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Treason	By : Dagian Category: +G through L > Lineage 2 Views: 832 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I own nothing, NCSoft regrettably does, I make no profit off of this story that is based on Lineage2.

Chapter List
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Kattath strode briskly through the long halls of Goddard castle, making her way to the throne room. It was her place to take care of matters in Nathavin’s absence and she’d been informed that a human was asking to speak with him. As she made her way to the large throne room she wondered how Nathavin and Caellia were doing. It had been little more than a few days since she’d last seen them, but they should be well into Caellia’s training by now, she thought to herself.

            Finally, she reached the large chamber and made her way up the sloping ramp to the throne. The chamberlain Alfred hastily bowed to her and presented her with a long list of things that needed to be addressed. The townspeople wanted the tax rate adjusted, the vault needed tending, and there were squabbles in the town over the manor fees. A quick flick of her wrist sent him scurrying away, tripping over his feet in his haste to leave her. She would deal with the mundane business later. Kattath nodded to the two shillien knights to bring the human in as she took her seat in the throne, crossing one long leg over the other with a slight flourish and lounged back in the soft luxuriant red satin that covered the throne.

            The two knights snapped to attention and fetched the human, one on either side of him and forced him to the ground. Kattath stared at the human, taking in every detail. From his sandy windswept hair, to the heavy soot colored armor with red leather straps coming over the shoulders. Then her gaze swept over to the dual swords that belonged to him that were being held by a guard at the moment. One sword was long and slender with a smooth double edge while the other was broad and heavy, with massive serrations halfway down the blade on either side before the blade became smooth and double edged. She listened attentively while a guard explained that the human had been found just within Goddard territory. When he’d been apprehended he had not fought back and had instead requested to be allowed to speak with Nathavin.

            Andraos felt his mouth go dry as he looked up from his forced kneeling position. His gaze traveled up the impressive ramp to the figure sitting in the throne. What a sight to behold. His eyes skimmed over her. Black boots, long legs, and the shortest red and gold robe he’d ever seen. Her black hair was in a topknot with a few strands pulled loose to frame her face. Who was she?

            Kattath stood up abruptly, angered by the human’s silent perusal of her body. Why did human males always look at her like that? It was infuriating. “What business do you have here?” She spat out at him.

            Caught, he thought to himself as he answered her. “I have come to speak with Lord Nathavin.”

            “Lord Nathavin’s time is highly valuable. He does not see just anybody who shows up at the castle. There are certain protocols that you must go through to speak with him.” Kattath responded frigidly, implying with her tone that Nathavin might be around but was too busy to speak with the human. She did not want anyone to guess that Nathavin was not actually at the castle. “And seeing as how you were found on our land near the southern border, I can only surmise that you came from Aden.” She glared icily at him. “And we are not at all pleased with King Asadar at the moment.”

            “I understand that. However I must speak with Lord Nathavin. It is an urgent matter.” Andraos paused before continuing, “I would also like to make a request of him.” He looked unblinkingly at her.

            Kattath sniffed haughtily, not liking the human in the least. “Then tell me and I will relay the matter, and the request, to him.”

            “I’m afraid that I can speak of this matter with him only.” Andraos had no intentions of discussing his plans to defect and of Asadar’s plans to attack Goddard with anyone other than Nathavin. He did not know who he could or couldn’t trust here.

            Kattath stared at him, his voice and aura indicated that he had absolutely no intention of speaking with her. They had reached an impasse rather swiftly and she was curious as to just what the human had to say. Nathavin and Caellia would not be back for at least another week, perhaps longer. One delicate eyebrow lifted in amusement before she began to saunter down the ramp. The human had wanted to look hadn’t he? Well, she’d let him look his fill, perhaps then he’d be more inclined to give her the information she sought.

