As he held her wrists in his grasp, Damon felt as if he was frozen in place.  The warmth of the hot spring surrounded them as they stood still in the water.  A slight chill went up his back as the cool air licked at his naked upper body.  He wanted to get deeper into that heat to regenerate from the past few weeks of relentless training.  Setting up a new temple was a lot of work, and training new recruits from scratch was also quite an ordeal.  “Though Lady Rhylana has the ability to protect us…it is not her job; it is my duty.  If anything were to happen to our goddess, her son, or you….that would be on me.”  He released her.
 
Heavy sigh released from him as Alairia swam back into the pool.  Though she was now a grown woman now, there were still certain things she was naïve about.  Damon had witnessed the way some of his newer recruits looking at Alairia in a way he did not approve of.  Just the other day he had to scold the younger archers to get back to their duties while the young sorceress was working on her outdoor chores.  It had made his blood boil just thinking about it.  She knew nothing about how she had grown over the years, or how the outside world looked at her now.  She was no longer a child.  “I am right, and do not fret too much in regards to it.  Our lady will come to us if she needs anything serious.  I cannot say what visitation she made, but if it were important, she would tell us.  I will not pry into my lady’s business.  There is much upon her mind.”  Damon turned his crystalline gaze down towards her before shaking his head slightly.  “Leaving our old world has left scars.” 
 

The water felt good all over his body; the tension melted away.  His inner core felt reinvigorated all the way to his Flame.  Damon made his way back to the shore and grabbed up his shirked off shirt.  Still up to knee deep in the water, he glanced back at Alairia.  Head tilted to the side as he tried to figure out why she looked so bothered.  Clenching the shirt tightly in his one hand, the Captain made his way back over to the young woman.  In one quick motion, the shirt was wrapped around her shoulders to cover her up.  The shirt was beyond too large for her, but it got the job done.  “Why don’t we sit and have something to eat.  I have not had anything for the whole day.”  Yes, it was a bribe to try and get the young woman dressed and out of the attention sight of those in the temple. 

Alairia thought the guard was stunning, but there was something betwixt he and the goddess. After all, the goddess was alone, he was attractive, it was not an unreasonable thought that he was intimate with the woman. Hell, Rhylana was a gorgeous woman, a seductress. Often, when she and the goddess were alone, working on spell work, Alairia would notice the ample curves and chest of the elder. Alairia was thin, subtle curves and small breasted in comparison to the goddess, Damon was no idiot if the goddess called he would go to her.

She had to have.

As he wrapped the shirt around her and suggested something to eat, she blinked, coming out of her thoughts. “I have not had the time to eat either,” she said moving with him to the shore, looking down as she did not wish to view him as she had. Lust was a new sensation, and unbidden her thoughts warmed the air around her, a reaction to the thoughts within that she was recently pushing away.

The shirt clung to her as she stepped from the water, falling to her mid thighs, clinging to her backside and breasts;  long black hair falling in thick waves down her back as she watched the guard. “The goddess will protect us, consciously or unconsciously Damon. That is why she gives you this time off, lest you push yourself too hard.” The young sorcerer had worried about the guard, as she knew that his immortality was not a synonym for filled with strength. He had his limits, and the stiffness, the scars, the fatigue she saw in him was testament enough to that.

Servants brought a balanced plate of fruits, meats and breads for them to nibble on, sweet wines served in decanters that glistened with condensation from the humidity in the air “She is not well, our Queen, even her son notices. He asks me often when his mother will be well, and I cannot give him an answer that he likes.” She sighed, once more looking down rather than at the guard, she had loved him as a friend, but lately the thought of him with Rhylana had begun to pick at her, digging at her tolerance of seeing them together and that flirtatious laugh of hers.

“I am certain you know more than you are telling, I understand, a guard has a sacred bond with his mistress, that should never be betrayed.” She was distracted by a particularly juicy slice of passion fruit, she biting into it as the red flesh gave way and burst its juices upon her lips. She made a soft sound of enjoyment, eyes closing as she licked the juices from the swell of her bottom lip. “Our homeland had nothing like this…” she near moaned.

Lady Rhylana, if this is your idea of a sick joke… Damon mentally thought to himself the sort of set up that he was sure she was amused by.  The laugh that had escaped her as she left was a testament to her nonchalance to the situation he was in now.  Whenever he felt uncomfortable about something, the goddess found some hilarity from it.  When they had first become mistress and subordinate she had taken to being naked a good portion of the time in his presence.  At first, it had made him blush, but now it was an everyday thing that did not bother him.  The phoenix would never let anything get him distracted from taking care of his mistress.
 
