Evelyn was not interested in pulling away. At all. She hooked her arms around Francis' neck and kept him close. The kisses were growing hotter. She reached to tug at his shirt but something like lightning shot down her spine. All at once she jerked away and was across the room, back pressed to the wall. Her pupil's were blown out wide with lust and something…something else. She licked her lips and edged towards the door. "This...not us but this is a mistake…I'm sorry Francis. I'll see you tonight at the party. Feel free to nap in here or…" Her eyes widened when she ran her tongue over her teeth and found something that shouldn't have been there. "Whatever you want. Forgive me, and you're a wonderful kisser." She smiled in a strained manner and then bolted from the room.
She heard Noria shouting after her and managed to pause on the stairs. "Don't touch him he hasn't done anything!" "But my lady—" "I said don't touch him!" Dame Noria, even in her all her years of experience, was taken aback by the ferocity of the girl's order. "Yes my lady." Evelyn shook her head and hurried downstairs. The throne room was blessedly empty, the king's guard must have moved everyone out. She made unfortunate eye contact with Jon Auckland who must have seen the "panic" in her eyes. The man began to stalk towards her, hand on his weapon. Evelyn frowned and looked around. Where was she? Where was she? Jon was on her, staring down at her with the parental anger her father could never manage. "What's wrong?" She frowned at him and kept her hand over her mouth. "I need to find Mother Nyoka. Now." He grabbed her shoulders and stared at her, cold eyes full of concern. "Your father is playing with his woman while you're out here on your own. Come on Evey." She hid in the man's strong side and let him lead her towards Nyoka's chambers where he suspected she would be found. "Woman! The princess needs you." He pressed a kiss to Evelyn's sweaty forehead and turned to leave the room. Evelyn knew he was standing guard at the door.
The princess sank into one of the overstuffed chairs in the dark room, hung with all manner of strange things and cluttered with oddities. "Mama I drank some of that honey wine and it was wonderful…but then I had the strangest urge and the strangest feeling…like what father talks about. I broke a mirror a few nights ago without touching it and now I this." Her lip quivered as tears began to prick her eyes. "I need something. I need to calm down." She wanted to bury her head in the witch's ample bosom as she had as a child but she felt glued to the chair, shaking hands gripping the arms in a white knuckle grip. Without her hand over her mouth it was easy to see that her teeth had taken on the oddest point...
Nyoka wasn't entirely pleased when Jon Auckland stormed up to her and called her "woman" - the curvacious woman bridled in indignation and her darkened eyes narrowed into glittering slits at the audacity of the man's request. But upon hearing the name Evelyn, Nyoka was suddenly cast into remembrance of why she tolerated Auckland's crass mannerisms in the first place; they both had a common goal. With the princess,
her princess,
her little Evelyn in trouble, Nyoka bustled her way behind Jon and made it to the doors of her chamber with a look of worry etched across her features. She stopped, took a deep breath, and smiled mischievously as she strolled into the room, shutting the door behind her.
The girl was distraught, and Nyoka knew that the first thing she had to do was calm her down before her powers worsened and became, well...noticeable. With a delicate touch that betrayed her brash demeanour, Nyoka took Evelyn's chin and opened her mouth slightly to see the pointed teeth, took in the dilated pupils and the smile on her face faltered into one of concern. She glanced at the door and knew that blasted Jon Auckland was waiting right outside it, snarling like an angry mastiff at whoever walked past...the situation had to be dealt with in secrecy. She didn't trust Jon as much as the King did.
"Ahhh," cooed the witch as her smile returned, fingers tracing along dusty bottles, jars of pickled, murky objects and shrunken heads, working her way past the simmering cauldron which secreted a heavy, white mist into the room that smelt faintly of old parchment and metal.
"Ya got ya grandfather's blood comin' out good and proper now!" she joked, her voice slightly quieter so it was more of a breathy thrum than her usual yelling. Not only was this to keep Evelyn calm, but it was also to muffle the conversation from Jon. Nyoka's fingers curled around the neck of a smooth, dark bottle, the neck wrapped in twine and knotted with two beads that were warm to the touch, a mottled, mouldy casing with a grubby and faded label that clearly read, in Nyoka's cursive writing, "Anaphrodisia Serum, level 8".
