The Immortals [Closed for Lassardlost and Slut_in_white]

[LassardLost]

Gray felt a sense of comfort as he picked up his artifact. Though, surprisingly, it wasn't as much as he had expected. Perhaps now that he had found another like himself, the artifact meant less. Though now, it had taken on a new meaning. Denali had been bound to some "Master" through her, very similar appearing, artifact. Gray had no recollection as such but-

"AAHH!!" A surge of intense pain shot out through Gray's body from the middle of his back. He had been stabbed. "Oh... fuck...." he said breathlessly as he looked down at his chest to see the edge of a bloody blade jutting out of it. He became light-headed, dizzy, and as he fell, he saw Denali swooning, holding on to the table, a similar blade embedded in her back... and behind them, two shadowy figures... two... Denali... would he ever... "Oh... fuck...."

 

[slut_in_white]

No!

It wasn't the pain that scared her. Denali had endured worse. So, so much worse. No, it was the realization that she was going to lose Grey. She'd only just found him, her singular companion in the yawning years, and now, she would lose him all over again.

She whimpered, her gaze locking with his, and she knew he was thinking the same thing. And then, the world went black.

--------

It was hard to count the years after a certain amount of time. She'd forget when it was, and how long it had been. She saw the fall of the Roman Empire, and, by the time the feudal kingdoms of Europe began to rise in its place, she couldn't quite recall how long she'd spent wandering the Roman Empire after her death that fateful day. She'd spent years searching for Grey. A few times, she'd neglected her health so badly in her attempt that she ended up dying of starvation or sickness as a result.

Eventually, she learned that it was foolish, that doing so over and over would cause her to lose whatever time she gained in neglecting her health in the first place. And she began to attempt to live, hoping that, in the process, she might simply encounter him again.

At first, she attempted to play at positions of importance, hoping he might hear of her and come to her. She was Queen to several rising Kings, she was unimaginably wealthy... and isolated. She realized that even if he had heard of her, heard her name in the context of her rulership, he would never be able to reach her anyway.

At times, she fell into despair, and many of those years were mostly unaccounted for. She could rarely remember what she had done in those years. She never fully understood what pulled her out of them again.

The year was 1066. Denali was living a quiet life as a huntress on the island that would eventually become known as Britain, near the burgeoning city of London. She often took her furs into the city for sale, which was what she was doing the night of the attack.

 

[LassardLost]

Gray had been used being alone, and starting over. But this time it was different. So, so different. As he faded to black, he actually felt the deep, inner pain that came with actual loss: for he had never known another like him - another immortal - and now, after just a few days of being with Denali, he realized, as he died, that he never wanted to be apart from her every again. But of course, it was too late, and Gray found himself rushing towards the ocean, drowning, and then rushing towards desert sand. He didn’t even bother to get up once he landed on the sand - though he was nude, and his skin burned on the hot sand and under the heat of the desert sun. He just didn’t care. How would he ever find Denali again? He died, lying on the sand in the desert after 3 days.

Eventually, after days, possibly weeks of simply rotting in place wherever he appeared, in abject despair, he popped into the home of some peasant some place he wasn’t quite sure. He was in their outer room, and he lay chose - as he had in the other locations - to simply lie there. He could hear people talking softly, gently, in another room. It sounded… different. He got up on his elbows to just take a peek. A man and a woman spoke to each other, and there was no mistaking it - the man’s voice was soft, tender… the woman gave a gentle laugh, and then the sound of… were they kissing?

Fucking great. I’d rather have landed in the ocean. Of all the places, I need to end up in fucking Romeo and Juliet’s peasant house… .

Gray lay there for a moment, probably for several moments. And it finally occurred to him that somewhere on the planet, Denali was alive. She was existing - she had no choice but to. If time in and of itself could create life over millions of years - and that too from inanimate matter, then if given long enough, couldn’t two sentient beings find each other? He was sure she would look for him as well. And Gray knew enough about life and human beings to put himself in the situation that would best guarantee his being able to meet her. Yes. That was it. Gray, for the first time in months, got himself up, and walked out the door.

