The King's General

[Parkway]

@Jelenis Tythe

Story link:  http://www.spiritsoftheearth.net/smf/index.php?topic=19896.260

Abigor eased through the portal and instantly felt the drain he'd need to find someplace to stay.  Anywhere but back home. 

He followed the sounds of the city bustle.  He was soon engulfed within the walls and spotting the local tavern made a beeline for it.

Nothing mattered anymore, nothing.

[Jelenis Tythe]

The escaped fighting slave known as Talan had made it this far searching for his lover, he was tired and hungry not to mention thirsty.  He was small at five feet and six for a human fighting slave, but he had certain abilities that got him noticed, Pyromancy was unusual and he had been highly sought after.  It had quickly become apparent he would not make a pleasure slave when he had first been caught and sold.....people learned that the hard way.

He fought....they got burned.....so he ended up in the arena which was where he had met Goldeneyes. The male golden elf was handsome and at first Talan and he had fought like cat and dog....only to become lovers, a tussle one night ended in hot ardent kisses and then tangled sheets.  Talan was like his fire, spirited and it ultimately cost him when he defied his master on a kill order.  Knowing he and Goldeneyes had gotten close he just ripped the elf away and sold him to punish Talan for his disobedience.  Talan had finally snapped, killed his master, escaped and followed the trail here.

He brushed back his chestnut hair as his green eyes scanned the town and he spotted a tavern....good place to start. He weaved in and out of the crowds, delicately lifting a merchant's purse.  Tonight he would eat....as he reached the door so did a monster of a man with black hair and purple eyes....weird.  Tal edged past him, his lithe body touching the man's briefly.

"Mind yerself!" He said brusquely.

[Jelenis Tythe]

Talan slipped past the huge man and headed towards the bar at the back of the tavern, he pulled open the purse to find a good haul of coins.  He grinned to himself, the merchant in the market had paid out well.

"Ale." He said banging a few coppers on the scarred wooden counter.

The smell of food was driving him mad, he started to salivate at the scent of the roast chicken and fresh bread coming from the kitchen.

He gestured to a tray of plates a serving wench carried past.

"How much for chicken, vegetables and bread?"

The Tavern Keeper looked him up and down wryly.

"Had a good day thief?" He sneered.

Talan straightened and there was a flicker of amber in his green eyes, and the air about him heated perceptibly.

"You don't know me....I 'ave money and I 'ave come to buy food.....what does it matter to you where it came from!" He growled like an angry young lion.

He was bristling, agitated and he slammed a silver Krowne down.

"I want Chicken and I'll bloody well 'ave it!"

[Parkway]

At first he was ready to take the dirty human and just rip him in half tossing him aside like the garbage he obviously was.  But he truly just didn't care.  Nothing mattered anymore.  His chest hurt, his eyes hurt, his head hurt.  Everything he had held dear gone!  Everything he loved mocked him, worse left him.  No, nothing mattered.

He entered right behind the vagabond and also went towards the bar.  The human was getting some slack and for whatever reason Abigor just felt the anger and indignation on the man.  The tavern owner giving him slack.  Something snapped, he needed one thing to go right!  Just one damn thing!  With two strides he crossed to the bar his purple eyes blazing.  "You heard my friend.  He is hungry.  Now I believe he asked for a meal.  I don't think you wish my wrath, do you?"

Abigor's voice was low and threatening.  The tavern keeper just nodded and mumbled it will be but a few minutes, not to worry.  "Perfect, I'd like some of your best cognac.  I am not hungry."

When the beverage was placed in front of him Abigor turned to the human.  "No need to thank me, consider it my gift to you.  Keep your coin, I'll pick up this meal and drink."

He turned and went to a small table in the back his purple eyes glowing with a seething heat.  He wanted to turn the whole place into an inferno, into a slaughterhouse.  He wanted each human, elf, or halfling to feel the anguish he now felt.  For a moment his runes glowed under his shirt.  He forced the light down.  He'd need a room, he needed to think.  The thought of going to the fifth crossed his mind but to do what?  No, it was best if he just never returned. 

