Asgard: Manuel, Amanda
Aug. 10th, 2004 01:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsThe reunion. It's not as hearts and flowers as expected.
Manuel took a deep breath, cinched the sword at his waist a little tighter, and knocked at the doorway to the Enchantress's castle. So far, his social invisibility weave had held, but he let it go so that the gate-guards could open the massive oaken doors
He could sense their minds, all dull inquisitiveness and basic biological drives. Manny nudged the inquisitiveness higher, shielding his eyes from casual onlookers with a hand. "Come on, open up." he muttered in Castillian under his breath.
Finally the bolts were drawn back and the heavy wooden door swung open to reveal a pair of large, oafish guards. They seemed to be part troll - no man was _that_ ugly - and looked down at him with dull interest.
"What is your business here, boy?" asked one, crossing his arms over his chest in a fashion echoed by bouncers the world over.
Manuel looked up at the troll with an expression of disgust. "My business is none of yours, Troll. Stand aside." With his power, he nudged both the trolls - imparting in them a good dose of fear and the urge to obey his orders instantly.
The guards fell back, expressions of respectful fear on their faces. The way before him was clear, but as Manuel stepped over the threshold, there was a slight shock, almost a tingle, as he tripped the wards placed on the door against those who would pose a threat to the Enchantress.
Loki had mentioned that the wards were in place, and Manuel felt them trip. Instantly, he went into a state of high mental alertness, scanning empathically for anything coming. He also projected his "You don't care if I'm here" projection, to avoid drawing any more eyes or attention. A strong-minded being, a mage, or a psion could see through the deception, but a mundane should be easily taken in by it. As a last-ditch preparation, he also loosened his sword Needle in its sheath.
"Of all the bloody awful timing," Amanda muttered as the wards made the presence of an intruder known. Regretfully she released the girl she had pushed up against the door of her chamber, giving that pouty mouth one last kiss as she did.
"My lady?" asked the chambermaid in confusion, hands moving of their own accord to straighten her dishevelled clothing. "Did I... displease you?" Fear was evident in the girl's voice - those who incurred the wrath of the ladies of the house were like as not to disappear under mysterious circumstances.
"No, Inga, you don't displease me, not at all," Amanda replied. "It seems we have a visitor, an unwelcome one at that. Wait here while I deal with whoever is foolish enough to come to my mother's house with ill-intent." The words were spoken almost playfully, but there was a note of command in them. Inga nodded and moved away from the door, still clutching her half-undone dress to her. With a smile of approval, Amanda straightened her own skirts and set off to investigate - it wouldn't do to let someone attack the castle when the Enchantress was due back that very afternoon from her visit to the Norns.
Manuel slid through the castle like a ghost - avoiding the milling servants, guards, courtiers, and their associated hangers-on with ease. His power, coupled with sticking to the shadows and the lesser-used areas of the castle, plus the map that Loki had made him memorize, did the job fairly nicely. He was nearing the throne room, and presumably the Enchantress (he had been told to scan for her directly would be foolhardy to the point of suicidal) when his forward progress was impeded by a cluster of gossiping maids who were blocking the corridor.
The intruder - whoever or whatever he was - was doing a good job of avoiding her. She could sense his presence, unmistakably, something about him giving her a sense of discomfort, a niggling irritability. But she couldn't seem to pin him down. Amanda swore under her breath as she realised he was heading for the throne room, disgusted at her stupidity. Of course - if he was going after her mother, he'd expect Amora to be holding court as she usually did. But luckily she knew the ways of the castle far better than he, with the added advantage that the denizens of the castle practically fell over themselves to get out of her way. Catching sight of him, halted by the group of maid-servants (and wouldn't they get a beating later, the lazy sluts), she grinned, reaching out and trapping him in a telekinetic bubble. This was far too easy.
"Get back to your duties," she told the maids, who turned and scurried as one away from the Lady's daughter and back to the kitchens. Almost casually, Amanda used the bubble to float the intruder into the throne room, seating herself in her mother's place and smiling at him insolently as he hung in the air, apparently helpless. "You're attractive, for an assassin," she told him, flipping blonde shoulder-length hair back over her shoulder. "Such a pity I have to kill you."
Manuel looked at the blonde woman with some amusement. "I don't think so." he said in perfect Asgardian (courtesy of the translation-stone on a thong around his neck). He didn't even try to fight the telekinetic-bubble - instead, he eyes glowed as he favored using his empathic power, projecting trustworthiness, suspicion-deflation, and appeal at her. Something in the back of his head was trying to tell him something, but he was too busy to listen to it.
Something about the way his eyes were glowing red... Amanda shook off the feeling of deja-vu, in favour of lowering him to the floor but not releasing her hold on him, not yet. "Perhaps I could... play with you a little first," she said, with a wicked smile. "I do so hate to waste such a fine-looking man as you."
Manuel smiled charmingly at the woman. "It would be a waste indeed not to take what you want first before destroying me." he agreed, reinforcing that via his power. "I can make you feel things that no troll or half-dead prisoner ever could. But it's difficult to please you properly from inside this prison."
"Ah, but if I let you out, you might take it into your head to skewer me with that sword of yours." Despite the rising haze of lust, Amanda held onto her natural suspicion. And there was the thought of Amora coming back to find she'd been stupid enough to let an assassin run loose.
Manuel unbuckled his sword-belt, and let it fall to his feet. "What, that sword? It's not safe to not be armed. But I will disarm myself for you, if that would make you feel better." His eyes still burned red as he projected all the trustworthiness, friendliness, and _want_ he could muster into her brain. That itch in the back of his mind grew more insistent, but he couldn't spare the thought to track it down and still keep the complex weaves he was projecting unsnarled.
Amanda blinked as he increased the power of his projections, all the perfectly good reasons why he was going to stay put right where he was sinking under the onslaught. Her breath quickening, she gestured and released him from the spell. "That's much better," she practically purred. Something was so familiar about all this...
Manuel smiled as the bubble disappeared. "Yes, it is." he purred at Amanda. Just another woman, putty in his hands. But he had a job to do, and this woman was stopping him from doing it. "Where is the Enchantress, dearest?" he asked, pushing his empathic weave up another notch. He was running warm on the power, but he could still muster the mental energy to maintain multiple weaves and hold a decent conversation at the same time. "I would hate to have her possibly interrupt our ... private time."
"No fear of that - my lady mother is not here. Business with the Norns." Amanda said absently. "She is due to return today, but not for much longer." It was getting hard to concentrate - or breathe, for that matter. Her head was pounding under the onslaught of Manuel's powers clashing with the spells the Enchantress had put on her, ensuring her obedience. "We have ample... time..." Frowning, she stared hard at him. "Who are you, that you can do this?"
"Me? I'm just a man. No one special." he said with a charming smile. ~You just keep believing that, honey, just long enough for me to slide the knife in.~ he thought in the privacy of his own mind. The itch in the back of his mind was really beginning to get maddening, so he finally backed off on his weaves and explored it. What he learned floored him, but long years of practice kept the shock off his face and minimized in his body-language. "Might I ask who you are, sorgin?" he asked her.
"My mother's daughter," she grated. That name he'd given her, she knew it, she just couldn't think how... Almost reflexively she cast a force bolt at him, knocking him away from her. "What the hell are you doing to me?" she demanded, clutching at her throbbing head, not even realising she'd spoken English.
Manuel slid backwards from the force of the bolt slamming into his chest. Standing up, he ran towards Amanda, every thought that he could spare screaming down the long-dormant link as well as using his mindbreaker training to force her to open her mind. "You know me, sorgin." he said in English as he ran. "But you have forgotten yourself!"
Amanda cried out and fell from the Enchantress's throne as she felt his emotions, his thoughts, _him_ flooding her mind. Huddled on her knees, she gasped out between ragged sobs of pain: "I... don't know... Amanda. My name is Amanda, and I... she..." The Enchantress's spells were strong, deeply rooted, and designed to resist tampering - it felt like her head was about to split open. "S... stop, please. I beg..." Again she flung a force bolt, but her aim was off - it missed him and slammed into the stone wall, cracking it ever-so-slightly.
Manuel reached Amanda, and lifted her to her feet gently. "You are Amanda Sefton. And you are mine." He then kissed her, deeply, using his power to delve deeply into her emotions, breaking the shackles that held her feelings in thrall to the Asgardian sorceress. The pain of the process, well, there was nothing he could do about that other than to be quick about it.
His power was like a knife in her mind, cutting through layers of meticulously-structured enchantment. The pain was huge, almost overwhelming, and she would have fallen if Manuel had not been holding her up. But at last it was gone, and she pulled away from the kiss to look up at him almost wonderingly. "Manny?"
"No, actually, I'm the Grand Inquisitor, and you've been a very naughty witch." he said in English, grinning all the while. "I thought I was alone here! I had heard rumors, lies spread by the skalds, but I never believed they could be true!"
"I can't... fuck, what did that bitch _do_ to me? She said there was no way back, that she was... Christ, I've been such a fuckin' idiot." Amanda reached up to touch his face, as if convincing herself he really was there. "I didn't hurt you, did I? I know I tried..."
Manuel shook his head. "Your aim is terrible, and I've taken worse blows from irritated fathers of comely daughters." he smirked. "Come on, we should get out of here. Is the Enchantress truly gone for the day? If she is, we'll need her spells to get us back home."
"I can't... Rom's amulet, it got taken when I turned up here. 'S how she got hold of me, I nearly burned out. She saved me." With a visible effort to pull herself together - her head was pounding with the after-effects of the spells being undone and the power Manuel had had to use - Amanda took a deep breath. "There's a ward on this place, keeps the mystical energy down t' levels I can handle. I might be able t' do the spell t' get us home, if we can find it. But we don't have a lot of time, she could just decide t' teleport home."
"Can you make a new one with what you know and what you have available here? Or, I don't know, can you just suck it up and deal with the magic until we get home? I don't want to spend the rest of my life here! And if I don't kill the Enchantress, Loki is going to do horrible things to me if I don't get out of Asgard." he said coldly. "Let's get going, see what we have to work with. Where's her workshop? It wasn't on the map Loki showed me."
"Yeah, I could try t' absorb the energy of a whole fuckin' world. Brilliant plan. It'd fuckin' well kill me, Manny." Amanda pulled herself away from him, staggered slightly and then caught her balance. "Her workshop ain't on any maps - she keeps it secret, but I know where it is. If we're quick we can get the hell out of here before she knows anythin's up."
"Fine. Let's go then, before your Mommy dearest can show back up and turn you back into her pet. So, how do Goddesses taste, anyway?" he asked nastily as he waited for her to lead the way. "When we get home, remind me to talk to Strange and Moira about discovering your power's OFF switch. I found mine." he commented.
"This way." With as much dignity as she could manage with the room spinning around her, Amanda stalked past him in a swirl of skirts, shoving her hair out of her face. She didn't bother responding to the rest - they was nothing she could say, really, that wouldn't result in a screaming match, and this was definitely not the time. She took him the lesser-known back ways of the castle, not wanting to be seen with him, and they were nearly at their destination when the hair rose on the back of her neck. "Oh fuck," she said, stopping so suddenly Manuel ran into her. "She's on her way - she's 'portin' back, I can feel the power signature."
"Well, fuck." Manuel swore with real feeling, and then buttoned his mind up tight. Multiple shifting walls, as strong as he could make them. "Now what? Do you think we can take her together, you and I?"
"Not here. Not on her own ground and with her able t' control how much power I get - she might decide t' cut me off altogether, let me use me reserves up. She'd have us for bloody breakfast." She turned to face him. "You go. Get the hell out of here, leave me behind. If she finds you here, yer dead. Maybe I can fool her for a while, make her think she's still got the whammy on me."
"Fuck that. I just found you, I'm not letting her have you." he said with as much feeling as he dared. "If we can get us both out of the castle without running into her, maybe Loki can help you - cut back on the power, maybe make you a runestone to control the onrush. Maybe, just maybe, he could teach you a little control while he was at it. Worked wonders for me." he said, looking around to see if they were being watched. "What's the quickest way out of the castle?"
"Loki? Yer'd trust him? The God of Lies? I'm better off stayin' here, 'least I know what Moth... the Enchantress wants of me." Even as she spoke, Amanda could feel the shift in the energies within the castle, sense the owner's return. "Too late, she's in the throne room - I can't get you out of here without riskin' a teleport, an' she'll know what's happened." An idea occurred to her, desperate and terrible. "There's one thing... D'you trust me?"
"He's the Lord of Mischief!" he protested, the memory of a dozen beatings fresh in his mind on the topic. "And considering he sent me here to kill her, he'd settle for her losing her "daughter" just as well. She'd owe him a boon to get you back. What do you have in mind?" he asked her.