            She maintained eye contact with the human all the way down the ramp, stopping only when she was just out of arms reach. Her sensitive ears could hear his breathing speed up and just a glimmer of a smirk crossed her face for an instant. Human males were incredibly predictable in this respect. She nodded briefly at the knights, indicating that they should move away for a moment. Once they were gone she moved in closer to him and said breathily. “I’m sorry,” her mouth twisted into a rueful smile, “but Lord Nathavin would be very displeased if I summoned him for something that he deemed not worth his very valuable time.” She looked directly into his eyes. “I promise I will get the information to him as swiftly as possible.”

            Andraos looked down at the stunning dark elven woman, unable to think of anything to say. This close to her he could feel the heat emanating from her body and hear the rustle of the robes as the fabric moved with her. “I…I will speak with Lord Nathavin only.” His voice sounded weak even to his own ears. Curse her!

            A husky, feminine laugh filled the air as she strolled behind him, casually trailing her fingers along his shoulders and back. “It is my duty to handle things my Lord cannot tend to himself. I assure you, if it is something that will be of great interest to him, I will have him see you as quickly as I can manage.” As she came back in front of him she asked him again, “Now, what is that you would like to discuss with him, and what is your request?”

            Andraos stood rigidly, his mind nearly blank from her close proximity. He would not become a blubbering fool because of her! He would not! “I will speak only to Lord Nathavin.” His voice was hoarse and beads of sweat had popped out on his forehead, but he had resisted her!

            Kattath was only slightly put out, though she hadn’t gotten the information she wanted, she had still found it quite fun to torment the human. She pouted at him for a moment. “Well, I shall inform him that you wish to speak with him. However, I don’t know when he’ll have time to see you.” She gave a falsely apologetic look, “I’m sure you’ll understand however that until such time as he can see you, I can’t very well allow you to freely roam the castle.” The two knights took their cue and stalked forward, grasping the human firmly between them. Kattath turned and began to walk back up the ramp to the throne, about half way up, she stopped and turned to face the human, unable to resist taunting him a bit more. “What’s your name?”

            “My…my name?” Andraos stuttered, confused.

            “Yes, your name. What is it?” Kattath purred amusedly.

            “Andraos.” He replied, curious.

            “Andraos.” Kattath repeated slowly. She turned and walked all the way to the throne and sat down with great flourish. “Andraos, let me welcome you to Goddard Castle.” Kattath said with a wide smile before flicking her gaze to the knights, her voice changing suddenly, no longer that of a teasing temptress. Her voice had become frigid and steely. “Take him to the holding cells.”

*****

            Nathavin awoke just before nightfall and immediately scanned the area for Caellia. A sick feeling began to fill him as hazy memories of their fight filtered through his mind as he looked for her. He knew he’d lost his temper with her and he was almost certain the dark blood had taken complete control of him during the fight, and he was not comfortable with that fact. Finding her in the same place she’d flung herself to, he stood up and stretched slowly.

The sleep had done him some good. The call of the dark blood had abated for now. His anger with her was still high but he forced it down, determined to keep his temper in check. He watched her momentarily, she seemed oblivious to the fact that he was up. She was focused on one of her hands, gently dabbing a bandage soaked in a weak healing potion on it. When had her hand been hurt? He walked over to her and kneeled down while silently taking her hand in his to inspect the injury.

            Engrossed in her task of cleaning the wounds on her left hand, Caellia did not know that Nathavin was up until he bent down in front of her and took her hand in his. Half afraid and half angry, she snatched her hand away from him. Her blue eyes flashed angrily at him in defiance, hissing out. “Don’t touch me!”

            Nathavin bit his tongue and stared down at her furiously while reaching out quickly and grabbing the hand she’d snatched away from him, holding onto it firmly when she attempted to draw it back again. Slowly, he drew it toward him, his eyes locked with hers. He resolved not to lose his temper with her again.

            “Let go!” Caellia yanked her hand purely for emphasis, knowing she would not be able to pull loose if he didn’t want her to. She watched him heatedly as his grip tightened on her hand in response, pulling it inexorably closer to him. Using her right hand, Caellia tried to pry his fingers from around her left hand while whispering venomously. “Let me go!”