"Was hopin' to play a little trick on ya father with dis, but...you need it more." she admittedly, flashing her usual cheeky grin to the girl. On the surface, as far as Evelyn was concerned, she may as well have gotten a cold or a scraped knee like she did when she was young; Nyoka handled the situation with remarkable efficiency. She hummed a little as she went through her cabinet of dosage cups, checking the engravings on the side of the wooden vessels, before picking out a shallow dish - similar to a traditional Japanese Sake cup. She remained dutifully quiet about what was wrong with Evelyn until the woman dragged another worn-down, overstuffed chair towards the princess and set the bottle down on the table.
She kept her voice low and calming to the trembling youth, still seeing her as the little scamp who got bored in her lessons, the one who ran around with her little sister in the courtyard...not the young lady who was currently dealing with one of the most terrifying situations of her life, confused and completely unaware.
"Now I don't know how much ya father spoke of you about dis, but it's high time for a good and proper chat. Ya grandfather came from the skies, an' lusted for ya grandmother...they created the King Maximus, ya father. That makes you, an' probably ya sister, Nephiliam - daughters of a Nephilim."
It was easier to start from the beginning and work her way slowly into explaining what that meant.
"Ya got a quarter of ya grandfather's true power, which is why t'ings are going a bit...funny when you sneak off with that little boyfriend o' yours. Lust, is what triggers it - at least, that's what triggers it right now." Nyoka uncorked the bottle and poured the liquid until it touched the very rim of the dish, a dark purple, shimmering syrup, looking highly concentrated and viscous. Her tone took a more motherly touch as she placed a reassuring hand on Evelyn's shoulder, a sympathetic frown replacing that usual smile.
"Darlin', I don't know what ya powers are gonna be, or how long it's gonna take for you to control dem. Ya picked the worst time for them to crop up though, cheeky lil' girlie...looks like I taught ya too well." she joked, gently lifting the dish up to Evelyn's lips, a silent demand that she drinks it. She did not give it to Evelyn herself, since she was trembling enough to spill some, and the dosage had to be just right...
The liquid tastes disgusting, like most of Nyoka's potions, the fumes heady like nail-polish remover and the taste of old tobacco and boiled egg.
"One cup, twice a day - one just after ya wake up, one just before ya go to bed. Take one before ya sleep tonight, since ya powers will be comin' off strong...no more of dat honey wine, it'll only make it worse...and try to keep ya wanderin' fingers away from dat boy until you've got a grip on it. Don't wanna hurt him, do ya?"
The effects start kicking in rather quickly after consumption - it coats the throat like mucus, and seems to slip into the body with a rather disappointing feeling, like it was sapping away at the lustful ecstasy of a passionate evening - rather firmly putting Evelyn out of the mood she may have been in with Francis earlier.
"Now, I'm gonna tell Bastian, an' I'm gonna tell ya father, and they'll sort out somet'ing to keep ya safe." Nyoka put a palm to her chest, pulling a look of mock solemnity.
"Listen well, child, dis is the first an' only time I'm gonna say it - Ya prob'ly gonna be put on guard. Don't. Sneak. Off."
Nyoka slumped a little, pulling a face as if she swallowed some of the potion herself, as if it was a physical effort to bring herself to be lawful. She flashed a coy little smile at Evelyn as she set the dish aside, which faltered again...
She's growin' up, an' she's gonna find herself on her own in one of the biggest temptations of the year...my poor girl.
Nyoka scooted forward and brought Evelyn into the hug she was waiting for, giving her time to properly calm down, murmuring things like
"Ya gonna be okay," and
"Shhh, it's nothin' serious," until the princess's shaking stops; also allowing the girl's curiosity to be sated by giving her an open window to ask as many questions as she wished.
Deep down, she hoped that Jon didn't hear any of that.
