InkSkin

Ink Poison

"She had no right!" The words reverberated throughout Alsuha's head. She had a moment of panic when upon opening her eyes all she saw was darkness. It took her a while to realize that she was hidden behind thick bed curtains.

"You had no right to give that creature a collar with so much privilege."

"Stop changing the subject. Fira had no right to touch Alsuha."

"She did nothing to the girl!"

"She was injured and had spent herself healing me."

"LuSol, we really must speak about this collar of yours."

"What is it you wish to say?" LuSol asked in a deceptively calm voice.

Alsuha felt LuSol go completely still. It always threw her that he could do that, simply make everything inside of himself stop. She leaned forward a little and peered out through the slit where the curtains didn't quite meet. She could just make out LuSol's stiff back and half of the King's face.

"I thought we had agreed you would no longer pursue these ridiculous aspirations?"

"You demanded and assumed that I had agreed when I had done no such thing. And they are not ridiculous. Things need to change. We are killing a people whose only crime was that they did not..."

"Enough!" The word was spoken softly but with such vehemence that LuSol took a step back and Alsuha sat up. Her world dipped and swayed around her. She clutched at her head with both hands and fought back a groan of pain.

"Things have worked just fine the way they have been for the last two thousand years. It has worked and it will continue to work."

"They are dying out. We have driven them almost to extinction! They cannot reproduce."

"I am trying to stop a war!" This time the King did raise his voice.

"LuSol now is not the time for this. Freeing the Ink'd will only guarantee war and we cannot... I will not allow it." Alsuha could clearly hear the exhaustion in the King's voice as he spoke to his son.

"She will not always live for you."

"What?"

"She will let go of this life, as they all eventually do. You will not always be enough for her to stay."

"Shut your mouth boy!" This time the King's shout was more of a snarl and had Alsuha on her feet. She swayed and had to grab onto one of the bedposts for support.

"You don't know..."

"I know that you have five wives you care for but the woman you breathe for, the woman you love stands at your back with a collar around her damn throat!" LuSol shouted at his father.

Alsuha moved, but not fast enough. She heard the crack of skin striking skin and was confused when what seemed an instant later she felt LuSol's arms around her and she was falling once more.

Alsuha came to again in LuSol's bed. She didn't know why she hadn't noticed it the first time she'd woken up; the bed smelled like him. It was like he was all around her. Alsuha opened her eyes and kicked off the covers when she realized the curtains were drawn on both sides of the bed and she couldn't tell what time of day it was. She searched her mind for the warm reassuring presence of LuSol and found him with a heartfelt sigh.

'When did that happen?' Haku's question tinkled through her thoughts, momentarily distracting her and it took her a moment to understand what he was referring to. She chose to ignore him. She felt him smile and drift off to sleep.