* *


Generation after generation, Gray worked his way to the top of every major city or empire he could. It was easy for him - he knew how to manipulate his way to the top. He knew the political games, the games of family and wealth, the games of women and the games of blackmail, he knew all the games. And he played them like the master manipulator that he had become over the centuries. It would usually take him about two to three years or so to rise to prominent positions within whatever empire or civilization was in vogue at the time. And mother two to three years to reach its pinnacle as its supreme leader, emperor, or whatever else it was the people liked to call it.

And every time he would reach the top, he would prepare for war. He would adopt an expansionist policy. And for every battle won he would have the women that were won as spoils of war brought before him for his “choosing.” But generation after generation, no Denali. Usually his reign would be cut short because after seeing that Denali wasn’t present in booty acquisition after booty acquisition, he would simply let the women return to their families, severely irking his military, and this would usually result in his being offed.

For decades this pattern went on, until, in the early 11th century, Gray - at this point known as William the Conqueror - commanded his army into England, and finally into what was then London.

The battle had been successful, and the booty was to be brought before him shortly. He had almost lost hope, actually, in ever seeing Denali again, but he did not know what else to do with his life at this point other than to keep on mindlessly searching for her. So he sat on his throne in his royal tent, carpets spread beneath his feet, dressed to the hilt in his armor and royal regalia.

“Your Highness,” a Captain of the army stepped into the tent. “The spoils of war are here. Shall you inspect them?”

Gray, who was dozing off in his throne, awoke abruptly. “Wha- What? Huh? Oh, yes. The spoils. Bring them before me.” He made a lazy motion with his hand.

 

[slut_in_white]

It was dark, and Denali's day had been quite good. Larger sales than usual, and she'd stayed later in the city as a result.

She'd picked the life of a hunter because of the freedom it afforded her. She could go anywhere and continue her work, which meant she could travel, searching for Grey. In fact, it was such an easy life to fall into that, when she thought about it, she realized she had to have been doing it for almost a hundred years now.

She was beginning to feel a faint resentment towards society as a whole - she still felt that becoming a public face was the best way to get Grey's attention and seek him out, but the power of women in this world was badly hobbled. She'd been Queen to various Kings, but her ability to go out into the world and ensure that the people knew her face in the way they knew their king's was practically impossible. She was a beautiful prize, kept safe in the castle, out of sight of anyone but her maids and the king himself. She'd realized that she would have been better off simply wandering the streets, physically looking for him. And so, lacking any better ideas... that's what she'd started doing.

She supposed she should count herself lucky. She didn't need to work all day to survive the way so many did. After 100 years of practice, her skill as an archer was bar-none, and she could go hunting for usually only a few days and return to the city with enough quality meat and pelts that she could survive for upwards of a month on the earnings. And so, often, she'd slowly whittle away at her savings, wandering around the city, looking for Grey and waiting for any word of the acts of an inhumanly strong man.

So far? Nothing. But it was the best she could do, given that women were simply not permitted to hold positions of power that would give her any ability to spread her search further. Hence the resentment.

London was already a large city, the sort that it would take days to search even just once. It was late, and Denali had a purse heavy with coins, and she was smiling. She could survive on this for well over a month, and given London's position as a growing center of importance in the European world, she had high hopes that Grey might turn up here, eventually.

And he did. Just not how she expected.

She'd taken a room at an inn when she heard the sounds of fighting outside. Metal clashing on metal, screams of women and children. She rolled out of bed and peered out the window to find men sacking the buildings outside. There were sounds coming from downstairs - the men were coming into the inn. Denali had just climbed up onto the roof of the inn when she heard a woman screaming from the next room over, and the sounds of a few rough men laughing.

The window to the next room was open, so Denali could hear the whole thing.

A man's voice, "What do you think?"

"Not pretty enough for the Conqueror," came the response from a second, yonger-sounding man.

The first man laughed. "But pretty enough for me!"

Then, a shriek from the woman, but the exchange was interrupted as Denali swung herself around and in through the window, bowling one of the men over. The woman screamed again.

The man she hit roared - Denali recognized his as the first voice - and drew his weapon, brandishing it madly at the small, lithe body that had interrupted his fun. He was clumsy with his sword, making it painfully easy for Denali to dance out of the way and kick his legs out from under him.

And then, for the first time, the second man could see her face. "Oy, you idiot!" he shouted, and for a moment, Denali was uncertain of who he was talking to. Her? But he lashed out with his foot at the first man, his attack connecting with the man's sword hand, causing the weapon to clatter onto the ground. "What's wrong with you? The King wants his women unharmed." He kicked the first man in the head, too, for good measure.

