Song of the Mirror Maker, Chapter Fifteen
Author's Note: A few more chapters to go yet! I'm SO EXCITED for what's to come!
Kali backed away slowly, her words dead on her lips as she saw the Overlord reunited with a woman who looked exactly like his previous Queen. She had heard of the woman from the other world, but hadn’t made the natural assumption that something would grow between her and Theta.
Zeta’s hand came out to steady her shoulder, and Kali turned to him with wide eyes.
“You didn’t really want to marry him?” the Lord of the south asked sardonically.
Kali blinked before responding.
“Absolutely not,” she replied. “Except for the dragon-riding bit, I find him quite dull.”
“Yeah,” Zeta replied wistfully. “I have to admit owning a dragon would be…”
“Don’t even think about it!” Kali snapped. “We have enough problems with this lot of scavengers. For the Founders’ sakes, call them off, won’t you?”
The Hoard had run out of enemies to fight and was starting to squabble with amongst themselves, in some cases, quite violently. Zeta moved quickly to disburse them as Kali watched from afar with her arms folded.
Behind her, Theta and Rose could hardly be distinguished as two people. Fortunately, Rose became aware that they were making a spectacle of themselves and urged the Overlord to come inside with her.
“You absolutely have to rest,” she was demanding. “You’ve just spent nine straight hours in a warzone.”
Theta grumbled, but agreed to let the Gleissen oversee the cleanup and supervise the medical wing being erected to aid the fallen. The citizens had also come out of the keep and were volunteering to look for survivors or else repair the tremendous damages caused by the battle. Many were assembling handmade torches so that they could go further out afield.
“I suppose there isn’t much left for me to do,” he conceded.
As they walked back toward the castle hand in hand, Rose helped to steady Theta’s uneasy gait.
“We’ll have to get your leg sorted out,” she remarked.
Theta didn’t answer, because his eyes were already starting to fall shut. The weariness of his physical exertions was starting to catch up with him. He leaned on Rose a little more with each step, until he suddenly jerked to a full state of alertness.
“I almost forgot to send her back,” he said in shock, as he rounded on the open courtyard.
He raised a hand in the air and spoke in a melodic language, while Rose looked on in curiously. From afar, the Nightmare Child fluttered her large leathery wings and gave a long, mournful cry before digging into the earth. She proceeded to tunnel into the burrow that led to her dark cave, deep below the castle grounds, to sleep until she was needed again.
Theta let his body go slack as he turned back to Rose with a sad glance.
“I know it’s odd, but I miss her when she’s gone,” he admitted.
Rose smiled weakly, not sure how one could form an attachment to a nightmarish dragon.
“Not quite as nice as a tin dog,” she muttered.
Theta cocked an eyebrow as Rose got him to start walking again.
“A tin dog! Now there’s an idea!” he crowed.
Rose laughed to herself as they walked through the main entrance.
Inside the castle, a retinue of attendants was ready for them. They peeled off the layers of armor and assisted the Overlord to a chair, where a physician was waiting. He reported that Theta’s wounds were fairly minor, and should heal relatively quickly. For her part, Rose escaped with a few scrapes and a lot of bruises.
After the hasty examination, Theta tugged Rose toward the closest bedroom, a brightly lit golden chamber. With exasperated effort, he blew out the lit candelabra, pitching the room into blessed darkness.
He then tumbled onto the bed, where Rose had already fallen down on the soft blankets, and kissed her open palm tenderly.
“Sleep well,” he whispered, before they both resigned themselves to exhaustion.
--
It was late afternoon before Rose woke up. The aftereffects of the battle were exacerbated after a night of rest, and she felt the intense muscle strain and bruising more acutely. Fortunately, Mrs. Atta was there, and had a solution.
She was holding out a ceramic cup of hot tea when Rose’s eyelids fluttered open.
“Drink this,” her soft voice encouraged.
Rose took the proffered mug and groaned dully as the pain overcame her.
“That tea will solve your troubles in a second,” Mrs. Atta promised. “I mixed a cure-all in that will numb the pain. One for you too,” she added, speaking to the Overlord.
Theta rolled over and accepted a duplicate cup, downing his in a few hurried gulps.
“Gonna need more,” he warned, but the servant was already handing him another with one of her ‘wasn’t born yesterday’ glances.