"You can't know that! And I've just had one person dickin' me over for me power, I'm not lettin' a God do it." Footsteps sounded down the hall, the Enchantress's escort. Any minute now they'd be discovered, and Manuel couldn't lie. She grabbed his hands. "Look, there's no time t' explain, or t' argue. D' you trust me? I won't let anythin' happen t' you."
"You've _already_ let a God do it. That barn door is wide open now." he protested. "Do what you have to do." he told her, then kissed her quickly.
"Thanks, love," she said, giving him a brief smile, before unleashing the binding spell she'd been summoning. Normally she would have nowhere near the power to do it, but she had two things in her favour: the link, and his name. She poured her power down the link, using it to force her spell deep in his mind, where it would stand up to even the Enchantress's probing. "Manuel Alphonso Roderigo de la Rocha, hear my words. Your will is mine. Your mind is mine. Your soul is mine. As I wish, so will you do." The formal closure of the spell fell from numb lips, even as she watched the light in his eyes die. "I'm sorry."
Manny stood there quietly, not moving, waiting for orders. Inside his mind, he was screaming. This was a violation of everything he was, a spike driven into his very heart. A small rational part of his brain knew it was necessary, that it was deception, but Loki had taught him to never, ever let himself be beholden to another.
She could feel his outrage, his fury, his pain, pouring down the link. For a moment she nearly reversed the spell - better they both die together than him suffer like this - but the survivor in her rose and protested. Steeling herself, she clamped down on the link, blocked as much she could. Then she straightened her dress, smoothed her hair, and turned to where the footsteps where coming from. "Come with me," she ordered Manuel in an imperious tone, and she headed towards the throne room.
Manny took his defiances where he could. "As you wish." he said, then followed along. To amuse himself, and because he knew damned well she could feel it, he stared at her posterior as it moved under her skirt. Why hadn't she worn them before? They suited her, and covered her scars. He rather liked it.
"Cut it out," she growled under her breath at him in English, even as the Enchantress's escort appeared around the corner ahead of them. More trolls - Amora had a thing for them, which gave Amanda the shudders even before the spell was broken - although the leader was Asgardian, a large, handsome warrior who kept his place through sheer bloody-mindedness and the fact he was far more clever than a troll.
"Lady!" he exclaimed, coming forward. "We received word of an intruder, and your mother instructed us to search for you, fearing you had come to some harm..." He looked at Manuel suspiciously. "Is this he? Guards, take him."
"Stop!" Amanda ordered, and the trolls who had began stepping forward halted in mid-step at her tone, looking uncertainly between their commander and their mistress's 'daughter'. "Yes, this is the intruder, Hangrid, an assassin sent by the God of Mischief to do harm upon our Lady. But he is not a threat now." She allowed herself a smug grin, all the while willing this to work. "A simple binding spell, and he is no more than my toy."
Hangrid looked doubtful. "Bound, you say? My lady, I do not profess to know the ways of magic..."
"But I do, and when I say he's bound, he's bound. His will is mine, to control as I will. But, if it concerns you so much, Hangrid, you can escort us to the throne room and we shall let my mother decide this, shall we?"
Manuel kept his expression completely clear - partially because his facial muscles wouldn't listen to him, and partially to see how things played out. To keep himself amused (and to keep from going mad) he poked at the binding-spell. The hows were beyond him (not being a mage) but he could almost puzzle out how it had been done from a psionic point of view. He couldn't recreate the weave, considering that it controlled his body, but the mental aspects were child's play. He tucked that knowledge away for later. Much later, when he was free.
Hangrid seemed about to continue to protest - Amanda might be favoured by the Lady, but she was still just a mortal, and a mere girl at that - but his self-preservation instinct kicked in and he nodded stiffly. "As my Lady wishes," he said, jerking his head at the two troll guards to flank Manuel and offering his arm to Amanda, who took it frostily. The rest of the trolls fell in behind the small procession as they passed.
The Enchantress was seated on her throne, Manuel's sword lying across her lap, when they entered. She glanced up as Hangrid brought Amanda before her, bowing and stepping back a respectful distance. The trolls guarding Manuel led him to a point behind the witchgirl, not touching him, but making it very clear from their body language that they would crush him if he so much as twitched.
"Daughter," the Enchantress said, her voice as rich and smooth as honey, a spell in and of itself. "It appears there was some excitement whilst I was absent. Are you unharmed? And who is this ruffian at your heels? Not some rascal who stole your heart and sought to take you away from me?"
Amanda curtsied, far more gracefully than Manuel would have expected, before allowing herself to snort. "Hardly, my lady Mother. He was sent by the Deceiver, to do you harm. His mistake was to think me but a foolish girl - I cast a binding spell on him. He can do nothing, say nothing, without my consent."
~No shit.~ thought Manuel in the privacy of his own mind. ~And it's getting really old, really fast.~ He felt himself kowtow before the Enchantress, and he 'heard' Loki's voice in his mind - his own smooth tones counteracting the Enchantress's, and leaving his own mind clear and unfogged by the sorceress's wiles.
The Enchantress looked at Manuel closely, rising from her seat and coming forward, his sword still in her hands. "His mind is still free, but his will is not - interesting choice, daughter. You show a certain amount of cruelty I hadn't expected of you." She bestowed a proud smile on Amanda, who did her best to look pleased even as her skin crawled at possessiveness of it. Then she drew the sword, its naked blade gleaming in the sunlight streaming into the hall, and held the point to Manuel's throat. "Loki knows better than to cross me - would he really be so foolish as to send a mere human against me? Speak, assassin, tell me of your orders."
Manuel stayed silent, not having been ordered to speak by Amanda. His mind was still his own, and after all of his training with Loki, he was feeling cocky. So he slid a crack open in his shield, spinning a ephemeral empathic probe out right at the Enchantress. ~Let's see how good she really is.~ he thought with some amusement.
"Speak," Amanda instructed, too busy locking down her own emotions and thoughts to notice Manuel's probe. The Enchantress did, however - her true power was in the ability to cloud minds and emotions with her magic, and she didn't take kindly to trespassers. Raising one perfectly-shaped eyebrow at him, she waited for him to answer her question.
"Your mistress commands, assassin. What were your precise instructions from Loki?"
"I was instructed to come back with your head," he said flatly. "Barring that, I was to create chaos in your court, to distract you and force you to spend your energies." he said. "Loki did not expect me to survive this raid, but that's just a guess on my part." he said.
"A guess not far off the mark - the Trickster has no love for his tools, and will discard them once they tire him." The Enchantress took the sword from Manuel's throat, sheathed it again and dropped it to the floor almost contemptuously. "And he has even less love for a tool that fails - perhaps I should instruct my daughter to send you back to him, so that he might express that displeasure."
Amanda bit her lip, biting back her initial reaction. "My lady Mother, this man has insulted you by daring to come here with ill-intent. Surely his punishment should be more personal than merely passing him onto Loki?"
The Enchantress gave Amanda a suspicious look. "You have something in mind?"
"He is a proud man, disinclined to slavery - you can see that from the way he chafes against my binding. Let that continue, let him be my... plaything, my pet. Let me break his will. And then, when I am done, he will be yours, to punish as you will." Amanda met the Enchantress's look blandly, praying the ploy would work. If it didn't, the Enchantress would probably send Manuel down to the dungeons, or worse, her own bedchamber - Amanda had seen what happened to those unlucky individuals who had to endure Amora's appetites.
Manuel couldn't turn his gaze away, but luckily for him he was looking right at the Enchantress. Although the thought would very well get him killed if she was eavesdropping, he could not help but wonder if the Asgardian had ever had a Spaniard before, and how much of the impressive display of decolletage was natural, and how much due to cosmetic sorcery.
He then dragged his mind out of the gutter. Amanda's idea, assuming it worked, would keep him drawing breath for a short while - perhaps they could pull off a coup d'etat or a putsch. Even better, given enough time maybe Amanda could discover a way home.
"He is not as bound as you might think, daughter," the Enchantress began. Her network of spies had brought more than enough news of strangers - young, with unusual powers and not knowing the language - for her to know fully well this young man was one of those friends Amanda had been so concerned about when she'd first arrived. A test, then, of both Amanda's loyalties and of her magic. "But your intervention saved me much time and unseemly ruckus with search parties and the like. I owe you a boon - he shall be it. Just make sure you keep him to your chambers or by your side - I will not have him wandering the castle loose." She ran her fingers down the side of Manuel's face and to his throat. A brief incantation, and a leather collar appeared. "I do look forward to when she tires of you," she said, smiling wickedly.
Manuel tried to waggle his eyebrows and leer at the Enchantress, but the spell blocked his access to his own body. The collar was too snug for his tastes, cutting into his windpipe somewhat cruelly, but the pain was nothing compared to what he'd suffered in the last few months.
It was all Amanda could do to not roll her eyes at the sensations leaking through the link: Manuel hadn't changed at all. She curtsied again to Amora. "My thanks, my Lady," she said, with just the right note of gratitude. She kicked Manuel not-too-lightly in the shin. "Bow, fool," she told him. "And then follow me."
Manuel bowed as instructed, perfectly correct in his form. That kick hurt, but pain was not something he let bother him anymore. Loki's sadistic dwarf (only eight feet tall) of a weaponsmaster had made sure of that. He followed Amanda, once again amusing himself by watching the interesting things going on under that dress, until they both arrived at her suite.
"You, Inga, out," Amanda curtly told the maidservant still there. Inga opened her mouth to question, but caught the expression on her mistress's face and fled. With a sigh, Amanda closed and bolted the door after her, casting a privacy ward for safety's sake. "That'll buy us some time," she told Manuel, crossing the large room to flop down in a seat. "Not sure how much, but hopefully enough for me t' find a way out of here."
Manuel stood in the doorway, facial features placid. Inside his own head, he was rattling the cage, seeing if he could make it give anywhere. So far, he wasn't having much luck. Even with the full extent of his power available to him, he couldn't break the spell - because it had no emotional component. The hooks were in parts of him he couldn't touch with his empathy.
"Come an' sit down. An' you can speak freely, least t' me." Amanda winced at the sensations coming down the link and was tempted to lift the spell, but she wasn't sure that was a good idea. Not until she knew how long Amora was going to be in residence, and how long it was going to take to find the right teleportation spell.
Manuel sat down, and finally able to speak, growled "What the hell did you do to me?" at her. His mind had taken to rattling the invisible bars of his cage, just to give it something to do. "And she saw my probe - I need to work on subtlety."
"You did _what_? Fuckin' hell, Manny, what the fuck were you thinkin'? I should have hit you with a harder spell - she's gunna be watchin' us both like a hawk." Amanda shook her head angrily. "How could you be so bloody stupid?"
Manuel would have shrugged physically, but he couldn't, so he settled for a mental shrug. "It was tiny, barely even there. And she bought the line about Loki - I could see that plain as day. Her empathic shielding is really substandard outside of her specialities. I couldn't make her fall in love with me, not without a major struggle, but in some ways she's no better than you are."
"One of these days yer gunna come across someone you can't manipulate, an' it's gunna bite you in the arse," Amanda said, a little resentfully. "An' if she's expectin' somethin', she'll be ready for you, mark my words." She fell silent, processing everything - with the Enchantress's hold broken, she was having to look at a couple of months' worth of memories in a new light. The link rumbled in the back of her head, reminding her of Manuel's discomfort.
Manuel could feel Amanda's ponderings, examining her memories, so he demonstrated one of his new tricks - he pulled himself away from the link, not letting anything leak through his walls to color her perceptions of what she was feeling.
Amanda started as the link went suddenly quiet - it was strange how quickly she'd gotten used to having it active again, after so long without. "Someone was busy in the meantime," she said, smiling a little. Then she frowned, remembering a blonde bard who had looked somehow familiar... "I don't think it's just us," she said slowly. "I'm not sure, but I think at least Doug's here too..." Her eyes widened, as the memory of her arrival hit her. "An' Alison. She was here, with me. I think... I think Mo... that bitch did something with her, 'cause she disappeared, while I was out of it."
Manuel, in lieu of his usual nod, made affirmative noises. "I've been a little isolated." He said, still keeping his feelings off the link. "I've spent a lot of time fencing, working out, and examining my power. The things Loki has showed me, the things I can do now ..." He would have shuddered, if he had control over his own body.
She moved closer to him on the couch. "Not now. Don't think 'bout it now, not with the bindin' an' all. An' I can't take it off, not if she suspects somethin'. You're a bloody awful actor."
"Am I?" he asked with a grin. "You might be surprised - I'm not the same confused boy you knew a few months ago." He let his face go back to neutral. "We need to focus on getting out of here, finding whatever others may still exist, and then finding a way home. This is a magical land, so that means you."
