Measures of Mercy [M] [Lion]

[GoblinFae]

She was unfazed by his outburst and simply moved to stand over him. "And what would you have me say? Would you rather be dead? There are few who are keen on killing an unborn child. I didn't exactly see you being very upfront and problem-solving so do not criticize my help when you were as useful as a broken axel in mud."

Navarre thumped him on the back of the head before crouching down in front of him. "Now answer the damn question. Are you hurt? Theiryk?" She looked at his face and the worry displayed upon her own was genuine. She was worried, but she was sure that they could get out of this.

[Lion]

Her stern words were perfect justified, but it did nothing to quell his feeling, the growing gnawing ache that surely now his fate has been sealed.  She didn't understand what she had done here, and the extent of the consequences of how it would affect them. This whole fabrication had saved them, only briefly because it was completely feasible that the pregnancy was too early to show at this time. 

Even healers could only extend so much in their ability.

Theiryk kept his mouth shut however and shook his head.  "No, I'm not injured.  Not more than before anyway.  The healers do their job well, that's why they are absolutely respected. And why your fear of them was not completely understood," he said gently, sighing as if to push away the weight that seemed to drag down his shoulders.

"I'm sorry Navarre," he found himself saying, feeling odd for apologizing to anyone let alone her.  "But, this is going to get out of hand.  Very quickly, I just have a bad feeling about it all.  My father will kill me.  And if he discovers you're lying, will kill you as well."

[GoblinFae]

Navarre pursed her lips and grunted, both pleased with his response that the was well while equally displeased at his bringing up her rather shameful display in front of the healers. She turned and flopped down to sit beside him rather than crouch before him. "If you had been touched by the kinds of healers I have known then perhaps you would forgive my distrust of them," she growled softly, spitting on the ground at the end at the reminder of wicked hands and lecherous eyes.

She shook her head though at his apologies and his fears. They were ridiculous in her mind and she was not above saying so. "He can try, Theiryk. Perhaps he'll even succeed. What does it matter though? Perhaps the stress of my treatment at the hands of my former master and then the elves killed the child. What then, Theiryk? If he wants proof then I can bleed. It would not be the first time. Try not to despair every time at the first spot of trouble. It is a very human thing to do and does not become a so-called Wild Elf."

[Lion]

At any other time, he would have suspected that she was goading him. Theiryk grew quiet at her chiding, speaking to him as if he had thrown nothing more than a childish tantrum. He at first glowered at her, wanting to rebel. To throw her off this fucking tree and have her splatter to the ground so that gravity might reinforce her lack of understanding, but his gaze softened at once when he realized she was right.

Fuck if she wasn't right.

Theiryk sighed and laid back, forcing himself to ease into the comfort of the bedroll. "Then all we can do is go through the motions then. I hope you had no other plans. If you're having a baby, my father will perform the ceremony himself."  He shrugged and turned onto his side, examining her with softer eyes.

"You're remarkably resourceful. I respect that. And I don't respect much of anything."

[GoblinFae]

"Ceremony?" she questioned with a raised brow and wary tension in her voice. "I am not sleeping with him if that is what you Wild Elves do. I'm not into your weird sex rituals." Navarre snorted and shook her head, drawing her knees in tight under her chin. "I'll take your respect though. There isn't much I'm good at. But surviving is one of those things that I am good at and I'm not about to give up on that yet. Not for one moment am I going to, nor am I going to let you. So do me a favor and stop being such a whiny elfling. It doesn't suit you."

[Lion]

"All right. I'll stop whining," Theiryk grumbled to himself as he moved to sit up and glared at her from the side of his vision. Yeah, she was right thought. Not that he'd ever admit it.  He gave a grunt and nudged her shoulder with his arm.  "Get on the other cot. This one's mine.  And this food is mine too."

He stuck his tongue out at her and took the plate that had been placed in the center, taking a peach and taking a succulent bite.  "Oh and it's a marriage ceremony. With me. Not sex. That comes before. Also with me."

[GoblinFae]

Navarre rolled her eyes but made no move to vacate her spot. If he had a problem with it then he could get up and use the other cot. "Keep the food," she answered tersely. "I'm not hungry. It's probably poisoned anyway to make you sick for days." She chuckled darkly at the thought.

"Does the sex come first or the marriage ceremony because you're not making much sense."

[Lion]

Theiryk had been chuckling playfully and pulled the plate into his lap.  He but into a piece of fruit and he gave a soft moan at it's taste. Mostly because he hadn't had anything so good in days, maybe even months. He'd lost track ages ago.

