Abyssal (ManxMan)

Change of Tactics

Change of Tactics

He rose from his chair and Kai instantly stiffened, prepared to bolt for his life.

Instead of coming for him, Marius went to a gold pitcher sitting on a console-like table. Kai watched as he flipped a finger and the liquid the pitcher contained floated out of it and into a gold cup right next to it.

Kai was so impressed he nearly gasped.

How did you do that? Kai was dying to ask him the question, but restrained himself. As if Marius would ever tell him anything.

With his back turned to Kai, he said, "You, too, can do this. With practice. Much practice, in your case."

Kai didn't understand how Marius had guessed what he was thinking, but it made him even more wary of the seemingly all-knowing King of Nostraza.

And then it hit him.

Unthinkingly, he voiced his thoughts, his voice audibly startled, "Are you offering to teach me?"

It was a stretch at best, and certainly very presumptuous of him, but why would Marius the Conqueror make such an 'encouraging' note?

"Control your powers, and you just might control the Spirit of the Sea."

Kai's jaw dropped.

****

Marius' mouth tingled despite it being several minutes since the kiss was broken. He barely stopped himself from putting two fingers to his lips. Instead, he leaned forward in the chair, purposely covering his face with his hair. He had a feeling the expression on his face would be too telling.

He couldn't recall the last time he felt his heart thunder while he kissed someone. And for it to be the half-breed.

He sighed, his exhaled breath ruffling his hair.

What ludicrousness.

Yet it had felt... Fuck, he couldn't continue to lie to himself; his practical side would no longer allow him.

It had felt good locking lips with the half-breed.

Fuck.

He hadn't expected the Astrian Prince to smash his lips into his and then bite down on his bottom lips, but once their mouths connected, not a force in the sea could make him part lips. The kiss had tasted... sublime.

Fuck fuck fuck.

But this could be a good thing.

There is a condition for the power to be transferred from its current host to another. The original host must be well and truly in love with the new host, otherwise a link for the power to transfer won't be established.

The sea witch's words came back to haunt him. They were burned to his memory, and every time he looked at the red-haired half-breed, they crept up on him infuriatingly.

He'd tried humiliation, brute force and exaggerated cruelty to rip the Spirit of the Sea out of the unworthy half-breed, but he'd ultimately failed -and had been tossed around publicly for it. Admittedly, he hadn't been entirely convinced that seducing the half-breed was the only way to steal the power. Rather, he'd wanted to avoid the seduction at all costs. The thought of pretending to love the Astrian half-breed had sickened him.

As King, to romance the Crown Prince of Astria was a taboo that would stir too much trouble in court than he was willing to bear. The mere thought of the implications and court and public censure that would undoubtedly ensue gave him a skull-splitting headache. After all, they were in a full-blown war against the nation of Astria. To romance its prince without potential peace talks would amount to treason.

And as a full-fledged merman of royal descent, to even touch a half-breed tainted by human blood was unbearable.

Yet every time he'd gotten close and personal with him, it hadn't been... as unbearable as he expected it would be.

And now that they'd locked lips, it was almost as if he could actually go through with the seduction.

What choice did he have? After the incident at the amphitheater, it had become painfully clear to him that the Spirit was not about to jump vessels -it was too attached to the Astrian bloodline, or the Astrian Prince.

He recalled their fierce clash and the burning hatred in the Spirit's golden eyes.

Oh, no. The vengeful Spirit would not leave the half-breed's body unless it was willingly.

So, Marius was now forced to play by the rules of the game and abide by the only known 'condition' for transferring the Spirit from its former host to a new one.

He rose from his chair and went to the pitcher of Kraken Blood. As he spelled the liquid into a cup, he was very much aware of the half-breed's bewildered gaze on his back.

He supposed it was understandable that he'd be surprised at such an inconsequential display of light magic, seeing as he'd lived above water all his miserable life.

To think that he'd unconsciously gone toe to toe with Marius, wielding magic that was essentially raw, undiluted power, was frankly remarkable. True, it was the Spirit of the Sea who'd commanded him, yet it went to show that the half-breed was a fit vessel to exercise those powers.

Hmmm.

An idea began to form in his head. It was the time for a change of tactics if he was to follow through with his new plan. And he knew just the thing to begin a successful courtship.

If the half-breed was so interested in magic, he'd give him exactly what he wanted.

"You, too, can do this. With practice. Much practice, in your case," he said.

There was a moment of silence. Then, the half-breed said, "Are you offering to teach me?"

As Marius thought he would, he swallowed the bait.

"Control your powers, and you just might control the Spirit of the Sea."

He turned around just in time to see the half-breed's jaw drop.

A corner of his mouth twitched.

He offered the full cup to him and said, "I can teach you."

*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *

Le gasp! Quite the offer Marius is making! But at what cost? 

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