“I’ve drawn up the impluvium with hot water,” she added.
Theta moaned with pleasure at the thought, but Rose glanced over at him curiously.
“What’s an impluvium?” she asked.
“A proper bath,” Theta replied happily. “Didn’t you say you were wanting one?”
Rose practically cooed at the thought.
“Point the way,” she said enthusiastically as she rose unsteadily to her feet.
Theta got up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist as Mrs. Atta retreated. As he nuzzled into her tangled hair, Rose glanced down at the state of them and wrinkled her nose. They were beyond filthy. The servants would have to burn the sheets they’d slept on.
“How are you feeling?” Theta asked with concern as he turned her back toward him.
Rose raised an eyebrow as she peered up at him.
“I’m fine, of course,” she answered. “How’s your leg?”
“It’s about to be better,” he replied. “I think the heat will prove a quick remedy. Shall we?”
Theta led her down a short corridor and through a series of public rooms made for entertaining. Past these residential areas, there was a large roofless courtyard with a single pool taking up most of the space. Lush potted plants and flowers filled all the remaining space, creating a getaway from the rest of the imperial palace.
“This is beautiful,” she said as Theta came to stand before her.
“We use it to gather rainwater during the Spring,” he informed her. “But sometimes I like to come here and swim, or float rather.”
“Float?” Rose asked with interest, and the Overlord blushed slightly.
“I like the feeling of being weightless,” he admitted. “I come out here at night and float on my back, looking up at the millions of stars, dreaming that I could travel amongst them. It’s…my most private joy.”
Rose held his eyes with hers, feeling a rush sad nostalgia. The Doctor without his TARDIS was truly unjust. She sighed at the thought and closed her eyes, remembering all the times they’d taken off together in his mad box.
As she was thinking, she didn’t notice Theta had been slowly untying the stays in her peasant shirt. She glanced down when she felt his warm touch slipping over her ribcage, and then molding perfectly over her breast.
Theta inhaled heavily before claiming her lips, and bending her head back to chase her tongue with his own.
She let him pull off her top before turning her attention to his, deftly working the soft blue fabric over his head while carefully avoiding his injured abdomen. Rose sighed as she was confronted with so much of his skin again, and the soft hair tracing over his chest and stomach. Her hands fell down to his pants and stripped the seams holding them tightly over his waist. In turn, he helped her step out of her leather boots and peeled the rest of her clothing away, leaving her bare before him.
Rose flipped him a smile as she escaped his grasp and made her way to the pool, glancing back and biting her tongue cheekily as she stepped into the hot water.
“Oh my god,” she breathed as she eased into the water. “This is amazing.”
Theta peered down at her as he rid himself of his remaining clothes and stood on the edge in the nude, completely unconscious of himself. Rose couldn’t help but take the opportunity to rake her eyes greedily over his body as he walked down the short stairs into the impluvium.
“Oh, yes! I see what you mean!” he groaned as the hot water soothed his aching muscles.
As he continued to hum with pleasure, he pulled Rose flush against his body and wiped at her hairline affectionately.
“You are extraordinarily dirty,” he chided. “Where’s the soap, Rose Tyler?”
Rose laughed as she handed him a square bar left at the poolside for their use. Theta raised an eyebrow before dipping into the water and rubbing it between his hands.
“Mm,” Rose breathed in happily. “Smells like-“
“Jasmine,” Theta offered. “And honey. Her favorite.”
“My favorite,” Rose whispered as she added her hands to his lathering effort.
She stroked the exposed portion of his clavicle while Theta threaded his hands into her hair carefully. Rose could hardly keep her head from falling back when he massaged the tender spots behind her ears and tugged gently at the roots of her tangled hair. When he was done scrubbing out most of the grime, he dipped her back into the water and watched as the soap disbursed in a wide arc around her head.
When her hair was fully rinsed, he pulled her back up and went to work on her face, leaving a huge dollop of soap on the end of her nose.
“Oi, cheeky!” Rose protested as she scrubbed it off.
In revenge, she lathered up a handful of foam and stuck it on the end of his chin.
“Now you finally look the wise old king,” she laughed as the Overlord’s jaw dropped open in mock outrage.
“I will have you know,” he insisted as he pinned her wrists together, “that I am very wise and sophisticated!”