"I know," she said, biting her lip a little. "Did I mention I'm not that good under pressure?" she joked half-heartedly, before focusing again. "The way home I think I can find - Amora's the expert on magic here, an' she's got a huge library of magic books. It'll just take some lookin'. As for findin' the others... My location spells only work if I have somethin' belongin' t' the person, but there might be somethin' I can cobble up." She shrugged a little helplessly. "'Course, all of that's useless if me head explodes the second I walk out the front door. Like you said, magical land. Way too much power for me t' handle."
"You're going to have to get good under pressure. I can help with that, no problems. You'll be as cool as December and as calm as a lake." he said. "If we can get Amora out of the way, then you can have the run of the library, and I can find the others. It would be easier if I actually liked any of them, but I should be able to manage despite that."
"Depends on who's out there - no doubt you'll have no hassles findin' Jubilee." Amanda said the name with a trace of bitterness. "As for gettin' Amora out of the way: could be easier said than done. Unless..." Amanda frowned, thinking. "Unless she thinks Loki's got more planned, an' decides t' take him on before he springs it?" She looked at him. "Would that work?"
"Now, now, this is not the time to be catty. I could find Jamie just as easily, because he hates me." he clarified. "And we could point Amora at Loki - but do we really want to be responsible for instigating a Godwar in Asgard? That could have repercussions."
"I hadn't thought of that. An' yeah, probably not a good idea." Amanda ignored the comment about being catty and tried to think. "I'm comin' up empty, other 'n fillin' her room with trolls an' lockin' her in until she's done with 'em," she said with a face. Now she had her own mind back, she was finding the sensation of having a face bare of piercings very strange.
"A woman of ravenous appetite, I think. I could see that right away." he commented vaguely. "Does she sleep? Can we poison her wine, drug her into unconsciousness, assassinate her after she wears her lovers out?"
"She sleeps an' eats, same as us. I'm just not sure what it'd take t' knock her out... I can get at the library any way, whether she's here or not."
"OK. So library access won't be a problem. But I can't start looking for the others if she's here - it will be obvious to anyone who can see emotions that I'm doing something major. We'll need her out of the way."
"Let me start on the library an' I'll think of somethin' - she's not likely t' stay long, not with the winter festivals in Asgard City. Could be we won't need t' do much at all." It helped, having a plan - the tension of recent events was slowly starting to drain from her, and she found herself inadvertently cuddling closer.
Manuel, not having control over his body, wasn't much of a cuddlebuddy at the moment. His mind, however, was racing. "Good. If she's off the premises, then I can start looking for the others. Electronics don't work here." he added cryptically. "You can handle the research thing, once I give you a little something for the pressure."
"Wouldn't call it that little," Amanda said, snickering a little. "An' you can move as well as talk freely, least when it's just us in here," she added, belatedly remembering the binding spell. Then his comment about electronics registered. "The dampener ain't workin'? I was wondering where all that power was coming from."
Manuel smiled thinly. "You haven't seen anything yet. If I get about a day or two of uninterrupted time, I intend to scan the entire realm looking for the others." he said confidently, relaxing finally and playing with the collar around his neck. "And look at you. The dress suits you, as does the reduction in metal. I'm not sure about the hair, though. You don't strike me as being a very good blonde." he commented, looking at Amanda. "I'm tired of blondes."
She wrinkled her nose. "I'm not a good blonde. Why d'you think I dye it?" Apart from the whole reinventing herself thing, that was. "Amora wanted me t' look the part, tho', so she did the whole magical makeover thing." She grinned briefly and pulled up her long skirt enough to show him the Doc Marten boots still on her feet. "There're limits, tho'."
Manuel looked at the Docs under that dress and just _laughed_. "Some things just will not change." He wheezed out around belly-laughs. "I didn't get to keep anything from Midgard." he said seriously. "So - what now? I'm hungry - can you have the maids bring us food, or do I need to compel it?"
Amanda gave him an mock-disgusted look. "What d'you think? I'm the daughter of the Lady of the house, you think they're gunna make me fend for meself? But I've got a better idea, since it don't involve me gettin' up or having to lock you down again." She recited some words that sounded like Asgardian but weren't anything Manuel knew, and gestured at the small table in front of them. There was a flash of light, and food appeared - standard Asgardian fare, heavy on the roasted dead animal and bread, and the inevitable tankards of ale. "You aren't the only one who's been learning new tricks," she told him a tad smugly. "Too bad there ain't grapes here, or I would have made you peel me some," she added, grinning wickedly.
Manuel moved over to the food, and then dug a pendant out of his pocket. He waved it over the food, looked into it, and then nodded as he replaced it in his pocket. He then tore into the food - apparently Asgard had affected his normally-excellent manners. "I'm not peeling grapes for anybody." he said around mouthfuls of food. "Seems we've both learned some new tricks." he added with some bitterness.
'With that spell on you, you would if I told you to,' Amanda thought with uncharacteristic cruelty, but she kept the thought to herself. She settled herself a little more comfortably on the couch, watching him eat. "So, you were with Loki all this time?" she asked lightly. She looked him over approvingly. "Looks like you finally got back in shape, at least."
Manuel nodded. He felt the spike of cruelty from her mind, but let it pass uncommented-on. "I am in the best shape of my life right now. I have been working nonstop from sunup to sundown, six days a week, for three months. Empathy, swordsmanship, and espionage, in particular. With some time off for the wenches," he said flatly.
"So, you're in shape, you've got your powers back and under control, and you've been fucking your way around Loki's court. Sounds like your idea of heaven. But you aren't happy thinking 'bout it. What happened?" It wasn't fair, Amanda knew, to ask him when he couldn't refuse to answer, but there had been enough hints dropped that his time in Asgard hadn't been all beer and skittles.
Manuel shivered. "I had a man put to death for the crime of loving his daughter." he said quietly. "Loki made me do all of it - the questioning, the disappearance, the hot pokers and the thumbscrews..." He shuddered again, as if the memory pained him. "I felt him die, cursing my name, knowing he was innocent of the charges and unable to do anything about it, lest I join him on the rack. Power has a price - and I exceeded my ability to pay it."
Amanda fell silent. The link was awash with emotion - he'd let his hold slip with the pain of remembering - and she knew it was pretty much the same for him from her end. Concern, pity, fear, hope... and a small amount of gloating that he'd finally learnt what she'd been trying to tell him since Mexico about the price of power. Guilt, that she felt that way, and for the things she'd done as Amora's apprentice. "Is that when he decided t' get rid of you?" she asked at last.
Manuel nodded. "I can't hide anything from Loki - he knew exactly how I felt. So he sent me on this fool's errand to go and get myself killed uselessly. He wins twice - I stay away from his people, and there was always the chance that I'd succeed." he shrugged. "I understand the logic of it."
Manuel stretched out in his chair, and grabbed for more food. "He taught me a lot. About my power, how to use it, the potential I have in my mind. He told me that I'm barely touching a third of my power - and that my mind wasn't ready to reveal the rest. Not yet. He taught me control, Amanda. Far more than the Askani ever did. I control it now. I can turn it off, turn it on, make it do as I wish. I got what I thought I always wanted."
Pausing for breath, Manuel took a deep drink from one of the ale flagons. "Gah, I hate this Aes swill. The Frost Giants brew a beer that tastes of the cold-swept peaks of their mountain homes. This stuff tastes like horse dung." he swore. "But I'm not complaining - I learned my lesson about drinking the water here. I don't think I have EVER thrown up that much in my life."
"Funny you should mention horse shit - 's what makes the water so bad." Amanda shrugged and got up, walking to the open fireplace and looking down into the flames, her back to Manuel. "What's the sayin'? 'Careful what you wish for, you just might get it'? Looks like that's what you got."
"Given that my choices were stay crippled, be an Askani slave, or learn from the Lord of Chaos, I picked the lattermost." he said cautiously. "Best of bad choices. I've made more progress here than I ever could have back home." He then sat back down, to just -watch- Amanda. "You're all confused, emotionally. Anything I can help with?"
"Just... havin' trouble adjusting. T' you, t' having me head back, t' knowing I've been living a lie for the last three months. An' the kicker is, I should be used to this. Someone controlling me life, using me..." Amanda tried to keep the bitterness from her voice, but it was hard. "'Least one of us made progress, even if it was in a shitty situation. Some good came of it."
Manuel stood up, moved behind Amanda, and gave her a tender hug from behind. "Hey." he said softly to her. "Not your fault. You got used and abused by the Enchantress. She's a Goddess here, remember? No one can fault you for falling for a Goddess. Loki had me dominated and destroyed in twelve seconds. I'll bet you held out for longer than that. Take what you've learned from her, and put it to good uses. It doesn't always have to be evil." he said, more to himself than to her.
"Thing is, I get used an' abused by everyone. Anyone who wants a power source. I thought all that was finished with Rack dead, but apparently not." Amanda leaned back against Manuel, taking comfort in his presence, in the wave of emotions from the link - not any specific emotion, just the fact the link was active. "She went straight for me weak points an' used 'em t' hold me. An' I didn't even realise she was doin' it."
"Yes, but you learn from each time this happens. I've been used as a power source too. By the doctors, by my father, and now by Loki. I can empathize." he said quietly, maintaining his hug. "There are people who are here for you - me, Nathan, a few others. Lean on us, and tell the rest to go fuck themselves with a spatula." he said with a grin she couldn't see. And then, just for fun, he nibbled on her neck gently.
She snorted, and then shivered as she felt his lips on her neck. "Y'know, you're supposed t' be my sex slave..." she said, smiling wickedly and leaning back into him further.
Manuel stiffened, and let his hug drop. "I don't think so." he said flatly. "If you compel it, I won't have any choice but to obey. But you can't take by force what I would have freely given to you. If you want it that way, you do it without my help."
"I was jokin'. Really." Amanda turned around so she could look at him. "Look, I'd take the spell off, but she'd know, and then we're both dead. You can trust me, you know that - remember the Mirror? I told you what I'd done and why, and I promised I wouldn't do anything like that again. This ain't any different."
Manuel just looked at Amanda, keeping his own emotions very thoroughly neutral. "It's not funny." he said flatly. "I don't think you'd like it much if I did it to you."
"'M sorry." If the remorse on her face wasn't enough, what she was projecting should have been. "Bad joke, I know. I do that - I can't cope with somethin', I make a joke. Or distract meself. I shouldn't have said it." She moved away from him, heading for the door. "I should go down t' the library, see if I can't make a start on findin' that spell. If anyone comes, tell them you obey only me. If that's all right."
"It beats the alternative." he said, returning to the conjured food and grabbing up another haunch of meat. "Do you want some company? I can carry books, turn pages, massage your feet, do whatever we need to, to keep the illusion alive." And oh, how he hated that, but he also saw the necessity.
She felt the surge of resentment, and winced. "Best you stay here, least for now. The less Amora sees of you, the better." She lay her hand on the latch, but didn't open it just yet. "I... thanks. For knowin' it was me."
"You could never hide from me, once I looked." he admitted. "The blonde hair and your original face were a surprise, though. When we get back - maybe a little less metal in your face? And I love the dress." he smirked.
"We'll see. 'Bout the metal, that is. An' you would - you don't have t' bloody get strapped into the fuckin' thing," she replied, a faint smile returning. "Any clothes you need help gettin' into or out of are just plain stupid."
Manuel smirked. "Spoken like a true street-rat." he said with a smirk. "Go on, go do the eye-of-newt thing. But if you could conjure some more food, or maybe a nice scullery wench ... " he leered
She rolled her eyes and waved at the table, conjuring more food. "The wench'll have t' wait til I get back, tho' - you're supposed to be bound, remember?"
Manuel smirked. "Supposed to be, nothing. I am bound." he said around bites of meat. He very carefully let her see exactly how displeased he was with that state of affairs, but also took pains to make sure that she saw that he knew the necessity of it. "And, by the way - when we get back, you are going to be MINE for a good long while. Paybacks, especially empathic ones, are a bitch."
She bit her lip. "Turn about's fair play," was all she said, with a certain amount of resignation. Everyone else had had their turn, after all. Before he could say anything to that, or to her emotional state, she pushed down the latch and was gone.
Manuel felt her reaction, and literally kicked himself. "Idiot." he said in Castillian, then sat down at the now-groaning table with delight. "Well, she conjures a good spread, that's for sure." he said to no-one in particular.
***
Looking for that spell was largely an excuse to get herself some time to calm herself and defuse the situation she'd caused with her stupidity. After an hour or two of clandestinely searching through the scrolls on teleportation, Amanda decided she'd had enough time. And she wanted Manuel - not entirely in a physical way, but just to have him in the same space. After so long isolated, she found herself desperately wishing for familiar faces. And none was so familiar as his. Besides, she told herself, Amora would get suspicious if she found her 'daughter' poring over spells instead of playing with her new toy.