"It would be a waste to poison us," Theiryk shrugged. He ate quietly for a time and scooted himself closer to her. 

"The sex comes before the marriage part. To test chemistry between potential mates. If both enjoy it, and achieve climax, then it will be a fruitful bonding between the two. Does that make more sense to you?" And another bite of that succulent peach.

[GoblinFae]

"Sex first?" she squeaked in shock before rushing to straight her posture and compose herself. "How odd," Navarre continued in a more level voice. "I suppose then we needn't worry about your father being horrified by our little bundle of joy on the way." She placed a mocking hand to her belly as if resting it over their imaginary child.

"Wait, you mean to tell me that women are expected to enjoy it too?" the elf asked after a small pause. The concept was foreign to her as she had always been made to understand that sex was solely for men and procreation. "How barbaric."

[Lion]

The note in her voice made him tilt his head suspiciously at her. Theiryk paused his eating and slurped up the juices leaking from the fruit before he licked his lips.  Blinking owlishly at her he nodded. "Yeah, of course. Why shouldn't she? If she doesn't enjoy it then her partner isn't doing a very good job now is she?"  He took a piece of fruit from the basket and offered it to her.

He didn't for a minute think that such a concept might be foreign to her. He didn't exactly know the specific details of her captivity, only what little he saw and what little she shared.

Theiryk put the fruit down, cleaning his hands on a piece of cloth. "Her partner is not expected to get her pregnant. They each take a special herb called Saitha to temporarily negate the...erm potency of fertilization. It is perfectly safe in small doses. And makes it so the seed will not take.  If climax is not achieved, then they are clearly not meant to bond. The process takes at least three days, for which they can experiment, to see what they like and dislike. Only one bud of Saitha is needed."

[GoblinFae]

Navarre furrowed her brows in deep thought, trying to reconcile what Theiryk was saying with what she knew to be true. "Women don't climax, only men do because that's how the woman becomes pregnant. I assume if the man gets her pregnant then he's done his job and if he enjoys it then she's done hers. Why do you have to make it more complicated than it is?"

She shifted back away from him as he finished fruit and cleaned himself up. "So you're saying then your father will be upset that I'm "pregnant" since you were supposed to ensure that was avoided, right?"

[Lion]

"Yes. I thought that's what I was saying," Theiryk said.  He threw his hands up in the air as if warding away some unseen force.  He settled with his arms on his knees, hunched over and soon clasped his forearms together. "And you just say that because you probably have never had one."

Oh, that was a shitty thing to say.  Theiryk meant it only as matter of factly and he turned to Navarre. "You've...never had an orgasm before? Ever?  Because I assure you...a woman can have them. A lot. And anyone saying that it's impossible probably has never had one, or given one to another before.  Wild Elves bond for more than progeny. They must be in sync in more than one aspect. You can tell a lot about a person from sex. To carry a child is merely rudimentary. We bond on the inside as well as the outside."

[GoblinFae]

"Maybe it's just a Wild Elf thing then," she said with a snort and shrug of her shoulder. "Could always tell your father it was a forced situation. You were a slave...even temporarily. That's how Master always did things anyway. And the women never enjoyed it, since you seem so obsessed with that idea." Navarre snorted again and shook her head. "He can't fault you for everything you know," she murmured, hoping that he would let his focus on her lack of previous pleasure in sex go.

[Lion]

Maybe it was a Wild Elf thing. Maybe it was why his people were dying out and his father was so angry at him. Theiryk had grown accustomed to being blamed. Coming home was always a mistake after all.

"I just know my father. He's...overall unpleasant," he sighed, tiring of the topic. Thinking of the old chieftain always gave Theiryk conniptions. He wondered often if age would soften his disdain, if it would ease the ache he sometimes had regarding him. If only wishing and hoping would somehow change the fact that this was no longer his home.

Such things were futile.

He lingered a while on her choice of words, forgetting that he was talking about sex and Saitha and marriage. "Did your master force you to have sex with others? Were you forced into having sex with him?"

[GoblinFae]

Navarre stared forward, listening more to the wind in the trees than to his ramblings. His roundabout cycling of bemoaning his father was becoming a bore to her. If he wasn't going to listen then she had better things to focus her attention on, like how to survive this newest predicament.

When the topic changed back to her though, her eyes slid to the side to look at him before settling forward again. The elf was still as she answered, face impassive and voice emotionless as if the answer was obvious and as normal as discussing a favorite food. "When it was my purpose to, yes."