Denali's eyes went wide. Oh, hell no. Only then, her gaze fell on the terrified young woman, still huddling in the corner, and she realized begrudgingly that she couldn't leave the young thing to the mercies of these two brutes. Maybe Denali could save her, and then either escape or kill herself on the way to this Conqueror's camp.

The second man, the more rational one, it seemed, held his hands up and looked at Denali. "You should come with us. London is taken by William the Conqueror, and he wishes to meet you."

Meet. Right. She wondered idly if he was looking for a wife in an unconventional manner, or if he was just looking for a new woman to rape every night. Or hell, maybe he was one of those brutes for whom there wasn't a difference. "And why should I want to meet him?" she demanded in return.

The rational man looked baffled by her question, as if he couldn't understand why a woman wouldn't want to meet him. The angry man, meanwhile, seemed to have recovered from the blow to the head and sat up, glowering at Denali. "What? You think she's pretty enough for the Conqueror?" he asked sourly. "Look at her skin!"

The rational man rolled his eyes. "You idiot. She's not ugly, she's just dirty."

And he was right. Denali could survive on the money earned from hunting, but it wasn't exactly a luxurious life. She was, more often than not, filthy, because paying for a bath meant one fewer days she could spent looking for Grey instead of hunting. But, underneath that, she was still beautiful. It seemed her body resisted the ravages of ill-care and disease, perhaps a further result of her immortality. She had a few scars, but other than that, she was the picture of (slightly underfed) health and beauty underneath all that dirt.

"I'll go with you willingly," Denali promised, her eyes narrowed, "but only if you leave this woman be." It was a meaningless gesture, in the grand scheme - the pillaging of London almost certainly meant that there were dozens of other women who would be raped right now. But still, Denali's life meant less than this woman's because this woman only had one. And despite how little in meant in the grand scheme, to her, Denali was certain this gesture meant the world.

The rational man looked surprised and the woman burst into tears. "I, uh, alright. Get up, Peter," he said, nudging the angry man again with his foot.

The woman seized Denali's hand. "Thank you! Thank you!"

Denali simply smiled at her, and considered how best to kill herself while in the custody of the soldiers.

-----

The rational man - whom she learned was named Edward - watched her like a hawk the entire trip to the army's camp. He seemed to recognize there was something odd about her, even beyond her unusual and apparent ability to defeat the slow-but-strong Peter in combat. Thus, she didn't get a chance to act until she was right outside William the Conqueror's tent. There was about a dozen women gathered there, all of them petite, dark haired and absolutely beautiful. Denali fit right in. But Edward continued to watch her, which was how he realized something was wrong when she bent down to "scratch her leg" and drew a blade out of her boot.

"STOP!" He'd figured she was going to attack one of the women, she he simply tackled her. Instead, Denali had been trying to cut open her wrist - she still managed a cut, but the collision meant that it was too small and too shallow to be fatal. The blade flew from her hand as Edward collided with her, and she hit the ground hard, feeling one of her ribs crack beneath his weight. She grunted, and a moment later, her hands were pulled up behind her back. Someone wrapped the cut in a bandage, and her wrists were bound. "Troublemaker," Edward growled, hauling her back to her feet and making her wince in pain as the motion wrenched her injured ribcage.

A soldier - this one wearing symbols of power in the army's hierarchy - poked his head out of the tent a moment later. "The King wishes to see the women."

And so, one by one, the wide-eyed, terrified women were filed into the tent. Denali, with Edward scowling and holding her by the arm to make sure she didn't try anything more foolish, even bound, went in last. When she walked into the tent, she realized it was probably good that Edward was pulling her along after the rest of the women, because the moment she laid eyes on Grey, her legs nearly gave out from under her.

 

[LassardLost]

The women were brought in in a single file line. They were all beautiful, though none of them were Denali. One in the back apparently was in the process of passing out - probably out of fear. Now the part that usually angered his men.

"Take all these women and return them to their homes. If word reaches my ears that any harm has come to them, the perpetrator will be punished by death."

"Your Highness?" His royal guard raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Captain?" Gray was still bored. He had seen it a dozen times before.