Manuel, for his part, was going blind out of sheer boredom. He'd long-since eaten all of the food, and staring at the ceiling, or at the canopy of her bed, or even working on some fencing drills was dull, boring work. When Amanda came back, he was out cold asleep on her couch.
Closing the door and locking it behind her, Amanda leaned back against it, looking at the sleeping Spaniard. An oddly affectionate feeling welled up - he was cute when he was sleeping. Not that she'd ever admit it. Carefully, trying not to wake him, she used her telekinetic spell to float him over to the bed - he was too long for the couch and would wake with horrible cramps in his legs if he stayed there.
Manuel's eyes snapped open the moment the spell touched him, but then closed again almost instantly as he floated to the bed. "Find what you needed?" he asked, still with his eyes closed.
"Not yet. But I've got an idea of where t' look," she replied, after recovering from the start he'd given her. "Sorry t' leave you so long."
"Progress, then. Sorry about the mess - I couldn't exactly leave to go find the kitchens." he said, stretching out on the bed. "I'm full. I haven't eaten this much in a long, long time."
"'S all right. That's what servants are for - I'll get someone t' clean up later. Right now I can't be arsed." She smiled a little. "'S good t' be able t' speak English an' be understood again." Coming over to the bed, she paused by the end post, fiddling with the drapes with nervous fingers. "They didn't feed you at Loki's court?"
"Oh, they fed me. But after a day spent training with berserkers, Frost Giants, and Loki himself, I have had very little appetite. Pain does that to me." he said. "It's hard to keep down food when you've cracked a rib, and the healers refuse to heal it as an object lesson in How Not To Get Hit."
Amanda winced, and sat almost gingerly on the edge of the bed, next to him. "I wish I'd been there. Even t' help put you back together, if I couldn't stop it happenin' in the first place." She reached over and lay her hand gently on his ribcage. "Are you all right? Now, I mean."
"Oh, I'm fine. I got patched up before I left. They'd heal it the next day, but I got to spend the night with my wounds, as a reminder and a spur to do better. I can't complain, it worked. And the looks on their faces when they tried to kill me with those giant steel crowbars. You'd think they'd never thought to use a sword's point before."
"Makes sense - no point sendin' you into a fight hurt." She ran the palm of her hand over the spread of his ribs on one side, noting the slight uneveness that signalled a healed break in one or two places. "Somehow I don't think it'll catch on back at the school as a trainin' exercise. Well, except maybe Sarah."
"I wouldn't recommend it." he said, remembering. "But it worked, so I can't complain. I can fight and use my power at the same time, among other wonderful new tricks. And I can do this." He opened his eyes, got up off the bed, and pushed two of Amanda's chairs into position, facing one another a few feet apart. He put one foot onto one chair, one foot onto the other, and did a full suspended split between the chairs, held up by his leg muscle. "Flexibility and strength." he commented with a grin.
"Show off," she said, grinning, but there was a certain amount of respectful admiration as well. "You know who you look like? That actor, the one who does the karate movies. Jean-Claude something."
Manuel shrugged. "I've never been much for the cinema." he admitted. "Jubilee has been trying to correct this, but most of it's just crap. But since I'm showing off..." he grinned, then flipped the split upside down into a handstand, still maintaining the split in midair. He brought his legs together slowly, then pushed up and flipped back to his feet. "Damn, that worked. Last five times I tried it, I nearly knocked myself out cold."
She giggled despite the mention of Jubilee. "Just as well. I like yer head the way it is." Leaning back on her elbows, she gave him another long, assessing look. "Yep, it might have been right horrible, but you can't argue with the results."
Manuel posed artistically for Amanda, showing off his newly-buff physique. "I have both the brains and the looks. I should make lots of money." he said with a grin.
"Oh for a camera. Or a sketchpad," she deadpanned, the corners of her mouth twitching. "So, is there anythin' else you can do? Since yer showin' off, that is."
Manuel smirked. "Before we go there, I just wanted to apologize for my words earlier. I didn't think, and it was a dumb thing to say. So I'm sorry if I hurt you." He paused for a couple of seconds, then grinned again. "I have all sorts of tricks."
"Considerin' I was stupid first, I think we're even," Amanda said wryly. "Nice t' know some things don't change - we're both still bloody tactless." She eyed him speculatively. "Ya wanna show me these tricks of yours?" she asked, reminding herself not to phrase anything in a way that could be considered a command - not an easy task, since she was tired of talking and wanted things less... complicated.
Manuel, compelled to answer by the magic that was enslaving his reactions, shook his head. "Not really, now that you mention it. It would be fun and all that, but I'm still pissed about this slave-spell. I know it's necessary, but I don't like it One Bit." he said, then winced once control over himself returned to him.
"If Rom could see this she'd be laughin' an' tellin' me this is one of those consequences I need t' think about before I cast a spell," Amanda muttered mostly to herself. The worst of it was it was perfectly understandable - had their positions been reversed, she would have been the same. It didn't make it any easier to hear. "Maybe I should've just 'ported you the hell out of here in the first place." She started chewing on her thumbnail, considering the options. "Maybe I should still do that. Get you the fuck out of here, take off the binding, tell Amora I killed you or something an' hope she believes me. It'd mean you could look for the others, an' you wouldn't be stuck here bein' pissed off at me."
Manuel sighed in frustration. "I know why you did it. I even agree with why you did it. But there's still a large part of me who remembers the asylum, and detests being caged in any way. If you'll recall, I didn't even like being hugged early on. Too much like confinement." he said. "No, this is the best way. I won't abandon you, not to her, not to anyone."
"An' round we go again." Amanda's frustration echoed Manuel's own. "I'll be all right, she won't hurt me." 'I hope,' she added in her own head, glad the link was still largely empathic. "I can't keep you like this, not when I know what it's doin' to you." She realised she was biting her nails again, and made herself stop. One thing about the Enchantress's spell, the lack of cigarettes hadn't been a problem. Now she wanted one almost desperately. "Best I can do is t' tell you that when it's just you an' me, in here, you do an' think an' say whatever you would normally, without the binding. I can't do better 'n that, not if you won't let me send you somewhere safe."
"I don't think you understand. I can't go back. If I go back empty-handed, Loki will insure that I am destroyed. It's actually safer here, maintaining the masquerade, then out there." he explained. "It will have to do."
"I didn't mean back t' him. I know you can't. But you could go somewhere else, start lookin' for the others..." Amanda threw up her hands in frustration, stood and began to pace. "Fine, you'll stay. An' I'll give you as much leeway with the binding as I can without anyone finding out, an' hope I find that bloody spell an' that Amora goes off t' the Mid-winter Festival in Asgard City or something so we can find the others and get the fuck out of here so I can take the bloody binding off and you can touch me again." Her swirling skirts tangled with her legs and she stopped her agitated pacing, swearing. "Bloody fuckin' dress," she muttered, settling things again and then straightening, brushing hair out of her face. "I almost wish you hadn't found me first, Manny. I don't think I can do this, have you here an' not have you want me."
"Being enslaved against my will, with no safeword, does that to me." he snarked back at Amanda. He then sighed deeply. "Look. I know it's hard on you - I can feel that even without my power. I'll be good. Just don't expect me to sit here and get a hardon while you hold my leash in your mind. I don't work like that. Once we're home, then we'll spend some time together. I plan on taking a nice long shower right off the bat. I stink."
"You're bloody lucky you're not strung up in Amora's chambers while she strips yer mind and drains you dry!" Amanda retorted, eyes flashing angrily. Then the anger died away, leaving her very tired. "Look, this ain't gettin' us anywhere. It's done, and I've promised not to take advantage - I can't do anything more to make you trust me, and I can't expect you to react normally. So, I'll just suck it up, as you like t' tell me." She gave him a faint smile. "Yeah, shower'd be good. An' you ain't the only stinky one - everyone in this whole place reeks."
Manuel could easily tell that that wasn't nearly the end of that, but there was nothing else he could say. "Lay down." he started to tell her, before the slave-spell seized his jaw and made him unable to speak for a second or two. "Will you please lay down?" he managed to get out, indicating the enormous bed. "Let me work out some of that tension. You're tense, and it gives you headaches."
Amanda opened her mouth to say she was fine, he didn't have to, but she knew that was just being stupidly stubborn. And he was trying, even with the binding spell getting in the way. So she nodded, and came back to the bed, sitting on the edge. "On me front?" she asked, bending to undo the laces of her boots - she had she hoist the skirt out of the way.
"Yes, on your front." he said, indicating the ocean of silk and furs that called itself Amanda's Bed. Once the sorceress was laying flat, Manuel let his fingers do the walking - up and down her spine, working out tense spots. He was an excellent maseusse, and while he avoided her rear entirely he did work her legs like he did her back.
She tensed at the first contact of his hands, but as he worked on her back and then her legs, she gradually relaxed, until she was almost falling asleep. It was probably the first time since arriving in Asgard that she'd properly let down her guard - in Amora's court, not even her daughter was entirely safe, and there had always been the feeling of being on show, being watched.
Manuel knew that feeling all too well. Once he finished, he rolled off the bed and back over to a chair. "Better?" he asked with real concern. "You had some real knots in your shoulders - good thing I've got a good grip." he said, flexing his fencer's hands. "Rest, please. I'll keep watch."
"Much better," she murmured, slowly rolling over onto her side and half-opening her eyes to look at him. "Thank you." Her eyes drifted closed again as she slipped into sleep.
"You're welcome." he said after she had drifted off to sleep. He tested the bonds of his slave-spell, and saw that they held even if she was unconscious. Snarling slightly, Manuel paced the room, to let himself think. He couldn't leave - either the Enchantress's guards would cut him down, she'd do it herself, or Loki's agents would get word and send men with long knives after him. Staying was just this side of intolerable, but given the choices, it was the best he could do. And most galling of all, the bitch who owned this castle had Needle.
Even asleep, Amanda felt his anger and frustration, and flinched slightly.
Manuel looked at Amanda, and then slammed down a block over the link. She needed her sleep, not a brainfull of his frustrations. Picking at the remnants of his meal held little appeal - but another need was pressing down on him fairly urgently, and looking around, he didn't see any way of relieving it. Sighing, he reached out for Amanda's ankle, to try to shake her into semi-consciousness.
"Hrmf?" Instinctively she jerked her ankle away, casting a shielding spell at the same time, almost subconsciously. Blearily, she looked at him through the faint blue haze of the spell. "Oh. What is it?"
"Bathroom. Need to go. Where is it?" he asked, almost at the point of doing the Pee-Pee Dance. "Didn't want to wake you, but I couldn't see one from here, and I can't leave without your say-so."
"Oh. Yeah. Sorry, should've thought." Murmuring a few words in Latin, a small green spark appeared when she snapped her fingers. "Location spell - follow the light, it'll show you where. It ain't far."
Manuel nodded, and walked as quickly as could be maintained with any sort of dignity, following the locator spell to the garderobe. He took care of his business and returned as quickly as possible. "Thanks." he said as he closed the doors to her suite. "Much better now. I presume I can go whenever the need strikes me?"
"Mm-mm," she replied, nodding slightly. The shield was still up - what the Enchantress considered enough power for Amanda was more than what Romany or Strange considered enough, but with the gradual increase, her addiction hadn't really been a factor. Hadn't dared to, in the face of Amora's power. Half-rolling onto her back, she looked sleepily at him. "D'you need anythin' else?"
"Snackage would be good. I get hungry more often when I have all of my power available to me." he said. "And then I think I'm gonna meditate for a while, see if I can feel a way out of this."
"An' you call me the Bottomless Pit," she said with a half smile - her brain was still in the warm and fuzzy place his massage had put her. She summoned more food - and teleported the debris of the other meal back down to the kitchen, where they startled the cook who had them spontaneously appear in his lap - and snuggled back down into the pillow. "If anyone comes, look tortured an' miserable, all right?"
"I thought you said I couldn't act." he smirked. "I'll do my best. Let me use my power, and they'll believe whatever I want them to believe."
"If I tell you t' look tortured an' miserable, you will, whether you want to or not," she pointed out, half-asleep and not fully aware of what she was saying. "But if you need yer power, you can. Just don't draw attention t' yerself."
Manuel, compelled by the curse placed upon him, nodded. "As you command, Mistress." he said, voice flat. "If anyone comes, I will look tortured and miserable."
"Think I liked 'as you wish' better," Amanda mumbled, as she drifted off to sleep again.
Manuel, once again compelled by the sorcery, nodded. "As you wish," he whispered, then began to meditate.
Manuel took a deep breath, cinched the sword at his waist a little tighter, and knocked at the doorway to the Enchantress's castle. So far, his social invisibility weave had held, but he let it go so that the gate-guards could open the massive oaken doors
He could sense their minds, all dull inquisitiveness and basic biological drives. Manny nudged the inquisitiveness higher, shielding his eyes from casual onlookers with a hand. "Come on, open up." he muttered in Castillian under his breath.
