146: First Worst Dread – Seven
The entertainment provided was a mixed bag of musical acts, dramatic monologues and comedy sets, feats of skill, and speeches by officials involved with the Lacertus government. The food was exceptional, none of it fabricated, having all been imported fresh specifically for the evening, a fleet of chefs from multiple worlds cooking everything to perfection. The wine selection, as Rhea had hoped, was as high end as someone of Labhi's financial bracket should be able to provide. The guests were lively but polite, conversations omnipresent as a low murmur and nothing more. All in all, it was a pleasant evening, no sign of trouble on the horizon.
That was because trouble was already there, seated amongst them.
As the hours drew on, Rhea and Malakh grew increasingly flirty with one another, preformatively so. Touches would linger, gazes grew heated, and as the night went on, it became clear to everyone nearby that the tension between these two would be snapping sooner than later.
So it was, when the dinner entertainment came to an end, and the after dinner drinks were drained, no one was shocked when these two stumbled away from their table, hands all over each other and giggling knowingly, making some excuse about needing to use the bathroom before they got down on the dance floor. The patrolling guards rolled their eyes as the couple got caught in the doorway to one of the private, single occupancy bathrooms that were scattered along this wing of the mansion, too caught up in their ardour for one another, in the fervid kiss they shared, to properly close the door before they stumbled into each other's arms.
"There's probably going to be more of those in the coming hours," one of the guards said to another, newer guard they were patrolling with, "Some of these races can't keep their hands off each other."
Inside the bathroom, however, it was an entirely different story.
Pulling away from one another, Rhea and Malakh were immediately in work mode, Viatrix fading into view beside them.
VIATRIX: Looks like no one thinks there's going to be anything but sex going on in here.
RHEA: Good, we don't need anyone snooping.
MALAKH: Got my gear?
Viatrix hovered over to her, a panel in the side of her drone sliding open. Reaching into it, Malakh pulled out the stealth device she'd developed for their job on Trowsorab, latching it around her neck before pulling out her Longan and slipping it onto her face.
MALAKH: Try not to have too much fun without me.
RHEA: As if I ever do.
The look Malakh shot her was a tender thing, and she leaned up enough to place a brief, chaste kiss against her wife's lips.
MALAKH: See you soon enough.
The faintest metallic click rang out through the room as Viatrix removed the cover on the vent in the ceiling, Rhea taking it as she passed it off. With one last look, Malakh clambered onto the top of Viatrix's drone and the pair of them vanished from view.
RHEA: They're in the vents. No complications so far.
PRYSEIA: Good, no one appears to be suspicious on this end. Let us know if you need assistance, otherwise I look forward to the arrival of our allies.
RHEA: Copy that.
Reaching into her cleavage, Rhea pulled out her small music playing device, the contraption unassuming enough to have made it through security without issue. For the sake of authenticity, she and Malakh had worked on another layer to keep their ruse in the bathroom from being more deeply scrutinized. A few twists and a recording they'd made the previous night began to play - the two of them very loudly getting it on.
Setting it down on the gold veined white marble of the counter top surrounding the sink, Rhea posted up against the far wall, arms crossed as she waited for Malakh and Viatrix to make good on their sabotage. She tried to keep her thoughts on the mission they were currently in the middle of, but it was a difficult task to focus on when the only sounds she could hear were the desperate, breathless moans that had fallen out of herself and Malakh the night before, and the slick noises of them chasing each other to higher and higher peaks. When a particularly wrecked cry broke out of the speaker, Rhea had to bite her own lip, the memory of what had caused it the night before replaying with perfect clarity in her mind. She only lasted a few more seconds before she hiked up her dress and sat herself on the toilet, panties around her ankles and a hand between her thighs. Worked up as she was, she knew she wouldn't last long. By the time the others were back, she'd be all sorted, and they'd be none the wiser.
At least one of them would be authentically wrecked by the time they made it out of the bathroom. This was all for the sake of the ruse, after all.
As Rhea and Malakh made their way loudly and obviously to the bathroom, the rest of their party stood, heading out of the dining room with the rest of the crowd. Some were peeling off to the more private rooms for some quiet conversation, while others headed straight for the ballroom.
Elytra and Nevara headed off for the former, and Pryseia stepped forward to follow them, but then V'tala's hand was at the small of her back, Pryseia turning to her without thought as the other woman whispered, "Dance with me."