"The men have... worked hard, Sire. They may benefit from the ease-"

"They may benefit from gold, silver and the food goods, including any ale, they plundered from their work, Captain. These here, are women. They are mothers and sisters and daughters. I have you bring them to me so that I might find a suitable handmaid for your Queen." Gray stepped off his throne and walked, towards the Captain, his hands behind his back, eyeing the women up and down as he did.

"None of these seem suitable to me, so you will take them back. Is that clear, Captain?"

"Sire. Yes, your Highness." The Captain nodded and motioned to the men to take the women out and back to their homes.

"Wait!" Gray wasn't sure of it, but it looked like her. He walked up to Edward's captive. They all suddenly stopped.

Gray walked up to Denali slowly, his brow furrowed, as if trying to see through the matted hair and the dirt... and then he saw the cut on the wrist, blood dripping down her hand. It was her. It felt as if no one else in the world was there, just Denali, and Gray, standing before each other, and Gray hadn't felt as alive in centuries. Standing before Denali silently with his eyes wide, he needed all his strength to hold himself back from grabbing her, embracing her, kissing her. Suddenly his desire to have anything to do with these people and their war - well, his war - up and vanished.

"If we get separated again, we will meet in Cheshire, the old tavern there." These were the first words Gray uttered, caring little for his men would think.

"Uh, your Highness, is there something the matter?"

"Wha- what? No! No, I want this one. Leave us to privacy. I want this woman." He took Denali by the forearm and pulled her away from Edward, who readily released her. "The rest of them back to their homes. Go! Now!"

The men shuffled out quickly, taking the row of women along. When the last was out, Gray stood before Denali, smiling like a complete and utter fool, his hands resting on the side of her arms, taking her in.

Slowly, he removed his helmet and chainmail, and embraced her, reveling in the feel of the only other human he would ever relate to... and then, without thinking, kissed her deeply on the lips.

"I have never been so happy in my very long life. And you know that's true." He pulled Denali into his shoulder, holding her there, resting his cheek on her head. "God I can't tell you how much I missed you, Denali."

 

[slut_in_white]

None of these seem suitable to me, so you will take them back. Is that clear, Captain?

Sire. Yes, your Highness.

No. No, no, no, no, no! Denali made a desperate noise and tried to wrench her arm from Edward's grip. Edward made an annoyed sound and tightened his grip, which really only served to make Denali twist her injury worse. Apparently, the minor struggle drew Gray's attention, because he demanded that the women wait, and he walked over, staring at her.

She wanted to say something, but her voice died in her throat. She was desperate to tell him who she was, but all she could do was stare up at him with shock in her eyes.

"If we get separated again, we will meet in Cheshire, the old tavern there."

Her whole face lit up with a bright grin, which only seemed to confused the soldiers further. He sent the men and the rest of the women away, then. For a moment later, she simply stared at him, watching while he removed the helmet and chainmail he wore. Then in a move that really shouldn't have surprised her but absolutely did, he swept her up into a tight embrace. His arms put painful pressure on her ribs, but it didn't matter. She wouldn't have changed any of it for the world.

And then... he kissed her. She stiffened in his arms, uncertain about what he was doing. She'd kissed and been kissed before, certainly, but her previous marriages had never been of affection, and she'd always gotten bored and left before long. She knew kisses as a precursor to intercourse, which had always been, at best, somewhat cold and mechanical, an activity meant to produce children rather than anything done out of pleasure or desire. Well, for her, anyway - the men had always seemed to enjoy themselves. But intercourse was for producing children, wasn't it? And didn't Gray's captain say he had a Queen already? Jealousy - a wholly unfamiliar sensation - bolted through her.

Still, they were together again. And besides, if her previous marriages had taught her anything, it was that marriage was almost never a union of affection, particularly between the powerful. She smiled as he held her, her own arms slipping hesitantly around his torso. "I missed you, too, Gray."

But, as time went on, she became more and more aware of her body complaining about the way her ribs were twisted and pressed against him, putting pressure on her injury. "But, um, as much as I'm enjoying our reunion, I think your man might have broken my ribs, and this kind of hurts."

 

[LassardLost]

Gray immediately let go of Denali, holding her gently by her arms, looking her rib cage - he wasn't sure which side had been injured, but he lifted her shirt (he didn't quite think about taking permission) and saw the bruise on her left side. He let go.

