Ariane 7

293AC

She stared at Arthur as he sat there, his mouth slightly ajar, and wondered if what she'd said had been so ridiculous? Was the magic so costly to use or…

She felt a little worm of doubt niggle it's way into the back of her mind, perhaps it was just that he didn't want words with any true power behind them binding their marriage together.

She tried to suppress that disturbing thought as the boy shook his head. "Arianne, magic isn't something I can just toy around with. If you want an explanation, I can give it, but I'd rather do that in private." Her prince pointedly turned his gaze towards Asha and Tyene.

Asha, who had been laughing since her suggestion, just kept doing so, muttering something she couldn't quite make out, while Tyene simply sat there demurely toying with the ends of her hair. "Don't worry Prince Arthur, I'm sure we can all keep a secret, can't we Asha?"

"Heh, sure, haha," the Ironborn woman kept chuckling and Arianne placed her hands on her hips as she turned back towards Arthur.

"See, Tyene is as close to me as a sister, and Asha is sworn to you as one. Besides, they both know you have some magic, so that is no concern. You should just tell us now."

Arthur visibly squirmed for a moment, glancing at the other two women before relenting, pressing his head into his crossed arms on the table and letting out a long sigh.

"The reason I want to use it is because it's powerful and I don't know how it works?"

"How can you not know how it works?" Tyene asked, sounding scrutinous. "You used it didn't you?"

"And you seemed pretty confident to me," Asha noted. "All big bold words and cutting your Palm and nonsense."

"A show mostly," the boy said "and blended with only a little bit of actual magic. The only variety of blood oath described properly in the Valyrian tomes I've studied uses sacrificed slaves, and I'm not really to do that. The one we used on the Sword was something like a basted version, but it's still proven very powerful nonetheless?"

"Powerful?" Arianne felt compelled to ask. "How so?"

The boy looked to Asha for a moment, a guilty grimace crossing his face, and then turned back to Arianne. "It's affected our minds," The boy said plainly. "Asha tell me you have felt it as well, I at least turned from begrudgingly liking you but still considering you a pirate and a threat to me to accepting that you were truly my sister the moment we swore the oath."

The Iron born looked a bit shocked at that but did not immediately respond, instead she pressed a hand to her chin and seeming to try to recall a memory. "I think… there might have been something like that. I definitely liked you better after our little ritual."

There was a moment of silence in the room as Asha stopped talking and Arianne was left digesting that bit of information. Finally, Tyene broke the silence.

"Are you afraid of loving my cousin more as well?" Tyene said. "I should think if you intended on being faithful to her that that shouldn't be an issue."

Arthurs retort was fiery, standing from his chair with lightning in his eyes to turn on the sand snake, "No. And don't suggest it again either. I am seriously concerned about the effect that this magic can have on people's minds, but do not take that for fear of loving Arianne." There was a distinct crackle of electricity as he stood, and a strange smell filled the air. He looked quite unlike her Arthur, but not in an unfavorable way either, defending as he was his love for her.

Tyene sat back a bit, recoiling slightly despite being taller than the boy. "Ah, I meant no disrespect of course," she quickly said in her defense. "I apologize if I did not fully grasp the ramifications."

Arthur stood for a moment, breathing heavily before seeming to grasp his situation. He looked aghast for a moment. "Ah, I'm sorry. I'm not sure quite what came over me there." The boy sat himself down. "Probably more magical bullshit, though not to do with that specific spell. I apologize if I frightened you, Lady Tyene."

"Ah, that's the Arthur I know and love," Arianne said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, and trying not to recoil at the audible pop and sting of lightning on her skin. She carefully maneuvered herself so that her bosom sat against the back of his head, and he looked up at her in confusion. She would want all the leverage she could get now that she had made her conclusion.

"Arianne?" The boy asked, sounding nervous.

"Magical or not, I want it anyway. One of your blood oaths that is. If it will silence the doubt in my mind, all the better."

Arthur's eyes went a bit wide, "But… Arianne what if-"

"No buts," she corrected, speaking over him. "No what-ifs either. I trust you Arthur, my little prince. That's all I need."

The boy seemed to deflate while the Grey joy started laughing again. "She's got you, Arthur. Knows what she wants this one."

The boy turned around the room, but found no help from Tyene either, who seemed to just be interested in watching intently with a smug smile on her face.

Finally, the boy relented under the pressure. "Fine, I'll do it." He said, moving out of her arms to the door and rapping on it to talk to his Sworn Sword outside. "Jaerys, can you run down to the ship and get a dragon glass knife and the large bowl from my cabin?"

After an affirmative noise, he turned back to Arianne. "I'll need a knife or something sharp that belongs to you as well, and bandages for our hands afterward."

She grimaced at the thought of cutting herself, but nodded nonetheless, drawing a small dagger out of her shoe, which got a raised eyebrow from Asha and an exasperated sigh from Arthur.

"Is there nothing else?" Tyene said, looking to Arthur. "I was hoping for whips or chains or something else more exciting. Perhaps some sort of magical flower that made you see visions. I hear the warlocks of Qarth use such a thing."

Before Arianne could answer her cousin Arthur cut in, moving back to the table and sitting across from Arianne, beside Asha. "You've heard right, but I neither need nor want Shade of Evening. It turns your lips blue and turns you into a walking corpse if you drink enough of it. Arianne is too pretty for that."

She felt herself blush at the compliment, though Arthur had said it so casually. "Ah, Arthur…"

"She may be pretty now, but-"

"No!" Arianne said as she leaped towards her cousin. She would not have her prince here about her earlier ignominy. She grabbed hold of Tyene, pulling her off of her chair and covering her mouth, eliciting loud giggles from the woman and laughter from the Ironborn woman behind.

As she turned to see her Prince's reaction though, it seems his eyes lay elsewhere, staring off into the distance as if trying to make out the workings of the heavens.

She wondered if she had made the right choice, or if his fears were truly justified.

Still, she would accept whatever change love wrought in her if that were the price for freedom and romance.

At least it was a price her prince was willing to speak to her face.