Content warning:

Violent sex. Lyra 'thinks' she consents to it. But... Power dynamics, the threats of violence, and coercion can and do mark this as an assault.

Also, a threat of an assault at the end of the chapter which is implied to have been carried out between this one and the next.

As my songs ends, the pain all fades. Dreamer’s Tits It feels so good to sing without the curse’s sting! Like… I haven’t been able to breathe since the last time I was with her.

I open my eyes, give Thendra a tired smile. “Thanks.”

She stands across the room from me. I’m sitting at the old small table while she leans against the desk.

“Tell me of your time with the Fae.” She purrs, still… restrained. Unsure. “And why you are returned now.”

I lay an elbow on the table. “It’s… a bit of a long story. I’m actually wondering if you’ve… um…”

Her eyes remain locked on mine, I look away. “Have you seen any other Fae? I… I kind of need to–”

A low growl stops me. “Only the one, they led us from those twisting halls and told me they stole you away. That was weeks ago, right after your… disappearance with that cursed place.”

I nod. “Usete. My… they’re my sibling. They wanted to help fix my eh… Stirring.”

She tilts her head, the word means nothing to her. So I raise up one of my blackened hands. “It’s… hard to explain. It’s why they cast me out all those years ago. But… They wanted to help now. They… I got them to promise, in song, to let me come back when it was done.”

A long pause.

“Did they?” She finally asks.

It’s my turn to be confused. “Huh?”

“Help?” Tone flat. Something… something is bothering her.

“Obviously not.” I sigh. “But… I need you to promise to not hurt Usete. They… They don’t like you anymore than you like them, but they won’t betray me again. And… Thendra, they saved me. From the Matron.”

There was a rising of anger at my demand. But that last part… That makes her jerk, shifting her weight off the desk completely. “Explain.”

I clutch at this redirection of anger. Let the painful memories flow like water. “During your… fight. After I fell. Voe and Zitra found me. They… They hurt me. Had me bound up by some snake eye thing.”

She isn’t growling… yet. But I can feel the vibrations in her chest beginning to gather.

“The Matron thought you betrayed her, but… I told her you didn’t.” I shiver at the memories, “She… She believed me. I think she can… like… read minds or at least detect lies.” I wrap my arms around myself, fight to avoid tainting this reunion any more with tears. “Then she… offered to take me from you. Wanted to break our Lament and have me place a new one. For her.”

That does get a growl, almost a wordless snarl.

“I told her no. And she…” I close my eyes. “She had the snake thing start to strangle me. Then… Voe she… she started to… to eat my soul as it killed me.”

Fingers take my chin, pull my face up. I open my eyes, look up to see she’s crossed the distance and is now standing over me.

“I’m sorry, my Lyra.” She purrs. Actual sadness seems to even touch her eyes with those words.

“I… Usete saved me.” I whisper, “When… and they took care of me. Healed me. But, I made them promise to free you and let me come back.”

Thendra nods. “Going forward, I will consider them a… neutral party. Neither friend nor prey.”

“That’s not… Thendra that’s not good enough!” I reach up to cradle her wrist. “I need your help to make sure they’re safe, and another Fae that’s come to deal with the Matron’s Rorliras shell thing.”

Annoyance, rising to anger and worse things at my demand.

“Usete and… and another Fae. She’s–” In my panic, I decide to… embellish. “They mentioned something about it being really dangerous. Not just to the Matron, but the entire city! Said it’ll… like… turn inside out or something!”

She considers this. I can see her tilting away from the anger. Considering… Need to push this! Push her away from that.

“Thendra.” I whisper, holding up my newly healed hand. “Even if they try to take me back, I can riftwalk now. I will push through Watcher, Fae, and this Dreamer’s Lament to come back to you.”

A shadow of… something. Not worry, but… close.

“Freedom truly isn’t something you crave?” She purrs, “Even after your time back within the Fae-Wood?”

I can’t look away, can’t hide the flashes of joy and sadness at the time spent with my mother, Usete, with… Awnya. How much I–

“It doesn’t matter,” I squeeze her wrist tighter. “The Matron was lying. Not even the Fae can break my promises to you. Even if I would have let them try. My songs, and soul, are yours.”

That does it, and all things shift to a satisfaction. A predatory grin shows me her teeth.

“The Matron betrayed me and mine. She should have simply kept you safe until my return.” She growls, “I warned her, made clear to her spawn what would come of this.”

“So... You’ll–”

“I will rip each of her eyes free from their stalks and let my Reavers engorge themselves on her soulfire.” She releases my chin, turns to begin heading toward the door.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

I shiver at that, can’t help but…

“Lyra.” I jerk up to see her glancing back at me from the doorway. “Come.”