"Who did this? I'll have him punished." Then he saw the blood on Denali's hand, and it gave him pause.

"You were going to try and escape, weren't you. You were trying to end it." Gray lifted Denali's wrist, holding her hand tenderly in his, inspecting the cut. It would probably become infected if they didn't so something about it quickly. "We have to fix you up. I'm not going to lose you again."

Gray called for his physician, who came promptly with some materials. Gray asked him to bring some ale as well. The physician, based on his facial expression, was not quite sure what for, but did as he was commanded. Then Gray asked him to leave, leaving his materials behind. He immediately got to washing the cut with water, then with the ale, and then with water again, and then tied a clean cloth around to keep it clean. He wasn't quite sure what to do with the broken ribs yet.

In the meanwhile Gray had asked Denali how she had spent her time, what it was like for her being independent. He knew the answer couldn't be too pretty... it never was for their kind. But he wanted to hear it. And he wanted to have her say it.

 

[slut_in_white]

You were going to try and escape, weren't you. You were trying to end it.

She nodded soberly. "I didn't know who you were. I had assumed this William the Conqueror would be just another petty tyrant." She offered him a rueful smile. "What was I supposed to think of a king whose first demand after taking London was for all the most beautiful women of a certain description to be brought straight to him? I was not about to spend another lifetime as some brute's toy." She flushed at the admission. After being alone for so long, she hadn't gotten particularly used to the idea of keeping certain thoughts to herself.

The doctor returned to the tent with his materials, and then Gray sent him away again. Denali was happy to let him work, ignoring the sting of the alcohol in her cut as best she could.

"It's not... very happy. I starved myself the first several lives after we were separated. I couldn't stand to stop, because I needed so badly to find you again. Every minute I spent doing anything else - eating or sleeping, even - was an affront. I just... couldn't. So I kept dying after a few days, and eventually my mind cleared enough that I realized how stupid I was being, because I had no idea how long was passing with each death, and even if there was no passing time, I'd lose time just getting back to civilization every time I died.

"So after that, I decided to become as public a figure as I could. I married several powerful men, hoping that I would be seen by the populace, but that's not what happened. The King is seen by the populace. Sometimes, the Queens is present, but that's rare, and sometimes they were madly jealous and stupid, and would keep me locked in the castle alone, because they could not stand the thought of other men so much as looking on me. I'd kill myself any time that happened, of course, but it happened more often than not, and I realized that even if you did discover my location, the chances of you actually being able to get to me were practically nothing. So I stopped.

"I fell into a deep despair after that, having no further ideas on how to find you, and... honestly, I remember very little from this time. I drowned, a lot. I think I was starving myself, most often. I..." A memory flashed before her eyes, and she nearly heaved. She remembered what had drawn her out of that darkness; hatred, and a need to prevent herself from being that helplessly weak ever again. "I died again," she told him, mechanically, her voice flat. She struggled to continue, "And after that, I simply started looking. Wandering the streets, holding onto the faint hope that I'd simply... run into you." She couldn't hold his gaze. The memory was still playing over and over in her mind, and she had to clench her teeth, afraid, for a moment, that she was going to be sick.

She'd never condoned rape, but it hadn't strictly bothered her in any greater capacity than other crimes. She knew something had changed - ever since she'd started hunting, she had felt a special sort of hate for men who did such things. It was why she'd risked herself to interfere at the Inn tonight. She just hadn't been able to remember why until now.

 

[LassardLost]

Gray was attuned to Denali as she spoke, and clearly, something ate at her. Beyond the similar response that they had both shared - one of initial despair and self-neglect - there was something else there, something she was keeping.

After listening carefully, Gray leaned in and gave a cautious, gentle embrace - making sure not to squeeze to hard so as to hurt her. "I want you to know that I will always do whatever is within my capacity to be there for you. If we don't stick together, what's the point? I'm here for you." Gray paused, he wasn't sure if he should say what he was about to. He decided it was better to go ahead. He stepped back from her, keeping his hands on her arms and peered into her beautiful dark eyes.

"Denali, I know there's something else there. You don't have to say anything to me about it. But just know that I am here for you whenever you need it. We're never going to be apart - for long - again."

Gray could have also mentioned his own sufferings, but why? It didn't matter now. And besides they were just a memory. What mattered now was that they were together, and now... shit.