He singled for the bottle of the swill this place called cognac.  His gaze though strayed to the human.  He felt the man's pain.  That could be the only reason he did anything at all.  Yes, that was the reason, he was almost sure of that.

[Jelenis Tythe]

Talan glanced towards the tall fellow that had taken a table near the back and was swigging the cognac with a look of utter disdain upon his face. There was a man who was suffering and Talan knew that look, understood that tone of voice.  He gestured to the tavern owner and moved to slid in the vacant seat opposite the tall dark stranger.

"So.....what have they done to put you in such a mood?" He asked taking a swig of his ale.

"Man or woman?"  He tilted his head.

"I am guessing a man....am I right?"

He took another deep swig of his ale.

Despite his slightly ragged appearance Talan was actually quite a handsome young man with his chestnut locks and deep emerald green eyes.  He was slight, muscled, not thin or scrawny at all, it gave him a rangy look.  His voice was not particularly that of a common man either, it held a certain lilt that once spoke of breeding, but had been eroded by hardship.

The Tavern Owner bought the plate over, half a roasted chicken, fresh vegetables and a basket of warm bread and a small pat of butter.

Talan licked his lips.

"You sure you don't want to eat....looks good.....and food can make you feel better." He winked.

[Parkway]

Abigor was caught off guard.  The man just came over and sat down.  Uninvited!  Then asked personal questions!

Shaking his head and leaning back he took a good long look at the human.  Something was different.  This was not a born vagabond something happened in his life.  With a small smile he sighed.

"Man?  Look at me.  I can have any woman I want.  Human, elven, demoness.  Angelic too if I cared to try hard enough.  But you assume I am in a mood about another man.  Like I had a land dispute?  Id that what you think?"  He waved his hands in front of him.

"I came here to forget the issues that put me in a fowl mood.  Yet you wish to poke the fire?  Do you like getting burned?"  He notice the startling green eyes.  His hair complimented them.  He closed his own deep purple ones and he saw his face, quickly he opened his eyes.  "What is your name and story?"  He took a deep gulp of his drink.  "Tell me your tale and then I'll tell you mine, fair?"

[Jelenis Tythe]

Talan grinned.

"You might be able to have those things....fine fellow like you....but they are not what you want!"

He smiled a little more darkly at the mention of poking fires and getting burned and then at the wanting of his own story.

"Sure....fair enough I guess."

He settled back and took another swig of ale.

"My name is Talanis...Talan for short....and the one thing I don't fear is fire or getting burned." He started.

"I lost my mother at the age of fifteen and found myself on the streets very quickly, the landlord did not want a brat that could not pay the rent.  I had to learn very quickly how to survive, I had always had a warm bed and a full belly, love and understanding, life was hard to begin with....then I turned sixteen and they got a whole lot worse."

He paused and took a bite of his chicken, savouring the flavoursome meat.

"The fire magic ignited in my veins on the night of my sixteenth birthday, I was confused and alone, I did not know how to control it....long story short...word got out and I was beseiged by slavers."

Another bite of chicken and a swig of ale.

"I fought them off in the beginning, a lot of them got very hurt, until one canny fellow did his homework on fire magic and knew what he needed to do to catch me. Iron....it and fire magic do not fare well....he caught me with an iron forged dart straight in the side, took me down, then he collared and cuffed me with it too."

His hand went sub consciously to touch his side, there under the shirt was a small scar, he could still feel it.

"So I ended up being sold to a rich fellow who though a person like me would be excellent to entertain his friends...his guests....problem was I did not make a very good pleasure slave....people got hurt....I got sold."

He took a breath.

"Sold me to a gladiatorial school attached to the coliseum in Essryn....I was nineteen by now...I was at odds with everyone and everything and it got channelled into fighting.  It is where I met Goldeneyes....a golden elf gladiator.....real favourite there.  We fought like cat and dog all the time...bickered and took sly digs at one another....then one night....it took a different turn and suffice to say I lost my virginity."

He gave a wry grin.