So why was the nakedness of Alairia bothering him?  Damon sighed in frustration as he wrapped the shirt about her shoulders.  He made sure that it covered everything in order to keep anyone from seeing anything he did not want them to.  Blue eyes glanced around quickly to make sure no one was looking.  The pair moved slowly through the water towards the shore. 
 
Eyes wandered down to his charge; she was no longer a child.  He could now see what the other guards were talking…it frightened him a little.  For a split moment, his eyes closed in quiet desperation.  What was happening right there and then was something that had not happened to him in a long time.  Damon could not even remember the last time, in fact.  Words full of concern were directed towards him, and it made him smile.  “Thank you, Alairia.  I guess you are right.  I am just not used to someone else having my back.”  Another sigh left him, but this time it was not about his unconquered feelings.  “My biggest thing is that she is always taking care of others.  Being a goddess is a great weight.  I want to do what I can to help alleviate that strain.” 
 
As they reached the spread of delicious foods, Damon dutifully pulled out one of the chairs for Alairia to take a seat.  Passing behind her, his hand reached out to take one of the chunks of bread to nibble on before taking up a seat of his own.  Inhale.  Exhale.  He sat across from the young woman and watched as she ate the piece of fruit.  Arms crossed over his muscled chest as he waited for her, excruciatingly, to finish the fruit.  Head shook as he tried to bring himself back to the conversation at hand.  “There are things that we share in confidence, but nothing in regards to her mental state.  Unfortunately, there are certain things that she will not discuss even with me.” 
 

Head titled backwards to look up at the sky above.  He tried not to look at the sorcerer as she sat there in his shirt.  The idea of her getting her scent all over it, well it was going to be hell later on when he got it back.  “There was much we did not have back home that we have here….and vice versa.”

Alairia knew that there was more to Damon then what was apparent, as she was bundled up and guarded so carefully. “Damon, I am not a little girl anymore” she cautioned watching him curiously. “Do not worry so, I am certain no one will come to me for what you think.” There was nothing that she knew that would be a risk, none of the men had ever come to her, never tempted her. She thought that Rhylana had warned them off of her, for the Goddess had very much become like a mother to her so she had several layers of protection around her.

The Phoenix was acting oddly as she ate, cocking her head gently as she picked at a roll delicately. “This world is full of promise, so long as her highness allows herself to heal, as she permits you to do. Should you both listen to common sense, I think our temple will blossom in this rugged jungle and vicious land.” Already she was a work in progress, she looking at him, eyes meeting his as she nibbled the roll.

“I am certain you both share a good deal in confidence, though whatever helps the goddess in the long run,” She said softly, chinning to her doubts but no saying them out loud. Ice blue eyes bored into a ripe strawberry next to succulent mangos. What to sample next, she thought, not wanting to think of Damon and her mistress in the throes of passion. It had plagued her for some time, his name coming to the young mage’s lips in her private thoughts, only to be dusted away those thoughts as she knew the Captain was ‘healing’ their mistress.

“I do not know why you fret so Damon, her highness will do as she will, she will heal and I am certain you will help her. The men will not come to me for any…dastardly thoughts or acts.” The young woman was nervous, antsy, the blouse hinting at her demure form as the light played behind her, casting small bouts of transparency if one looked right. Ember walked in the distance, the familiar having taken a liking to the Liger of the temple, the pair often inseparable if the Queen was busy or away.

“This place is so very well guarded, protected, I should hope that you protect yourself as well as you protect m…the rest of us.” She smiled, knowing that this small talk was keeping her from taking in the beauty of the guard, his lovely upper body and well-toned muscles. He was beautiful, and part of her wondered if he could still transform into the being that he harboured within, or if he was as he was. And if he could transform, what a beauty he must be. She sighed gently, biting her lip as she selected a small cube of mango. “Nikolai has asked to start riding soon, I am desperately poor at horseback riding, and Ember would not like to be mounted by a young boy.” The change of the subject making her remember her place, and it was not underneath the beautiful captain of the guard.

Mores the pity.

I know you aren’t a little girl anymore…that’s the problem, he thought to himself. He glanced up towards the sky as if there would be support to come from the heavens.  Unfortunately, there was nothing to help him.  What was happening?  How did this all come about?  He had watched over the young sorcerer for years.  She had grown before his very eyes, and yet it came all to a head at once.  When did he start to notice her as a grown woman, and not that young frightened child that came to the temple all those years ago?  “They may not be coming to you right now, but you may never know.  Keep your guard up at all times.  I do not want to take any chances.  Besides,” he said taking a glance down at her. “These people are new to us.  The previous men were from my old regiment that were under my command.  We are in a new world that has many new things.  I will not chance your safety to the hopes that others will be decent.”
 
