Fencliff: Part III

The way Ayris’ body envelops my own forces a sigh from my lips. He cradles me reverently, my back pressed against his chest as he strokes the hair at my temple. Yet, I feel unease coiling in my belly as silence descends between us. The quiet becomes longer, a protracted discomfort that forces me to squirm uncomfortably.

“Be still, little mate” Ayris rumbles in my ear. “The way you wiggle your backside against me has my body reacting in kind”.

My cheeks heat at his meaning, the hardness of him shifting behind me as he continues to cage me against his warm chest.

“I’m sorry” I whisper.

Ayris pauses for a moment before he responds. “For what, exactly?”

“Everything” I sigh. “I didn’t mean to… I just wanted”.

“I do not think moving your body against me warrants an apology, Laurel” Ayris rumbles, the weariness evident in his voice. I know he’s been carrying so many burdens of late. *Since the moment I arrived* I realise. I can hear it now, how the heaviness of our circumstances weighs on him. And now with the pregnancy providing a further added complication…

“You’re thinking too loudly” he chides, forcing a huff from me.

“Sorry”

“You’re apologising again”

I’m not sure if it’s the pregnancy hormones but I’m feeling emotional and exasperated.

“Damnit, Ayris. You know what I’m sorry for” I blurt, as his grip on me loosens marginally. “I’m sorry I went to speak to Asha without checking with you, I’m sorry I dragged Brunella with me, I’m sorry if I sound crazy due to the pregnancy hormones, but most of all-

I twist in the bed, watching as Ayris’ pale eyes regard me intensely.

“- I’m sorry that I seem to have caused you nothing but trouble since I arrived here”

“I still don’t even understand how that happened, there’s been nothing like those orbs ever recorded in my world, I can’t fathom how-“

Ayris’ thumb presses gently against my lips, quieting the word vomit. He pauses briefly, and I wait for him to speak.

“You were babbling”

“Sorry”

“You’re apologising again”

My mouth stutters open and closed a couple of times, as I try to refrain from apologising for apologising.

“I… I didn’t mean to”

“What, Laurel? What didn’t you mean to do?”

“Betray you. Betray your trust”

Ayris falls silent, and for the briefest moment I feel like I see something behind his eyes. An emotion I can’t quite make out, something that pains him; but it evaporates as quickly as it materialised.

I recall the moment he caught Brunella and I, red-handed, interrogating Asha *his prisoner* without chaperones, without any real form of plan or backup. And the words that Asha had spoken, unbidden as she’d looked Ayris in his eyes.

“A betrayal from an outsider is one thing. But a betrayal between mates is a grave one indeed, wouldn’t you say so, commander?”

I distinctly remember the fury and fear etched on Ayris’ face as he scooped me in his arms to carry me back here. Into this bedroom in one of the many chambers nestled in the cliffs of Fencliff. How he had so carefully deposited me onto the bed and taken up residence at my back. Unspeaking, just *embracing*. Like he was somehow both furious and terrified to let me go. Like his brain was still processing my betrayal.

“You could never betray me” he sighs, nuzzling into the crook of my neck, as though the scent of me comforts him.

“But… What Bru and I did - ” I stammer, trying to process his words.

“I was annoyed that you decided to speak to Asha alone, given that she once *attacked* you, Laurel” Ayris admonishes.

“But Asha said that a betrayal- “

“I pay no mind to the words of a madwoman, half delirious from magical withdrawal” he shrugs.

I let his words hang in the air, to sink in.

“So… you’re not mad?”

“I did not say that”

“But you just said I didn’t betray-“

But Ayris cuts me off before I can even finish. “I said I did not feel betrayed. I did not, however, state that I was not angry that you placed yourself in danger”

I sigh. “Yeah. That seems fair”.

Ayris inhales deeply as he nuzzles my hair, his chest rumbling softly.

“If I tell you what Asha said will it make you less mad?”

“No”. Ayris answers honestly. “But it could not hurt to try”

I hiss out a laugh and think back to my brief meeting with the woman I’d once regarded as a friend as I begin to recount the tale.

“How did you manage to distract the guard?” I ask breathily as Brunella and I hurry through the darkened passageway, barely illuminated by the torches attached to the wall.

“A mixture of batting my eyelashes, laughing at his (unfunny) jokes and unbuttoning the top of my blouse” Brunella laughs as we swiftly find the door to Asha’s room.

