Maeve wasn’t sure, exactly, how she should respond to the letter from her parents. Her immediate impulse was to send something passive aggressive about her recent achievements with the guild. Later, she considered making up some excuse as to why she couldn’t visit. Still later, she toyed with the idea of really giving them a piece of her mind about showing her some respect as an adult.

But -- predictably -- she resigned herself to writing something polite.

‘Mom and Dad,’

‘I miss you both. Life here is challenging, but fulfilling (and you needn’t worry about my funds, as it’s lucrative as well). I have made some fast friends at the guild and outside of it. No suitors, though; sorry, but I’ve been focused on my work for now. I suppose it is time that I come home to visit! I can take some time off and return in the coming weeks, if you’d like?’

‘Love,’

‘Maeve’

She sighed as she went downstairs to find the courier’s box.

Unfortunately, Castian was seated at a table and caught her eye to smile at her. As nonchalantly as she could, she dropped the letter into the mail box and went to go join him.

“Who gets the pleasure of your communication?” Castian grinned.

She winced; she’d hoped he wouldn’t pry. “I’m just getting back to my parents.”

“Ah,” he said pleasantly. “When are we visiting?”

“We are not,” she replied, trying to sound firm. “But I did give in and agree to go.”

“So when are you visiting?”

Maeve frowned. 

“If I tell you,” she said, “you’ll do something horrible like showing up at their door as we have dinner.”

Castian smiled wider, and her heart sank. “So, you’ve already discovered the two available options.”

Maeve felt her lips purse automatically at his implication. For some reason, he was fixated on making an appearance with her family. Either she allowed him to accompany her, or…

…Well, he would control her into revealing the details of the trip and do as he pleased.

The Dove buzzed with evening conversation around them as she sat there silent for a few moments, eyes downcast. She felt Castian watching her patiently.

“I really don’t want you to do this,” Maeve said, softly.

“It does seem that way,” he replied. She looked up at him and saw an unreadable expression. Not disappointed, not imminently forceful, but not resigned either. For once, he was quiet; waiting.

The unspoken question was, “Why?” And she turned inward for the answer to explain, but her thoughts about it were tangled.

Well -- the implication that he was to meet her parents as her suitor seemed alarming. Maeve didn’t spend her time wondering what her relationship was with Castian, but at the very least she wasn’t under the impression that it was one as equal or even romantic partners. Was his insistence on this visit an attempt at putting normalcy to them?

What worried her most was that the obvious answer to that was “no.”

Since the incident with Ashton over a week ago, there had been a lull in any truly horrible things that he’d done to her. Several days he’d showed up unannounced to tease and degrade her a bit over a shared meal, either before or after a job at the guild. A game or two of cards that left her warm and uncomfortable. But nothing that had her grossly twisted up inside. While a part of Maeve had calmed, she vividly remembered the way he had destroyed her after using her to take down Foxtail. She felt strongly that it was only a matter of time before he reminded her how thoroughly he could humiliate her. Perhaps he was even counting on her letting her guard down.

Maeve didn’t know how, but she felt certain that her family visit would just be a backdrop to that.

Finally, carefully, she spoke. “...I’m worried about what you’ll do while we’re there.”

“Well, yes,” Castian said, and his lips turned up. “But what are you imagining?”

Before she could stop it, she felt his query conjure images -- her eyes going wide and blank at dinner as he cast a spell under the table; spreading her legs and trying to stay silent as he fucked her in the dead of night in her childhood bed --

“Stop!” she hissed.

“I didn’t do anything,” he replied smoothly.

“I just don’t want --” Maeve was trying hard to find the words, the answer… “I don’t want…”

“You don’t want your parents to judge you further,” Castian said. “So much of your insecurity comes from them; anything that adds to that…”

She felt the familiar, uncomfortable sensation of being seen through.

“...Yes, but --”

“And you’re scared of me,” he murmured, far too intimately and victoriously. “Of how far I’d go. You don't trust me.”

