Joseph
Anyanka Durkhan
Zahrada Astoria

The heat from the parlor seemed to radiate through the rest of the third floor of the castle. Even moving down the hall to her personal chambers, the warmth still colored her cheeks as if she'd indulged in too much wine, and she was grateful for the coolness of the silk sheets that lined her mattress. No one had thought she'd want a fire, and she silently blessed the chambermaid who had made that decision as she faded into a restless sleep. 

When she opened her eyes, she was staring at the dirt ceiling of the dungeon cell once more. The one that held Amalthea had been excavated last, and it's edges were still rounded around the support beams that had been constructed around it. There was no distinct corner where wall met ceiling, and it was the only thing that made her realize she was seeing the cell and not a grave. 

Marcus had left traces of magic in her veins when he's moved through her, and they began to ache. For the first time, it wasn't contained to the scared and blistered flesh of her arms, but she felt that ember in new places. Her right leg ached with the discomfort of something foreign, as well as her chest and lungs, each feeling the weight of something else working within them. From the corner of her mind she heard Marcus's voice, groggy as if she'd just pulled him from a dream as well. He said her name, thick with sleep and confusion, but when she blinked the vision was gone and she awoke in her own bed chambers, staring at the sheer canopy that resided over her bedposts.

A moment passed as she grounded herself back in reality. Back to the sheets of silk, and the too warm room, and back to the slow burn of fresh blisters and wounds from last night. She didn't realize at first, but the burn was picking up, and as she moved to sit up skin stuck to the sheets beneath her. It peeled off in pieces as she sat up quickly, and she screamed at the sensation of torn flesh, scrambling from the broken blistered pieces that remained stuck to her bed from where they had started to ooze and dry on the fabric. The rips caused a new wave, and she stumbled on the low light of the pilot light to the basin of water on her balcony, dipping shaking hands into the lukewarm water to run it over her skin. 

It didn't soothe the wounds, and he uncontrollable shake to her hands was new, as was the sweat that beaded on her forehead. A quick glance at the mirror on her vanity showed a flushed complexion, and the Duchess moved to the window to push it open. The hand that was intended for the solid wood panel that turned to lock the two panels of glass together missed, and instead punctured right through the glass, embedding shards into already inflamed skin and pulling a sharp shriek from the woman. 

Her door burst open, the guards who had stood watch moving in immediately at the sound of her distress, and she turned, pink in the face and red at the wrist to the men. One moved to her side, cupping her elbow and helping ease her from the mess she'd made in her delirium. The other lingered for a moment, then disappeared down to the infirmary to fetch Doctor Coren
Irene
Dayveth Coren
Zahrada, Astoria

Dayveth sighed and rubbed his temples as the fire crackled inside of the hearth. He had spent the evening doing the same thing he had been doing for several days: reading letters. His adventure had garnered him a list of colleagues that required communication. Dayveth set aside one letter that had suggested injecting weakened sicknesses into children because it would protect them from sicknesses in the future. The doctor rolled his eyes at the preposterous idea before finding the next letter, though this one was different from the rest. A strange symbol was pressed into the wax, and was found again at the bottom of the letter, once the doctor had opened it. 

Dayveth had just finished the letter when a guard burst in with an unsettled look. Before Dayveth could argue an annoyed or stabbing remark, the armored man pronounced "She's hurt." Dayveth was decent enough at the pronoun game to know who the man was talking about. His eyes widened as he shot up from his seat, letter still in hand. The doctor snatched his bag from off of the floor, crumpling and tossing his letter into the fire as he ran past the hearth.

Despite the guard's training, his armor slowed him as he attempted to keep pace with the doctor. Therefore, the lightly clad mage was able to lose the soldier in the castle's halls. When the guard arrived at the queen's chambers, chest heaving, he found his coworker standing at his post, their monarch's door being shut. As the guard opened his mouth to question his post mate, his coworker cut him off with an annoyed tone. "The doctor got here and ordered me out. Told me he needed privacy." The panting guard sighed and rolled his eyes, taking up his post once more. "Of course he did." Both of the soldiers loved their queen and had not yet forgiven the doctor.

