Fai walked briskly down the halls of the Woodland Realm's palace. The pain and sorrow he had felt yesterday were welling up again. He walked quickly, as though his feet could outrun it. He should have known the subject would come up again. He was not the only one to hear what the king had said. The others would have been just as eager to know the answer as he had been. But Fai was not emotionally prepared to deal with this again so soon. He knew Kurogane would have been patient with him, but Fai was not willing to burden the other man with his tears.
He needed something to distract him from his grief, from Kurogane, from all of it. And so his feet carried him in the direction of the king's quarters. Thranduil had told him to return when he was ready. Fai was ready now.
The mage passed through the door to the king's quarters and down the stairs into the antechamber. He knocked on the door of the room he had been in earlier that day. A servant opened it, admitting him. Thranduil sat upon the couch, attended by two other servants. He looked sharply at Fai as he entered.
"I thought I had instructed you to return tomorrow, wizard," the king said, raising his eyebrows.
Fai wavered for a moment, unsure, but the sight of Thranduil brought back fresh the memory of that strange sensation of their interaction earlier in the day. This was the distraction he needed.
"My lord, you know our time here is limited," Fai answered the king. "And you told me to return when I was ready. If it pleases your majesty, I would like to continue now."
The Elvenking looked at him for a long moment. Fai held the pale blue gaze with his own, not dropping his eyes. Finally, Thranduil rose from the couch. "Very well," he agreed. "Leave us," he commanded the servants. Walking around Fai, they filed out through the antechamber. The king followed, closing the door behind them. He circled around Fai. The wizard held his ground.
"Are you certain you are prepared to do this again so soon," the elf inquired. "It will not aid us to wear you out."
"My lord, if I were not ready, I would not have come," Fai replied. He watched as the king circled back around in front of him. The elf's eyes betrayed the same hunger Fai had seen in them after he had first shared his magic.
"Then I shall trust you to know your limits," Thranduil said. "Come."
The two seated themselves on the couch as they had earlier. Fai closed his eyes, holding out his hands. Anticipation quickened his heartbeat. The mage focused on taking deep, even breaths. Thranduil placed his hands over Fai's, a tendril of his magic slipping into the wizard once again. Though he had been expecting it this time, the invasive power still caused Fai to tense.
Thranduil found Fai's magic more quickly now that he knew where to look. Fai felt the king's magic kneading within him as he coaxed Fai's power out again. This time, the king did not stop the flow once it started. Magic poured from Fai like blood from a wound, but without a pulse; it was steady, controlled. The king syphoned it from the wizard, drawing it through the conduit of his own magic. The strange sensation Fai had experienced earlier overtook him again. It was the innate panic of losing control coupled with the calm of letting it be lost, contrary and intoxicating. Fai felt his own hands trembling against the king's even as he sought to hold them steady.
The magic passed like a shimmering stream, like flowing water, out and into the king. Fai lost track of it after that. He dared not try to follow it further. His head was swimming. How long they sat like that, Fai could not tell. Finally, the king brought the transfer to a halt. He eased it off slowly, gently extricating himself when the flow had been stopped.
Fai's eyes snapped open as he caught himself from falling forward against the king. He leaned back against the couch, waiting for the dizziness to pass. Thranduil sat watching him. Fai noticed that the elf too was breathing more heavily than normal. The strain of this process was not on the mage alone. But the king recovered more quickly than Fai. Thranduil reached for a glass goblet of wine sitting on an end table. Bringing it to his lips, he sipped at it thoughtfully.
"Did it work?" Fai asked when he was again able to speak. "Were… were you able to use my magic?" His voice sounded soft and short of breath. Thranduil handed Fai the remainder of the glass of wine. The wizard drained it.
"I was," Thranduil answered him. "I used it to strengthen the barrier closest to the palace."
"Then you will need more," Fai responded, "for the other barriers. Much more, if you are to extend them." He sat up, setting the empty goblet down on the other end table. It clinked as he placed it a bit harder than he had intended.
"Yes," acknowledged the king. "But no more this night." Fai nodded in response. He knew Thranduil was right to stop where he did. It would not do to push too far too quickly. As much as he wanted to rush in increasing his magic, Fai recognized the wisdom of not overdoing it. As the lightheadedness wore off, it was being replaced by weariness. Fai shivered and wrapped his arms around himself.
"You should sleep," the king stated. "Do not return to me until you are fully recovered. I do not know the rate at which your magic replenishes itself, and so I shall leave the frequency of these transferences to your discretion." He looked upon Fai, who was finally sitting up straight and breathing at a normal rate again. "Have caution," the elf warned. "I will not be held responsible if you choose to push past your limits." Fai looked into the elf's cold blue eyes and knew that this was likely the only warning he would get on the matter. The king would take his magic as often as Fai offered it. If the wizard became too eager, he would have only himself to blame for the consequences.
"Your terms are fair, my lord," Fai replied.
"Good," the Elvenking said with an air of finality. "Now, do you require an escort to return you to your rooms?"
"No, I think I can manage," the wizard responded.
"Very well." The king stood and walked to a side table to pour himself a fresh glass of wine. "Take care, Fai Flourite," he said, seeming to indicate that Fai could let himself out. The mage stood up from the couch. His legs were only a little shaky. He could make it back to the apartment on his own.
"Good night, your majesty," he said, offering a short bow, and headed toward the door. Fai exited, reclosing the heavy wooden door behind him. The antechamber was deserted, and the mage paused there, leaning for a moment against a wall. Now that he had left the king, Fai's mind was drawn back to Kurogane and how he had walked out on the ninja as he was trying to talk to him. Fai hoped the other man would be asleep by the time he returned. His encounter with the king had served its purpose – his grief no longer hovered so dangerously close to the surface, and he was one step closer to his goal. Now all Fai wished to do was sleep. He did not want to be drawn into any more conversations before that. Thranduil had taken a substantial portion of magic from Fai's body. Though it was small in comparison to the whole of the mage's power, he still felt the lack of it. With weary steps, he headed back in the direction of his bed.
Fai quietly reentered the apartment he and the other travelers shared, easing the door shut so that it made no noise, and turning the lock slowly so that it sounded only a muffled click. The mage picked his way around the furniture in the dim light and made his way to the doorway of his and Kurogane's bedroom. There was no light coming from beneath the door. Carefully, Fai opened it just enough and slipped inside, pulling it silently closed behind him. Fai slipped out of his shoes and the outer layer of his clothing, but did not bother with trying to find and don his nightshirt. Tiptoeing to his side of the bed, Fai climbed in, trying not to shake it.
The bed was comfortably warm beneath the covers. Kurogane lay still on the other side. Fai knew that he was probably awake, but the warrior did not seem as though he was going to acknowledge Fai's return. The mage closed his eyes, drowsy and still a bit chilled from his magic transference with the Elvenking. Half-asleep, he found himself gravitating toward the nearest heat source. He stopped himself before he got too close, pushing away the sleepy thought of curling up against Kurogane's warm body. Instead, Fai wrapped his arms around his pillow and soon drifted into sleep.
