The Kindgom of Heaven and Hell

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Faline all but cowered at the back of the great hall. She hated meetings. They were often times full of loud angry men who had a tendency to throw things. This night was no different. The entire village had shown up, despite the raging storm outside. Every man from every family was there, shouting to be heard over the next.
Her father, the Jarl, was seated at the head of it all, one long leg draped over his ornate throne. For a while he remained silent, his eyes not one the villagers, but going from the young woman hiding under one of the tables near the door to her sister who sat on top of it, holding onto a rather heavy broad sword. He shook his head at both of them. 
Oalf sighed heavily and held up a hand to silence the crowd. "I am fully aware of the danger we now face from the outlanders. And I am aware that those who cross our borders are far from human. However, I am not sure if we warrant help from out bordering villages. If we decide to seek help, we will need to go to the king. But...he is a bartering man. I am not sure we have anything he will find worthy enough..."

This time Faline did not cringe. "Yes, it did." She told him. "I was looking at something else." She added, still not moving. "It was like someone threw it at me and it landed on with that page open. Do you read them, sire? Do you know what it means?" 

Braun had never been one to do anything in the shadows though he didn't remember why. He knew only that he spent a good deal of his time being watched by many people. It didn't bother him. He wasn't sure it ever had and even if it had, he didn't remember it.

"Do...you?" Lucian asked, being purposefully evasive. It was clearly hiding something that he wasn't yet ready to talk about.

One of the outlanders had managed to grab a hold of Cessily, though it made little difference. The young woman reached behind her and jabbed her thumbs into its eyes, causing the creature to howl in pain as it let go of her.

"Some of it." Faline admitted, arranging her skirt so that it covered the book beneath her. "It said something about the kingdom of heaven and hell. About darkness sweeping the land and..." She squeezed her eyes shut the same headache returning that had begun when she'd been trying to read it before. 

Braun heard the scream and turned his head. The distraction earned him a claw across the back. He gave his own roar of pain. But now he was more pissed off than he'd been before.

Lucian tried to swallow down the sudden panic rising within him when he realised Faline had indeed been able to read his book. "Then... Now you understand why I sent your sister away like I did?"

Cessily turned her head in Braun's direction and slid through the mud, under the kegs if the outlander about to attack him. Once she was clear of the legs, her sword pierced up into its gut.

Faline's slender fingers slid into her hair, pressing into her temple. "I..." She could no longer find her thoughts. They were filled with darkness. "Please..." The headache was getting worse. All she wanted to do right then was go to her bed and sleep until it was gone. 

"Show off." Braun grunted, leaning hard on his sword. He was breathing hard. This fight was far from over. He shook his head at her. "You should have stayed inside." He muttered. "This is getting ugly."

Lucian understood this feeling all too well. He was there to scoop Faline up into his arms, missing the book she had been hiding with his skirt. He knew the pain this magic caused, and it had taken him a long time to control it.

"No, you're just slow." Cessily snorted as she picked herself up and disappeared into the shadows again to defend the village against these outlanders.

Faline gasped softly when her forehead touched the cool skin of his neck. "Oh thank you, sire." She whispered, resting her hands on his shoulders. "I want to go home." She didn't even realize what she was saying. She was simply trying to make the pain go away. Home was the only way she knew how to make it stop. 

"I should have destroyed those books." Braun growled as he ran after her. It would be much later when he took time to wonder at his own words.

"You know I can't allow that just now." Lucian whispered. "Not until your sister returns, remember?" He added, wondering if getting far away from him was always at the front of Faline's thoughts.

The monsters had been destroyed, but not without cost to the village. Cessily and Braun, despite their efforts, were blamed for leading the creatures here, as they were new comers. Even when covered in blood and barely able to stand, the villagers still demanded they leave.

"I know." Faline whispered, a single tear sliding down her cheek and dripping on Lucian's hand. She allowed the darkness to cover her then, missing the sight of the book sliding beneath the chair the 'king' had claimed as his own. 

"Ungrateful pack of mongrels." Braun growled, leaning on his horse as he led Cessily's behind him. "Sluts with small breasts and men with small...that wasn't worth the effort we put into it. I need ale. Lots of it."

Lucian didn't take Faline to her own room, instead he took her to his own. The magic she unknowingly released bothered him, and he wished to keep her as close as possible until he understand her motives a little better.

"And just how do you propose we find ale in the forest?" Cessily huffed, not enjoying the sudden and torrential downpour quite as much as she had the gentle rain that had greeted them upon leaving the city.

Faline woke up near dawn with an ache deep in her chest. She turned her head toward the dresser, longing to find her orb and try once again to call for her sister. She was disappointed and then panicked to find that she didn't know where she was. 

"Maybe we can lick a tree." Braun snapped, stomping through the mud. "This is all your fault, you know. If you'd have left me alone with my card game and those busty women none of this would have happened."

Lucian had surrendered his bed to Faline that night, and despite supposedly being king, he had slept in a chair by the window. He was still asleep, despite the rain still battering the glass and the wind now howling.

"Me?!" Cessily hissed. "I never said a word to you, you were the one to cry like a baby and come stomping after me!" She added, pulling her already soaked cloak a little tighter around herself.

"Lucian." When she saw the king sleeping in the chair sleeping in the chair, Faline instantly felt guilty. She got out of the bed and crossed the room to him, gently trying to shake him awake. "Sire...I really shouldn't be here..." 

"You're the one who told the son of a bitch my hand!" Braun shouted back. "I was winning, damn it. I was about to get a night with both of those women and there wasn't a damn thing he could say about it."

Lucian murmured in his sleep and tried to swat Faline away. "Not now... My queen is bathing me..." He breathed.

"Please, by all means go back there and bed your cheap whores!" Cessily hissed, a clod of dirt striking the back of Braun's head.