Despite herself, despite her genuine discomfort, there was heat rising to her cheeks and pooling in her lower belly.

“Please,” she whispered, not even for him to listen to her about the trip but for him to stop breaking her will down so obviously…

“I have so many choices,” he purred, with blatant delight. “I could tempt you with the pleasure of the unknown humiliation. I could force you into a gamble for it. I could even make you reveal the details of your trip and wipe your memory, seeing the look of horror on your face as I knocked on the door…”

Maeve was breathing heavy now, eyes locked on him and transfixed into silence. Dawning fear; arousal; focus.

“I could enchant you,” he cooed softly, “and make you just so happy to introduce me as your beloved partner; pretty smile on your face; wide, blank eyes…”

Gasping -- that was impossible; her parents were elven mages who would surely notice the spell -- but the suggestion of it --

“Please,” she said again, her voice shaking.

“I like that you still always feel that you have agency,” Castian said softly, cruelly, leaning in. “It really, really excites me every time you realize that you don’t.”

There was that sweet, sharp shattering inside of her, a dazed and defeated feeling swimming in her head as she stared at him. He was right. He was right. There was no way for her to prevent him from coming with her. She had no choice. She didn’t even have a choice of whether or not he made her want it.

Her body felt limp and weak.

Castian smiled a horrible smile.

“Now,” he said. “What are you going to do if I tell you that I’m not going to go with you after all? How disappointed will you be if you go alone and I never show up?”

Maeve’s breath released slowly, evenly, as though she’d lost the will and strength to gasp. Her heart, her brain, the place between her legs -- they all had recoiled at the idea that he wouldn’t be there.

She’d lost.

Castian had a wild, sadistic look in his eyes, one that she couldn’t believe was fully on display in public like this.

“That took nothing,” he murmured. “You broke so fast… I should keep going -- I should make you beg for me to degrade you in front of your eagle-eyed parents --”

“Castian,” she whimpered.

He blinked, as though momentarily roused from his intense focus, and then his face smoothed into a smile, softened.

“Did you know you’d never said my name before?” he asked.

Maeve was still incapacitated by her numb, buzzing mind and the heat between her legs. She couldn’t believe that was right, but… She shook her head.

“Well,” he said, “I suppose you’ll say it more when we’re around your family.”

Maeve’s parents, of course, were ever so thrilled to hear back from her, and yes, certainly she could visit at any time, and the coming week was perfect, and so on and so forth.

She was once again in front of a piece of blank parchment with a quill, trying to determine what she should say. This time, about bringing Castian with her.

She refused to refer to him as a suitor, or even a romantic partner -- she wasn’t about to backtrack what she’d already told them. Castian, obviously, had given her more questions than answers about how he was going to behave around them. And there was no truthful way to tell them about how they were acquainted.

In the end, she kept it simple:

‘Mom and Dad,’

‘Wonderful; I’ll see you in a week’s time. It seems that a friend of mine is taking some time off of work and is looking to travel, so I was thinking I’d bring him by to see the city, if that’s alright with you.’

‘Maeve’

She hoped very much that they would respond simply in kind.

The letter the following day was mercifully brief and well-behaved:

‘Maevelyn,’

‘Of course! We’d love to meet your friend. There is plenty of space for him to stay with us, as well.’

‘Mom and Dad’

There was at least one benefit to Castian coming with her -- he was paying for their travel. That meant that she wasn’t stuck with the most economic option (a whole week by crowded caravan with frequent stops). They’d be able to make the trip in just a day’s time thanks to transportational magic.

“Once I’ve visited and I know where to go,” Castian said over breakfast, “I could potentially teleport next time.”

“‘Next time?’” Maeve repeated, taken aback.

He grinned. “I could use that as a betting chip. Even if I don’t stay with you, I’m sure you’d rather teleport than take a musty carriage. Though I am a little less-practiced with teleportation magic.”

She sighed, and they parted ways -- Maeve figured that she would take at least one more job at the guild before she left for the city.