I follow her, and below the Reavers have already begun to gather. It’s… odd, to stand among them again, especially dressed in my Fae tunic and robes.

She’s taken to using their wonderful language again, and I do understand most of it, but… its beauty is a dark thing as she purrs softly to them. I watch as they all grow very quiet and… enraged? No, that’s anticipation. Hunger. She is promising them a great feast of soulfire and bounty, of the sweet reward of vengeance delivered. They are looking forward to this.

“We’ll leave only husks to tell of our work.” She finishes.

There’s a pause, I twist around, touch her arm. She glances down to meet my gaze.

I don’t ask, not aloud. Just… need to make sure.

She sighs through a growl, then adds…

“There are Fae whose purposes align with ours flitting about, they are not to be harmed.”

That gets a few surprised looks, mostly at me. But no one challenges her.

I whisper so quietly only she should be able to hear. Barely even mouthing, “Thank you.” As I rest my head into one of her big solid arms.

“The Matron expects us back in the morning for another excursion into the Rorliras.” Bulderii speaks from her place leaning against a wall. “A strike then would be the most opportune. If we appear in force any other time she’ll know our intentions before we can enter her home.”

Thendra nods.

“Um… Could I just… Riftwalk us in?” I ask, more to myself. Anxious worry at even another night of not knowing if my family and lover are safe.

A pause, and I wince internally. Worried I’ve broken Thendra’s commands and overstepped my–

“Her estate is warded against Riftwalks from beyond its walls.” Thendra purrs, moves her hand to lay on my head. “But it’ll be an option for exit if needed.”

I sigh, lean into her touch. Even the mild approval warms me. It seems an eternity of planning and scheming passes, but soon everyone is breaking apart to rest for the night, and Thendra and I are back in her chambers. I find myself frozen in the middle of the room just… staring at the bed. I can feel her behind me, radiating heat and that intoxicating spiced smell.

“Can I ask you something?” I whisper.

She makes a low… sound. A yes, but with a warning that she’s not interested in talking right now.

“When I was with the Fae, I… I was able to… um…”

The purr from her shifts, turns into something… darker. I shiver under the sound, feeling my resolve wither under its weight. I nearly flinch. Can’t get the words out. End up standing in silence as a few moments pass.

“Your question?” She purrs.

“N… Nothing. Nevermind!” Turning I look up to meet her Jade eyes. I see the start of anger, an annoyance that I would even begin to think such stupid thoughts. I sigh, lost in… her. In the rising promises in those eyes. “It doesn’t matter.”

With a purr of approval her hand moves to cradle my cheek and neck. I lean into her warmth, wrap my hands around her wrist.

“I… I missed you.” I nearly whimper. “So much.”

A low rumble of hunger and desire rolls out from her chest, down her arm, and fills me.

“Can– can we…” I begin to ask. Memories of Amwella dances shared with my Fae lover flashing in my mind.

But Thendra is already leaning down to wrap arms around me, pulling my lips to hers. Her breath fills me, hot and spicy. During a pause I make the mistake of nibbling on her lower lip. Angry hunger and reckless fury are unleashed then as she pulls me closer. It hurts, I feel blood dribble down my chin as a tooth cuts my lip and tongue. But... that just makes my heart thunder and my head swim with her.

With that… Lost are all thoughts and desires for the slow sweet indulgences of Fae sex.

“Sing.” She purrs as a hand moves down, fingers wrap around and begin to wander over me.

The first notes I sing are all joy and hunger. That… oh Dreamer’s Tits that's–

Jerking my head back she sinks teeth into my neck, not… not deep, and I feel her tongue slide over the fresh wounds as the other hand tears through my Fae tunic to grip at my breasts. The song shifts, still arousal, but the harmony becomes tinted with the pain. But I’m too lost in her warmth and fury… my thoughts just melt deeper into the song. I grip at her hair, trying to pull myself closer. I don’t recall telling my body to hike a leg up around hers, but… there it goes.

Then she’s lifting me, basically tackling me forward into the bed. I would have lost the song if she’d not done this same thing in the past. I can’t stop a small giggle from bubbling into the melodies mixture. She only responds by trailing teeth across flesh toward my collarbone.

I end up hissing into the song as she bites down way harder than she’s ever done. I pull on her harder, claw at her scalp and shoulders. But… she’s just so much bigger than me, and even my talons digging into flesh can't make her slow. She growls, but it’s… not a warning. Just… an expression of her hungers.

So… I dig deeper, begin to draw blood. She’ll stop me if she doesn’t like it.