            Nathavin said nothing as he simply reached down and caught her other hand without breaking eye contact with her. Her head turned to the side in frustration. “Look at me,” he commanded her.

            “No.” She said sullenly, keeping her face turned away from him.

            Nathavin took in a deep breath to calm himself. “Look at me.” When she didn’t answer and didn’t move, he put both her hands in one of his and effectively trapped them. Using his other hand, he grabbed her chin and forced her head upward. “I said look at me.” He held her still as she tried to pull away.

            With her chin and hands trapped Caellia could not break loose from him and soon gave up as her hands began to hurt from his firm grip. A sharp shake of her chin forced her eyes to open and focus on him.

            “Let me see your hands Caellia.” It was not a request. He wanted to know what had happened to her hands. He suspected he knew already though as a vague memory of having her pinned against a tree with her arms held above her head surfaced. The sick feeling grew. Nathavin needed to know if his losing his temper with her had caused this. He had been so angry with her. He knew now that the dark blood had totally consumed him. The fact that he couldn’t remember the fight clearly proved it. That made it all the more important that he keep his temper now. He could not afford to lose it again.

            Caellia glared at him in defiant fury for a few seconds longer before relaxing her hands and arms in submission. She could not hope to pull free and knew that he was capable of holding onto her for as long as he pleased.

            Nathavin felt her relax and with one final light, but meaningful shake, he released his hold on her chin, allowing her to pull her head back slightly. Then he turned his attention to her hands. Bitterly he stared at the evidence of his loss of temper and the result of the dark bloods control as guilt washed through him. Wordlessly he picked up the bandage she had been using earlier and began to carefully clean the wounds. He did not try to explain his actions. Right now he knew that she would not listen to him and truthfully there could be no adequate explanation given. He had hurt her. No amount of explaining would change that fact. The only thing he could do now was heal the wounds he’d caused and try to earn her forgiveness.

            Caellia leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, trying to ignore him as best she could. She didn’t want him to clean the wounds on her hand but decided that she was simply too tired to bother with trying to get him to stop. The fight had drained her both physically and emotionally. She hissed slightly as he rubbed a bit harder at one of the scratches and glared at him in angry aggravation.

            Nathavin glanced sharply up at her. “You missed a splinter. I have to get it out or else it will get infected.”

            Caellia didn’t reply, just leaned her head back against the wall and let him continue. Though she tried not to think of it, her thoughts kept going back to the fight. Had she been wrong to insist that they stop for the day? She had known that he had been in a foul mood all day, should she have just given in and continued training? No, she concluded, Nathavin had badly needed the rest.

Caellia knew she shouldn’t have turned her back to him, had known it was foolish to do so. So why had she? She couldn’t answer that. Turning her back on him had been a grave mistake. She had insulted him by doing so. Then she had further insulted him by not keeping quiet. The words she’d said in the heat of the moment came back to haunt her. ‘You need to rest!’ She knew he didn’t respond well to being told what to do and that was what she had done, albeit unintentionally.

Nathavin switched one hand out for the other, cleaning the abrasions she had been working on when he woke up. Despite his hazy memory of most of the argument, he remembered quite clearly telling her that he would leave her with no other choice than to accept and admit her feelings for him. That vow he had every intention of fulfilling, starting now. The issue lay in the ‘how’. Glancing up at her quickly before looking back down at her hand, he knew that she still trusted him even though the dark blood had been in full control. If he had lost her trust she wouldn’t be allowing him to do this. That was one less hurdle for him to have to cross. If he’d had to regain her trust his goal would be much harder to achieve.

Once finished cleaning her wound he pulled back slightly and stared at her in determined contemplation. He noticed that night had fallen in the time it had taken for him to clean her wounds. Standing up, he moved away to grab his bow. “I’m going to take a look around to make sure we are safe.” He would give her a few minutes alone for now.

Caellia nodded mutely without opening her eyes. She was still angry with him, but couldn’t muster the energy necessary to argue with him. Grabbing the lightweight blanket she’d brought, she covered herself with it and tried to ignore her stinging hands as she settled back against the wall.

