Malevein Part B

[jessara40k_lj]

Here's a the second part of that fic, is it worth putting this up here, or should I just leave it on the yahoo group?

Danilo was still telling Xander that yes he would look after Elaith for him when the man just walked out. He stared after the man stupidly for a moment, then he turned to Elaith.

"Why did he want me to look after you?"

"Lord Xander believes I would not be safe from the men if he left me alone, so he asked me whether he could trust you to protect me." Elaith kept his voice low, trying not to disturb Arilyn, and his eyes downcast in an effort to avoid attention.

"You don't quite understand. I was asking why he cares about keeping you safe. Has he decided to give you his personal protection for some reason?" Danilo just hoped that Xander wasn't going to abuse Elaith as a condition of protecting him, but even if he was he couldn't do anything about it, he couldn't afford to, and it might even be better for Elaith to just have to answer to one man.

"Yes. he came back for me after you showed him his room, one of the men was trying to rape me, I hate being so weak, but he would have succeeded too, and Lord Xander pulled him off me and threw him into a wall. He's very strong. Lord Xander said that I belong to him, and anyone who hurts me will answer to him." The moon elf was smiling at the memory, but Danilo wasn't certain whether that was because he was happy to be Xander's, or because he had enjoyed seeing one of the men who'd threatened him with rape thrown into a wall.

"Has he...forced you?" Danilo was reluctant to bring the subject up because of the guilt he felt he bore for what had happened to Elaith already, but he had to know if the saviour he'd summoned was as bad as the Malevein, if someone evil was the only person willing and able to help. That guilt was the only reason he said what he said next. "If he is abusing you I'll try to find a way to stop him."

"No!" Elaith looked shocked at the idea. "Even if he was abusing me, which he isn't, it would be a small price to pay for getting rid of the Malevein. We have to destroy or defeat them all before they've been here five years, or the whole world is doomed. Lord Xander is only interested in females anyway, he told me that when I offered myself to him after he rescued me, and he said even if I was female he wouldn't take me under those circumstances."

"Then he's protecting you just because it's the right thing to do." Danilo felt small and ignoble when he came to that realisation - he'd left Elaith to be raped, broken and abused because it was too much effort to protect him and keep from becoming a monster himself, and here a stranger was protecting him just because he needed it.

"Yes, I think so, all he's asked of me so far is to tell him about our world, and the Malevein. He acts as if I could still be modest after what I've done, he gave me these clothes, and he's planning to make an individual reconnaissance and get me some clothes that fit at the same time. From what he's said the first part of his plan needs you to be at full power, because that will let him get a power boost, and the three of us too. He said he might be able to let me walk again if it works right too. But he can explain this all far better than I can." There was a faintly dreamy look on Elaith's face, the sort of look you only saw on a man in love. Danilo just hoped he wouldn't get his hopes up too high if Xander was never going to return his feelings.

"How can we - never mind, I'll be meeting him at sunset so I can find out then." Danilo started to ask about the power boost Elaith thought he could get, but he realised that the elf would probably refuse to answer. Still, did he mean that Danilo, Elaith and Arilyn would receive a power boost as well as Xander, or someone else. "You said that the three of us could get a power boost, did you mean me, you and Arilyn?"

"Yes Lord Thann." Elaith paused as if uncertain whether or not to continue. "He asked me who I thought could be trusted with power given by a spell, you two were the only ones I could think of."

"I don't know if I can be trusted, but it will take a week for me to be able to cast spells again. Why doesn't he just cast this spell?"

