Chapter 30 - Playing With Fire
Eve was asleep. I was thankful she was getting some rest. The past three days had been excruciatingly difficult. Liam, Myrnin and Gwion did not leave her side for the first 48 hours. Myrnin kept her pain at bay. Liam kept Faeryn calm. And Gwion held their bond together, while he tried to get through to Faeryn.
Undoubtedly, the scenario was surreal and not at all like Eve had planned her delivery to go. She wasn't complaining, but I knew the stress was overwhelming. About four hours into their vigil, Gwion had instructed Myrnin, "Compel Eve's anxiety."
"No! I don't want to fall asleep," Eve had objected.
Myrnin murmured gently, "I won't make you fall asleep. I will just ease your stress." He waited for her response.
She searched his eyes and then agreed softly, "Okay." Almost immediately, her entire body relaxed. I hadn't realized just how physically tense she was, until I saw her respond to Myrnin's compulsion.
Gwion had successfully gotten through to Faeryn. She did have healing talent. He couldn't tell the extent of it, but he was able to guide her in strengthening the bond.
On day two, they had a breakthrough.
Gwion had instructed Myrnin to pull back on his compulsion, so that he could gauge Eve's pain level. Eve's eyes tensed, dreading the excruciating pain, but then suddenly looked at Gwion in surprise and whispered in amazement, "The pain is gone."
"Indeed," Gwion smiled approvingly. "Faeryn can identify the bond now. She knows it needs to be tightly woven back together, and has worked to fix it. But I am not sure if she will be strong enough to maintain it."
"Please don't leave us," Eve pleaded.
"I won't leave her. I believe she trusts me now. Liam, slowly remove your hands," Gwion responded, closing his eyes in concentration as Liam had very carefully released Eve's swollen belly. Gwion nodded without opening his eyes. He was silent for a few minutes more and then looked up and dismissed both Myrnin and Liam, "Your assistance is no longer needed."
It had been evident that Liam did not want to leave Eve, but the look on Michael's face must have convinced him because he murmured, "Do not hesitate to contact me should you need something," and walked out the door.
Myrnin was also reluctant to leave, but for a completely different reason. There was no way that I was going to leave, and he was not thrilled about being absent with Gwion in the same room with me. It took a few minutes of convincing, but finally he had left. That was yesterday.
Eve stirred restlessly and opened her eyes. She immediately looked toward Gwion, fear and concern painted on her face; as she had done every time she had woken up.
He gave his customary nod, but it didn't seem to alleviate her stress as well as it had before. Her forehead remained pinched and she frowned. Before I could ask her if she needed something, Gwion surprised me, when he instructed, "Compel her anxiety."
"What? I can't do that," I replied in confusion. Eve's eyes opened wide.
"You most certainly can. I know you can use Myrnin's abilities offensively, not just defensively. It's how you beat me at our first challenge. You didn't just block me. You shoved me out. If I had known you were able to do that, I would have been prepared for it, but you caught me off guard," he said wryly.
I blushed slightly. "Yeah, Myrnin said humans were not supposed to be able to use vampiric traits aggressively, only in defense."
Gwion prodded, "So compel her."
"But I don't want to take over her will," I rejected him apprehensively, shaking my head.
"Take over her will? Why do you think you would be taking over her will?" Gwion asked curiously.
My forehead crinkled. "It's what happened when I compelled Myrnin."
That revelation clearly surprised Gwion. He raised an eyebrow and inquired, "What were you compelling him to do?"
Oh shit! I couldn't explain what had happened to Gwion. I blushed furiously. Apparently, just my physical response was enough to answer his question because he laughed deeply and smirked, "I know he enjoyed that."
Eve gasped in understanding, and giggled.
I was incredibly thankful to see her laugh, but blushed even redder and muttered under my breath, "You have no idea."
"Compulsion does not have to be complete control. It can be isolated to specific emotions or actions. Reach into her mind. You will feel her anxiety. Right now it is her overriding emotion, so will not be hard to find. When you sense it, subdue and replace it with calmness," he instructed.
I looked at Eve a little fearfully. By this point, I think she was as intrigued as me and nodded her head encouragingly. I still hesitated.
"I won't let you hurt her," Gwion promised.
"Okay," I whispered and closed my eyes. I slowly entered her mind, afraid to go too quickly.
She inhaled sharply and breathed in amazement, "You're there... I can feel you."
I didn't want to break my concentration, so I didn't respond. I felt her anxiety almost immediately and shuddered under the weight of it. I isolated my attention to that one emotion, crushing it and then filled the void with calm. I opened one eye to look at Eve and whispered hesitantly, "Is it working?"
She laughed at my expression and acknowledged, "Yes."
"Now maintain it," Gwion commanded.
I nodded silently, keeping my focus on Eve. I was beyond thrilled to be learning directly from Gwion. Never in a million years, did I think I would be practicing mind control techniques from the vampire who turned Myrnin!
An hour later, I was exhausted.
I had no idea the physical stamina it required, and was shocked to realize Myrnin had compelled both her physical pain and her anxiety for two days.
"Is it okay for me to stop now?" I asked.
"Sure, that's fine," Eve easily replied, but Gwion spoke with authority, "No, you may not."
My eyes opened wider at his fierce insistence. He explained, "You have a gift. Do not waste it. Pushing through your exhaustion will build your mental strength much faster, than if you give up every time you feel like it. Maintain it for three more hours," he demanded.
I sucked in a deep breath. I didn't dare disobey his instruction, if I ever wanted to learn more from him. The next three hours seem to drag by. And Gwion wasn't making it easy. While maintaining the compulsion, he kept firing off complex scientific questions for me to answer. My mouth had dropped open when he demanded I list all of the elements in the periodic table – backward. He was relentless and I was beginning to wonder what exactly Myrnin had endured over the centuries as Gwion's apprentice. At the same time, Myrnin was brilliant and this man had taught him. So I sucked it up, and kept pushing through. During the last thirty minutes of my three hour mental marathon, Gwion surprised me when he said, "Now close your eyes and do nothing except compel Eve's anxiety. Do not allow your brain to wander. Focus only on Eve."
I did as he said, letting my eyes flutter shut. I took inventory of my compulsion over Eve's anxiety. I could still clearly feel Eve's mind. I smiled. It was almost easy now that I was no longer rattling off answers to Gwion's ridiculous persistent questions.
And then I understood.
I opened my eyes wide, staring at Gwion. He smirked, "You did very well, little minx. It is not quite so difficult now, is it?"
I blushed under the intensity of his stare, as a rush of satisfaction flowed through me at his approval. "No, it is not," I breathed. My eyes were bright and I felt flushed with excitement.
Gwion's pupils dilated completely at my response. He leaned forward slightly and purred, "Be careful, little minx. It is dangerous to let me see your body respond to me like that."
My eyes opened wide in shock and I immediately blocked my emotions. I had no idea how to respond. He continued with a gleam in his eyes, "I know Myrnin very well. Our tastes are not so dissimilar. The very fact that you can satisfy him intrigues the hell out of me. So it would not do you well, to further my attention."
I knew better. The smart thing would have been to just excuse myself from the room, or come up with some smart ass response. But instead, I murmured, "Myrnin said the same thing. He expected that I would be able to charm you into returning with us."
Gwion shook his head and said wryly, "He always did like to play with fire – in this case, I am not certain if that fire is you or me."
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