Upon re-entering the abandoned house Nathavin found her resting awkwardly against the wall asleep. He hesitated for only a second before striding over to her. As silently as possible, he knelt down beside her, placing his bow next to them. He then began to pull her into the same position he’d had her in the night before, with her head resting in his lap.

Caellia woke up abruptly, feeling that she was being drawn down. She pushed herself into an upright position and stared at Nathavin accusingly. “Leave me alone.”

Nathavin sucked in a breath. This would have to stop. Though she was angry with him, and rightfully so, he was not going to let her shut herself off from him like this. She was putting up walls between them. If he allowed her to put those mental walls up he would slowly lose all the ground he’d gained so far as she distanced herself further and further from him. He also knew that if he didn’t put a stop to it now, she would be harder to break of the habit later.

“No.” He said as calmly as possible while pulling her toward him again, feeling her strain away from him. After a minute he simply picked her up and placed her down on his lap sideways, the left side of her body and left arm pressed against his front. He pulled her head to his chest with his right hand, the same hand he used to pull his bowstring back, while his left encircled both her wrists. His legs came up and pinned her right side, trapping her.

“Let me go Nathavin.” Her words were quiet, angry. When he didn’t answer her she tried to pull free. She growled in frustration as his right hand kept her head snug against his chest while his left kept her hands firmly pinned together within its grasp.

“Be still.” He tried to keep the exasperation out of his voice. “I’m only trying to make you more comfortable. You could not possibly have been comfortable in the position you fell asleep in and you would have woken up stiff and sore.” He purposely kept the timbre of his voice low and even on his next sentence. “You slept with your head in my lap last night. I even massaged your arms and legs so that they would not be sore today.”

Caellia jerked slightly, so it had not been a dream! He really had massaged her arms and legs!

His head lowered to the top of hers as he finished softly. “Please, at least allow me to make you slightly more comfortable.” It was the closest he could come to apologizing for hurting her earlier.

Caellia was stunned. She’d never heard him speak in quite that way and it touched her deeply. For tonight only, she decided that she would honor his request.

His soft words seemed to do the trick and he felt her begin to relax against him. Slowly, by degrees, he loosened his hold on her wrists until he finally let them go entirely. A few minutes later he loosened his grip on her upper body and lowered his legs. She was entirely free to move if she chose. She didn’t. His heart soared with hope as she settled against him, turning her face to his chest slightly, angling her head to put her ear to his heart and falling into a deep sleep.

Nathavin hugged her to him tightly, swearing to Shillien that he would never hurt her again. Not ever! It tore him up inside to know that he had harmed her, that he was to blame for her injuries, however slight they may be. From now on, he vowed to keep the dark blood at bay by whatever means necessary. He could not risk losing his control to it again.

His fingers began to trail through her soft hair, as he leaned his head back against the wall thinking on Kattath’s words on the ship. She had said that Caellia was still confused and afraid of her feelings and was having difficulty in letting go of her fear. But, he thought as he looked down at Caellia, she was not confused on her feelings. She did love him and she obviously knew that. And she did not seem like she was afraid of her feelings either. It was more like she was afraid of admitting to them. Sighing heavily he wondered what she feared so badly that caused her to refuse to confess her love for him.

The simple fact that he knew she loved him, despite her reluctance to admit it, should have been enough for him, he thought to himself darkly in self recrimination. However it was his cursed pride as not only a dark elf, but as a male, that both wanted and needed to hear those words from her. Those words, coming from her lips, would give him the greatest pleasure. It was not enough for him that she merely loved him, she had to confess it. He simply could not, and would not, accept anything less.

His head lowered to hers as he breathed in the soft fragrance of her hair. He let the smell both calm and comfort him as he settled into a more comfortable position for his long vigil to guard them during the night. Somehow, he would have to figure out exactly what her fears were, why she was so afraid of confessing her love to him. Once he knew those fears, he could overcome them. And when that was done, Nathavin knew her resistance would crumble away, and she would be left with no choice but to confess her love to him.
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Treason