Thendra answers by moving a hand down to my leg while her teeth and tongue begin to chew on a breast. After tearing the remains of my Fae cloths away she bends the leg, pinning it to my chest and side, and moves both hands to pin my other leg in the same way.

I squirm amidst the lilting harmony of desire and pain and helplessness as my talons rake at her. All while the heat of her thrums between my legs. Dreamer’s Tits I missed this! Missed her. Longed for the feeling of her wanting me for weeks and weeks and–

Then she’s finally moving, trailing her bloody tongue along my skin. Keeping my legs pinned, Thendra drags her mouth over and around the parts my song is begging her to go to. Pleading her to just… take a Dreamer Fucking Bite already!!!

Suddenly she’s done teasing, and is shoving her tongue as deep as it’ll go as teeth graze across burning skin. I jerk at the mild pain, but… she knows my body too well, knows exactly where to press and what to twist against. Song jitters and sinks into the warm anticipation at eventual–

Dreamer’s Tits the orgasm hits so hard, sending me into squirming twitching jerks. I almost lose the song as my throat fills with moans of such pleasure at the sensations.

Her writhing sharp toothed Amwella snaps into focus like lightning. Coils around my core, wraps about it, squeezes with a tendril laden with razors before slicing into me. Pain. Cold and deep mixes with the shhivering pleasure of the climax as fresh soulfire weeps from my core.

I can’t help but let out a hiccupping little cry at the suddenness of it, so used to the soft and warm melting of Fae sex that I’d… well not forgotten. But… not been ready for the pain of it. But... It's wonderful, and I quickly let my mind drown in it along with the pleasure.

Then she drops my legs and commands me to stop singing as my body is still twitching and curling in on itself. My breath is gasping and trembling with the flood of pain and pleasure. Thendra moves to hover over me, hot spiced breath washing down over my face. Waiting for me to still.

“Dreamer’s Tits.” I huff.

She growls. “You fed.”

Cold worry cuts through the pleasure and warmth at her words. I open my eyes, notice… a… a type of anger settle on her. It wasn’t a question.

“Once… I would be annoyed. Twice… I’d warn you, but gently.” A long pause as she bores jade eyes into mine. “But your soul is drowned in another’s Amwella, Lyra.”

Awnya? She’s… Why is she so angry about…?

A hand trails toward my hair, coils through and around it like a snake.

I reach up to touch her face. “What does it matter?”

Her other hand snaps up to grip my wrist, holding it between us. “Your soul sings a song of agony and pain that is perfect. But you’ve begun to smother it with a lesser melody.”

Heart caught between the warmth of my soul being called perfect, and fear of her rising anger, I stammer. “I… I didn’t know!”

Her unseen hand grips my hair, hard. But I do see a flicker of… something… something softer beneath the anger.

“What can I do?" I touch the hand that grips mine. "To… to fix my Amwella for you?”

The words seem to give her pause, cool the flames.

“Why?” She growls.

“H– huh?”

“Did some Fae try to change your Amwella by infusing it with their own?”

“No!” I nearly yelp. “I… it was just… um… I spent most of the time there healing… with… with… family. But… then… I met someone. And I…”

Betrayed you.

She loosens the grip on my hair enough for me to turn away a bit, but she doesn’t move, just… bears down on me.

“It was just sex. But… very gentle. Nothing like what you do.” I whisper. “I didn’t think it would change anything.”

She sighs, not in relief like I was hoping for, but in frustration.

“I’m sorry.” I glance back at her as the anger melts into annoyance.

“You are so young and very stupid.” She purrs. “I’m going to ravage you for this.”

My heart flutters in worry and fear and… and anticipation. I lean it as hard as I can into the last.

“I mean…” I let a smile touch my lips at that. Hoping… hoping… “I kinda hoped you’d want to go a few more times at least.”

“No, Lyra. I’m going to drag every sliver of this foreign blight from your soul. Now. Tonight.” Thendra moves, pressing lips to my ear, and growls. “It is going to hurt.”

I can’t stop the fear and… and guilt from flooding through me.

Guilt at betraying Thendra before.

Guilt at betraying Awnya now.

I’m so stupid. I… I deserve whatever pain she levels at me here. I close my eyes for a moment, take a breath to steady myself. Awnya… I’ll make sure she’s safe. Then… then she can find someone better. Someone less broken.

“Okay, I won’t resist.” I shiver and wrap arms and wrists around Thendra’s neck, trying to give her the most serious look I can manage. “As long as you keep your promises.”

A pause.

“Pleasure, and purpose.” She murmurs. Jade eyes brim with understanding… and hunger.

Deep Breath.

I nod, “Then I’m yours, Always and Forever. Or… at least till the wretched dream ends.”