhaustion and he was about to be utterly spent.

"Nuada, mo iontach Nuada." She whispered in his ear before biting down along the ridge of his jaw. Their bodies were slick with sweat as he moved but she continued to take him deeply, the friction and fullness she felt absolutely exquisite. Suddenly, Nuada reared his head back to look into her eyes, the tips of their noses touching almost tenderly before he surged in for a kiss. It was primal and messy but wonderfully exciting and before she knew it, Ailith was being pressed down hard into the mattress. Nuada thrust into her with an instinctual urgency, his hands holding her still and close against him as he arched his back and tried desperately to take in enough breath. It was all Ailith could do just to hold onto him for dear life for the next several minutes before he took them both screaming over the edge. It came upon her abruptly and Ailith nearly sobbed with the force of her release; her body contracting and then shattering beneath him, calling out to him as she lost all sense of time or place or meaning.

Then, her nails dug lines into his back and Nuada had no choice but to follow her; the first crest of his release tearing through him and leaving him senseless when his body began pulse inside of her as he climaxed; giving over every last bit of his essence he had left to give. The cry that burst from him was almost a shout but he managed to muffle it somewhat by clenching his teeth and burying his face into Ailith's hair. For several minutes, they could do nothing but cling to one another and ride out the crashing waves of ecstasy that kept them tied together and left them a trembling wreck in the aftermath.

A chill passed through the room as they collapsed against one another, staying close as they tried to calm their breathing and regain their bearings. The fire was nearly non-existent and, at some point, one of them was going to have to get up to stoke it for the rest of the evening. Ailith decided, however, that neither of them would be getting up just yet and reached down to pull the blankets over the both of them as her lover withdrew from her and settled onto his side. Any thoughts of the Hunt or the days before it had temporarily left Ailith as she held Nuada, who was pressing gentle, open-mouthed kisses to her temple and neck.

"Are you alright?" he whispered, cradling her, wrapped securely in the warmth and the darkness.

Ailith pulled back slightly and looked at him. "Yes. I'm quite fine, I think."

"You think?"

"It's been a crazy couple of days."

He chuckled at that. "Yes, I suppose it has. But now it is done. You needn't worry about it again."

Ailith at first looked concerned, then increasingly confused. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"The Hunt is over." Nuada answered. "The way forward is set but I certainly don't expect you to accompany me along it. The vagaries of duty being what they are. You are, of course, welcome to remain here as long as you wish. I will always look out for you and I will always be here if you need me."

Ailith turned and scowled at him. His tone was odd, almost sad. But after a moment's thought, she suddenly understood the thinking hidden behind his words. "Now who is it not seeing things for what they are?"

Nuada raised an eyebrow tentatively, noting with some worry that Ailith was tensing up while still pressed so intimately close to him. "Oh?"

Ailith nodded indignantly. "Indeed." She quipped, rolling such that she could push him onto his back and balance herself on his chest. "By right of Geas, Nuada Neachtain, Tiarna an Dál nAraidi, you belong to me. Maine Mórgor and Airgeatlámh, you are mine."

He smiled and carefully leaned up to give one last lingering kiss to her lips.

"I am that." He soothed, pulling her down deeper into the bed against him as they both began to relax and drift off. "I am that."