Finally the bolts were drawn back and the heavy wooden door swung open to reveal a pair of large, oafish guards. They seemed to be part troll - no man was _that_ ugly - and looked down at him with dull interest.
"What is your business here, boy?" asked one, crossing his arms over his chest in a fashion echoed by bouncers the world over.
Manuel looked up at the troll with an expression of disgust. "My business is none of yours, Troll. Stand aside." With his power, he nudged both the trolls - imparting in them a good dose of fear and the urge to obey his orders instantly.
The guards fell back, expressions of respectful fear on their faces. The way before him was clear, but as Manuel stepped over the threshold, there was a slight shock, almost a tingle, as he tripped the wards placed on the door against those who would pose a threat to the Enchantress.
Loki had mentioned that the wards were in place, and Manuel felt them trip. Instantly, he went into a state of high mental alertness, scanning empathically for anything coming. He also projected his "You don't care if I'm here" projection, to avoid drawing any more eyes or attention. A strong-minded being, a mage, or a psion could see through the deception, but a mundane should be easily taken in by it. As a last-ditch preparation, he also loosened his sword Needle in its sheath.
"Of all the bloody awful timing," Amanda muttered as the wards made the presence of an intruder known. Regretfully she released the girl she had pushed up against the door of her chamber, giving that pouty mouth one last kiss as she did.
"My lady?" asked the chambermaid in confusion, hands moving of their own accord to straighten her dishevelled clothing. "Did I... displease you?" Fear was evident in the girl's voice - those who incurred the wrath of the ladies of the house were like as not to disappear under mysterious circumstances.
"No, Inga, you don't displease me, not at all," Amanda replied. "It seems we have a visitor, an unwelcome one at that. Wait here while I deal with whoever is foolish enough to come to my mother's house with ill-intent." The words were spoken almost playfully, but there was a note of command in them. Inga nodded and moved away from the door, still clutching her half-undone dress to her. With a smile of approval, Amanda straightened her own skirts and set off to investigate - it wouldn't do to let someone attack the castle when the Enchantress was due back that very afternoon from her visit to the Norns.
Manuel slid through the castle like a ghost - avoiding the milling servants, guards, courtiers, and their associated hangers-on with ease. His power, coupled with sticking to the shadows and the lesser-used areas of the castle, plus the map that Loki had made him memorize, did the job fairly nicely. He was nearing the throne room, and presumably the Enchantress (he had been told to scan for her directly would be foolhardy to the point of suicidal) when his forward progress was impeded by a cluster of gossiping maids who were blocking the corridor.
The intruder - whoever or whatever he was - was doing a good job of avoiding her. She could sense his presence, unmistakably, something about him giving her a sense of discomfort, a niggling irritability. But she couldn't seem to pin him down. Amanda swore under her breath as she realised he was heading for the throne room, disgusted at her stupidity. Of course - if he was going after her mother, he'd expect Amora to be holding court as she usually did. But luckily she knew the ways of the castle far better than he, with the added advantage that the denizens of the castle practically fell over themselves to get out of her way. Catching sight of him, halted by the group of maid-servants (and wouldn't they get a beating later, the lazy sluts), she grinned, reaching out and trapping him in a telekinetic bubble. This was far too easy.
"Get back to your duties," she told the maids, who turned and scurried as one away from the Lady's daughter and back to the kitchens. Almost casually, Amanda used the bubble to float the intruder into the throne room, seating herself in her mother's place and smiling at him insolently as he hung in the air, apparently helpless. "You're attractive, for an assassin," she told him, flipping blonde shoulder-length hair back over her shoulder. "Such a pity I have to kill you."
Manuel looked at the blonde woman with some amusement. "I don't think so." he said in perfect Asgardian (courtesy of the translation-stone on a thong around his neck). He didn't even try to fight the telekinetic-bubble - instead, he eyes glowed as he favored using his empathic power, projecting trustworthiness, suspicion-deflation, and appeal at her. Something in the back of his head was trying to tell him something, but he was too busy to listen to it.
Something about the way his eyes were glowing red... Amanda shook off the feeling of deja-vu, in favour of lowering him to the floor but not releasing her hold on him, not yet. "Perhaps I could... play with you a little first," she said, with a wicked smile. "I do so hate to waste such a fine-looking man as you."
Manuel smiled charmingly at the woman. "It would be a waste indeed not to take what you want first before destroying me." he agreed, reinforcing that via his power. "I can make you feel things that no troll or half-dead prisoner ever could. But it's difficult to please you properly from inside this prison."
"Ah, but if I let you out, you might take it into your head to skewer me with that sword of yours." Despite the rising haze of lust, Amanda held onto her natural suspicion. And there was the thought of Amora coming back to find she'd been stupid enough to let an assassin run loose.
Manuel unbuckled his sword-belt, and let it fall to his feet. "What, that sword? It's not safe to not be armed. But I will disarm myself for you, if that would make you feel better." His eyes still burned red as he projected all the trustworthiness, friendliness, and _want_ he could muster into her brain. That itch in the back of his mind grew more insistent, but he couldn't spare the thought to track it down and still keep the complex weaves he was projecting unsnarled.
Amanda blinked as he increased the power of his projections, all the perfectly good reasons why he was going to stay put right where he was sinking under the onslaught. Her breath quickening, she gestured and released him from the spell. "That's much better," she practically purred. Something was so familiar about all this...
Manuel smiled as the bubble disappeared. "Yes, it is." he purred at Amanda. Just another woman, putty in his hands. But he had a job to do, and this woman was stopping him from doing it. "Where is the Enchantress, dearest?" he asked, pushing his empathic weave up another notch. He was running warm on the power, but he could still muster the mental energy to maintain multiple weaves and hold a decent conversation at the same time. "I would hate to have her possibly interrupt our ... private time."
"No fear of that - my lady mother is not here. Business with the Norns." Amanda said absently. "She is due to return today, but not for much longer." It was getting hard to concentrate - or breathe, for that matter. Her head was pounding under the onslaught of Manuel's powers clashing with the spells the Enchantress had put on her, ensuring her obedience. "We have ample... time..." Frowning, she stared hard at him. "Who are you, that you can do this?"
"Me? I'm just a man. No one special." he said with a charming smile. ~You just keep believing that, honey, just long enough for me to slide the knife in.~ he thought in the privacy of his own mind. The itch in the back of his mind was really beginning to get maddening, so he finally backed off on his weaves and explored it. What he learned floored him, but long years of practice kept the shock off his face and minimized in his body-language. "Might I ask who you are, sorgin?" he asked her.
"My mother's daughter," she grated. That name he'd given her, she knew it, she just couldn't think how... Almost reflexively she cast a force bolt at him, knocking him away from her. "What the hell are you doing to me?" she demanded, clutching at her throbbing head, not even realising she'd spoken English.
Manuel slid backwards from the force of the bolt slamming into his chest. Standing up, he ran towards Amanda, every thought that he could spare screaming down the long-dormant link as well as using his mindbreaker training to force her to open her mind. "You know me, sorgin." he said in English as he ran. "But you have forgotten yourself!"
Amanda cried out and fell from the Enchantress's throne as she felt his emotions, his thoughts, _him_ flooding her mind. Huddled on her knees, she gasped out between ragged sobs of pain: "I... don't know... Amanda. My name is Amanda, and I... she..." The Enchantress's spells were strong, deeply rooted, and designed to resist tampering - it felt like her head was about to split open. "S... stop, please. I beg..." Again she flung a force bolt, but her aim was off - it missed him and slammed into the stone wall, cracking it ever-so-slightly.
Manuel reached Amanda, and lifted her to her feet gently. "You are Amanda Sefton. And you are mine." He then kissed her, deeply, using his power to delve deeply into her emotions, breaking the shackles that held her feelings in thrall to the Asgardian sorceress. The pain of the process, well, there was nothing he could do about that other than to be quick about it.
His power was like a knife in her mind, cutting through layers of meticulously-structured enchantment. The pain was huge, almost overwhelming, and she would have fallen if Manuel had not been holding her up. But at last it was gone, and she pulled away from the kiss to look up at him almost wonderingly. "Manny?"
"No, actually, I'm the Grand Inquisitor, and you've been a very naughty witch." he said in English, grinning all the while. "I thought I was alone here! I had heard rumors, lies spread by the skalds, but I never believed they could be true!"
"I can't... fuck, what did that bitch _do_ to me? She said there was no way back, that she was... Christ, I've been such a fuckin' idiot." Amanda reached up to touch his face, as if convincing herself he really was there. "I didn't hurt you, did I? I know I tried..."
Manuel shook his head. "Your aim is terrible, and I've taken worse blows from irritated fathers of comely daughters." he smirked. "Come on, we should get out of here. Is the Enchantress truly gone for the day? If she is, we'll need her spells to get us back home."
"I can't... Rom's amulet, it got taken when I turned up here. 'S how she got hold of me, I nearly burned out. She saved me." With a visible effort to pull herself together - her head was pounding with the after-effects of the spells being undone and the power Manuel had had to use - Amanda took a deep breath. "There's a ward on this place, keeps the mystical energy down t' levels I can handle. I might be able t' do the spell t' get us home, if we can find it. But we don't have a lot of time, she could just decide t' teleport home."
"Can you make a new one with what you know and what you have available here? Or, I don't know, can you just suck it up and deal with the magic until we get home? I don't want to spend the rest of my life here! And if I don't kill the Enchantress, Loki is going to do horrible things to me if I don't get out of Asgard." he said coldly. "Let's get going, see what we have to work with. Where's her workshop? It wasn't on the map Loki showed me."
"Yeah, I could try t' absorb the energy of a whole fuckin' world. Brilliant plan. It'd fuckin' well kill me, Manny." Amanda pulled herself away from him, staggered slightly and then caught her balance. "Her workshop ain't on any maps - she keeps it secret, but I know where it is. If we're quick we can get the hell out of here before she knows anythin's up."
"Fine. Let's go then, before your Mommy dearest can show back up and turn you back into her pet. So, how do Goddesses taste, anyway?" he asked nastily as he waited for her to lead the way. "When we get home, remind me to talk to Strange and Moira about discovering your power's OFF switch. I found mine." he commented.
"This way." With as much dignity as she could manage with the room spinning around her, Amanda stalked past him in a swirl of skirts, shoving her hair out of her face. She didn't bother responding to the rest - they was nothing she could say, really, that wouldn't result in a screaming match, and this was definitely not the time. She took him the lesser-known back ways of the castle, not wanting to be seen with him, and they were nearly at their destination when the hair rose on the back of her neck. "Oh fuck," she said, stopping so suddenly Manuel ran into her. "She's on her way - she's 'portin' back, I can feel the power signature."
"Well, fuck." Manuel swore with real feeling, and then buttoned his mind up tight. Multiple shifting walls, as strong as he could make them. "Now what? Do you think we can take her together, you and I?"
"Not here. Not on her own ground and with her able t' control how much power I get - she might decide t' cut me off altogether, let me use me reserves up. She'd have us for bloody breakfast." She turned to face him. "You go. Get the hell out of here, leave me behind. If she finds you here, yer dead. Maybe I can fool her for a while, make her think she's still got the whammy on me."
"Fuck that. I just found you, I'm not letting her have you." he said with as much feeling as he dared. "If we can get us both out of the castle without running into her, maybe Loki can help you - cut back on the power, maybe make you a runestone to control the onrush. Maybe, just maybe, he could teach you a little control while he was at it. Worked wonders for me." he said, looking around to see if they were being watched. "What's the quickest way out of the castle?"
"Loki? Yer'd trust him? The God of Lies? I'm better off stayin' here, 'least I know what Moth... the Enchantress wants of me." Even as she spoke, Amanda could feel the shift in the energies within the castle, sense the owner's return. "Too late, she's in the throne room - I can't get you out of here without riskin' a teleport, an' she'll know what's happened." An idea occurred to her, desperate and terrible. "There's one thing... D'you trust me?"
"He's the Lord of Mischief!" he protested, the memory of a dozen beatings fresh in his mind on the topic. "And considering he sent me here to kill her, he'd settle for her losing her "daughter" just as well. She'd owe him a boon to get you back. What do you have in mind?" he asked her.
"You can't know that! And I've just had one person dickin' me over for me power, I'm not lettin' a God do it." Footsteps sounded down the hall, the Enchantress's escort. Any minute now they'd be discovered, and Manuel couldn't lie. She grabbed his hands. "Look, there's no time t' explain, or t' argue. D' you trust me? I won't let anythin' happen t' you."
"You've _already_ let a God do it. That barn door is wide open now." he protested. "Do what you have to do." he told her, then kissed her quickly.