"I loved Goldeneyes...and he loved me....but I went and screwed it up....I defied the Master of the Games, I refused a kill order in one of the shows.  He was furious, cost him a lot of money...he punished me, he drugged my food that night, I was all over the place.  He took Goldeneyes and had me dragged along too to the local slave auctions....he forced me to watch as he sold my lover."

[Jelenis Tythe]

He looked into his nearly empty cup.

"That piece of scum almost broke me that night...selling Goldeneyes, dragging me back to the compound where he beat me and then abused me himself for the sheer fun of it."

There were faint flickers of amber in the emerald eyes now, the fire magic in his veins responding to his memory of it.

"For days it went on....the beatings anyway as if he could whip the wilfulness from me...I carried on being matched for fights and one day he got sloppy, he forgot to collar me and I burned him alive and then made it out of there."

He said it dispassionately as if he were discussing the weather or the time of day.

"I have tried to find Goldeneyes...but have been unsuccessful, so I wander from place to place in the hope I might see him."

His mind drifted momentarily to the flash of rich golden eyes and the silken touch that had caressed him so many times making him hollar almost with the pleasure of it.  It seemed so long ago, that feeling and he felt as if he might never feel it again.

"So...that's me....Rich man....what about you?"

[Parkway]

He had not expected to be so effected by this mans story.  Damn they all had one, him included.  He drained his glass and poured another drained another before taking another shaky breath.

"Names Abigor.  I could spin you a half truth.  But I won't.  I am not sure of your beliefs.  But I won't."  She swirled the liquid in his glass.  "I am a demon.  In fact a General.  I could have had any mate I wanted, still could.  Unfortunately I chose poorly."

He wasn't sure if the man, Talan believed him but for once he wasn't going to lie.  And he so desperately needed someone to give him sympathy.  Everyone always gave it to Sabre and he was expected to be strong for once he didn't want that.  He wanted someone to feel for him.


"As a General it is expected of me to produce a heir, I have yet to do so.  For I fell in love with my King, I mistakenly thought he loved me as well.  But, he married an elven woman and produced his own heir, as expected.  Though he claimed to love me in return I fear he never did.  But he would pretend he did, I guess for his own amusement.  Further leading me on until today.  He reviled something about himself when I was upset and asked for time he left.  So I figured it best for all if I did as well."

He tried hard to hold the emotion back but knew he failed.  Despite everything he loved Sabre.  Even knowing the King used him did not lessen his love and he cursed himself for it.

[Jelenis Tythe]

Talan listened carefully as the man spoke, so he was a demon, each to their own, Talan had no particular beliefs but he has seen some things that did not make him disbelieve.

"Sounds like this King of yours is a teasing little slut." He said after a moment.

"I was right enough then it is a man...well a demon man that has you all riled up right enough."

He tilted his head and gave a brief smile, feeling this Abigor's pain easily enough, it was plain to see.

"Can I ask you something General?" He said and then launched into his question.

"If he is what you say, leading you on, pretending to love you.....why do you still love him? Perhaps he isn't and you are just mad with him....and he is ashamed of how he has made you feel....perhaps that is why he left."

He looked to his empty glass and reached for the bottle in the middle of the table and poured himself a slug of Cognac.

"So what did he reveal to you....is he bedding someone else? Told you he wants his wife only?"

He placed the cup to his lips and took the liquid back into his throat, it burned and he decided he preferred ale to Cognac, must be a rich man thing.

"I know Goldeneyes is out there somewhere being forced to do who knows what with the underworlde knows who....but I love him....but in between I am under no illusion I will bed others...I am a human we have needs...guess demons do too.....was this King unfaithful to you?"

He was trying to understand the politics of this....his handsome head tilted as he waited for an answer, his green eyes bright and inquisitive.

[Jelenis Tythe]

Talan sat back after a while as his questions went unanswered.

"Not the chatty sort are you!" He quipped.

He stretched and yawned, what he wanted was a nice bed, a hot bath.....and he looked about.....company was going to scarce here.