As she ate, Damon slumped to the side against the arm of his chair slightly.  Elbow rested upon the arm of the chair, while his hand helped prop his head up by way of holding his cheek.  He quietly listened to her speak, taking in the visage before him.  Seriously, when did she grow up?  A small smile came to his stubble face.  “Our mistress does what she needs, as she needs it.  As a matter of fact, so do I.  Like you said, the temple has potential.  We need to take advantage of this terrain and make it our own.  If we can cut out a piece of it early on, it will be easier to control.”  It was not often that he spoke to others about his plans.  Usually, he kept things written to himself or spoke aloud to himself in his office.  Opening up to Alairia felt good.  Rhylana and the phoenix conversed often on the matter, but some things he did not want to worry her about. 
 
Brows lifted and he managed to shrug.  “Truthfully, though we spend most of our time together….it is a quiet time lately.  There is little I can console, since I am not good with that sort of thing.  There was much left behind when we crossed over.  I left no one back there.”  Damon leaned back in his chair, looking off as if into nothingness.  For a split moment, he was lost in the world of his past.  There were many things that he had lost over the years.  All he could do now was build a future.  “I don’t remember the last time I had a significant connection.  So goes the life of a mercenary I guess,” he said with a chuckle and another shrug. 
 
Thoughts of relationships and such made him glance back towards the blossoming young woman.  Gods she was beautiful now, and he really could not pin point the one thing that changed to make her so.  He rubbed the back of his neck and his hand cupped the nape.  Blue orbs widened in surprise at the turn of conversation.  “I will always protect those within the walls.  That is my duty.  Alairia, I will always protect you as well.”  He grinned at her genuinely as he lowered his hand to grab a small fresh roll.  Biting into it, he listened about Nikolai.  The boy was smart, and quite tough when it came to his mental and emotional prowess.  Damon was impressed with the way he was handling all the changes.  The phoenix wished he could spend more time with the lad, but time was always tight for him.
 

“If you want to learn how to ride, I can teach you.  It is not hard once you get the feel for balance.”

The young sorceress had recently seen her ten and eight winter. She was a beauty, strong, and had every knowledge of riding, just not usually horses. The girl looked down and breathed thinking of the stunning specimen that was her captain. She had no doubt that the goddess and he spent a good deal of quiet time with one another, she just doubted the context. She looked at him and shrugged, “Her majesty will heal, in time, we all lost a good deal in this shift. I am certain all will be well in time and that she values your confidence and companionship.” There was a slight bite to her words, more than she had intended, but it was what it was.

“I’d like to learn how to ride a horse, thus I could show the young master and assist him in letting his mother and you alone. I am most certain such disruptions are ill desired.” Nothing seemed to kill a romantic mood faster than a rogue child that insisted on its parent. Surely getting the boy a young stallion would allow for the guard and their empress to dabble in what ever…activities…they chose to participate in. Alairia leaned back in her chair, nibbling at a strawberry and thinking for a time, watching the stars as they twinkled above them.

“I am glad I’ve never had a beloved, I can only imagine that the Goddess is destroyed over the matter, that she is wounded deeply. I have all that I have ever cared about, Nikolai, you and Rhylana, Kale…Kale has made it. He is too resourceful to have fallen so far, but I hardly knew him when I look at the three of you.” True, Kale and rescued her, protected her from her pimp, taken her from the streets and helped her become a lady…but they had been separated, and now she was safe, protected by the Goddess of destruction. The irony was hilarious when one took a moment to think on it, from air to fire and now the goddess who consumed all. Better the demons you knew, right? Rhylana would never hurt those within her charge, no, she was anointed and the keeper of the young prince.

It was a hell of a change in title. Whore to divine nanny.

Alairia stood, stretching, the shirt clinging to her wet breasts, slightly exposing her nipples  and backside with the upward stretch onto her toes. She smiled softly “I guess I’ll find love someday, even if you hate the idea of me being looked at in such a way.” She had noted his looks, knew them from the streets, he lusted for her as she lusted for him, though she suspected his was more of a basal need than anything more. “I know that look, Damon.” A slight huskiness came to her voice, well practiced to entire those that had desired her in her youth. “You look at me as others do. Your link I do not notice, but I do, I just know none present will act upon them.” She bit her lip lightly, meeting his eyes as she took her seat once more. Lust, it was a need like any other, and no other had loved her prior to his, it was maddening to think any would love her after. Sincerely, what love could find a whore as she had been, no man would ever find her respectable enough.