"Thanks, love," she said, giving him a brief smile, before unleashing the binding spell she'd been summoning. Normally she would have nowhere near the power to do it, but she had two things in her favour: the link, and his name. She poured her power down the link, using it to force her spell deep in his mind, where it would stand up to even the Enchantress's probing. "Manuel Alphonso Roderigo de la Rocha, hear my words. Your will is mine. Your mind is mine. Your soul is mine. As I wish, so will you do." The formal closure of the spell fell from numb lips, even as she watched the light in his eyes die. "I'm sorry."
Manny stood there quietly, not moving, waiting for orders. Inside his mind, he was screaming. This was a violation of everything he was, a spike driven into his very heart. A small rational part of his brain knew it was necessary, that it was deception, but Loki had taught him to never, ever let himself be beholden to another.
She could feel his outrage, his fury, his pain, pouring down the link. For a moment she nearly reversed the spell - better they both die together than him suffer like this - but the survivor in her rose and protested. Steeling herself, she clamped down on the link, blocked as much she could. Then she straightened her dress, smoothed her hair, and turned to where the footsteps where coming from. "Come with me," she ordered Manuel in an imperious tone, and she headed towards the throne room.
Manny took his defiances where he could. "As you wish." he said, then followed along. To amuse himself, and because he knew damned well she could feel it, he stared at her posterior as it moved under her skirt. Why hadn't she worn them before? They suited her, and covered her scars. He rather liked it.
"Cut it out," she growled under her breath at him in English, even as the Enchantress's escort appeared around the corner ahead of them. More trolls - Amora had a thing for them, which gave Amanda the shudders even before the spell was broken - although the leader was Asgardian, a large, handsome warrior who kept his place through sheer bloody-mindedness and the fact he was far more clever than a troll.
"Lady!" he exclaimed, coming forward. "We received word of an intruder, and your mother instructed us to search for you, fearing you had come to some harm..." He looked at Manuel suspiciously. "Is this he? Guards, take him."
"Stop!" Amanda ordered, and the trolls who had began stepping forward halted in mid-step at her tone, looking uncertainly between their commander and their mistress's 'daughter'. "Yes, this is the intruder, Hangrid, an assassin sent by the God of Mischief to do harm upon our Lady. But he is not a threat now." She allowed herself a smug grin, all the while willing this to work. "A simple binding spell, and he is no more than my toy."
Hangrid looked doubtful. "Bound, you say? My lady, I do not profess to know the ways of magic..."
"But I do, and when I say he's bound, he's bound. His will is mine, to control as I will. But, if it concerns you so much, Hangrid, you can escort us to the throne room and we shall let my mother decide this, shall we?"
Manuel kept his expression completely clear - partially because his facial muscles wouldn't listen to him, and partially to see how things played out. To keep himself amused (and to keep from going mad) he poked at the binding-spell. The hows were beyond him (not being a mage) but he could almost puzzle out how it had been done from a psionic point of view. He couldn't recreate the weave, considering that it controlled his body, but the mental aspects were child's play. He tucked that knowledge away for later. Much later, when he was free.
Hangrid seemed about to continue to protest - Amanda might be favoured by the Lady, but she was still just a mortal, and a mere girl at that - but his self-preservation instinct kicked in and he nodded stiffly. "As my Lady wishes," he said, jerking his head at the two troll guards to flank Manuel and offering his arm to Amanda, who took it frostily. The rest of the trolls fell in behind the small procession as they passed.
The Enchantress was seated on her throne, Manuel's sword lying across her lap, when they entered. She glanced up as Hangrid brought Amanda before her, bowing and stepping back a respectful distance. The trolls guarding Manuel led him to a point behind the witchgirl, not touching him, but making it very clear from their body language that they would crush him if he so much as twitched.
"Daughter," the Enchantress said, her voice as rich and smooth as honey, a spell in and of itself. "It appears there was some excitement whilst I was absent. Are you unharmed? And who is this ruffian at your heels? Not some rascal who stole your heart and sought to take you away from me?"
Amanda curtsied, far more gracefully than Manuel would have expected, before allowing herself to snort. "Hardly, my lady Mother. He was sent by the Deceiver, to do you harm. His mistake was to think me but a foolish girl - I cast a binding spell on him. He can do nothing, say nothing, without my consent."
~No shit.~ thought Manuel in the privacy of his own mind. ~And it's getting really old, really fast.~ He felt himself kowtow before the Enchantress, and he 'heard' Loki's voice in his mind - his own smooth tones counteracting the Enchantress's, and leaving his own mind clear and unfogged by the sorceress's wiles.
The Enchantress looked at Manuel closely, rising from her seat and coming forward, his sword still in her hands. "His mind is still free, but his will is not - interesting choice, daughter. You show a certain amount of cruelty I hadn't expected of you." She bestowed a proud smile on Amanda, who did her best to look pleased even as her skin crawled at possessiveness of it. Then she drew the sword, its naked blade gleaming in the sunlight streaming into the hall, and held the point to Manuel's throat. "Loki knows better than to cross me - would he really be so foolish as to send a mere human against me? Speak, assassin, tell me of your orders."
Manuel stayed silent, not having been ordered to speak by Amanda. His mind was still his own, and after all of his training with Loki, he was feeling cocky. So he slid a crack open in his shield, spinning a ephemeral empathic probe out right at the Enchantress. ~Let's see how good she really is.~ he thought with some amusement.
"Speak," Amanda instructed, too busy locking down her own emotions and thoughts to notice Manuel's probe. The Enchantress did, however - her true power was in the ability to cloud minds and emotions with her magic, and she didn't take kindly to trespassers. Raising one perfectly-shaped eyebrow at him, she waited for him to answer her question.
"Your mistress commands, assassin. What were your precise instructions from Loki?"
"I was instructed to come back with your head," he said flatly. "Barring that, I was to create chaos in your court, to distract you and force you to spend your energies." he said. "Loki did not expect me to survive this raid, but that's just a guess on my part." he said.
"A guess not far off the mark - the Trickster has no love for his tools, and will discard them once they tire him." The Enchantress took the sword from Manuel's throat, sheathed it again and dropped it to the floor almost contemptuously. "And he has even less love for a tool that fails - perhaps I should instruct my daughter to send you back to him, so that he might express that displeasure."
Amanda bit her lip, biting back her initial reaction. "My lady Mother, this man has insulted you by daring to come here with ill-intent. Surely his punishment should be more personal than merely passing him onto Loki?"
The Enchantress gave Amanda a suspicious look. "You have something in mind?"
"He is a proud man, disinclined to slavery - you can see that from the way he chafes against my binding. Let that continue, let him be my... plaything, my pet. Let me break his will. And then, when I am done, he will be yours, to punish as you will." Amanda met the Enchantress's look blandly, praying the ploy would work. If it didn't, the Enchantress would probably send Manuel down to the dungeons, or worse, her own bedchamber - Amanda had seen what happened to those unlucky individuals who had to endure Amora's appetites.
Manuel couldn't turn his gaze away, but luckily for him he was looking right at the Enchantress. Although the thought would very well get him killed if she was eavesdropping, he could not help but wonder if the Asgardian had ever had a Spaniard before, and how much of the impressive display of decolletage was natural, and how much due to cosmetic sorcery.
He then dragged his mind out of the gutter. Amanda's idea, assuming it worked, would keep him drawing breath for a short while - perhaps they could pull off a coup d'etat or a putsch. Even better, given enough time maybe Amanda could discover a way home.
"He is not as bound as you might think, daughter," the Enchantress began. Her network of spies had brought more than enough news of strangers - young, with unusual powers and not knowing the language - for her to know fully well this young man was one of those friends Amanda had been so concerned about when she'd first arrived. A test, then, of both Amanda's loyalties and of her magic. "But your intervention saved me much time and unseemly ruckus with search parties and the like. I owe you a boon - he shall be it. Just make sure you keep him to your chambers or by your side - I will not have him wandering the castle loose." She ran her fingers down the side of Manuel's face and to his throat. A brief incantation, and a leather collar appeared. "I do look forward to when she tires of you," she said, smiling wickedly.
Manuel tried to waggle his eyebrows and leer at the Enchantress, but the spell blocked his access to his own body. The collar was too snug for his tastes, cutting into his windpipe somewhat cruelly, but the pain was nothing compared to what he'd suffered in the last few months.
It was all Amanda could do to not roll her eyes at the sensations leaking through the link: Manuel hadn't changed at all. She curtsied again to Amora. "My thanks, my Lady," she said, with just the right note of gratitude. She kicked Manuel not-too-lightly in the shin. "Bow, fool," she told him. "And then follow me."
Manuel bowed as instructed, perfectly correct in his form. That kick hurt, but pain was not something he let bother him anymore. Loki's sadistic dwarf (only eight feet tall) of a weaponsmaster had made sure of that. He followed Amanda, once again amusing himself by watching the interesting things going on under that dress, until they both arrived at her suite.
"You, Inga, out," Amanda curtly told the maidservant still there. Inga opened her mouth to question, but caught the expression on her mistress's face and fled. With a sigh, Amanda closed and bolted the door after her, casting a privacy ward for safety's sake. "That'll buy us some time," she told Manuel, crossing the large room to flop down in a seat. "Not sure how much, but hopefully enough for me t' find a way out of here."
Manuel stood in the doorway, facial features placid. Inside his own head, he was rattling the cage, seeing if he could make it give anywhere. So far, he wasn't having much luck. Even with the full extent of his power available to him, he couldn't break the spell - because it had no emotional component. The hooks were in parts of him he couldn't touch with his empathy.
"Come an' sit down. An' you can speak freely, least t' me." Amanda winced at the sensations coming down the link and was tempted to lift the spell, but she wasn't sure that was a good idea. Not until she knew how long Amora was going to be in residence, and how long it was going to take to find the right teleportation spell.
Manuel sat down, and finally able to speak, growled "What the hell did you do to me?" at her. His mind had taken to rattling the invisible bars of his cage, just to give it something to do. "And she saw my probe - I need to work on subtlety."
"You did _what_? Fuckin' hell, Manny, what the fuck were you thinkin'? I should have hit you with a harder spell - she's gunna be watchin' us both like a hawk." Amanda shook her head angrily. "How could you be so bloody stupid?"
Manuel would have shrugged physically, but he couldn't, so he settled for a mental shrug. "It was tiny, barely even there. And she bought the line about Loki - I could see that plain as day. Her empathic shielding is really substandard outside of her specialities. I couldn't make her fall in love with me, not without a major struggle, but in some ways she's no better than you are."
"One of these days yer gunna come across someone you can't manipulate, an' it's gunna bite you in the arse," Amanda said, a little resentfully. "An' if she's expectin' somethin', she'll be ready for you, mark my words." She fell silent, processing everything - with the Enchantress's hold broken, she was having to look at a couple of months' worth of memories in a new light. The link rumbled in the back of her head, reminding her of Manuel's discomfort.
Manuel could feel Amanda's ponderings, examining her memories, so he demonstrated one of his new tricks - he pulled himself away from the link, not letting anything leak through his walls to color her perceptions of what she was feeling.
Amanda started as the link went suddenly quiet - it was strange how quickly she'd gotten used to having it active again, after so long without. "Someone was busy in the meantime," she said, smiling a little. Then she frowned, remembering a blonde bard who had looked somehow familiar... "I don't think it's just us," she said slowly. "I'm not sure, but I think at least Doug's here too..." Her eyes widened, as the memory of her arrival hit her. "An' Alison. She was here, with me. I think... I think Mo... that bitch did something with her, 'cause she disappeared, while I was out of it."
Manuel, in lieu of his usual nod, made affirmative noises. "I've been a little isolated." He said, still keeping his feelings off the link. "I've spent a lot of time fencing, working out, and examining my power. The things Loki has showed me, the things I can do now ..." He would have shuddered, if he had control over his own body.
She moved closer to him on the couch. "Not now. Don't think 'bout it now, not with the bindin' an' all. An' I can't take it off, not if she suspects somethin'. You're a bloody awful actor."
"Am I?" he asked with a grin. "You might be surprised - I'm not the same confused boy you knew a few months ago." He let his face go back to neutral. "We need to focus on getting out of here, finding whatever others may still exist, and then finding a way home. This is a magical land, so that means you."
"I know," she said, biting her lip a little. "Did I mention I'm not that good under pressure?" she joked half-heartedly, before focusing again. "The way home I think I can find - Amora's the expert on magic here, an' she's got a huge library of magic books. It'll just take some lookin'. As for findin' the others... My location spells only work if I have somethin' belongin' t' the person, but there might be somethin' I can cobble up." She shrugged a little helplessly. "'Course, all of that's useless if me head explodes the second I walk out the front door. Like you said, magical land. Way too much power for me t' handle."
"You're going to have to get good under pressure. I can help with that, no problems. You'll be as cool as December and as calm as a lake." he said. "If we can get Amora out of the way, then you can have the run of the library, and I can find the others. It would be easier if I actually liked any of them, but I should be able to manage despite that."