Inside the door, Dayveth sat with Anyanka near the window she had broken. He had already pulled out most of the glass shards from her arm and hand, flicking them towards the hole in the window. Dayveth cooed the pained royalty as he winced and screamed in pain. As the last shard of glass was falling out of her window, Dayveth stood up and 
Placed his hand against Anyanka's forehead. He ignored her cries of protest and pain as a sigil on the back of his palm flared. It burned as he felt the storm of magic within her. The burn spread from the sigil into his hand and eventually up his arm. He was extracting foreign magic from her in a similar fashion as he did the glass. After several moments the operation was completed, as the only magic within Anyanka was her own. He panted as his own body fought the foreign magic. Since Dayveth had similar experiences with events such as this, his body and mind had defenses against it, though he wouldn't be able to hold it forever.

The queen looked sickly as he moved his hand from her forehead to her forearm. He willed a different kind of magic into her, specifically the restorative kind. It wouldn't rid her of pain, aches or wounds, but it would speed the process and relieve a decent amount of the pain. After a quick glance, Anyanka looked as if she might lose consciousness. Dayveth picked her up and carried her to her large bed, setting her down upon it. "You owe me an explanation," Dayveth stated sternly.
Joseph
Anyanka Durkhan
Zahrada Astoria

Dayveth had arrived, and some curt conversation happened at her door that she didn't catch, all too aware of the throbbing in her temple and the burn on her skin. 

She didn't consider herself a weak creature, even after everything she'd take offense to being called a damsel in distress, but when Dayveth sat down across from her, taking her scarred hands into his own calloused ones, she was overcome with the feeling of tears down her cheeks. 

The magic it took to put Marcus in Amalthea's body, to cage the woman's mind so they could move forward with their plans had been more than she'd expected, and she was suffering mentally and physically from the transaction. As Dayveth plucked the glass from her skin, he irritated the inflamed skin and blisters that already existed, and she gritted her teeth, trying not to cry out as much as possible. 

By the time he'd finished extracting the glass, her skin was hot to the touch, as if she'd just spent an hour in a hot bath. He pressed a palm to her forehead, and Anya winced to see his workings. The transfer this time was also a drain, and she swayed a bit in her seat until finally her eyes closed. 

When he spoke again, it was with a firm voice just above her, and the Queen blinked open her eyes, looking to him. 

"I don't even know where to begin." She said truthfully, her voice a weak whisper before she cleared her throat. She felt the pulse in her veins, but it was muted compared to before. Tolerable, instead of excruciating. 

She nodded to his bag on the window still, and made the smallest motion for something to wrap her arms so they wouldn't stick to the soiled sheets like before. 

To answer his demand, she added through gritted teeth "Dayveth we've been working for _months_ on something that relies on this magic, and I'm starting to realize I don't know how to actually use it."
Irene
Dayveth Coren
Zahrada, Astoria

Dayveth gave her a heavy frown as he moved to his bag. He pulled out his bandages, homemade and top quality, and began to wrap parts of her arm. He would've added a harsh additive to the bandages as a petty move, but his magic would already be tending to that without the added pain. Besides, she has been in enough already. 

"You're just now realizing? Where did you even find magic like this? And why didn't you tell me?" Dayveth hadn't meant to bombard her with questions, especially with her in such a condition, but he wanted answers. He felt like a mother, but as he glanced her over, maybe she needed someone to be.
Joseph
Anyanka Durkhan
Zahrada Astoria

He moved, and she took the opportunity to sit up a bit, using her pillows as brace between her and the headboard. She felt sweaty, and the breeze she'd accidentally created wasn't helping anything.

"I didn't _find_ it, it was forced upon me." She reminded him. "You knew this, it's the same magic that imbedded itself in me when I tried to bring Mikhail back." He returned, and she hesitated before offering an arm to him. 

The bandages weren't meant to be comfortable, but she wanted _something_ to feel like they were contained, no matter the discomfort. 

"Its been boiling up for a year, it hurts less when I use it, but the aftermath of some things does, well," She just jutted her chin to her arm that he was wrapping. 

"I don't know how to dilute it. But how do _you_ know anything about this? What did you do to pull it back?" Her grey eyes moved over his face, looking for a hint of an answer. He just looked pissed.
Irene
Dayveth Coren
Zahrada, Astoria

"It didn't feel like the same magic," Dayveth stated once he had finished tending to her arms. He stood back and looked his queen over, biting his lip in disapproval. When Anyanka asked her questions, Dayveth exhaled through his nose and looked her in the eyes, silent for a moment. 