"Of course." Was out of her own mouth an instant later, no part of her resisting as V'tala looped her arm more firmly around her waist, leading her on to the ballroom.
She took a deep breath, trying to will her traitorous heart into a steadier rhythm, but all it did was fill her lungs with the perfume V'tala was wearing, and Pryseia very nearly lost her mind.
She had to stop this reckless train of thought. This was protectiveness brought on by the fact that Pryseia had very nearly been killed the last time they been surrounded by aliens, nothing more. V'tala had said it herself, she wouldn't allow that to happen again. Their mission with Storlayacas was too important to jeopardize at this juncture, so close to finding the means of locating the Omega as they were. This was nothing more than that, no matter what Pryseia's heart might wish for.
A waltz was already being played by the live orchestra when they entered the ballroom, V'tala leading her through the crowd to where dancers were properly getting into the swing of things. Before they had a chance to get too far through the throng, text appeared before both of their sights.
RHEA: They're in the vents. No complications so far.
V'tala shot her a look at that, some of the tension in her shoulders relaxing, and Pryseia found her own easing in response.
PRYSEIA: Good, no one appears to be suspicious on this end. Let us know if you need assistance, otherwise I look forward to the arrival of our allies.
RHEA: Copy that.
"They're going to miss all the fun." V'tala said quietly, turning and holding a hand out.
Pryseia took it and stepped forward, her other hand coming to rest on V'tala's shoulder, the other woman's hand settling against her waist, pulling her closer as she pulled her into a dance. It was only the decades of having to keep her reactions under lock and key while under Thalatte control that prevented Pryseia from doing more than just stepping forward, her eyes momentarily flickering down to V'tala's lips before she said, "I do believe they're getting up to a different form of amusement."
V'tala was already looking at her when Pryseia met her eyes, her pupils blown and jaw clenched. She looked like she wanted her, and Pryseia wouldn't allow herself the delusion. She stepped backwards, bringing V'tala with her into the current of dancers swirling around them, and tried to push every other thought from her mind but the rhythm of the music. Anything else was dangerous territory she dare not tread.
Malakh was grateful that, while the Lacertus may have been shorter in stature than most of the other races in the galaxy, their architecture often reflecting this, that the HVAC system within Chateau Tekhuniz was installed to industry standard dimensions.
Curled around Viatrix's drone as she was, they were making good time through the twists and turns of the system, their destination growing closer with every second.
VIATRIX: Oh, I think Elytra's plan of getting Pryseia and V'tala together might actually be working! I'm tapped into the security feed, and the pair of them are in the ballroom, and they may as well be the only ones there, the way they're staring into each other's eyes!
Malakh had to bite back a sigh of relief at that, instead tapping gently against the shell of the drone as she relayed her thoughts.
MALAKH: I'm so glad! They'll be good for each other, once they finally get there. I really hope this'll be enough to get V'tala to make a move, because knowing Pryseia as I do, I just know that she'd rather pine forever than force her feelings onto someone who she thinks won't reciprocate them.
VIATRIX: With the way that V'tala is looking at her, I can't imagine that Pryseia wouldn't clue into the fact that she's as head over heels for her as she is for V'tala.
MALAKH: Trust me, when it comes to something that she'd consider a frivolous indulgence for herself, Pryseia will just deny, deny, deny! Ugh, she could have V'tala buried inside her, sobbing "I love you"s into her skin, and Pryseia would still try to convince herself that it doesn't mean what she wants it to mean.
VIATRIX: Well she better NOT think that! If she does, I think we're going to have to go back on our noninterference policy and be a little more proactive in getting them together!
MALAKH: I raise my hand in favour of that!
The vent before them branched off into three different directions, and Viatrix guided them down the left hand path, their destination almost in reach. All too soon they arrived at another vent, and Malakh scooched herself a little more forward over the drone, holding the vent in place while Viatrix carefully and quietly got the screws out of it. With the faintest of ticks, the vent was freed, and Malakh carefully set it off to the side, Viatrix bringing them down into an empty hall.
The lights were dim, a pale glow meant to mimic moonlight, any guards that may have normally been stationed there off closer to where all the guests were gathered. The lacertus-height hall to the security room was easy enough to traverse with Malakh perched on Viatrix's drone as she was, the hall opening up into a wider room, and all the security measures therein.