"Depends on who's out there - no doubt you'll have no hassles findin' Jubilee." Amanda said the name with a trace of bitterness. "As for gettin' Amora out of the way: could be easier said than done. Unless..." Amanda frowned, thinking. "Unless she thinks Loki's got more planned, an' decides t' take him on before he springs it?" She looked at him. "Would that work?"
"Now, now, this is not the time to be catty. I could find Jamie just as easily, because he hates me." he clarified. "And we could point Amora at Loki - but do we really want to be responsible for instigating a Godwar in Asgard? That could have repercussions."
"I hadn't thought of that. An' yeah, probably not a good idea." Amanda ignored the comment about being catty and tried to think. "I'm comin' up empty, other 'n fillin' her room with trolls an' lockin' her in until she's done with 'em," she said with a face. Now she had her own mind back, she was finding the sensation of having a face bare of piercings very strange.
"A woman of ravenous appetite, I think. I could see that right away." he commented vaguely. "Does she sleep? Can we poison her wine, drug her into unconsciousness, assassinate her after she wears her lovers out?"
"She sleeps an' eats, same as us. I'm just not sure what it'd take t' knock her out... I can get at the library any way, whether she's here or not."
"OK. So library access won't be a problem. But I can't start looking for the others if she's here - it will be obvious to anyone who can see emotions that I'm doing something major. We'll need her out of the way."
"Let me start on the library an' I'll think of somethin' - she's not likely t' stay long, not with the winter festivals in Asgard City. Could be we won't need t' do much at all." It helped, having a plan - the tension of recent events was slowly starting to drain from her, and she found herself inadvertently cuddling closer.
Manuel, not having control over his body, wasn't much of a cuddlebuddy at the moment. His mind, however, was racing. "Good. If she's off the premises, then I can start looking for the others. Electronics don't work here." he added cryptically. "You can handle the research thing, once I give you a little something for the pressure."
"Wouldn't call it that little," Amanda said, snickering a little. "An' you can move as well as talk freely, least when it's just us in here," she added, belatedly remembering the binding spell. Then his comment about electronics registered. "The dampener ain't workin'? I was wondering where all that power was coming from."
Manuel smiled thinly. "You haven't seen anything yet. If I get about a day or two of uninterrupted time, I intend to scan the entire realm looking for the others." he said confidently, relaxing finally and playing with the collar around his neck. "And look at you. The dress suits you, as does the reduction in metal. I'm not sure about the hair, though. You don't strike me as being a very good blonde." he commented, looking at Amanda. "I'm tired of blondes."
She wrinkled her nose. "I'm not a good blonde. Why d'you think I dye it?" Apart from the whole reinventing herself thing, that was. "Amora wanted me t' look the part, tho', so she did the whole magical makeover thing." She grinned briefly and pulled up her long skirt enough to show him the Doc Marten boots still on her feet. "There're limits, tho'."
Manuel looked at the Docs under that dress and just _laughed_. "Some things just will not change." He wheezed out around belly-laughs. "I didn't get to keep anything from Midgard." he said seriously. "So - what now? I'm hungry - can you have the maids bring us food, or do I need to compel it?"
Amanda gave him an mock-disgusted look. "What d'you think? I'm the daughter of the Lady of the house, you think they're gunna make me fend for meself? But I've got a better idea, since it don't involve me gettin' up or having to lock you down again." She recited some words that sounded like Asgardian but weren't anything Manuel knew, and gestured at the small table in front of them. There was a flash of light, and food appeared - standard Asgardian fare, heavy on the roasted dead animal and bread, and the inevitable tankards of ale. "You aren't the only one who's been learning new tricks," she told him a tad smugly. "Too bad there ain't grapes here, or I would have made you peel me some," she added, grinning wickedly.
Manuel moved over to the food, and then dug a pendant out of his pocket. He waved it over the food, looked into it, and then nodded as he replaced it in his pocket. He then tore into the food - apparently Asgard had affected his normally-excellent manners. "I'm not peeling grapes for anybody." he said around mouthfuls of food. "Seems we've both learned some new tricks." he added with some bitterness.
'With that spell on you, you would if I told you to,' Amanda thought with uncharacteristic cruelty, but she kept the thought to herself. She settled herself a little more comfortably on the couch, watching him eat. "So, you were with Loki all this time?" she asked lightly. She looked him over approvingly. "Looks like you finally got back in shape, at least."
Manuel nodded. He felt the spike of cruelty from her mind, but let it pass uncommented-on. "I am in the best shape of my life right now. I have been working nonstop from sunup to sundown, six days a week, for three months. Empathy, swordsmanship, and espionage, in particular. With some time off for the wenches," he said flatly.
"So, you're in shape, you've got your powers back and under control, and you've been fucking your way around Loki's court. Sounds like your idea of heaven. But you aren't happy thinking 'bout it. What happened?" It wasn't fair, Amanda knew, to ask him when he couldn't refuse to answer, but there had been enough hints dropped that his time in Asgard hadn't been all beer and skittles.
Manuel shivered. "I had a man put to death for the crime of loving his daughter." he said quietly. "Loki made me do all of it - the questioning, the disappearance, the hot pokers and the thumbscrews..." He shuddered again, as if the memory pained him. "I felt him die, cursing my name, knowing he was innocent of the charges and unable to do anything about it, lest I join him on the rack. Power has a price - and I exceeded my ability to pay it."
Amanda fell silent. The link was awash with emotion - he'd let his hold slip with the pain of remembering - and she knew it was pretty much the same for him from her end. Concern, pity, fear, hope... and a small amount of gloating that he'd finally learnt what she'd been trying to tell him since Mexico about the price of power. Guilt, that she felt that way, and for the things she'd done as Amora's apprentice. "Is that when he decided t' get rid of you?" she asked at last.
Manuel nodded. "I can't hide anything from Loki - he knew exactly how I felt. So he sent me on this fool's errand to go and get myself killed uselessly. He wins twice - I stay away from his people, and there was always the chance that I'd succeed." he shrugged. "I understand the logic of it."
Manuel stretched out in his chair, and grabbed for more food. "He taught me a lot. About my power, how to use it, the potential I have in my mind. He told me that I'm barely touching a third of my power - and that my mind wasn't ready to reveal the rest. Not yet. He taught me control, Amanda. Far more than the Askani ever did. I control it now. I can turn it off, turn it on, make it do as I wish. I got what I thought I always wanted."
Pausing for breath, Manuel took a deep drink from one of the ale flagons. "Gah, I hate this Aes swill. The Frost Giants brew a beer that tastes of the cold-swept peaks of their mountain homes. This stuff tastes like horse dung." he swore. "But I'm not complaining - I learned my lesson about drinking the water here. I don't think I have EVER thrown up that much in my life."
"Funny you should mention horse shit - 's what makes the water so bad." Amanda shrugged and got up, walking to the open fireplace and looking down into the flames, her back to Manuel. "What's the sayin'? 'Careful what you wish for, you just might get it'? Looks like that's what you got."
"Given that my choices were stay crippled, be an Askani slave, or learn from the Lord of Chaos, I picked the lattermost." he said cautiously. "Best of bad choices. I've made more progress here than I ever could have back home." He then sat back down, to just -watch- Amanda. "You're all confused, emotionally. Anything I can help with?"
"Just... havin' trouble adjusting. T' you, t' having me head back, t' knowing I've been living a lie for the last three months. An' the kicker is, I should be used to this. Someone controlling me life, using me..." Amanda tried to keep the bitterness from her voice, but it was hard. "'Least one of us made progress, even if it was in a shitty situation. Some good came of it."
Manuel stood up, moved behind Amanda, and gave her a tender hug from behind. "Hey." he said softly to her. "Not your fault. You got used and abused by the Enchantress. She's a Goddess here, remember? No one can fault you for falling for a Goddess. Loki had me dominated and destroyed in twelve seconds. I'll bet you held out for longer than that. Take what you've learned from her, and put it to good uses. It doesn't always have to be evil." he said, more to himself than to her.
"Thing is, I get used an' abused by everyone. Anyone who wants a power source. I thought all that was finished with Rack dead, but apparently not." Amanda leaned back against Manuel, taking comfort in his presence, in the wave of emotions from the link - not any specific emotion, just the fact the link was active. "She went straight for me weak points an' used 'em t' hold me. An' I didn't even realise she was doin' it."
"Yes, but you learn from each time this happens. I've been used as a power source too. By the doctors, by my father, and now by Loki. I can empathize." he said quietly, maintaining his hug. "There are people who are here for you - me, Nathan, a few others. Lean on us, and tell the rest to go fuck themselves with a spatula." he said with a grin she couldn't see. And then, just for fun, he nibbled on her neck gently.
She snorted, and then shivered as she felt his lips on her neck. "Y'know, you're supposed t' be my sex slave..." she said, smiling wickedly and leaning back into him further.
Manuel stiffened, and let his hug drop. "I don't think so." he said flatly. "If you compel it, I won't have any choice but to obey. But you can't take by force what I would have freely given to you. If you want it that way, you do it without my help."
"I was jokin'. Really." Amanda turned around so she could look at him. "Look, I'd take the spell off, but she'd know, and then we're both dead. You can trust me, you know that - remember the Mirror? I told you what I'd done and why, and I promised I wouldn't do anything like that again. This ain't any different."
Manuel just looked at Amanda, keeping his own emotions very thoroughly neutral. "It's not funny." he said flatly. "I don't think you'd like it much if I did it to you."
"'M sorry." If the remorse on her face wasn't enough, what she was projecting should have been. "Bad joke, I know. I do that - I can't cope with somethin', I make a joke. Or distract meself. I shouldn't have said it." She moved away from him, heading for the door. "I should go down t' the library, see if I can't make a start on findin' that spell. If anyone comes, tell them you obey only me. If that's all right."
"It beats the alternative." he said, returning to the conjured food and grabbing up another haunch of meat. "Do you want some company? I can carry books, turn pages, massage your feet, do whatever we need to, to keep the illusion alive." And oh, how he hated that, but he also saw the necessity.
She felt the surge of resentment, and winced. "Best you stay here, least for now. The less Amora sees of you, the better." She lay her hand on the latch, but didn't open it just yet. "I... thanks. For knowin' it was me."
"You could never hide from me, once I looked." he admitted. "The blonde hair and your original face were a surprise, though. When we get back - maybe a little less metal in your face? And I love the dress." he smirked.
"We'll see. 'Bout the metal, that is. An' you would - you don't have t' bloody get strapped into the fuckin' thing," she replied, a faint smile returning. "Any clothes you need help gettin' into or out of are just plain stupid."
Manuel smirked. "Spoken like a true street-rat." he said with a smirk. "Go on, go do the eye-of-newt thing. But if you could conjure some more food, or maybe a nice scullery wench ... " he leered
She rolled her eyes and waved at the table, conjuring more food. "The wench'll have t' wait til I get back, tho' - you're supposed to be bound, remember?"
Manuel smirked. "Supposed to be, nothing. I am bound." he said around bites of meat. He very carefully let her see exactly how displeased he was with that state of affairs, but also took pains to make sure that she saw that he knew the necessity of it. "And, by the way - when we get back, you are going to be MINE for a good long while. Paybacks, especially empathic ones, are a bitch."
She bit her lip. "Turn about's fair play," was all she said, with a certain amount of resignation. Everyone else had had their turn, after all. Before he could say anything to that, or to her emotional state, she pushed down the latch and was gone.
Manuel felt her reaction, and literally kicked himself. "Idiot." he said in Castillian, then sat down at the now-groaning table with delight. "Well, she conjures a good spread, that's for sure." he said to no-one in particular.
***
Looking for that spell was largely an excuse to get herself some time to calm herself and defuse the situation she'd caused with her stupidity. After an hour or two of clandestinely searching through the scrolls on teleportation, Amanda decided she'd had enough time. And she wanted Manuel - not entirely in a physical way, but just to have him in the same space. After so long isolated, she found herself desperately wishing for familiar faces. And none was so familiar as his. Besides, she told herself, Amora would get suspicious if she found her 'daughter' poring over spells instead of playing with her new toy.
Manuel, for his part, was going blind out of sheer boredom. He'd long-since eaten all of the food, and staring at the ceiling, or at the canopy of her bed, or even working on some fencing drills was dull, boring work. When Amanda came back, he was out cold asleep on her couch.
Closing the door and locking it behind her, Amanda leaned back against it, looking at the sleeping Spaniard. An oddly affectionate feeling welled up - he was cute when he was sleeping. Not that she'd ever admit it. Carefully, trying not to wake him, she used her telekinetic spell to float him over to the bed - he was too long for the couch and would wake with horrible cramps in his legs if he stayed there.