Now they had to figure out how to make this work, while Gray was William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders, was his Queen.

 

[slut_in_white]

In all her years, Denali still hadn't really put together the fact that affection and intimacy was meant to be matched with emotional love. In large part, it was because she'd never experienced it. There was no question about how she felt for Gray - he was the only other person in the world like her, as far as she knew. Only he knew her and her life. And he'd been there for her during that terrifying first little while after she'd lost her connection to her master. Though they hadn't had much time together, his steady presence during that formative time was what she credited most for the fact that her mind was still intact.

And yet... she hadn't yet been able to to make the connection between the comfort she felt in being close to him and the fact that, with that closeness, acts of greater intimacy would be something wonderful instead of something she endured with faint discomfort.

And yet, when she thought of Gray with his "Queen" she felt an unpleasant sort of anger aimed not quite at him and not quite at her, but at the space (or lack thereof) between them. "Um. Is your Queen going to be alright with me tagging along with her husband?"

 

[LassardLost]

Gray sighed. She was right. This was going to be complicated.

"Yeah, so... about that." Gray rubbed the back of his head, looking down to the side, thinking. His only goal now was to keep the two of them together for as long as possible. They could, he supposed, kill themselves and re-unite, now that they had set a place to do so, but he couldn't tolerate the idea of losing her right now.

"I guess, the thing you did - hoping to get into a position of power by being married to Kings," as Gray said it he realized how many times Denali must have had to give her body to men she cared nothing for, and a sickening knot tied itself in his stomach. Perhaps this was what she had been so disturbed about before? That would make a lot of sense. He hesitated in continuing, just eyeing Denali for a moment as she stood before him. "I guess, it's different for men. With rare exception, women just don't get that kind of exposure, that kind of power..." Gray felt lousy saying the words. He dropped his tone, "Sorry, I know I don't need to tell you that."

Now Gray was having a hard time getting over imagining Denali, out of sheer necessity, sleeping with king after king in hopes of finding Gray. Suddenly he felt nauseous, and doubled over, holding onto his knees. "Oh shit... sorry." Gray felt a surge of deep sadness overcome him, and he looked up at Denali with tears welling up in his eyes.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry you had to go through all that." And in that moment, Gray found himself hating humanity, hating the way things were, their primitive perspective, their damaging lies of the necessity of patriarchy. He stood up, and touched Denali's cheek. "You're not going to ever have to do that again."

 

[slut_in_white]

Denali thought she knew where he was going when he started talking about how she'd married for power so many times. That's what his queen had done too, in all likelihood.

Only then, he seemed disturbed, and doubled over as if in pain, and she panicked for a moment, wondering if there was something wrong with him. If he died on her now... Well, she supposed she would simply have to go to Cheshire to find him again, but she would hate to have to wait that long. Then he started apologizing, and her eyes went wide.

"I don't understand. Sorry for what? Won't have to do what again?" It never occurred to her that he might be upset that the idea of her having to sleep with countless men in an attempt to find him. She had found it distasteful, but she hadn't hated it - largely because she had never known what it was supposed to feel like. It had been an unpleasant necessity and she'd done it because he was worth finding. If she'd known, if she'd had the pleasure of experiencing sex as it was meant to be experienced, she would have felt sick, too. As it was, she had no idea.

 

[LassardLost]

Gray stood before Denali confused.

"All those men you had to sleep with. Having to give your body to them like that. Wasn't that... difficult? Painful even?"

Even as Gray said it he started to realize. He knew that as an immortal he had a very different perspective. Time had shaken him free from the usual perspectives on women. But that could not be said for the rest of humanity. For the rest of humanity, men ruled the world. And for a female immortal, well, perhaps she would just have to play into that to get where she wanted. Like so many women did.

But how did that make it any better for Denali? That he still couldn't wrap his mind around; and so the question hung.

 

[slut_in_white]

Denali still wasn't sure what Gray was getting at, but she was starting to understand that the way she looked at intimacy was skewed in some way. Otherwise, why would he be confused?

"Painful?" she repeated. "Some of them could be rough or cruel, and it act was physically painful in those cases, yes. Most of the time it was simply... uncomfortable. Is that not how it is?" She frowned, looking uncertain. "Is it not true that women must simply endure for the sake of child-bearing?"