"He doesn't have the power yet." Elaith's head lifted and he turned towards the door suddenly. "Lord Xander is on his way back."

~~~0~~~

Xander dumped his wet clothes in his room before returning to pick up Elaith, he couldn't carry the elf and his clothes at the same time, so he'd decided to bring the clothes first, and give his pack mate a chance to speak with the mage. Besides which he couldn't leave the elf alone, he was too vulnerable at least at the moment. Even if he couldn't heal Elaith after Danilo cast 'Halloween' while he was dressed as Laphiji from 'Vampire Game' Xander was planning on dressing Elaith as High Lord Dharinel, an Elven Magus Major from Mercedes Lackey's 'Urban Elves' books, and that would give him raw magic power and skills from a different type of magic again, so he wouldn't be helpless.

Elaith was still on the bed next to Arilyn where Xander had left him, and he was watching the door, as if he knew that Xander was just coming. Perhaps he did at that, for all Xander knew elves had better senses than humans, superior enough to detect Xander's approach and recognise him.

"Hello Elaith. Are you ready to come back with me, or do you want to speak with Danilo for a while longer?"

"I wish to return with you. I have yet to give you the information you need on the Malevein, and I am somewhat hungry my lord." Elaith held out his arms to be lifted with a total trust that Xander found slightly humbling.

"I'm sorry. I totally forgot about eating earlier, truthfully I'm not sure why I wasn't hungry before, I usually am. If you need something in future tell me." Xander bent to lift the elf as he spoke, turning back to the mage. "Danilo, if I need to leave Elaith with you before I can heal him, if I can heal him, will you be willing to take care of him?"

"Yes, of course, but I won't be able to use my magic for a week at the very least."

"You mean you won't have the strength to cast any spells for that long?" Xander frowned slightly, then shrugged. "It doesn't matter, I'll need to work out which characters would give the best ability sets for the circumstances, and prepare information on them, and you'll all need to study that information."

"I do not understand."

"Neither do I." Arilyn had just woken and she lifted herself to lean on one elbow.

"Nor I my lord. Is this in some way related to the spell you mentioned?"

"Yes, it lets people access the abilities of others from another universe, but those others must fall within certain parameters, and are shaped by the way whoever the spell is cast on views the one donating abilities. For instance if two people in my universe dressed as you, but one was thinking of you more as an eccentric noble, and the other as a Harper then the one who thought of you as a Harper would get the skills you used to hide, as well as the ones you let your peers know about, while the one who just thought of you as a noble would only get the abilities you displayed in that act."

"So the more we know about the people we're dressing as the more powers we'll get?" Arilyn sounded curious at that.

"Yes."

"I don't want any magic, I refuse to dress as a magic user." He hadn't expected that adamant response, but he could deal with it.

"Fine, but you will dress as martial artists capable of controlling their ki, and generating enough of it to produce ki-blasts. And also a blademaster, I'm not sure how much he will add to your skill, but he will add something, even if the style will be different."

Xander didn't wait for her reply, instead he turned and walked out taking Elaith with him.

~~~0~~~

Elaith looked at the food laid on the table with a desperate hunger he'd learned to keep hidden in the presence of his master. Even if Lord Xander didn't think of himself as the elf's master, Elaith considered him to be so and would treat him as such. He was grateful that the human had thought to feed him, but he knew better than to take the food without permission, he'd gone longer than the twenty-four hours it had been since he last ate without food before because of his master's whims, he just hoped he wouldn't have to do so too often again.

"What are you waiting for Elaith?" Lord Xander sounded half curious and half angry that he had to ask the question.

"My previous masters did not allow me to eat until they gave permission. And since Danilo rescued me I've only been able to eat when someone thought to bring me food, so..." Elaith trailed off, hoping against hope that he wouldn't have to explain any further.

"I'm sorry," Lord Xander was apologising to him? "It just slipped my mind in coming here. From now on if you are hungry tell me, and I'll have someone get you something to eat, or do it myself."

"Thank you my lord. I will do as you have said." Elaith kept his eyes cast down as he ate slowly, knowing better than to hurry and risk throwing up. He stopped before he'd eaten all that he wanted to, knowing that if he ate any more he'd probably throw up, and perhaps there would still be food available later. "What do you wish me to tell you about now my lord?"

"How many of these Malevein are there, and how are they organized?"

"There are one hundred Malevein. They consist of perhaps fifty who primarily use magic, forty who primarily fight and ten who do administrative work - although they all have some skill in fighting and in their magic. They are led by my last master Drachar, and he has two principal subordinates, one in command of the magic users and one in command of the fighters - the administrators report directly to him.

"Of the fighters ten are assigned permanently to him as bodyguards, supplemented by those slave guards they find most trustworthy and skilled - about twenty of those. There are usually two Malevein and four natives guarding him at all times. Five of the fighters are assigned to his second for the magic users, to use as he sees fit, five to guard the magic users who power the shield and the other twenty, including the second for the fighters, keep order and try to destroy the last of the resistance.

"Twenty of the magic users work with them, one magic user paired with one fighter, except for the pair including the second for the fighters the magic user is in charge. Another twenty constantly maintain the shield cutting the city off from the outside world, including our gods, working in groups of four at a time, for six hours each, although the changeover is staggered, so a different magic user leaves and joins the group every hour and a half. The remaining ten magic users, including the second for the magic users, are a floating force more or less, and do whatever needs magic.