“Are you serious?” I hiss. “You’re like some kind of powerful sorceress and you *flirted* with him to let us inside?”

Brunella shrugs as we stand against the door, catching our breath.

“Whatever works, Laurel. Besides, men are simple creatures, complicated spell work would have been a complete waste of my time and effort”.

I sigh and shake my head.

“What?” Bru asks, cocking her head to one side.

“Nothing” I reply. “I just feel like we’ve pushed back feminism a couple of hundred years, that’s all”.

Brunella’s eyebrows crease. “What is feminism?”

I groan.

“Never mind. Come on”.

My heart races as I push open the door. I recall how terrified I was when Asha attacked me in the camp. Her wild, violet eyes locked on mine as she rambled like a madwoman. How I’d been paralysed with fear, worried what she may do to me.

But I’m not prepared for the sight that greets me. Asha looks… small. Her body slumped in a chair, hands bound behind her, head bowed. As she lifts her face to greet us, I can’t help but feel pity for the woman who handed me to the King. One of the people responsible for keeping me locked in that windowless prison-

“Laurel” Asha’s voice is raspy, like using it is a struggle. I nod and crouch down beside her, unable to stem the sorrow I feel at seeing her like this.

“I need to speak with you” I answer, taking a cup of water on a small table and holding it to her lips. She gulps gratefully, but winces as though it pains her.

Her eyes meet mine and I notice they’re no longer a vivid purple, but now a swirling, murky dullness that I’m unable to place.

“Is she sick?” I ask Bru as she stands behind me, motioning to Asha’s dishevelled appearance, the pains she’s experiencing and the darkness that surrounds her pupils. But Brunella shakes her head in response.

“I do not believe so. I think it is a symptom of withdrawal.

Magical withdrawal. Brunella had mentioned it to me, and I’d suspected Asha was under some kind of magical influence, but I had no idea how strong its hold was.

“Can we give her something?” I ask “To help with the pain? To ease it?” Bru shakes her head again.

“Kel had mentioned they have already been giving her poppy essence to take off the edge. We’ll need to check when she last had some before we give her more” I nod, watching as Asha twists against her bonds, her pain evident in her movements.

“You don’t think she could be having some kind of negative reaction to the… essence?”

“To poppy essence? I do not think so. It is a perfectly safe sedative. It is even given to pregnant women during long labours. I can’t imagine it would cause harm. I think the magical influence has simply been too powerful. I’m not sure she will be able to transition through the withdrawal without experiencing some form of discomfort”.

I nod in understanding.

“Asha, I know you’re hurting, and I know you’re probably feeling the effects of the sedative, but it’s important we speak with you for a moment” I pause briefly. “I think you owe me that, at least”.

Asha tilts her head to look at me, and for a fleeting moment, I think I see the woman I first met at The Veil Barter. The woman who offered to help and mentor me in the ways of King and court. The seer who Ayris and I both regarded as friend.

“Yes” she sighs. “You are owed”.

“Why?” I ask. “Why would you hand me over to the king and Zora? I know it was you who drugged my tea”.

Asha swallows, like the mere effort of conversing is proving challenging for her.

“Take your hands, child. And place them on upon my skin. I will show you what I can”.

I look at her, confused. Brunella fills in the blanks.

“She wants you to look into her mind” she breathes, her tone implying she’s unsure if that’s wise.

“She *what*? Is… is that a thing? I can’t do that”

“You dream walk, don’t you?” Brunella questions, as though I’m missing an obvious piece of the puzzle.

“It would make sense that you could walk through the consciousness of others whilst waking as well. Honestly, it had never occurred to me until now”

I stare between Brunella and Asha, my mouth hanging open.

“It can’t hurt to try” Bru encourages. “I can help guide you, and Asha can hold herself open to make seeping in easier”

“*Seeping in*?”

Bru nods. “Just because walking through memories is not something I am able to do myself, does not mean I am not versed in the ways of it. I know of others who had the capability. It is a rare ability, however”.

“I believe if Asha is asking it of you, she must know on some level that you’re capable of it. She does have some foresight, after all”.

I throw my hands in the air in exasperation, unable to comprehend that we’re actually going to try this. That in the grand scheme of things I’m still a magical newbie. That I had no idea magic even *existed* until I came here, and yet I’m now expected to pull off some kind of Vulcan mind meld to find the information we so desperately need.

“Alright” Brunella breathes, her hands resting on my shoulders. “Place your hands at her temples and do as I say”.