“Maeve!” Delilah said, running up to see her as she walked in the door. “I thought you were abandoning us to see your family.”

Maeve smiled sheepishly. “I am. Just a bit of change in the timing.”

She was… not ready to explain the situation with Castian. Thus far, all the guild knew was that she had some sort of unknown professional relationship with a weird mage. After the cat-and-mouse game with Ashton, Maeve was pretty sure that Delilah thought they were having sex, and, well, she was sort of right -- but Maeve felt she was able to play it off and keep it ambiguous, for now.

“Good,” Grant said, with folded arms. “Then you can actually work and help us with a job today.”

His tone was accusatory, but Maeve knew that without her, the group did just fine and even got to split the pay with one less person.

“What do we have?”

Haggr, in the corner, was donning his heavy shield and held the quest parchment out to her.

‘GNOLLS IN THE MINES’

‘A large band of gnolls is trying to take the mines we’ve been working in for their territory. We need them dispatched swiftly.’

‘50 gold’

Maeve let herself have a little smile.

The job only took two days, and it was a welcome distraction. She was able to focus on scouting the mines’ layout, where the gnolls had settled within, how many there were and how well-equipped. They camped out away from the site, shared a fire and drinks, and the next day they were able to take out the band of them with no real hiccups.

Her, Delilah, Grant, and Haggr -- they’d all gotten fairly good at working as a group, and relatively quickly. For Maeve, it was a delicious justification that she’d been suited to this sort of work for a long time.

The good mood followed her over the passing days. She said her goodbyes (again) to the guildmembers, promising that she wouldn’t be gone long. She spent a couple of days taking long naps and doing a little bit of window-shopping for new leathers. Pointedly not thinking about what came next.

But when the travel day finally came, Maeve’s anxiety returned full-force. She hadn’t seen Castian over the last few days, and it was immediate stress when she saw him waiting for her at the door of the Noble Dove.

Oh, Gods. This was happening, and she couldn’t get out of it.

Swallowing, she hoisted her packed bag over her shoulder and walked over.

“I have a lot of questions,” she said. “About how this is going to work.”

Because there was no way that this was going to work at all if she didn’t know at least some of his intentions. Her parents were nosy.

He smiled. “That is very like you to say. Luckily for you, we have some time to talk.”

Maeve nodded, fidgeting. Castian held the door open for her, and they stepped out into the midday sun. Waiting for them outside was a horse-drawn carriage -- covered, and much nicer-looking than the ones she was used to riding in. It also glowed faintly with magic; it was one of the services you could rent where clever spellcasting would turn the carriage and riders partially intangible to move on the wind.

It was also expensive, and Maeve felt a bit of a pang of something thinking about what Castian must have paid for this. Probably for him, a small price for a unique chance to humiliate her.

The driver (a mage more than a coachman, really) motioned for them to board, and she and Castian settled into the comfortable interior. He asked if they were ready, and upon confirmation, the spell activated.

Maeve braced for it, but she didn’t really feel or see much of anything. In the window, though, it was as if everything outside had faded, just slightly. The carriage began to move -- slowly at first before picking up to a more rapid speed -- and it felt just like a smooth ride, except periodically it became clear that they had traveled through another person or wagon.

“It’s good magic,” Castian said. “A really nice invention.”

Maeve nodded, and wet her lips, nervous. “So…”

“Yes, your questions.” Castian smiled. He fished into his pocket and produced a gold coin, setting it upon his curled thumb as though ready to flip it.

“You --” She flushed with anger, with her expectations of his trickery being met. Of course. Of course he wouldn’t make this easy for her.

“We have some time to pass,” he said. “Ask a question, call the coinflip right, and I’ll answer. I’ll give you three chances.”

Despite herself, her heart was beginning to beat faster at the idea of the gamble. Helpless to it, even for something like this where she truly needed what he was dangling out of reach… 

Or, as she knew deep inside, because of that.

Three questions. Her mind raced -- where to even start…

“...I told my parents that I have no suitors,” she began. “I told them you were just a friend. Do you intend to walk in the door and -- and pretend to be my partner?”

