Reunion and Revelation, pt 2

Words have power... you think to yourself, but you only say, "I accept the debt owed to me by Ailis Silverhair. I understand why you did what you did, but I would very much appreciate if you would at least do me the favor of being honest about where and why you're sending me places in the future. I am a Starchaser now and I am bound by those oaths just as much as you are bound by the one you just took."

Ailis nods in response to your statement. She turns to look at her daughter, and her voice grows lower and thicker. "Brighid ..." She starts, then stops and looks down at her hands folded in front of her. Sensing the seriousness of the moment, you return your hand to Brighid's side; quest or no, it just feels inappropriate to be trying to arouse her while her mother is seemingly breaking down in front of her. Ailis takes the book and carefully inserts a cloth bookmark at her current page, closes it, stands up, and places it on a bookshelf, then returns to her seat at the table. She inhales deeply, lets it out, inhales again, then sighs and tries to speak again. "Brighid, you are the one to whom I have been the most monstrous of all. You are my daughter, my own flesh and blood," Her voice cracks and she reaches blindly for her mug, drinking deeply of the contents before placing it back down onto the table.

"You are my daughter," She starts again, "But I have rarely treated you as more than a tool; magnificent, wonderful tool who I love foremost in all the Realms, but a tool nonetheless. I cannot begin to enumerate my crimes against you, dau--" She stops herself and blinks away tears. "Brighid. I won't ask for your forgiveness yet. Words have power, but actions reveal the truth. All I ask is that you allow me the chance to redeem myself. I do love you, little spark." She stops talking, looking down at the table rather than up at her daughter.

Brighid stirs against you as the room falls silent, but you act first; you slide your arm from around her waist and half-turn on the cushions to face her. You can only see her face in profile, but you can tell that she's troubled, torn between love for her parent and mistrust from the way she's been treated. You reach up and lightly brush the backs of your fingers against her cheek, drawing her attention to you. Just as she once did for you, you now do for her; you gently turn her head towards you and lean forward until your foreheads are pressed together and you can only see each others' eyes. You tell her in a soft, calming voice, intended for her ears but not kept from her mothers', "Know that I am here with you, no matter what you choose. If you want to give your mother another chance, or if you want to close this door now, or even if you decide to delay until a future time, I will still be right here at your side. Together, forever." She nods very slightly, and you break contact with your forehead just to claim her lips with yours, taking a moment while her mother isn't watching to give her a less than chaste kiss. You intended to just give her a jolt of positive emotion, but she snakes a hand to the back of your neck and pulls you in tightly to her as she deepens and extends the kiss.

You're not quite sure how long the two of you kiss, but eventually Ailis clears her throat and slowly, gradually, you and Brighid part. Her eyes are surprisingly clear and cogent given the lust in the kiss she just laid on you, but her cheeks show that she wasn't totally unaffected either. She darts in to give you one more quick kiss then lets you go and turns back to face her mother, head held high. "When I returned from Bannagh Macht and you acted the way you did, I hated you." Ailis flinches from the harsh words, but doesn't interrupt. Brighid continues, her voice steady and calm, "But after Aidan returned to me and I heard everything he had to say, I came to a revelation. Consider this: I was born with a Trait which very clearly marks me as favored by the Brighaid, so much so that you yourself named me after Them and raised me with Their tenets as my guide. A little over twenty one years later, less than a year after I took my place as an adult in the tribe, a human is dragged into the village having been found just outside, somehow far past our patrols. The very first time he slept within the confines of the village, in a hut no more than two dozen meters from my home, he had a very special dream." She turns to you and asks, "Will you tell that part of your story? The whole dream." The last is said with a bit of a smirk.

You aren't sure where she's going, but you're not going to second-guess her. You explain about the dream with your Patron, including the blowjob. Brighid takes your hand and presses it to her lips, then asks you, "What was it, exactly, that your Patron called you?"

You tilt your head, thinking back, and say, "<Champion>."

The reaction is instant and utterly shocks you. You are facing Ailis, so you see her throw her head back and a red blush stain her cheeks and neck. She jams one of her hands into her mouth to stifle a cry of pleasure. Brighid, at your side, has an even stronger reaction; she shudders and spasms, arching her back hard, her hand bringing yours to her breast and forcing your fingers deep into her flesh. The scent of her arousal fills the room, offset by another scent -- Ailis's, you realize. After several deep, full-body shudders, Brighid cuddles up close to you, laying her head on your shoulder, and whispers hotly into your ear, "How does it feel making a mother and her daughter climax so hard for you with nothing but a word, my Lord?" Her teeth scrape your neck and she giggles a little drunkenly; her hand is still holding yours to her breast, and her nipple is if anything even harder than in Siwan's shop.

You are more than a little alarmed by the apparent over-reaction to a simple word, so you try to focus on wanting to know about the language Divine Speech.

Divine Speech: This is a Language of Power and its words are connected to deeper truths within all things. As with all the Languages of Power, Divine Speech is inherently magical in nature and the same Word can have very different meanings and effects depending on context. Even those who cannot understand Divine Speech will be affected by the truth of its Words unless they have special protection.

Quickly, you consider the word you used, <champion>, and try to mentally translate it into English. After a little bit of effort, you decide that it means something like, “One Who Carries the Mark of My/Our Favor and Kindles the Flames of Passion in Those He Meets”. The translation is very, very inexact; “The Flames of Passion” means simultaneously both passionate pursuits like art and music as well as intense sexual climax.

Ailis slumps forward and shakes herself, then glares at you and Brighid. She speaks … something … and a silver-white glow appears around her hands. After a moment the glow sinks into her and then vanishes, and she asks furiously, “Was that Divine Speech?! You must never speak that language again so casually! Words have power, but the Languages of Power are power. You could enslave the entire village with a few sentences, and even ignoring that, the power within just that one Word will have rung out like a bell. Now I will have to maintain yet another defensive ward, and we can only hope that nothing untoward heard the echo of your Word.”

Brighid giggles at her mother's displeasure, mumbling against your neck, “She’s just mad she didn’t get to really enjoy it. She hasn’t had a lover for a while now.”

Ailis glares at her daughter. "Why did you tell him to say that Word? You did that to us deliberately. Why?"

Your Companion smiles lazily at her mother from your shoulder and says with absolute confidence, "Because I was certain what he would say and I was assured that, just this once, it would be safe. You didn't understand the Word, but I knew what he was going to say before he said it. His Patron named him One Who Bears the Mark of Our Love and Inspires Those He Meets to the Utter Heights of Passion. I know what it means because his Patron is the Brighaid."