Besides, he had a bloody goddess.

All Damon could do was nod in agreement, though his brow furrowed in confusion to the undertone context that she used.  Companionship?  The phoenix shrugged it off.  It was true that he had a deep friendship with the goddess, and there were many who saw that.  In ways, it intimidated others since they were not able to be as close to the goddess of destruction.  He exhaled heavily in order to let the biting words go; it did not last long.  What the hell is she talking about with leaving Rhylana and me alone?  Again he said nothing about his confusion on the phrases that continued to come from her.  They had such a bit to them that was not normal for the young woman.  What was the matter?
 
Damon sat forward in his chair to listen about her adopted brother.  It was good to hear that she was sure he was safe.  The Captain had a lot to be grateful for towards the Fallen Avatar since he had rescued Alairia from the streets.  Stories from her past were quite intense, and he was glad that she was safe within the Ivory Court.  Damon would make sure that nothing like that ever happened to her again.  To think that someone so young had to deal with such things…it made the man’s blood boil.  The demented people of a city wanting to take advantage of a child in such a way.  It just was beyond his comprehension.  “I am glad that he is well.” 
 
Eyes gazed up in order to not look at the body of his charge.  Shoulders lifted and dropped as he sighed.  He frowned at her statement of him not wanting someone to look at her that way.  Course I don’t, he thought to himself.  And then it was said.  He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat.  Then, he shook his head and stood up from his chair.  “And what look is that, Alairia?  I am sure there are looks you have seen before, but I doubt that you understand the one I have been giving you.”  The Captain took a few steps away with his back to the sorceress.  He had not been careful enough. 
 
Out of habit he rolled his shoulders that made the scars on his back and arms roll.  What was he going to do now?  “You just don’t get it, do you?”  Turning his head, Damon looked directly into her eyes.  It made him sad that she did not see what he was really feeling.  In a blink of an eye, he was in front of her, hands cupping the sides of her cheeks.  A slight hesitation, and then he lifted her face to give her kiss.  It was not hard or rough, but gentle and caring to show how he really felt.  Lust was merely an after effect for the depth of the feelings he had for her. 
 
Finally, he released her, but only to hold her hands within his grasp.  “You think that I look at you like those from the streets.  I do not.  I look at you as someone I have protect for many years, and watch grow into a competent woman.  I look at you as if you have made such progress with your life and who you are.  I look at you as an adult, verses the child that you were when you first came here.”  Damon lightly touched his shirt that she was wearing at the collar to pull it closer to her.  “Do not put me in the same category as the others.” 
 
Realization hit him.  Hard.
 

Damon let go of Alairia and took a few steps back.  That calmness that he was able to boast all his life, well that had fallen a part in a split second.  What the hell did you just do?

So much seemed to change within the space of a breath. The body language of her captain came defensive, though she doubted he realised it, his breathing changed and near every muscle of his seemed to prickle as if to be ready to spring forward. He was thinking, and it was not something that was pleasant. She looked down, away from the phoenix as she tried to think. He did, he saw her as others had, others did. She was a figment of lust, and while she had not sold her charms in some time, there was still the recognition of a man that desired her in such a way. Why become so aggressive about it, why have such a reaction that made every muscle in his body ripple with pent up power?

“Damon, ‘that look’ is that look of knowing, of knowing you want me. Of knowing you have thought of my in your bed, at your whim.” Her desires notwithstanding, for such carnal things had always been at the behest of her johns, for what needs or pleasures did a whore need? Too often she had escaped into her mind, to worlds far away, to prayer, to peace. She often debated what she spent more time doing, healing or working.

As damon moved to her, she tensed, expected the man to take that pent up anger with her, no, she did not understand if it was as different as he was saying. What was there to it, lust lead to a bed, and if he wanted her in bed, it was for the whim of their goddess to decide as she was both of their employer, their patron. As he seemingly appeared before her, she gasped, Alairia’s breath catching as he kissed her. She had never had a soft kiss before, usually they had been drunken and demanding, possessive of a forbidden treasure. This kiss, though brief, left her shaking, a knot in her stomach and tears in her eyes.

No…no she did not understand.