Rose squealed as she tried to get away, but even in his weakened state, Theta was stronger than her. He used one of her captive hands to wipe off his face as she giggled, and then drew her so close to him that she had no other choice but to wrap her legs around his waist.
“Have to get your back,” he said slyly, by way of explanation as he lifted her up so that only their bottom halves were still in the water.
As Rose lifted her chest and pressed harder against him, Theta worked his soapy hands down over her back and into her sides. Rose took the opportunity to align their mouths, and sucked lasciviously at his lower lip as his hands worked down over her rear.
“You’re not too tired are you?” she asked, knowing that the challenge would be well met.
Theta’s eyes flashed dangerously at her, as he turned them around and sat upon a submerged step, where she was able to rest her knees as she straddled him. It was then that she felt his erection straining so urgently against her inner thigh.
“Rose Tyler,” he warned, “Don’t ever doubt it.”
With that, he sank his teeth into her shoulder at the same time that he aligned with her perfectly, and pushed into her ready entrance. Rose threw her head back and gasped as Theta nibbled gently up her neck and stroked one hand up and down her chest. Rose recovered and bore down on him, pushing him back into submission as she took control, eagerly moving over his lap in desperate, needy strokes.
Theta grasped at her thighs, made slippery by the water, and watched her eyes rolling back with wave after wave of intense pleasure.
“Rose,” he whispered. “Rose, I love you.”
She surrendered her mouth to his as she continued to hump him aggressively, needing to feel all of him all over her, more now than ever. This wasn’t just sex, it was an affirmation of life, of the fact that they’d survived. Rose didn’t even realize when the tears began to fall, but tasted the salt on Theta’s cheek. She opened her eyes in surprise, only to find that they were both crying.
“I can’t live without you,” Theta confessed as he stroked her cheek and pulled her back into a deep kiss, slowing down their pace.
“Doctor,” Rose moaned, feeling herself pulled into him with the gravity of an orbit.
She felt something psychologically intertwining, as if the bare presence of her mind was fusing with his, and then she knew he was creating something between them. Rose opened her eyes and saw Theta’s fingertips poised at her temples, a bashful look on his face.
“I want you,” he whispered. “I want us together.”
Rose froze in place, still feeling the hard heat of him inside her.
“You mean…in the way of your people?” she asked tentatively. She bit her lower lip.
“It would create a bond that no one else could break,” he explained as one hand roamed lightly down her wet arm. “Nothing would stand between us. If that is…what you want too.”
Rose shook her head at him as she smoothed the drops of wet away from his freckled cheeks.
“Oh Doctor,” she replied. “Did you ever doubt it?”
Theta smiled widely at her reference, and let his fingertips settle over her temples while urging her to do the same.
“Open to me,” he suggested.
“But how?” Rose countered. “I don’t know how.”
The Overlord surprised her by repositioning himself under her, so that he could thrust up easily into her center. Rose rode the first wave of pleasure that he created inside of her, and then the second.
“Feel me,” he told her. “I’m here with you.”
Theta gasped as he thrust up again, and swept Rose into a delicate kiss that played with the end of her tongue. Rose felt a thrilling tingle go through her body, but also something else, like an embrace that wasn’t physical. She felt the Doctor at the corners of her mind, as if he was holding out at the edges and waiting for her to invite him in.
“I want you inside me,” Rose gasped, as she felt him intertwining with her mentally as well as physically.
“Nothing will ever separate us,” Theta spoke in a short breath. “Bond with me, Rose.”
Rose felt the intensity of her orgasm building, and let go of everything, all of her thoughts and feelings, urging him to overcome her.
“I’m ready,” she panted as she braced against him.
Theta reached down between them and rubbed lightly over her clitoris, breaking her even as he conquered her mind, and swept over her like a tremendous storm on the plains. Rose felt him raining down on her, his consciousness wrapping up with hers as he called out her name, chasing her orgasm with his own. As she stilled and held herself tightly against him, Theta kissed her wet hair and felt the deep peace that accompanied bonding with a life mate, a sacred harmony that he’d never expected to feel again after his queen died.
“I love you,” Rose whispered.
"I can't even begin to tell you," Theta answered in a half-whisper. "I thought you were gone forever. What miracle is this, that I'm granted you twice in one lifetime?"
Rose stared down at him before resting her cheek against his forehead.
"Our miracle," she replied.
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