Manuel's eyes snapped open the moment the spell touched him, but then closed again almost instantly as he floated to the bed. "Find what you needed?" he asked, still with his eyes closed.
"Not yet. But I've got an idea of where t' look," she replied, after recovering from the start he'd given her. "Sorry t' leave you so long."
"Progress, then. Sorry about the mess - I couldn't exactly leave to go find the kitchens." he said, stretching out on the bed. "I'm full. I haven't eaten this much in a long, long time."
"'S all right. That's what servants are for - I'll get someone t' clean up later. Right now I can't be arsed." She smiled a little. "'S good t' be able t' speak English an' be understood again." Coming over to the bed, she paused by the end post, fiddling with the drapes with nervous fingers. "They didn't feed you at Loki's court?"
"Oh, they fed me. But after a day spent training with berserkers, Frost Giants, and Loki himself, I have had very little appetite. Pain does that to me." he said. "It's hard to keep down food when you've cracked a rib, and the healers refuse to heal it as an object lesson in How Not To Get Hit."
Amanda winced, and sat almost gingerly on the edge of the bed, next to him. "I wish I'd been there. Even t' help put you back together, if I couldn't stop it happenin' in the first place." She reached over and lay her hand gently on his ribcage. "Are you all right? Now, I mean."
"Oh, I'm fine. I got patched up before I left. They'd heal it the next day, but I got to spend the night with my wounds, as a reminder and a spur to do better. I can't complain, it worked. And the looks on their faces when they tried to kill me with those giant steel crowbars. You'd think they'd never thought to use a sword's point before."
"Makes sense - no point sendin' you into a fight hurt." She ran the palm of her hand over the spread of his ribs on one side, noting the slight uneveness that signalled a healed break in one or two places. "Somehow I don't think it'll catch on back at the school as a trainin' exercise. Well, except maybe Sarah."
"I wouldn't recommend it." he said, remembering. "But it worked, so I can't complain. I can fight and use my power at the same time, among other wonderful new tricks. And I can do this." He opened his eyes, got up off the bed, and pushed two of Amanda's chairs into position, facing one another a few feet apart. He put one foot onto one chair, one foot onto the other, and did a full suspended split between the chairs, held up by his leg muscle. "Flexibility and strength." he commented with a grin.
"Show off," she said, grinning, but there was a certain amount of respectful admiration as well. "You know who you look like? That actor, the one who does the karate movies. Jean-Claude something."
Manuel shrugged. "I've never been much for the cinema." he admitted. "Jubilee has been trying to correct this, but most of it's just crap. But since I'm showing off..." he grinned, then flipped the split upside down into a handstand, still maintaining the split in midair. He brought his legs together slowly, then pushed up and flipped back to his feet. "Damn, that worked. Last five times I tried it, I nearly knocked myself out cold."
She giggled despite the mention of Jubilee. "Just as well. I like yer head the way it is." Leaning back on her elbows, she gave him another long, assessing look. "Yep, it might have been right horrible, but you can't argue with the results."
Manuel posed artistically for Amanda, showing off his newly-buff physique. "I have both the brains and the looks. I should make lots of money." he said with a grin.
"Oh for a camera. Or a sketchpad," she deadpanned, the corners of her mouth twitching. "So, is there anythin' else you can do? Since yer showin' off, that is."
Manuel smirked. "Before we go there, I just wanted to apologize for my words earlier. I didn't think, and it was a dumb thing to say. So I'm sorry if I hurt you." He paused for a couple of seconds, then grinned again. "I have all sorts of tricks."
"Considerin' I was stupid first, I think we're even," Amanda said wryly. "Nice t' know some things don't change - we're both still bloody tactless." She eyed him speculatively. "Ya wanna show me these tricks of yours?" she asked, reminding herself not to phrase anything in a way that could be considered a command - not an easy task, since she was tired of talking and wanted things less... complicated.
Manuel, compelled to answer by the magic that was enslaving his reactions, shook his head. "Not really, now that you mention it. It would be fun and all that, but I'm still pissed about this slave-spell. I know it's necessary, but I don't like it One Bit." he said, then winced once control over himself returned to him.
"If Rom could see this she'd be laughin' an' tellin' me this is one of those consequences I need t' think about before I cast a spell," Amanda muttered mostly to herself. The worst of it was it was perfectly understandable - had their positions been reversed, she would have been the same. It didn't make it any easier to hear. "Maybe I should've just 'ported you the hell out of here in the first place." She started chewing on her thumbnail, considering the options. "Maybe I should still do that. Get you the fuck out of here, take off the binding, tell Amora I killed you or something an' hope she believes me. It'd mean you could look for the others, an' you wouldn't be stuck here bein' pissed off at me."
Manuel sighed in frustration. "I know why you did it. I even agree with why you did it. But there's still a large part of me who remembers the asylum, and detests being caged in any way. If you'll recall, I didn't even like being hugged early on. Too much like confinement." he said. "No, this is the best way. I won't abandon you, not to her, not to anyone."
"An' round we go again." Amanda's frustration echoed Manuel's own. "I'll be all right, she won't hurt me." 'I hope,' she added in her own head, glad the link was still largely empathic. "I can't keep you like this, not when I know what it's doin' to you." She realised she was biting her nails again, and made herself stop. One thing about the Enchantress's spell, the lack of cigarettes hadn't been a problem. Now she wanted one almost desperately. "Best I can do is t' tell you that when it's just you an' me, in here, you do an' think an' say whatever you would normally, without the binding. I can't do better 'n that, not if you won't let me send you somewhere safe."
"I don't think you understand. I can't go back. If I go back empty-handed, Loki will insure that I am destroyed. It's actually safer here, maintaining the masquerade, then out there." he explained. "It will have to do."
"I didn't mean back t' him. I know you can't. But you could go somewhere else, start lookin' for the others..." Amanda threw up her hands in frustration, stood and began to pace. "Fine, you'll stay. An' I'll give you as much leeway with the binding as I can without anyone finding out, an' hope I find that bloody spell an' that Amora goes off t' the Mid-winter Festival in Asgard City or something so we can find the others and get the fuck out of here so I can take the bloody binding off and you can touch me again." Her swirling skirts tangled with her legs and she stopped her agitated pacing, swearing. "Bloody fuckin' dress," she muttered, settling things again and then straightening, brushing hair out of her face. "I almost wish you hadn't found me first, Manny. I don't think I can do this, have you here an' not have you want me."
"Being enslaved against my will, with no safeword, does that to me." he snarked back at Amanda. He then sighed deeply. "Look. I know it's hard on you - I can feel that even without my power. I'll be good. Just don't expect me to sit here and get a hardon while you hold my leash in your mind. I don't work like that. Once we're home, then we'll spend some time together. I plan on taking a nice long shower right off the bat. I stink."
"You're bloody lucky you're not strung up in Amora's chambers while she strips yer mind and drains you dry!" Amanda retorted, eyes flashing angrily. Then the anger died away, leaving her very tired. "Look, this ain't gettin' us anywhere. It's done, and I've promised not to take advantage - I can't do anything more to make you trust me, and I can't expect you to react normally. So, I'll just suck it up, as you like t' tell me." She gave him a faint smile. "Yeah, shower'd be good. An' you ain't the only stinky one - everyone in this whole place reeks."
Manuel could easily tell that that wasn't nearly the end of that, but there was nothing else he could say. "Lay down." he started to tell her, before the slave-spell seized his jaw and made him unable to speak for a second or two. "Will you please lay down?" he managed to get out, indicating the enormous bed. "Let me work out some of that tension. You're tense, and it gives you headaches."
Amanda opened her mouth to say she was fine, he didn't have to, but she knew that was just being stupidly stubborn. And he was trying, even with the binding spell getting in the way. So she nodded, and came back to the bed, sitting on the edge. "On me front?" she asked, bending to undo the laces of her boots - she had she hoist the skirt out of the way.
"Yes, on your front." he said, indicating the ocean of silk and furs that called itself Amanda's Bed. Once the sorceress was laying flat, Manuel let his fingers do the walking - up and down her spine, working out tense spots. He was an excellent maseusse, and while he avoided her rear entirely he did work her legs like he did her back.
She tensed at the first contact of his hands, but as he worked on her back and then her legs, she gradually relaxed, until she was almost falling asleep. It was probably the first time since arriving in Asgard that she'd properly let down her guard - in Amora's court, not even her daughter was entirely safe, and there had always been the feeling of being on show, being watched.
Manuel knew that feeling all too well. Once he finished, he rolled off the bed and back over to a chair. "Better?" he asked with real concern. "You had some real knots in your shoulders - good thing I've got a good grip." he said, flexing his fencer's hands. "Rest, please. I'll keep watch."
"Much better," she murmured, slowly rolling over onto her side and half-opening her eyes to look at him. "Thank you." Her eyes drifted closed again as she slipped into sleep.
"You're welcome." he said after she had drifted off to sleep. He tested the bonds of his slave-spell, and saw that they held even if she was unconscious. Snarling slightly, Manuel paced the room, to let himself think. He couldn't leave - either the Enchantress's guards would cut him down, she'd do it herself, or Loki's agents would get word and send men with long knives after him. Staying was just this side of intolerable, but given the choices, it was the best he could do. And most galling of all, the bitch who owned this castle had Needle.
Even asleep, Amanda felt his anger and frustration, and flinched slightly.
Manuel looked at Amanda, and then slammed down a block over the link. She needed her sleep, not a brainfull of his frustrations. Picking at the remnants of his meal held little appeal - but another need was pressing down on him fairly urgently, and looking around, he didn't see any way of relieving it. Sighing, he reached out for Amanda's ankle, to try to shake her into semi-consciousness.
"Hrmf?" Instinctively she jerked her ankle away, casting a shielding spell at the same time, almost subconsciously. Blearily, she looked at him through the faint blue haze of the spell. "Oh. What is it?"
"Bathroom. Need to go. Where is it?" he asked, almost at the point of doing the Pee-Pee Dance. "Didn't want to wake you, but I couldn't see one from here, and I can't leave without your say-so."
"Oh. Yeah. Sorry, should've thought." Murmuring a few words in Latin, a small green spark appeared when she snapped her fingers. "Location spell - follow the light, it'll show you where. It ain't far."
Manuel nodded, and walked as quickly as could be maintained with any sort of dignity, following the locator spell to the garderobe. He took care of his business and returned as quickly as possible. "Thanks." he said as he closed the doors to her suite. "Much better now. I presume I can go whenever the need strikes me?"
"Mm-mm," she replied, nodding slightly. The shield was still up - what the Enchantress considered enough power for Amanda was more than what Romany or Strange considered enough, but with the gradual increase, her addiction hadn't really been a factor. Hadn't dared to, in the face of Amora's power. Half-rolling onto her back, she looked sleepily at him. "D'you need anythin' else?"
"Snackage would be good. I get hungry more often when I have all of my power available to me." he said. "And then I think I'm gonna meditate for a while, see if I can feel a way out of this."
"An' you call me the Bottomless Pit," she said with a half smile - her brain was still in the warm and fuzzy place his massage had put her. She summoned more food - and teleported the debris of the other meal back down to the kitchen, where they startled the cook who had them spontaneously appear in his lap - and snuggled back down into the pillow. "If anyone comes, look tortured an' miserable, all right?"
"I thought you said I couldn't act." he smirked. "I'll do my best. Let me use my power, and they'll believe whatever I want them to believe."
"If I tell you t' look tortured an' miserable, you will, whether you want to or not," she pointed out, half-asleep and not fully aware of what she was saying. "But if you need yer power, you can. Just don't draw attention t' yerself."
Manuel, compelled by the curse placed upon him, nodded. "As you command, Mistress." he said, voice flat. "If anyone comes, I will look tortured and miserable."
"Think I liked 'as you wish' better," Amanda mumbled, as she drifted off to sleep again.
Manuel, once again compelled by the sorcery, nodded. "As you wish," he whispered, then began to meditate.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-08-09 11:44 pm (UTC)Paige gets note of this? Soooo having a chat with Amanda when they get home.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-10 12:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-10 12:13 am (UTC)(Goal achieved!)
*sniffles*
Date: 2004-08-10 07:13 am (UTC)WAAAAH! ;)
Redhawk
*petpet*
Date: 2004-08-10 01:51 pm (UTC)I love you? *solves everything, ta da!*
(Paige doesn't /hate/ him. He just might make her a tad nervous if she ever figures him out, that's all. I also think we can rule out the secret love affair.)
BLAST!
Date: 2004-08-10 02:02 pm (UTC)Make the triangle a parallelogram? ;)
Redhawk
Soooorry.
Date: 2004-08-10 02:46 pm (UTC)Hey, if you want to get punched in the nose by Jenn- I mean, Jono, do try your luck! Not that the characters and their muns are over-protective of me, nevar. ;)