"The administrators do just that, administrate, making sure their laws are followed by the conquered. Except for Drachar they are all weak in both fighting and magic, he's as strong as his seconds in each of their fields. The seconds are both unbalanced, only really good at their particular fields, the second for fighters has comparatively weak magic, and the second for magic users can't fight very well. Some of their subordinates have equal skills in both areas, but they aren't as good as the seconds." As he was speaking Elaith realised that he'd learned more about the Malevein than he'd thought, and he began to believe that perhaps his knowledge was enough to repay his master, for now anyway.

~~~0~~~

Xander frowned at the comprehensive description that Elaith had given of the organisation of the Malevein, something he hadn't expected. It was a bit short on details, but he hadn't realised just how much access Elaith must have had, that or how much he'd been passed around, and disregarded. "Were Drachar's subordinates really titled 'second in charge of fighters' and 'second in charge of magic users'?" Those titles sounded a bit clumsy to him. "And how did they refer to their magic users, not just as 'magic users' surely?"

"I never learned what their titles were, just what they did, because of what I overheard when they did their business with Drachar while he was...using me. And their term for magic users was something like 'mrrr'tcht', barely pronounceable."

"Oh, I see." It made sense to Xander that an alien language might not be easy to translate, or pronounce, and after hearing the sound that the Malevein had used to describe their magic users he couldn't blame Elaith for just using that term, rather than anything else. "Now, do you know what makes them immune to your magic? Is it inherent in them, or do they have something to protect them from it?"

"Once a week they'd do a group casting, about sixty of them working together, that was the only time I could ever sense my type of magic around them, so I think it's a spell they do to give them protection from the native magic - I suspect if I had any clerical magic I'd have sensed that as well."

"Good, so it probably isn't inherent. That means that alien types of magic would work against them, so the more types of magic we master the greater our advantage. This makes 'Halloween' - the power boosting spell - even more important. I might have to change my plans for that a bit. Originally I planned on making sure that I always had the advantage in power and skill for each magic system I allow Danilo access to, but now it might be better to diversify."

"If you are going to give me magic power again then could we not cast 'Halloween' on each other, or at least I could cast it on you to give you a power advantage my lord?" Elaith sounded nervous, almost as if he thought he would be punished for making the suggestion, but it was a good one.

"Thank you Elaith. That's a very good idea, actually there's a more powerful variant, we can use that on each other as well if I can trust you not to betray me."

"I belong to you, I can never betray you, and if you have some spell you wish to use to ensure my loyalty I will consent to that without question."

"I'm not sure, some of the spells that would enforce loyalty would also interfere with your ability to think for yourself, and I don't really want that. I'll think about it. Now, Arilyn and Danilo love each other do they not?"

"Yes, they do my lord." Xander had started to get used to that honorific, at least enough that he wasn't shocked every time he heard it.

"Then what is the lifespan of a half elf? With one of the costumes I'm planning for them the lifespan isn't defined in cannon, so I can make it up." Then it occurred to him that one of the costumes he planned for Danilo would make him immortal, so he could choose Arilyn's third costume to do the same thing. "Forget it, I've just realised I don't need to know, I can make them both immortal."

~~~0~~~

"Hello Danilo, Arilyn." Danilo watched as Xander carefully put Elaith down in a chair, before turning to greet them.

"Hello Xander. What do you want to discuss first?"

"I want to explain what the first stage of destroying the Malevein is. Have you actually managed to kill any of them?"

"No, they heal too fast, I'm not even sure how to kill them, because the normal fatal wounds don't work." Danilo let Arilyn answer that question, he hadn't faced enough of the Malevein to answer it.

"That means that we have to use spells, or other abilities, that will destroy their bodies totally. Unless, Elaith, do you know if they have any particular vulnerabilities?"

"Not to my knowledge my lord." Elaith glanced up from beneath his lowered lashes, and Danilo couldn't help but notice how pleased he seemed to be that Xander had asked him something.

"But magic doesn't work on them, I should know I've tried, and Uncle Khelben did too, before he died giving me his magic - and Laeral with him, one of Mystra's Chosen." Danilo laughed bitterly. "Her spells didn't work either."

"Elaith, what does it mean that Laeral was one of Mystra's Chosen?" Danilo blinked in shock at that, he'd forgotten that the saviour he'd summoned would not know just what it meant for a wizard to be chosen by Mystra.