Viatrix hovered over to where the blueprints the pirates had provided about the place indicated the monitoring system for the room was located, and sure enough, there it was. Tapping into the camera system, it took Malakh the work of a moment to find the subroutine responsible for transmitting the feed, and Viatrix had a short clip of the empty room recorded and stitched into the transmission, set to loop for the remainder of the day, all in the span of seconds. Invisible though they were, they still weren't going to take any chances.
With that taken care of, Viatrix brought them down to the ground, Malakh hopping off and heading over to one console, while Viatrix made for another. The security on the mansion was a complicated system, rolling redundancies that would take the both of them to wrangle into submission, and so they silently got to work.
Masked by the stealth device, Malakh was free to link her Longan into the system without it setting anything off, and she tore through the code she found, Viatrix keeping everything else digitally off her back. In minutes, they snuck in a new bit of code of their own, a time delayed release that would have everything keeping the pirates at bay shutting off long enough for the theft to go down. Hopping back up onto Viatrix's drone, the pair of them returned to their open vent, sealing it into place behind them as they headed back to Rhea.
MALAKH: We're getting close, and the system should be shutting off shortly.
RHEA: Kind of a bummer that we missed out on that dancing. We'll have to do some of our own later to make up for it.
MALAKH: Oh I'm gonna have you in my arms soon enough, don't doubt that.
When the pair of them descended down the vent, Rhea was at the mirror, dress and hair in the process of being rumpled, her makeup half smudged enough to look like she'd hastily fixed it, one of the complementary washcloths in the bathroom in hand as she worked to make it look like she'd been as fucked to within an inch of her life as their recording from last night sounded. Hopping off of Viatrix, Malakh pulled off her stealth device and her Longan, messing up her own appearance to help sell the illusion, Viatrix herself reattaching the grate to the bathroom vent. When she hovered down, sliding her panel aside so Malakh could stow her gear once again, a deep, resonating clunk sounded from deeper in the mansion, and then the power completely shut down.
Rhea shut off the recording, tucking the device back in her cleavage as she breathlessly asked, "Baby, what was that?"
"Power's out?" Malakh heaved, as if she wasn't directly responsible for that, "Or maybe we've been in here a little too long."
From outside the door, they could hear the distant murmur of panic rising - not enough to start a riot, but enough to know that people were getting concerned. Hastily washing up and doing one last check to see if they looked dishevelled enough, they nodded for Viatrix to vanish and then headed out of the bathroom together.
One of the guards was walking down the hall, other couples peeling out of the bathrooms behind gim when ge saw them emerging and said, "We're asking guests to remain calm and make their way to the main ballroom. There's been a hiccup in our power system, but we'll have it sorted in no time.
"Of course, thank you so much." Rhea said, hanging in the open doorway long enough for Viatrix to slip through unseen, Malakh tugging her along a moment later, the pair of them giggling to one another, purely for show. They'd hardly made it three steps before a rending, grinding noise echoed out from the exterior of the mansion, and screaming started from the ballroom.
VIATRIX: Slake and her pirates are here! And they aren't going for any kind of vault.
As the noises from outside grew louder, Malakh and Rhea clung to one another, putting on the appearance that they were as terrified as the other people surrounding them, but their comms channel was a different story.
MALAKH: What do you mean they aren't going for the vault!?
VIATRIX: All those ships we saw are here, and even more, and they're all coming down to snatch up the disabled defence turrets. I've got the sneaking suspicion that they weren't planning on raiding the vault at all.
RHEA: Well so long as they hold up their end of the bargain and hand over the scanner, I don't give a shit what they're here to steal. Let's regroup and get the hell out of here so we can do just that.
Pryseia swore that she hadn't had that much to drink, just a glass of red to accompany dinner, but here, in V'tala's arms, it felt like the axis of the moon was revolving around the other woman.
This was dangerous. She shouldn't want like this.
V'tala guided her effortlessly through the throng, matching her move for move, never faltering, never wavering, her gaze as steady as the hand at the small of her back, pressing her closer than was strictly necessary.
This couldn't mean what Pryseia wanted it to mean, this was just watchfulness, keeping her close while surrounded on all sides by potential enemies. This couldn't mean that V'tala wanted her as much as she wanted V'tala. It couldn't.
Because if it did…
Pryseia killed the thought before it could even form. This was neither the time nor the place, their mission still underway, while this desperate longing boiling within her had her reading into things that couldn't be there.
