laylah
in
springkink
Shadow Hearts Covenant/Kingdom Hearts (Lucia)
Title: Prince of Air
Author: Laylah
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 767
Summary: He can open the way, but it takes a human heart to first lure them, to call them to a world where they have no foothold.
Her rooms are dark when he arrives, always dark, the air heavy with its own moisture and the cloying oils she mixes. He stirs the air, summons a soft breeze to shift the curtains around her bed, and she sits up.
"I knew you would come back," she says. "My prince."
"Hardly that," Xaldin murmurs, as Lucia reaches for the matches, the candles by the side of her bed. "I come to offer you aid, not to conquer."
The match strikes, flares with a sharp twist of sulphur, and she lights her candles, sets them in a bowl of amber glass. "You could be a fairy tale prince, though. In disguise."
He thinks of the shape of his spears when he wakens them to ride the wind, the great dragon. The prince is not his role in tales. "I could," he says. "Should you wish it."
Lucia slips out of bed, stands before him barefoot in her silken nightdress. She is warmth and solidity, the fertile earth; were he whole, Xaldin thinks the welcome in her eyes might excite him. "It would be romantic, don't you think?"
"A prince of foreign lands come to teach you of your birthright?" He reaches out to her, and she crosses the carpet to place her hand in his glove. "Would you then be a princess yourself, or simply a poor maiden of exceptional virtue and beauty?"
She giggles. "Flatterer," she says, sliding into his arms, her back against his chest, her body hot and living. Xaldin wraps one arm around her, splaying his hand across her belly, and stretches out his will across the room, letting the boundaries between this world and the darkness behind it grow thin and pliable.
"Call them," he breathes against her neck, and she shivers. She starts to sway as she concentrates -- all of Lucia's magic, Xaldin has found, is channeled through her dancing -- and calls out through the worlds for power.
He can open the way, but it takes a human heart to first lure them, to call them to a world where they have no foothold. There is a long, quiet moment, the shift of Lucia's silk against Xaldin's leather with the roll of her hips, before the first yellow eyes gleam in the thickest shadows of the room.
"They come to you," he whispers, as the shadows stretch and pull themselves free, through the fabric of this world. "Your need calls them. Your anger." Lucia nods, her hair brushing his cheek. "With them at your command, there is no magic of Sapientes Gladio that you need to fear. You can protect yourself, once you can bring the shadows to heel."
"Yes," she whispers. "They'll never threaten me again." She's called more tonight than usual, half a dozen shadows swaying and reaching out their lightless claws. Xaldin wraps the wind around them, lifts Lucia into the air as the shadows seethe and seek the prey that would set them loose.
"Call a captain for them," he says, and then, because she seems captivated by the romance of it, "a knight to lead them in battle." He licks the bare skin of her shoulder, where her collarbone first arches toward the surface. Her skin tastes of sweet smoke and salt, and she shivers, as if he's a lover caressing her.
It's nearly enough -- Xaldin can hear the clatter of armor, might see it glint briefly as the heartless soldier struggles to emerge, but Lucia sags in his arms before it can materialize fully, and it fades again.
"I'm sorry," she says. "I'm still -- I'm not strong enough."
"But you improve with every lesson," Xaldin says. He banishes the shadows before they alight on the ground. "Soon, you will have the power you need." Once she can call a few of the emblem heartless, that should be enough -- those few should create more, should tear open this world for the darkness to enter in force.
Lucia turns in his arms and smiles at him; Xaldin smiles back carefully. "You're so patient with me, my prince," she says. Her nightdress is damp with sweat, with exertion, clinging to her skin. She runs a hand up his chest, toying with the chain on his robe. "Will --" she hesitates. "Will you stay?"
The need to please him drives her so utterly, more even than her quest for power. She will see this as evidence that she has captured his heart. "I must be gone by morning," he says.
"Like a fairy tale." She reaches for his zipper. "But morning is hours away."
Author: Laylah
Rating: PG-13
Word count: 767
Summary: He can open the way, but it takes a human heart to first lure them, to call them to a world where they have no foothold.
Her rooms are dark when he arrives, always dark, the air heavy with its own moisture and the cloying oils she mixes. He stirs the air, summons a soft breeze to shift the curtains around her bed, and she sits up.
"I knew you would come back," she says. "My prince."
"Hardly that," Xaldin murmurs, as Lucia reaches for the matches, the candles by the side of her bed. "I come to offer you aid, not to conquer."
The match strikes, flares with a sharp twist of sulphur, and she lights her candles, sets them in a bowl of amber glass. "You could be a fairy tale prince, though. In disguise."
He thinks of the shape of his spears when he wakens them to ride the wind, the great dragon. The prince is not his role in tales. "I could," he says. "Should you wish it."
Lucia slips out of bed, stands before him barefoot in her silken nightdress. She is warmth and solidity, the fertile earth; were he whole, Xaldin thinks the welcome in her eyes might excite him. "It would be romantic, don't you think?"
"A prince of foreign lands come to teach you of your birthright?" He reaches out to her, and she crosses the carpet to place her hand in his glove. "Would you then be a princess yourself, or simply a poor maiden of exceptional virtue and beauty?"
She giggles. "Flatterer," she says, sliding into his arms, her back against his chest, her body hot and living. Xaldin wraps one arm around her, splaying his hand across her belly, and stretches out his will across the room, letting the boundaries between this world and the darkness behind it grow thin and pliable.
"Call them," he breathes against her neck, and she shivers. She starts to sway as she concentrates -- all of Lucia's magic, Xaldin has found, is channeled through her dancing -- and calls out through the worlds for power.
He can open the way, but it takes a human heart to first lure them, to call them to a world where they have no foothold. There is a long, quiet moment, the shift of Lucia's silk against Xaldin's leather with the roll of her hips, before the first yellow eyes gleam in the thickest shadows of the room.
"They come to you," he whispers, as the shadows stretch and pull themselves free, through the fabric of this world. "Your need calls them. Your anger." Lucia nods, her hair brushing his cheek. "With them at your command, there is no magic of Sapientes Gladio that you need to fear. You can protect yourself, once you can bring the shadows to heel."
"Yes," she whispers. "They'll never threaten me again." She's called more tonight than usual, half a dozen shadows swaying and reaching out their lightless claws. Xaldin wraps the wind around them, lifts Lucia into the air as the shadows seethe and seek the prey that would set them loose.
"Call a captain for them," he says, and then, because she seems captivated by the romance of it, "a knight to lead them in battle." He licks the bare skin of her shoulder, where her collarbone first arches toward the surface. Her skin tastes of sweet smoke and salt, and she shivers, as if he's a lover caressing her.
It's nearly enough -- Xaldin can hear the clatter of armor, might see it glint briefly as the heartless soldier struggles to emerge, but Lucia sags in his arms before it can materialize fully, and it fades again.
"I'm sorry," she says. "I'm still -- I'm not strong enough."
"But you improve with every lesson," Xaldin says. He banishes the shadows before they alight on the ground. "Soon, you will have the power you need." Once she can call a few of the emblem heartless, that should be enough -- those few should create more, should tear open this world for the darkness to enter in force.
Lucia turns in his arms and smiles at him; Xaldin smiles back carefully. "You're so patient with me, my prince," she says. Her nightdress is damp with sweat, with exertion, clinging to her skin. She runs a hand up his chest, toying with the chain on his robe. "Will --" she hesitates. "Will you stay?"
The need to please him drives her so utterly, more even than her quest for power. She will see this as evidence that she has captured his heart. "I must be gone by morning," he says.
"Like a fairy tale." She reaches for his zipper. "But morning is hours away."