She tilted her head, trying to put together the puzzle of Gray's confusion. "I have seen that men general seem to enjoy the act, but in all my years, and in all those men, I never enjoyed it myself. Was I supposed to?"

 

[LassardLost]

Was I supposed to?

The question certainly gave Gray pause. It should have occurred to him that during her time under the yolk of her former master she would not have known anything about the pleasures of intimacy, either physical or emotional. And then after that, what would she have experienced of it? Clearly, she had not bonded emotionally to any of the kings she had been with, and, coupled with no understanding that the sexual act was actually supposed to be intensely pleasurable... she had never experienced it. She had no way to understand it.

"Uh... Right." Gray let out as he thought about what he should say to such a thing. "Well, here's the thing, Denali." He took her hands in his, caressing the back of her hands with his thumbs gently.

"What do you say about this little action I'm doing right now. What do you think about it?"

 

[slut_in_white]

Denali's gaze fell on Gray's hand as he began to rub gentle circles on the back of her hand with his thumb. She still didn't understand - she recognized that physical touch could be intimate and comforting, after all. She'd learned so the night that Gray had comforted her after her nightmares. She just didn't know that the act of sex was supposed to feel like that.

She lifted her gaze to his, a slight blush rising on her cheeks. "It's... comforting. Pleasant. Warm. And..." She paused, struggling to find the right words. "It's not enough, exactly. Like, a tiny taste of something that leaves me wanting more. Like this." She stood, and pulled him into a gentle embrace, being careful of her injuries. Her head came to rest against his chest and she shut her eyes, listening to his heartbeat. "Like this," she repeated, sounding relaxed and a little tired.

 

[LassardLost]

Gray took Denali into him, wrapping his arms, slowly, around her. He ran his fingers run through her hair, cradling her against his chest.

"Now, think about how you're with someone who will never hurt you, and who only wants good for you. That he's the only one who knows who you really are, and you're the only one who knows who he really is." Gray spoke softly. He had given up fantasizing about this moment, their moment of meeting after all these years.

"And what about this, how does this feel to you?" Gray gently touched Denali's cheek, caressing with his thumb.

 

[slut_in_white]

Now, think about how you're with someone who will never hurt you, and who only wants good for you. That he's the only one who knows who you really are, and you're the only one who knows who he really is.

Denali looked up at him. "Think about it? Why? I don't need to think about it to know, deeply, how true it is." She reached up, wincing momentarily as the motion caused a jolt of pain in her ribs, and echoed the way he was caressing her cheek with her own hand against his. "Do you truly think I would have fallen into such despair at your loss otherwise? Do you think I would have willingly spent a thousand years searching for you if I didn't?"

She'd never admitted, aloud, even to herself, how long it had been. It had been a thought she'd avoided studiously, because it brought with it a crushing darkness. But not anymore. Not now that he was here, with her.

And what about this, how does this feel to you?

Denali opened her mouth to answer, but stopped, a look of confusion flickering across her face. "I..." She stopped, her gaze dropping from his eyes to his lips. "It's strange. I think I want to kiss you. Is that? Strange, I mean?" She'd never really desired to kiss someone before. She'd kissed and been kissed, but it had never been something she'd wanted. She'd always taken it to be a social symbol, rather than something that people truly wanted to do. But now, with her lips tingling slightly and parting in anticipation, she was beginning to finally understand.

 

[LassardLost]

Gray held Denali in his embrace, and touched his nose against hers, looking into her eyes.

"It's not strange." Gray whispered, just as he softly pressed his lips against Denali's, kissing her, slowly, at first tentatively but when as she kissed back, Gray poured himself into it, into their connection. All those hundreds of months, years, he had been searching for her, needing to be with her again, wanting her with him, poured into her through his kiss.

When they stopped, Gray smiled, gazing into Denali's eyes. "And that? What was that like for you?"

 

[slut_in_white]

Denali had never experienced a kiss like this. She gasped into his mouth and poured herself into the kiss. It set her ablaze, made her blood sing, and suddenly, she understood why people occasionally did such stupid things for desire. There was little in the world that mattered more than her incredible want. She clung to him, drinking him in, pressing her body tight against his.