She had to stop paying attention to the solid press of V'tala's torso against her own, the subtle shifting of the muscles beneath her palm, to the way V'tala kept in step with her as if they'd been dancing together like this their entire lives.
She had to stop looking at her lips, stop imagining what it would be like to kiss V'tala.
Had to stop catching her eye every time she did, because she was certain that if she didn't, V'tala was going to kiss her.
And she couldn't force V'tala into doing something she didn't want of her own free will.
She wouldn't.
"Pryseia."
V'tala's voice was low, quiet, meant only for her, and Pryseia's heart caught in her throat, because her eyes had once again caught on the other woman's lips.
When she forced them away, forced them up to V'tala's eyes, it was to find that they were completely blown, an intent heat behind them that Pryseia simply couldn't rationalize away.
V'tala wanted to kiss her.
V'tala wanted her.
Thought fled Pryseia then, excuses and rationale blasted away under the ardour of V'tala's gaze, and before she could talk herself out of it, she was leaning forward into the other woman's space.
And then the power went out.
The orchestra and the dancers stumbled to a halt, and V'tala's hand was on her back, holding her close while she scanned for danger over Pryseia's shoulder, Pryseia doing the same for her.
Malakh and Viatrix had finished their work, and soon enough the pirates would arrive to do theirs.
"Everyone, please remain calm!" One of the guards that had been mingling along the perimeter of the dance floor called out as jhe mounted the platform where the orchestra sat, "We've recently upgraded some of the systems in the Chateau - hiccups are to be expected with this sort of thing."
Pryseia didn't need Elytra's empathic abilities to know a lie when she heard it, even if she hadn't known the true source of this disturbance. But the excuse eased the worries of some in the crowd, a smattering of knowing laughter breaking out among them.
Which abruptly turned to screaming when the rumbling started.
V'tala caught her eye at that, her confusion writ large, mirroring Pryseia's own.
VIATRIX: Slake and her pirates are here! And they aren't going for any kind of vault.
MALAKH: What do you mean they aren't going for the vault!?
VIATRIX: All those ships we saw are here, and even more, and they're all coming down to snatch up the disabled defence turrets. I've got the sneaking suspicion that they weren't planning on raiding the vault at all.
RHEA: Well so long as they hold up their end of the bargain and hand over the scanner, I don't give a shit what they're here to steal. Let's regroup and get the hell out of here so we can do just that.
PRYSEIA: I agree. We need to get out of here now.
ELYTRA: The guards in the private rooms are keeping us all in place. Sounds like they're trying to prevent a riot more than they are suspicious of us.
PRYSEIA: So be it. Do nothing to draw attention to yourselves, play the part of scared party guests and nothing more. We can't afford their eyes on us at this time.
Confirmation from the others came over the comms then, before the text overlaying her vision faded away. Shame followed hot in its wake.
Pryseia had nearly forced herself on V'tala. This was inexcusable. She would not allow this sort of mistake to happen ever again.
V'tala's arm was still around her waist, but they'd moved slightly apart, the both of them scanning the crowd for potential threats. The noises from outside was tapering off, the crunch of foundations being torn apart receding as engines spun up to take their haul away. More guards were entering the room, calling the guests to order, directing those rational enough to listen to follow them out into the hall. V'tala caught her eye at that, and they fell into step behind those leaving. The closer it got them to the others, the better.
Pryseia's misstep, at least, hadn't damaged their efficiency as a team. She would never forgive herself if it had. She wouldn't allow for a repeat of this impropriety ever again.
When the dust had settled, it was found that the pirates had made off with every single one of the defence turrets that Labhi had installed around Chateau Tekhuniz, as well as several caches of other assorted weapons that had been stored on the property. Sabotage had been deemed the culprit for the security system coming down, suspicions immediately falling on a Necupole arms dealer who had tried to drum up their own business, citing that Labhi was now unable to make good on jis. Happy to let someone else take the blame, the crew of the Pelekys had blended into the crowd with the other party guests, leaving for their ship the moment they were all given the go ahead.
As the moon of Tekhuniz shrank in the distance, Viatrix piped up, "I've just received coordinates from Slake - she's ready to make good on the deal, she's one subspace jump away."
"Good, please relay the coordinates," Pryseia said, too wired from all that had happened to sit in her throne, "I'd prefer to be out of Lacertus space as soon as possible."