"It means that she was incredibly powerful, my lord, and had the favour of the Goddess of Magic, so she could cast spells more easily, and with more power, than other wizards and learn new spells faster."

"But she would still use magic the same way that you did, or Danilo does?"

"Mostly, but she would also have used clerical magic, magic calling upon Mystra's power, or she might have."

"If Waterdeep hadn't been cut off from everything, including your gods."

"Yes," Danilo was impatient now. "But it has been cut off from everything, and if the two most powerful wizards in Waterdeep couldn't hurt the Malevein with spells how do you expect us to?"

"They were using the wrong type of magic." Danilo couldn't believe how coldly Xander could tell him that his uncle had been useless when it came to this threat. "You see every week the Malevein cast a spell that protects all the Malevein from the magic system you use. If you learn a different type of magic, my magic, and the magic you'll be learning through this spell they'll be affected by it."

"They will?" Hope rose in Danilo for the first time since his uncle had died.

"Yes. Now first I need to cast a spell so that we can exchange knowledge of our magic systems - to let you cast this spell." Danilo flinched when Xander brought out a knife. "The spell requires that we exchange blood - a lot of my spells are blood based." He held out his hand when Xander ordered it, and gasped in shock at the magic system Xander used.

"Here's the spell you need to cast. I'm sorry, but I won't teach you anymore of my spells - and I want to take the knowledge of how to cast it from you afterwards."

"But, your magic system is so...elegant. Why can't you teach me more of the spells you use?" Danilo couldn’t help the loss in his voice at Xander's decision.

"You can retain the knowledge of my magic system that you have now, but I will not allow you to retain such a potentially dangerous spell. As for why I won't teach you more of my spells, my belief is that a magic user should create his spells for himself, not rely on the spells others have created. I have all the knowledge about how to create spells, and I will leave that with you."

"I see. What else do we need for now?"

"These. They have information on the people whose abilities you will gain. Arilyn," Xander handed a sheaf of papers over to the half elf as he spoke, "you'll be changing into Vegeta, a martial artist who can throw ki around, enough to destroy a planet; Darres, one of the best swordsmen in Pheliosta, and Kelsenellenelvial gil-Ravedy, an elven blademaster, he's immortal, but his only real magic is an inherent ability to see through illusions. Danilo," and again Xander handed a sheaf of papers over, "you get Vegeta in Super Saiyan form, which will make you as tough as Arilyn; Vord, a prince who is skilled in the holy magic of Pheliosta, and Kall-Su, an immortal sorcerer with a particular affinity for ice magic, powerful enough to face an army by himself."

Danilo couldn't stop himself whistling. "Impressive. What are you and Elaith dressing as?"

"You'll cast the spell on us first, I'll be dressed as Laphiji, also a prince, adopted brother to Vord, better than him at both magic and swordsmanship, in part because he was made into a living piece of magic as a child by his birth family and Elaith will be dressed as the Master Magus Dharinel. Elaith will also dress as Yujinn, also called Yuujel, another Pheliostian prince, better than Vord at holy magic, but not so good and powerful as Laphiji and Prince Herb of the Musk Tribe, another expert martial artist who can throw ki around, and use it to fly. My other two costumes will be Goku, a martial artist more powerful than Vegeta, and Dark Schnieder, Kall-Su's teacher and adoptive father, primarily a fire mage, he can't cast even the simplest of ice spells to save his life, but he is the oldest sorcerer, and the most powerful. No single sorcerer has ever defeated him."

"In other words you don't really trust us, and you're making sure that you'll be more powerful than us in everything." Danilo covered his fury at that attitude quickly, but as much as he hated it he could understand why Xander didn't trust him or Arilyn, if for no other reason than that they had failed to protect Elaith, whom Xander seemed to have imprinted on in a weird way. He sighed and stood. "Is there anything else you want us to do?"

"Could you take care of Elaith tomorrow while I do a recon run? And this will give you two totally alien forms of magic, plus ki abilities, so we should be able to deal with the Malevein using that, if we have to I can repeat the spell with other forms of magic."