"It has been interesting speaking to you....thanks for the meal.....but I want a bath and....well....a bed...I guess." He said rising from his chair.

"I am sure the Tavern Keeper will give me no issues over a room now thanks to your roaring at him."

He smiled wryly at Abigor.

"Night Rich Man....who knows perhaps you might find something to take your mind off that King of yours....you really do need it...you are wound tighter than a coil!"  He winked and then sauntered towards the bar.

[Parkway]

Abigor watched him walk away.  He wasn't chatty.  He wasn't like most.  He hide his emotion.  It is what he did.

Part of him wanted to invite the man to his bed.  But what would that prove?  Nothing.  It wouldn't bring him closer to Sabre.

"Wait!"  He called out surprised by his own voice.

"I am not big on sharing my thoughts, feelings, emotions.  But don't take it as I don't want the company.  Yet if you are looking for someone to share your bed I may not be the one.  Too soon."

He summoned the barmaid for another round, ale for his mate and another bottle for himself.  He also inquired about a room for them. 

He smiled at Talan.  "Would you like a change of clothing?  A soft bed?  I cannot offer you the warmth of my arms this evening but I would like the company.  Maybe we could discuss means of finding your Goldeneye?"

[Jelenis Tythe]

Talan turned back his face bright with amusement.

"Didn't say I wanted you in my bed Rich Man, flattered though.....truly I am." He grinned.

He watched as the flagon of ale was set down and he seated himself.

"Do not presume I am easily swayed by the lure of clothes and a soft bed." He mused.

"Though those things are of interest I must admit.  As for my Goldeneyes.....I will find him....." He reached for the ale.

He felt the oddest feeling though.....like they were being watched, he glanced about the tavern, not here....from afar.....it made his blood prickle....then it was gone.

"Hmmmm ....odd....." He said to himself.

He looked back to the large dark haired man.

"So tell me then.....why do you still love this King of yours?"

[Parkway]

He felt it.  Sabre.  He felt him speak but before he could answer he was gone.  He flared with renewed anger!  Selfish brat!  He'd always been so!  Again, only allowing himself to speak a d running away! 

"Why indeed Talan.  Maybe it is because I was young and hopeful.  Maybe because he cast a spell.  Or maybe because I am weak...perhaps all of those reasons.  But mostly because I am a fool."  He shook his head sadly.

With a flick of his hand the clothing on Talan changed, including his boots.  "I have always served him and in doing so cannot find myself without him.  Yet in staying loyal it has lead me here.  Alone."  He shrugged.  "You know there is an elven family I wish to find.  They are merchants, Luna Elves.  Maybe we can keep each other company in our search."

Abigor thought of his...of Lord Warrens and Fernon out searching for the elven interloper.  He had to keep tabs on that and extract that elf when he was found.

[Jelenis Tythe]

Talan frowned as his clothes changed to a fine bottle green coat and breeches with a soft cream shirt and black boots with just the wave of the demon's hand.

"Hey!" He said tersely.

"I am not some sort of doll you can play dress up with!  Change 'em back!"

The demon had launched into why he felt like he did and Talanis was starting to get the feeling he had stepped into the midst of an epic lover's tiff.

"Probably none of those things...I reckon you really do love him like I love Goldeneyes, but you have had a spat with him and you are both to stubborn to sort it out!" He said grabbing his ale before that disappeared too.

"Someone was watching us.....it was him....wasn't it?"

The talk turned to elves and the finding of some in particular.

"What's these Luna Elves to you?" He asked quietly.

[Parkway]

"Yes he was watching us."  He frowned. 

"No, I will not sit across from you dressed like that.  I do not think you a doll, but this is more pleasing.  And why are you so adverse to it?  Have I in anyway made you feel as though you are beneath me?  I do not expect you to just keep me company, you should be ewarded and so the gift.  If you do not think them comfortable when we are done I will return your old things."

He sipped his drink.  "Luna elves...well this family lost a daughter.  My Queen in fact and while I am sure this serves no real purpose their son is currently caught within my realm and very well may be executed.  I figured they should at least know their daughter is safe, with child, and offer to send them to her should they want.  I may no be able to save her brother but I can at least make one thing right."