Castian looked calm, unsurprised by her question -- and expectant.

Maeve took a breath. “Heads.”

He flipped the coin and she felt her pulse thud loud in her ears as he caught it, revealing…

Heads.

“Lucky,” Castian smiled, and she breathed out. “No, that’s not my plan.”

Her eyebrows furrowed, even as relief settled a bit into her tense shoulders. Why had he made such a fuss about coming along as her suitor if he wasn’t going to follow through with it? She’d been stressed about it for days --

…Oh. That’s why. Castian was still smiling at her.

“Well --” She was already floundering from the potential of losing information and his clear deception. “So then, how are we acquainted? I mean -- what were you going to tell my parents? …Heads, again.”

Tails. Castian began to ready the coin for another flip.

“Wait,” she said. “How am I supposed to behave? What am I supposed to tell them?”

“I suppose you’ll have to improvise,” Castian said simply, with a grin. “I’m sure you have experience lying to your parents and thinking on your feet.”

He was right, and truthfully, her first question being answered made that a lot easier. Surely he’d fabricate a backstory, and she’d fit into it somehow.

Her last question -- what she really wanted to know was obvious.

“What are you planning?” Maeve asked, and it came out quieter than she intended. “What are you planning to do to me?”

A flash of sadism crossed Castian’s face, melting into a small upturn of his lips and narrowing of his eyes.

“What’s the call?” he said, low. “Choose carefully.”

There was no strategy in a coin toss, no pattern to learn from. His words were a trick, meant to make her stew in her fear and anticipation. He wanted her to think about how badly she wanted this.

“Tails,” she said softly.

The slight metallic sound of his thumb hitting the edge of the coin. The sound of skin as it landed and he covered it.

Silently, he pulled his hand away.

Heads.

Maeve’s heart sank, and she felt the familiar, stinging buzz of a consequential loss sweep through her.

“Fuck,” she breathed, and her shoulders sagged.

“If it makes you feel any better,” Castian said, smiling unkindly, “if I had told you, you would have just spent your time worrying, trying to stop me -- and ultimately fail, in the end.”

She felt worn and spent, after just that, and prickling with an uncomfortable arousal. Their carriage rode on, and she was left mostly with her thoughts in silence as they watched the landscape go by.

Maeve felt a pang of homesickness hit her as she saw the city in the distance, and despite her nerves, it was hard not to be excited as they rode in. It was really a beautiful place, with tall towers and elegant architecture downtown. She must have perked up, because Castian gave a small chuckle as she looked out the window and identified all of the familiar landmarks.

The driver took them to her old neighborhood, past the waterfront district and to a nestled street with large, two-story houses. They were dropped off at the end of the road, in walking distance, thanking him as they gathered their bags.

Maeve’s nerves were on fire; surely she’d be anxious even if Castian wasn’t there, but she couldn’t help but feel the now-familiar sense that she was knowingly doing something very stupid.

Suddenly she looked to Castian -- pleading.

“Just --” she started. “Just. Please. Don’t -- don’t enchant me -- don’t do anything that --”

He laughed. “You think I would enchant you in front of your elven mage parents? I’m flattered by your fear of me, sweetheart.”

She flushed. “I -- I just don’t know…”

“It’s okay to be scared,” he purred.

She fell quiet, and they walked.

There was her house -- she had only left the city a couple of months back, but it still had a new air of unfamiliarity to it. It was her parents’ house now. Not hers. She was living her life out of an inn and tavern.

But there was a comfort to the idea that she’d be eating at the table with her family and sleeping in her bed. Even if it was more as a visitor.

The most jarring thing of all, of course, was Castian standing expectantly next to her. This man -- this man who had completely upended her life through cruelty and desire, a man she met in another town, a man who she still knew so little about -- was standing out to her like a beacon of wrongness.

“Shall we?” he asked pleasantly.

Maeve took a breath -- and while it felt a little strange to not just walk in, she knocked on the door.