"Yes, we'll take care of Elaith, and we do appreciate what you are doing for us." Arilyn intervened, trying to keep the peace and calm Xander, before she left with Danilo.

~~~0~~~

Elaith kept his eyes lowered in respect as his master delivered him to Danilo the next morning. He couldn't quite believe how generous Lord Xander was being, not only had he fed Elaith every time he was hungry, he had given him two sets of clothes from his own pack, helped him to bathe again today, and washed out the clothes Elaith had worn yesterday himself - and now he was going out to buy new clothes for Elaith from one of the Malevein's collaborators! Admittedly Lord Xander was doing recon at the same time, but he didn't need to risk being discovered by trading for clothes for him, and he was going to do it anyway.

"Make sure that you feed him whenever he is hungry, and do not allow anyone to harm, or even touch him." And his master was giving specific orders to make sure Danilo cared for him properly, Elaith knew just how lucky he was to belong to someone like Xander, it was something he'd never dreamed he'd have, safety, someone who would care for him despite his many faults, without any requirement for him to be perfect in any way. When he had been younger, before his Moonblade rejected him he'd always felt the need to fit perfectly into what was expected of him, so he would be worthy of the Craulnober Moonblade, the Royal Family he'd been born to serve, and later worthy of the Princess he was to marry. And when his Moonblade rejected him, his first love had broken their engagement on the strength of that and he'd fled, the lifestyle he had fallen into left him no room for caring, or being cared for. Then after the Malevein arrived...he'd thought that he would spend the rest of his life as their slave, they'd broken him totally. He knew that on some level that had to be affecting him too, influencing his adoration of Lord Xander, but that didn't really matter, he would be forever content to be nothing more than Xander's friend if that was all the human would give him.

"He...he acted as if you were just an animal, a pet, not a person capable of making your own decisions!" Arilyn sounded outraged, but Elaith couldn't understand her interpretation of Lord Xander's actions at all.

"That is not so Princess Arilyn. I was a slave, and a very thoroughly trained slave at that, Lord Xander is just trying to counter the effects of the training I've been through. I do not think I could defend myself from an attack or an attempt at molestation, even if I were not too badly damaged to do so. And I've been trained not to mention my needs, unless I am specifically ordered to." Elaith knew that he wasn't supposed to contradict his betters, but he just couldn't bring himself to sit by and let his master be insulted.

"And if you're willing to speak up against Arilyn for his sake he must be good for you." Danilo concluded, seeing hope for Elaith where the elf himself could barely perceive it.

"Thank you Lord Thann. Is there anything you wish to do while I am under your protection?"

"Talk to us about these people we're going to be dressed as. Why are all of my characters male?" Arilyn seemed to be a little insulted, and Elaith couldn't entirely blame her for that, although he didn't say anything on that subject.

"Lord Xander picked characters from fiction in his world, and used a common fan interpretation of each, or his own interpretation. In his world most cultures are male dominated to some degree, so the strongest characters are always male, unless they have magic. He chose Vegeta for his ki abilities, as if you won't use magic you need something that will let you destroy bodies entirely. Darres was intended to possibly boost your skill with a blade, so I suggest you assume that he is better than you at swordplay. And Kelsenellenelvial, as you heard is a blademaster and also immortal, but he was mainly intended to make sure both you and Danilo live forever. I think Lord Xander believes it is important for lovers to have vaguely similar lifespans."

"Arilyn, it isn't as if you haven't played a man before." Danilo smiled at the half elf, flirting to calm her. It seemed to work, and the two of them appeared to almost forget Elaith's presence, so he crawled over to the corner where they were less likely to notice him.

~~~0~~~

Xander walked through the streets of Waterdeep with the confidence in his own strength and ability to handle himself that he'd gained painfully through his encounters with vampires and demons over the past seven years, despite he fact that they were all stronger than him he usually managed to win, to kill his enemy if he wasn't too badly outnumbered, or unarmed. It seemed to work well enough to keep people from bothering him - most of the people around stepped out of his way, of course they also stepped out of the way of anyone armed, swiftly enough to show that it was done without thought. And that was a little worrying, it was the sign of a society where anyone armed could hurt anyone unarmed without any penalty, yet more evidence that the Malevein were bad news, as if he needed it after seeing what had happened to his new pack mate.

There was only a single street where you could buy the little luxuries that people who lived above the poverty line took for granted, from what Elaith had said food distribution was centralised, supplied by the Malevein to their slaves - and they were careless in a way, just assuming that anyone who walked Waterdeep were their slaves, with no way to track them, or keep any sort of records. That was a good thing, that they were carelessly arrogant inside Waterdeep, despite the almost paranoid precautions they took to keep the city cut off from the rest of the world and native magic suppressed, but there was the nagging worry that perhaps it was justified.