Abigor inhaled sharply.  Why couldn't he just turn It off.  He growled softly.  "Talan, please excuse me.  I need a minute.  But, don't leave.  I meant what I said I wish to help you as best as I can and maybe you can help me."

The large demon got up and went towards the bar, received a key and instructed one be given to his table mate.  He quickly went upstairs and into the cold dark room.

He exhaled. 

Sabre, you hurt me in a way I cannot explain.  It doesn't mean I do not love you.  It doesn't mean I do not want you.  But why is it okay for you to leave and not I?  Why do your emotions count more than my own?  All I asked was for some time.  You couldn't give that to me when I have given you everything of myself.  Yes, I was confused, hurt.  I said some awful things in the heat of my pain.  Things I wish had not been spoken.  But I did for that I am sorry. 

I will not return.  It is better for you.  Now you won't be emotionally held to your General.  Go rule the tenth, take the fifth.  Do what you were destined to do and rule.  You know where I am.  If you love me you'll come to me this time.  I have always found you, it is your turn.  If you don't come, I'll know it was just a way for you to rebel against your father.  The confines he places on you.  But do not ask me to come back, crawl to you and beg.  I won't do that this time.

He was spent and fell backwards on the bed.  Emotionally the day had taken its toll on him.  He meant what he said.   This time he would not return unless Sabre came for him.

[Jelenis Tythe]

Talan had scowled as the demon had spoken to him like he was a petulant child and then he vanished off and had not returned.  He picked up the ale and supped, watching the tavern patrons until something very interesting caught his eye.  A slender figure walked in, dressed in plain fighting leathers, but never had he seen such a creature in his life before.  He was so perfect, hair like moonlight, and eyes the colour of onyx, his features were beautiful, to see him was to want him.  Those eyes scanned the tavern before lighting upon him, singling him out.

"Gods I bet that Rich Man wishes he was here to see this lush gem!" He said softly to himself.

"I wager he would forget his king for a roll in the sheets with that."

[Jelenis Tythe]

Sabre walked into the tavern and stared about himself, he felt Abigor here but he did not see him...what he did feel was the essence of the man he had been with, the man with fire in his blood. He was dressed in bottle green velvet breeches and a coat with a soft cream silk shirt, the colour complimenting his emerald eyes and chestnut hair.  Sabre gave a wry smile....Abigor did have an eyes for them....always had.

He took a seat in a booth a way off and ordered a drink and some food, asking the woman if she had any blackberries.  The food was bought, a piece of roast beef, potatoes, bread and a large wooden bowl of blackberries.

There were many eyes on him as he sat there, he did not care, he was watching and waiting for Abigor.  It was likely messaging to the Warp had worn him and he laid somewhere in this building, but he would not crowd him for now.

He would feel him here.........then the next move was Abigor's.

[Parkway]

Abigor jerked upright!  Sabre was here!  He slightly panicked.  Was it to tell him never to return?  To laugh at him and call him a fool?  He sat on the edge of the bed for several minutes before scolding himself!  This was Sabre!  They knew each other inside and out emotionally. 

He slowly walked out the door and headed downstairs.  He did not have to look for him he was drawn right to his table.  He caught Talan out the corner of his eye and he nodded in his direction.

Abigor couldn't help but smile as he saw the things on Sabre's table.  It made him feel a little at ease.

He looked at Sabre and at the empty chair.  "May I?" He indicated if he may sit.

[Jelenis Tythe]

Sabre gave a wry smile.

"Didn't come all the way from The Warp to sit here by myself love." He said softly.

He poured some red wine into a goblet and pushed it towards Abigor and then poured some for himself.

"So....here I am....you really think I would never come for you.....I would travel all the Rings, the Warp and in between to find you Gor."

He sat back and lowered his eyes, such a beautiful gesture to any one that was watching and the silver moonlight haired gentleman had caught many people's attention both male and female alike.

"Problem is.....do you still want me?"