The coordinates set, Nevara had them at their destination in no time at all, one of the claw shaped pirate ships fading into view as it dropped its stealth. Docking protocols were initialized moments later, and flanked by V'tala and Rhea, Pryseia stood at attention in front of one of the cargo access ramps as it lowered between the two ships.
Slake was on the other side when it lowered, flanked by two of her own crew, a crate held between them.
"You've no doubt gathered that we gave you a false target, and I apologize for the ruse, but you don't live long in this line of work by laying all your cards on the table when you're first dealt in." Slake said by way of greeting, motioning her crew mates forward.
They came to a stop just at the threshold of the Pelekys' open hatch, placing the crate gently down and stepping respectfully away. Rhea stepped up to it a moment later, scanner in hand, and she pulled the lid off the crate. One scan was all it took for a ding of confirmation to ring out through the armoury.
"Thank you," Pryseia said as Rhea closed up the crate and hefted it over one shoulder, "This is more important than you realize."
Slake let out a dark laugh at that, her bracelet ticking as she dragged it through her fingers as she said, "I realize more than you know. Something is coming, something beyond ruinous, and I'm now certain that the only thing standing between us and oblivion is you."
"How do you figure?" V'tala demanded, her voice icy, and Slake just spun her bracelet around her finger.
"Sometimes old ways are better than the new. Hyttan technology is certainly proof of that. And the old ways are growing louder, to those that can hear them. We were led to this device, and this device led us to Labhi Bray. We thought it was for jis weapons - we'll need all that we can find to defend ourselves against the coming threat, after all - but I now see it wasn't to Labhi we were led, but to you."
Stunned at this revelation, there was nothing Pryseia or the others could say.
Slipping her bracelet back onto her wrist, Slake crossed both sets of arms across her chest, her crew mates doing the same behind her as she said, "Fortune favour you, Pelekys. You tread a path the likes of us cannot follow."
And with that, the pirates turned and left.
The hatch slid shut, the hiss of depressurization sounding as the docking clamps decoupled, and with the sound of metal on metal, Slake's ship pulled away, jumping to FTL the moment it was clear.
"Everything good down there?" Malakh's voice came over the comms a moment later, and Rhea let out a breathless laugh at the sound of it.
"We're good," her voice was thin as she replied, "We've got the device. And I think we're gonna have to get into tarot or something."
"What?!" Elytra spluttered, and Pryseia could do nothing to stop the disbelieving laugh that escaped her.
What, indeed.
After the events of the day, none of them had the mental capacity to go over the implication of Slake's revelation. The mission was a success, the Omega detecting device was in their possession, and a query into divination could wait until after they'd had a full night's rest. Heading off to their respective bedrooms, they'd bid each other goodnight, all of them fit to crash.
At least, that was what V'tala had assumed once she'd stepped into her room, peeled herself out of her evening wear and thrown herself into the shower. But once she was under the spray, it wasn't Slake's unexpected mystery that filled her thoughts.
All she could picture was that brief, glorious second when Pryseia had been leaning in to kiss her.
Just the thought of it had her feeling like she'd downed one of Rhea's powerful coffees, her hands shaking as she hastily scrubbed herself clean. She couldn't leave things hanging like this, not for one night longer. She had to let Pryseia know exactly how she felt.
She was out of the shower in minutes, hastily towelling off and dressing before her nerve failed her, storming out of her room and coming to a halt before Pryseia's door, tapping the call button the second it was in range. It was a few seconds before it slid open, Pryseia standing there dressed down in her pyjamas, a small wand-like device in one hand and the synthetic skin half peeled off of the scar that bisected her left eye. Pryseia looked stunned to see her, more so when V'tala marched into her room, the door hissing shut in her wake.
"Are you quite alright?" Pryseia asked, stepping forward as V'tala paced a short circuit across her bedroom floor, tossing the device she carried onto a nearby shelf.
Without preamble, V'tala blurted, "You were going to kiss me."
Whatever V'tala had been expecting at that accusation, it wasn't for Pryseia to come swiftly to military attention, her expression shifting into one of true neutrality as she said, "A misstep on my part, and a violation of your autonomy. I will not fault you for being unable to trust my word going forward, but know that I will not allow an infraction like this to happen again."
V'tala heard the words, but she didn't comprehend them. A misstep? A violation? An infraction? Pryseia couldn't have been more off the mark if she'd tried. She needed to set this right.