Xander shook his head sharply, dismissing those thoughts and slid easily back into the mindset of a low level fighter, assigned to guard a harem and hoping to get one of the concubines in bed willingly with a few treats. Not that he had a problem with rape, it was just one hell of a lot easier not to have to explain to the Malevein why one of the pretty sluts was all roughed up. At least that was the impression he needed to give, seeing as only people who had little sense of morality were trusted enough by the Malevein to walk around armed.

"You!" He casually walked into a clothing shop as if he owned it. The clothes here were pretty, slightly encumbering to the wearer, and of medium quality, nothing expensive, or really revealing, but they'd probably flatter whoever wore them if chosen right, just the sort of thing to give a harem slave who wanted to have the option of covering his body, and very much not the sort of thing a fighter would wear in a situation where the appearance of strength was all important.

"Yes sir? How might I serve you?" The storekeeper looked about fifty or sixty years old at least to Xander's eyes, but he could quite well be older or younger, depending on what sort of lifespan humans normally had in this world - and that was if he was as human as he looked.

"There's a silver haired fuck toy I want to buy some clothes for. Advise me."

"Yes sir. If I might ask, how tall is she?" The man was almost cringing, Xander got the impression that he didn't think Xander was likely to even pay for the clothes he took, and was just hoping to avoid violence.

"He is about six foot tall, elven, so his shoulders aren't that broad, you know how those pretty things can't put on muscle mass whatever they do. The slut doesn't have anything to be embarrassed about, but he keeps on trying to hide his lovely body beneath the bedcovers."

"And you don't want him to do that." The storekeeper laughed slightly, carefully as if he didn't want to offend Xander, but had recognised the cruel humour Xander had put into his voice.

"No, I don't, so find something that will let him cover up - but not too much if you know what I mean?" Xander let his voice roughen, with arousal forced from the memory of hunting with a Slayer, better, with Faith since she always let him enjoy the aftermath with her - and she didn't kick him out after they'd had fun, at least not anymore.

"Yes, of course sir. Will these suffice?" He was holding up a tunic and loose trousers in thin silk, just heavy enough that you couldn't see through it and a rich golden brown in colour.

"Do you have it in any other colours?"

"Yes sir." In the end Xander took three sets, the golden brown, a set in black and a set in a rich deep green, ordering the storekeeper to wrap them up, and tossing the bracelet he'd decided on as payment on the table as he left.

~~~0~~~

Danilo looked over the clothes he'd gathered to use for his costumes. He didn't have anything suitable for this 'Vegeta', but Kall-Su's armour was simple enough to fake, and Vord's outfit was boring in comparison to what he normally wore. He would have to use some illusions to help those two costumes along, but not many, just enough to make his hair look shorter, and make Kall-Su's armour look real as well as give him Vord's tan.

"I think I can manage the costumes apart from Vegeta. Elaith, do you think Xander can help me with that?"

"I do not know, Lord Thann but I doubt he would choose those characters if he did not believe the appropriate costume was possible. Lord Xander is not so foolish as that. And he knows that he will have to provide all of the costumes for me." The elf was curled up in a chair, with food waiting on a table beside him. He hesitated, biting his lip in palpable worry, before continuing. "Princess Arilyn, if I might ask, do you have your costumes planned and prepared? At least as much as you can manage?"

"For Kellsenelenelvial I can adapt one of my standard disguises using my Moonblade, the one I use to disguise myself as a Gold Elf, and for Darres I can adapt one of the disguises I used to look like a human. Vegeta's the only problem for me too."

"Then if I might ask have you fixed what you expect of the characters you are portraying in your minds?"

"Not fully. We're working on it though. And what about you?"

"Dharinel is actually a Bard, and he is rather disdainful of humans, at least in general, he has come to accept that some humans are worthy of respect and he spent twenty years or so training a human Bard who accidentally set monsters loose in a human city. At first that was mostly so the human wouldn't do any more damage, but as I say he did come to respect the human in question, and the lover he shared with one of the youngest of the elves on that continent."

"And the other two?"

"Yuujel is a manipulator. He fell in love with the future Queen of his land when he was thirteen and she was six, then when he was adult he disguised himself and came to her court to try and teach her magic, so he could court her under the table so to speak - ending with him falling in love with her bodyguard. He manipulated a woman who was in love with him into marrying a childhood friend of his, Ashley, because Ashley wanted her, and he didn't care about what she wanted, as long as she wasn't chasing him any more. He's probably just a little better at spellcasting than Vord, he certainly has more finesse, that's what he offered to teach him when Vord came and shared the future Queen's magic lessons."

"And what about Herb?"

"As Lord Xander said he's a martial artist. He is skilled, but not as powerful as Vegeta or Goku, his particular speciality is Ki attacks but he doesn't have as much of a Ki reserve as the two Saiyans. On the other hand he uses what he has better than Goku for certain, possibly better than Vegeta too, because he has less power to call on." Danilo noticed that Elaith was shivering slightly, but he wasn't quite sure why the elf was reacting so badly to the way he and Arilyn were alternating questions. He was reluctantly impressed that Elaith had managed to learn so much about the characters he was assigned to portray so quickly, but then he'd spent just about all his time with Xander.

"What is going on here?" Xander sounded furious, and Elaith was looking up at the one-eyed man as if he'd been rescued from a torture chamber.

"We just wanted to know how well Elaith was prepared for this spell of yours." Arilyn protested and Danilo was glad he didn't have to, he didn't know what it was, but something about Xander was very intimidating.

"You scared him. Get away from him!" Danilo obeyed, shocked at how badly he'd been treating Elaith without even realising it. Xander moved to kneel in front of Elaith, taking his hands into his own. "Are you alright Elaith? What scared you so badly?"

"I...it felt as if Lord Thann and the Princess were interrogating me. It brought up...bad memories."

"I see. Come on, I'll take you back to my room and you can see what I brought back for you." Xander stood and pulled Elaith into his arms.

"Wait, before you go, will you be able to help Arilyn and me with the costumes for Vegeta?" Danilo wasn't sure whether he would have a chance to ask before he cast the spell, he had the feeling that Xander was going to spend a lot of time taking care of Elaith in the near future, and might not trust him with the elf either.

"Yes of course. Now get out of my way."