Faline's fingers curled in on themselves and she took a step back, wondering who it was he was dreaming about. She gathered her skirts and turned to make a quick exit, deciding it was certainly not her. And besides, if she were seen here, rumors were bound to get uglier than they already were. 

Braun stopped right where he was, his broad shoulders stiff and angry. "You hit me again, woman, I'm going to make you regret it." He warned without turning around. His nag of a horse seemed rather interested in what was in his hair and began sniffing at it. It earned her a sharp swat on the nose.

"Faline..." Lucian sighed and then breathed her name reverently. Whatever he was dreaming about,meh was clearly enjoying it.

"You can try." Cessily promised, another clump of mud hitting Braun in his lower back. "You had no right locking me in that inn!"

Faline paused in the doorway, her entire body suddenly alive with sensation. He hadn't even touched her and yet she longed for him to do so. She'd once dreamed that someone would call her name that way. But she'd long ago given up on the very idea and no longer knew what to make of it.

"I warned you!" Braun roared, for some reason feeling as if people were supposed to listen to him. He stomped over to her horse and yanked her off it, tossing her over his shoulder. Once he had her positioned how he wanted, he gave her bottom a hard pop. Then he calmly sat her back on her horse and began to lead them further into the dark and rainy night without another word.

Lucian didn't say anything more, he seemed to be waking up. His lean limbs stretched out like a lith cat as he woke up to run his fingers through his dishevelled hair.

Cessily had never been so humiliated. She was glaring at the back of Braun's head as they ride in silence, making it quite obvious she was plotting oh so many ways of hurting him. No one man handled her like that. No one.

For some unknown reason Faline had decided to stay. She could only pray she didn't regret it later. While she waited for him to wake up, she spent time by the wash basin, preparing the things he would need to wash his face. And then she turned to his massive closet, frowning when she realized that the clothing inside was much too large to fit his lithe frame. That was a very odd thing...

Braun said nothing for the rest of the trip to the next village. He barely spoke as he secured them lodgings with the inn keeper and directed their horses to the stable nearby. Once he was sure the horses were dry and fed, he found a place near the fire and simply sat there.

"You're awake?" Lucian breathed when he realised Faline wasn't in the bed. "Did you need something? I can get someone to fetch it for you..."

Cessily was keeping her distance, all too aware that she would punch Braun if he said even one word to her right then. She had taken a seat by the window, though cast a glance to him every now and then.

Faline's head was beginning to hurt as she reached out to touch one of the shirts that hung on the rack before her. They didn't seem like something Lucian would wear. He was far too refined for something like this. Even though they were silk and well sewn they were much more common. She didn't answer him as she continued to try and figure out this puzzle, now studying the pants. 

Braun was exhausted. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been so tired. He yawned widely, his head dropping forward to his chest and then jerking back up before he was able to catch it. 
"You and your husband should go upstairs..." The innkeeper's wife said to Cessily. "I have drawn a warm bath for you. It looks as if you both have seen a terrible evening. You deserve a rest..."

"Faline?" Lucian breathed her name again, though he wane hind her now, lightly resting a hand on her slender shoulder. "Do you need more clothes? Is that what's wrong?" He asked, trying to steer her away.

Cessily's head shot up at the sound of the others woman's voice, then she glanced to Braun before returning her gaze to the woman. "That's what he told you?" She breathed.

"I was...picking something out for you..." The moment Lucian's cool fingers touched her shoulder, Faline forgot what she was thinking about. She turned her head to look at him, giving him a warm smile. "It's not raining anymore so...I was hoping we could go have a look at the rose garden today..." 

"Did he lie to me?" The innkeeper ask, frowning ever so slightly as she glanced at where Braun was still fighting with everything he had to keep from falling asleep. "Did you not want the bath?"

"Oh yes, you will love it there." Lucian agreed, taking her hand in his own now. "The day after a rainstorm, the colours are even more beautiful. However, I think we shall still need to get you some warmer clothing, if that doesn't offend you?"

"No, it's fine." Cessily breathed, her better judgement telling her it would cause less fuss if she went along with whatever Braun had told this woman, including being his wife. "Thank you, could you let him know I've gone to the room?"

"Not at all." And just like that it was all gone from her mind. The clothes, the books, the headache. For the moment it was all a distant memory. She was in her room a little while later, changing her clothes and waiting for Lucian to do the same. "Cessily?" Once again she was trying to reach her sister. She had decided if it didn't work this time, she could give up. 

Braun fell asleep right where he was and the innkeeper, jealous of the woman who'd gone up the stairs, simply covered him with a warm blanket and kissed his forehead.

Cessily had been about to undress and step into the warm water when she heard the sound of her sisters voice. "Faline?" She breathed as she pulled the crystal out of her belongings. "Goodness, I'd forgotten about this thing! Are you well?"

"Cess!" Faline very nearly burst into tears when she saw her sister. Her voice was so clear it was like she was in the room with her. "Oh my goodness...it's you. I don't know how he did it but...by the gods...what happened to you? It couldn't have been the dragon already..." At this she did burst into tears. "I've been so very worried!"

"What did I tell you about crying?" Cessily asked, though her voice was somewhat gentle. "I'm fine, really. It's just a little blood." She added with a weary laugh. "Is that vile man treating you well?"

"Vile? Have you met the king, Cessily?" Faline asked, though she was quick to wipe her eyes. "He is wonderful. He has been so very kind. I know what you say about love and all but...I think...I think I might be in love with him..." She confessed, blushing ever so slightly.

"Faline..." Cessily breathed as she rubbed her her temple. "You barely know the man, and yes, I think he is vile! Something just seems... Off." She knew she had little right to say these things to Faline, given the way her own desires made her think of Braun more often than she should.