For some reason, this almost hurt. Alairia was having trouble breathing, a knot in her stomach forming so hard and fast that she almost swooned. “I…I am sorry”, magic consumed her, the girl melding with the wind that quickly wicked her to her private chambers. This was all too  much, it was so much that she did not know how to handle it. If the man did not lust for her, what the hell did he feel for her? As she arrived in her room, she found herself in the privy, her stomach having lurched causing her to dry heave.

She didn’t understand at all.

———-
In the garden and whispered to the guard’s mind was Rhylana’s laughter, an incessant giggle.

By the Flame what had he been thinking?  Nothing.  He had been thinking nothing since all sense had left his head.  When it came to Alairia, it seemed to happen more often.  His calm and cool head seemed to hold up nothing against her.  The phoenix could feel her tensed muscles within his grasp, but he did not care.  It was then that he wanted to convey what he was truly feeling.  Everything had been unexpected.  Never had he acted with such an impulse.  Every action he took in life was calculated and thoroughly examined.  So, why now did he ignore all of his mental warnings?  Why was it now that he could not hold back from his deep wants?
 
Pushing away from the stunned woman made him realize what he had done.  Damon stood stock still as he stared in shock.  Even as she apologized and disappeared in the wind (literally), he still stood there with blue eyes wide open.  It was not until he heard the mental laughing did he snap out of it.
 
Over and over again he rubbed his shortly cropped head as if he could erase everything that had just happened.  Now, in the darkness of the night, Damon jogged to the garden where he could feel his goddess.  Panic was written across his face as he stared at the raven haired woman.  Damon was a beast of legend.  He had lived many lives over and through many wars.  He was a more than capable soldier and Captain, so why was something so simple that hard for him? 
 

For the first time, desperation came over the man and he went before his mistress.  “It is not funny Rhylana!  What the hell did I just do?”  Damon sank to the ground with his knees pulled up and flexed out to each side.  Hands cradled each side of his head as he stared at the ground in disbelief at what had transpired.  “Tell me what to do.  Please, I don’t know what to do.”  Rarely did he go to others for help, but in this instance he was completely inexperienced.  Had he scared Alairia’s relationship with him for life?  How would they be able to be around one another after what he did?  He had not asked permission.  Damon had done what he had pleased, without thought or consideration for the consequences.  “I screwed up!”  

Rhylana had taken to her garden to relax, to work on the fine cultivations she had been constructing. Arches were the focus this night, assisting climbing vines find the trellises and fire coloured lilies hanging from the top.  She knew that Damon would come to her, for he was indeed in a frazzled and harried state. His usually calm inner flame licked and popped trying to reconcile itself, moments of calm followed by moments of lunacy. It made the Goddess smile, she idd not turn from her work before he spoke, hair up in a tight bun. “Damon, this is a matter of simplicity, Sit down while I work, we shall talk.” There was nothing about Alairia that Rhylana did not know, and thus she would tell her guard what he needed to do to stop acting the fool.

She turned, dusting wet soil from her hands and from her skirts. “Alairia was a child whore, well before the time a prostitute should become so active. I doubt she has ever experienced any tenderness at any time in her life, especially in the form of a kiss. For a young woman who has never willingly been with a man, never had a kiss that was not filled with the stench of liquor and another woman, I imagine you frightened and confused her. Probably more than you have done to yourself. After all, her first time with any man, she had been auctioned off and it was not to one, but six men.”

She knew this anger would grow, she rose her hand and shrugged. “It is the past, we have rescued her, but put yourself in her mind. She is not blind, nor am I, the stolen glances, the over protectiveness, the singular way you look at her. To me, I see a young man in love with a young woman. For her, she sees a man that looks at her with lust, for that is a contributing factor. I would suggest going to her and treating her how she expects to be treated, then leave silver on her nightstand. One can only improve their behaviour from that point.” It was crass, rude, and a near hurtful remark, but to Rhylana it made sense.

Alairia acted as if Damon only wanted her for sex, so if he went to her and did just that, then there would be not only a new dynamic, but no shattered expectations. Then one could improve upon the experience from there, low hanging fruit as it were. She thought for a time, and nodded “I think that the best course of action, she is used to sex, not love, if you deliver one the other will follow. Surely you’re not a virgin, and she’s had enough practice that if your manly skills lack, she should be able to compensate.”

The goddess returned to the climbing vines and flowering plants attempting to get them to hang just as she liked. Yes, there was something to be said in regards to using magic for such things, but this was how she addressed her guilt. Each stone, each flower, each babbling stream would be created by hand and with care.