Only, once they broke the kiss, Denali began panting from breathlessness, and nearly collapsed from the pain of having to breathe so hard with a cracked or possibly even broken rib. She groaned, catching herself on Gray's shoulder and stumbling while her other hand went to touch the source of the pain. "Sh-shit..." she hissed, sitting back down. She began to laugh, then, but that just ended up devolving into more pained sounds. "Gods above, I've never actually stayed injured like this before. Fuck! How do humans deal with this?" She looked up at him, frowning. "I want you, but I can't..." She had to stop, inhaling sharply as some subtle motion sent another bout of pain cascading through her body. "I can't even kiss you without collapsing. Ah..."

 

[LassardLost]

Gray himself grimaced when he saw Denali barely able to laugh or move in certain ways without cringing in pain. He helped her sit down carefully on a chair.

"Yeah," he sighed, "you gotta get healed up. Thing is, I think this rib problem of yours is just going to take time. Humans say 'what doesn't kill you makes you makes you stronger'. I think there's probably some truth to that. But to be honest, if it weren't for the fact that I don't want to be separate you again, I'd rather just say, 'Kill yourself, it's a fresh start'."

Gray chuckled, "Doesn't have the same ring to it though." Gray walked over to another table in his tent and poured some water for Denali. "Here."

The tent flap was suddenly pulled up, and the Captain walked in. "Your Highness."

"Yes, Captain."

"Her Majesty seeks your audience."

Fuck. Gray had forgotten that he'd been married for several years now.

"Inform the Queen that I will visit her quarters in 30 minutes."

"Yes, Sire." The Captain nodded, bowed politely and took leave.

"Shit." Gray ran his fingers through his hair. "We've gotta figure out how I can get out of this situation without being hanged, jailed or killed, and you and I can still stay together."

 

[slut_in_white]

Denali watched Gray pace around the room, looking upset. She furrowed her brow, not quite certain why he was so upset.

"Could you not just... take a mistress?" Several of her previous husbands had done so, especially when they'd discovered that she was cold towards them.

A new though occurred to her and she grimaced. It left a bad taste in her mouth. "Or... Does she love you? Do you love her?"

 

[LassardLost]

"Love her? No! Oh no not at all. I mean, she's pleasant and all but no - my thing with her has always been because I needed it for legitimacy. I've been trying to make excuses to not go to bed with her too much because I know they want us to produce children."

In all honesty, Gray had never considered having a mistress. There were, of course many men, and certainly many kings who had done so.

"But, I guess you're right. I could have a mistress. We'd just have to keep it quiet obviously."

Gray thought for a moment. "Or, we could just sneak away." Some more quiet thought. " The only problem with that is that a lot of people actually do depend on me. I haven't been a complete jackass like a lot of the other Kings I've seen in history, and I would worry that people might suffer if the king ups and leaves. Unless... I train someone in my stead, and I think they're ready..."

Graphics snapped his fingers in the air, a grin slowly spreading over his face, "we're gone."

 

[slut_in_white]

A smile spread over Denali's face at the thought. "Yes. That sounds perfect." She paused, blushing, and shifted uncomfortably, wincing as the motion sent yet another bolt of pain through her chest.

"Ha. Um. Is it... really bad that I kind of don't want you to go to see her?" She squirmed, looking ashamed. She was unaccustomed to the feeling of jealousy. It felt slimy, dirty, like she mistrusted him for no reason. "I'm sorry, that was foolish of me to say."

 

[LassardLost]

Gray started putting his armor back on before you went outside. As he Don his helmet, he smiled broadly and Denali.

"That, my dear Denali, is called jealousy." Gray fastener the strap under his chin. " in the little bit of it is probably healthy. But it's the kind of thing that no matter how much I tell you that you don't need to worry about anything, it'll still probably always be there - as long as there is another woman involved. It'd be the same for me if the roles were switched."

Gray had finished putting on his armor, and now he took a few steps to close the gap between himself and Denali. He leaned in and whispered in her ear, "and really, you have nothing to worry about." With that he kissed her on her cheek and turned To go. Before he could reach the entrance however, the tent flap opened, and a beautiful blonde woman in her thirties, dressed in an excessively flowing and highly ornamented forest green dress, stepped through the threshold. As she looked from Gray to Denali and back to Gray again, her eyes danced from soft... to cold as ice.

"Your Majesty," she said with a courtesy, though her tone was anything but submissive.