~~~0~~~

Elaith watched Lord Xander in adoration. He knew that it was a sign of how broken he was that he considered Lord Xander his master, but he didn't care. The man laid him gently on his bed and stepped away to pick up a parcel.

"Here, you can open this. That is, if you aren't hungry?"

"No my lord, I am not hungry. Lord Thann and Princess Arilyn made sure that I had food while I was with them." Elaith began opening the package as he spoke, Lord Xander wouldn't punish him for doing as he'd been told - hadn't punished him at all so far, which puzzled him as much as it relieved him, he was sure he'd already displeased Lord Xander, seen the man grow angry a time or two, but that anger had never been turned on him. He gasped at the sight of the clothes inside. "Thank you my lord." He'd never thought that his master would bring back more than one outfit for him, if he was lucky, he certainly hadn't expected to be given three beautiful outfits that were almost practical. And now that he was under Lord Xander's protection it didn't matter if people desired him, they couldn't take him, except of course for Lord Xander himself. And no matter what he wanted Lord Xander wouldn't take him, not as long as he was male.

"Will they be comfortable for you to wear?"

"Oh yes my lord."

"I'd planned to go on at least one raid with the men before we cast Halloween, but now I don't think I can trust Danilo and Arilyn with you." Lord Xander sat beside Elaith on the bed and he felt guilty that his fears had made it harder for his master to do his duty.

"My lord," Elaith placed a trembling hand on Lord Xander's arm as he spoke, he knew it wasn't his place to initiate contact with his master, but it might make him feel better, "they can and will protect me, they were simply overeager in trying to find out what they wished to know."

"Will you be comfortable in their care?"

"Yes my lord." Bowing his head Elaith tried to hide his blush at the care his master was showing for his needs. The automatic, unthinking care and consideration Xander gave to him, to everybody really, was yet another factor deepening his love for the dark haired man. "They brought up something that I had not thought of my lord." That was as far as he could bring himself to go in bringing up a new topic and in asking for something.

"What did they bring up?" A firm hand lifted his chin and Elaith smiled up at Lord Xander.

"That I do not have any suitable costumes for the characters I am intended to portray."

"We can probably adapt one of the outfits I just got you for Master Magus Dharinel, and supplement it with a little illusion. After that we can probably find a way for you to ken the costumes you need, and possibly for Danilo and Arilyn too."

"Yes my lord. Should we try to adapt one of the outfits now? So that we know what we need to make up with illusion?"