Observer, then act. Observe, then act. Observe, then act. She stepped up to Pryseia, who stood there as if preparing herself to receive a flogging. "If you won't do it," V'tala said softly, with not an ounce of hesitation, "Then I will."
Her hands were in Pryseia's hair an instant later, and then V'tala was kissing her.
Pryseia gasped into it, a desperate sound bubbling out of her, and V'tala chased it to its source, deepening the kiss as Pryseia's arms came around her, holding her tight as if she were trying to fuse the two of them together. V'tala keened at that, her blood turning to electricity in her veins. She'd tear open her ribs and hold Pryseia against her very heart if she could.
"A misstep?" She breathed into Pryseia's mouth, unwilling to part from the heat of her, "I've never wanted anything more in my entire life."
Pryseia's breath hitched at that, and when V'tala tried to follow after the noise, Pryseia pulled away. Not far, just enough to press their foreheads together, the base of the other woman's horns pressing into her as she asked, "Is it truly, or were you compelled?"
"What?!" Fell out of V'tala before she could stop it, her mind drawing a blank as to what Pryseia even meant by that. She pulled back herself, trying to get a read on the other woman, but she'd ducked away, refusing to meet her gaze.
Swallowing against whatever dark emotion was trying to force its way out of her, Pryseia's voice was a broken thing as she asked, "Are your feelings your own, or is this a side effect of the dlegh that bound you to me?"
If Pryseia had reeled back and shot her in the face, it wouldn't have stunned V'tala as thoroughly as that statement did, her every thought splattering out the back of her skull. Her dlegh?
V'tala's hands fell to Pryseia's shoulders, and she didn't know if she wanted to laugh or scream. Her dlegh?!
"There was no dlegh," cracked out of her, the pitch of it manic, "I tore open a wound in both our souls, you couldn't have controlled me if you'd tried. Is that what this is?! You think you're coercing me into having feelings for you!?"
"Isn't that what I've done!?" Pryseia shot back, sounding horrified at the thought, "I've trapped you on this ship, trapped you in this destiny. You were given a second chance at life, freed from everything that had ever shackled you, and yet here I am, naught but a noose around your neck! After all you've endured, you should be granted a life of peace, but instead all you have to look forward to is the dire threat of my enemies, and the looming reemergence of an entity that may as well be a God! How is that fair to you?!"
"How is that fair to you!?" V'tala demanded right back, "You've endured your own hell, for longer than I ever did, losing more than I can even imagine. And yet here you are, not even flinching at the prospect of facing down the thing that wiped out the most advanced species our galaxy has ever seen! If I deserve a peaceful life, then you do too. But you know this threat is bigger than the both of us - than all of us - and so you stand to fight it, of your own free will. And I've chosen to fight this battle alongside you, because there is nowhere else I would rather be."
Pryseia shuddered, closing her eyes like she'd been struck. "You deserve so much more than this. So much more than me."
Swallowing against her own rising tide of emotion, V'tala whispered, "Then order me to leave."
The expression that flashed across Pryseia's face was one of pure terror as she whispered, "What?"
"Order me to leave."
Pryseia swallowed, her eyes glassy with unshed tears, her mouth moved but sound refused to escape it.
"You can't order me." V'tala told her, crowding into her space and walking her back further into her room, "You never could. If I'd been properly bound to you, I couldn't have spoken unless you allowed it, couldn't have moved unless you'd demanded it. I was the one ordering you around, you've never held that kind of power over me."
They lurched to a halt when Pryseia's legs hit the edge of her bed.
"Sit down." V'tala commanded, and Pryseia did so without question, her entire body shuddering with how laboured her breathing had become.
"Take off your shirt." V'tala demanded, and Pryseia grabbed onto the back of her tank top, pulling it off over her head and tossing it somewhere to the side, a dark flush covering her from face to chest. Her eyes matching for once, both were blown completely wide, only a thin band of gold in her eyes as she was eclipsed by the woman stood before her.
"I'm here because I want to be," V'tala hissed, fighting her way out of her own shirt, "No dlegh had a hand in my desire for you. Any order of yours I've gone along with has been done so of my own free will. You've taken nothing from me, so I'll take what I want, for both our sakes."
V'tala loomed over her then, and Pryseia's voice was desperate as she whispered, "Please," reaching up to pull the woman to her, dragging them both down to her sheets.
And for the rest of the night, they had not a breath to spare to speak.