"I'm a mage, Your Highness. Magic is my life, or was. Now it's tending to foolish royalty who play with things that they aren't supposed to." Dayveth felt slightly feverish as the foreign magic ran through him. He knew it would become worse until he discharged in. He had time, and even if he didn't release it, it wouldn't have as awful an effect on him as Anyanka, at least not for a time. 

"I simply pulled it out, Your Highness. Like a leech does blood, but more thorough. "
Joseph
Anyanka Durkhan
Zahrada Astoria

She couldn't help the exasperated scoff that came from him saying it didn't feel the same. "I don't know what to tell you, Dayveth, it's the very same. It feels different to me too but I haven't done anything to invite any other magics into my body." She paused, her tone softening just a bit as she verified that before adding. "Promise."

But the softness evaporated when he called her foolish, and her brow furrowed. "Watch your tone, Coren. You're on unstable ground with my people already, the first time I show any disapproval they'll take it as permission to throw you into Northshore." She reminded him, it wasn't a threat, but it certainly wasn't kind either. A moment passed, and she cleared her throat. 

"How did you know what to look for? Who taught you all of this?"
Irene
Dayveth Coren
Zahrada, Astoria

Dayveth listened to her defense and felt the tone of her "Promise." Realizing he felt a little guilty, he started pondering the magic's behavior. It was then he heard her warning, and it stung. His eyes snapped to meet her's and the words were quick to his tongue, which he subsequently bit. However, Dayveth was unable to stop his nostrils from flaring as the petty thought of "Let them," Ran through his mind. 

After she asked him about the magic again, he took a deep breath and replied. Dayveth's tone was tensed and restrained as he delivered his answer. "I wasn't particularly looking for anything. I felt the magic when I was pulling your window pane out of your arm. When I placed my hand to your forehead, it was more to sooth your pain than to draw it out, but when I felt what was happening, I decided it best to rearrange my priorities."

Dayveth paused before continuing. "I guess you could call my 'up bringers' sages, or something of the like. They were somewhat removed from most communities and received me when I was young. They taught me in their ways of magic medicine."
Joseph
Anyanka Durkhan
Zahrada Astoria

It was clear the moment his eyes hit hers that she wouldn't actually let them take him away. He had her protection, she'd promised him that and her forgiveness was already granted for the incident that had happened in Azarya. 

Her hands turned over on her lap, palms facing upwards as she examined them. The way he spoke about it had so much control that she didn't know. She could boil water; her baths were never cold. The dead appeared and spoke to her as if they were flesh and blood, but she didn't know the full extent of what powers had been drudged up that night, nor how to use them. 

Carefully, she moved her hand towards him, offering it but not demanding he take it. Her eyes stayed down as she continued. "So you know a whole hell of a lot about this that I can't even fathom, Hm?"
Irene
Dayveth Coren,
Zahrada, Astoria

Dayveth took his time answering Anyanka's question. His teeth were once again coming down on his lip as he looked at her extended hand. "I'm not saying I know anything, but I have experience with magic." 

Dayveth placed his hand on Anyanka's and gently squeezed it. "It seems that I can also tolerate it better than you. Perhaps it has similar rules alcohol." His tone had softened in the semi dark room.
Joseph
Anyanka Durkhan
Zahrada Astoria

"Hey, I hold my own with liqour, thank you." She reminded him, grateful that he'd squeezed her hand instead of rejecting it. 

"You haven't asked what I was doing that made it get this bad." She reminded him, curious as to why he hadn't demanded more of an explanation from her.
Irene
Dayveth Coren
Zahrada, Astoria

"Or so you say," Dayveth replied as he sat on the edge of the bed next to his queen. He still held her hand as his eyes explored hers. "Do I really want to know?" Dayveth's tone was worried as his eyes held worry for his love. The adrenaline of the situation had begun to fade from him as the magic fought his body. Dayveth secretly felt prideful about how well he could resist it.
Joseph
Anyanka Durkhan
Zahrada, Astoria

He moved to sit on the edge of the bed and she gave a small twitch of a smile as he held her gaze. "It's politics, so maybe not." She mused, and squeezed his hand between her own. It hurt to do so, but not nearly as badly. Whattever he'd done had successfully muted the ache for now, and she could ignore the pulsing of wounds if she tried. 

"I'm sorry for scaring you." She added, and inhaled deeply, finally pulling her hand from his to run her fingers along the bandages he'd provided.