"That is a very good idea." Lord Xander agreed and they began to put his plan into action.

~~~0~~~

Xander had packed a black wig in his dimensional pocket, along with the face paints he would need to add the symbol on Laphiji's forehead marking him out as a living piece of magic, other than that he was dressed very plainly for a prince. Elaith was wearing more elaborate clothes, but the important thing was his instrument and the contact lenses that gave him green eyes with slitted pupils, as Dharinel's customary garb had never been described in the Bedlam's Bard series. He'd gone out on a raid with some of the men who were fighting the Malevein, but it had been a shambles, they'd had to flee with the food and other supplies they had stolen, cementing Xander's determination to get access to power so they could destroy the invaders.

"Cast the spell." He didn't quite realise how arrogant his blunt order to Danilo sounded until he saw how quickly the wizard obeyed. This time Xander was aware of Laphiji's mind overlaying his, and he almost felt as if he could take control, if he just tried to, he didn't, but he did try to calm the prince, although he was fortunately naturally phlegmatic. Dharinel was a bit shocked to find himself somewhere he had never heard of, but Xander had briefed Danilo and Arilyn enough that they were able to calm him for the short time the spell lasted.

Immediately Xander turned to Elaith. "I think I can heal you now, but first I'm going to need to replicate the original damage as much as I can. Do you want someone else here to help, or shall I take you to our bedroom, for privacy?"

"I would prefer privacy my lord." Xander swept his friend up in his arms, carrying him back to his bedroom and laying him down on the bed. He hadn't been entirely certain about what Laphiji's style of magic was capable of, and so his assumptions had been somewhat vague, but he had believed it was capable of healing the sort of damage that had crippled Elaith. Unfortunately it seemed that unconsciously he had assumed it required the wounds to be fresh. He'd considered the possibility and left a spell he'd created, effectively for torture, that would open any old wound as if it were fresh, without permitting the injured party to die by his bed. Xander knew the spell, but he felt much more comfortable reading over it again, before he tried to cast it.

Putting the spellbook aside Xander laid his hands on Elaith's back, whispering calming words and envisioning the way his back must have looked when the Malevein bastard who first owned him decided to cripple him to prevent efforts at escape and cast the spell, his will focused purely on recreating the wounds. Then he released his control on Laphiji's memories, losing himself in the prince's mindset, until he could remember what the best spell would be to start, to base his casting on. Before he resorted to the outpouring of raw power that might result in unexpected effect he cast 'Wings of Mercy'. And the body beneath his hands changed, oh Elaith was healed, at least partially, but he didn't look right. Xander panicked and used his new nature as a conduit for magic to make sure that Elaith finish healing perfectly, before he stepped back, silently.

"My lord, is something wrong?" Elaith rolled onto his, no her, side, looking up at him with that strange adoration in her eyes. He knew that she'd realised she was healed, but she hadn't seemed to realise that she'd been changed.

"I screwed up. I tried to use a spell to start the healing off, a spell that Laphiji knows, but he's a living piece of magic, so he tends to draw on it directly, rather than use spells except sometimes in combat. And if you mess 'Wings of Mercy' up in a particular way you get a gender-reversal spell, not a healing spell. I can reverse it for you, if I miscast the spell again in the same way I'll turn you back into a man, but it raises issues."

"My lord, if you remember that Dark Schnieder is the most powerful wizard ever, powerful enough to go head to head with a god and win, and to defeat the most powerful Fire Elemental with its own element, and the most skilled as well and that Goku is the most powerful martial artist ever born then you shouldn't have a problem."

"I appreciate your faith in me. And I'll try to live up to it." Xander smiled at Elaith and prepared to cast 'Wings of Mercy' with a single mispronounced syllable.

"My lord, please, I would rather stay like this."

"But why?" Xander couldn't imagine wanting to live out an immortal life as a woman. He respected women of course, most of the best fighters he knew were women, but he wouldn't want to live as one in his world, let alone in this world - he had gotten a feeling that in general prejudice against women was even more rampant in this world than in his own.

"I felt dirty before you cast that spell, as if I'd been stained, but now I don't, as a woman I feel clean again for the first time since the Malevein arrived. And I think I love you, when I was much younger I loved a Princess, and I was to marry her, she was called Amnestria and I have never felt the way I did around her around any other save you."

"If you want to stay like that I won't force you to change, but I will not take advantage of you."

"I know, but may I still stay with you? For safety."

"Of course." Xander slid into bed with the beautiful woman before him, steeling himself not to respond to her body against his.

~~~0~~~