Holier Than Thou

[Emora Deen]

Tenele's cotton gown and robe sloshed water everywhere as she climbed out of the hole. Her pretty silver hair was matted and dirty, and her boots were filled with sludge. The back of her white gown was stained with blood form where that thing had thrown her over the corpses. She wanted a bath... now.

Tenele thanked the woman for her help, and stood up with a sigh. "Oh... you found them." She wasn't sure how he had managed it, but he had.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad climbed up after Tenele, ignoring the stare of half fear and half adoration the woman was giving him. It took him a few moments to realize there were others in the room now. A number of monks and a guard had come in from the hallway, no doubt attracted by the woman's cries for help. The soggy vampire regarded them bitterly and turned his attention back to the men nailed to the wall. "Get the high priest. Tell your guards to seal all the gates."

"We only have two guards," the guard said.

"Then get yourself to a gate!" Vlad snarled. "For godsake, you people deserve to be invaded." He cast a stern look at the one or two bystanders who seemed tempted to take that personally. "Find the high priest," he reminded them. Like an explosive had gone off, they suddenly split off to their tasks, happy to be as far away as possible.

He turned to the men braced to the wall, who were looking at him pathetically while barely keeping their footing to prevent strangling on the bars that pinned them to the wall. "These are the ones that trapped you?" he asked Tenele, following up on her comment.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele wrapped her arms around herself, noting the people in the room. She felt body-conscious among priests in clothes that clung to her form. And then they scattered like roaches under the light. "That's them," she muttered, moving to walk in front of them. She smirked. "You thought you had me... Well, ha!"

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad smiled acidly at the two men. "Tell me who sent you two geniuses in here?"

[Emora Deen]

"You ain't getting nothing out of us!" One replied defiantly.

The other, looked between Tenele and Vlad. "Yeah, you can't get nothing out of... him," he muttered. "I on the other hand squeal like a pig if properly motivated."

"Is living with your limbs good motivation for you?" Tenele asked with a smile.

"Well, yeah... but I like living in freedom too," he told her with a smile. "So you agree to let me go and I'll give you all the information you want."

"Shut it!" his friend growled.

[Soran Nightblade]

"That's fine. You're hardly an asset to us, anyway. After all, they wouldn't tell a few pawns like you what they had planned for a no-life king." Vlad crossed his arms doubtfully and turned away from them.

[Emora Deen]

"Oh, they have lots planned for you," the one who'd been so keen on keeping quiet blurted out. "The demons might not be able to enter, but the humans can come in... and whoever leaves will be slaughtered by them. You first... There are many of them waiting just pull you into little pieces. Mostly the Wolves... We've heard of your Vampire... The demon who betrayed his father. We've heard your legends...." He cast Tenele a glance. "Sorry, doll... I didn't pay attention to the briefing they gave us on you. No offense... your just a woman."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad's amusement dissolved quickly. "There are a few obvious errors on your side of the equation, here. First, they should have sent smarter scouts. Second," he slammed his palms into the twisted metal pinning them to the wall, "They should have told you about her." The two men stared wide-eyed and choking, the metal all but snapping their necks. Vlad made no effort to shorten their ordeal. He watched them dying for a few moments before looking to Tenele. A second later, the high priest, escorted by several monks, rushed to the door and entered the kitchen.

"Is anyone...hurt..." the high priest asked as he surveyed the drenched Vlad and Tenele, and the strangling men against the wall.

[Emora Deen]

"I said I didn't pay much attention," he coughed. "I didn't say they kept quiet about her. If you kill me, you won't know what little I heard."

Tenele looked to the priest after staring at the scout. "We are alive, which is more than I can say for these two... They tried to kill us."

"Keep me alive... I heard more," the other protested.

[Soran Nightblade]

"There are more outside," Vlad said, turning to the priest and ignoring his prisoners. Apparently he should have shoved the metal further up their windpipes, but he didn't want to gore anyone this time without witnesses there first. He was no longer in salty houseguest mode. He was in Undead Warrior of the Queen mode, and the scent of Tenele's blood was putting him in a nasty mood. "We need everyone evacuated to a secure place in the compound."

"The sanctuary is the safest room.." said a monk.

"There, then. Do any of the men here have combat training?"

The priest and his men just looked at him.

"Make sure everyone stays inside," Vlad muttered. If the enemy had demons with them, the sanctuary would be safest for more than one reason. "Tell them all no peeking. The forces outside don't realize we know yet. Have someone bring clean bandages to Lady Raider's quarters." He started to make his way toward the door before pausing beside the high priest. "Oh, and can I kill them?" he glanced back at the men against the wall. The question was more a professional courtesy than an act of deference.

[Emora Deen]

"Absolutely not," the priest gaped. "We'll tie them up and leave them in the pantry... I'l have the monks do that. If the Lady is hurt, tend to her."

"I'm fine," Tenele protested. "I'll wrap it and be fine. Do as Vlad says..." Tenele looked to him and then to Vlad. She headed for the door.

Back in the library the bandages were already sitting on the desk. She lifted them up and stepped into her room, leaving the door cracked for Vlad, though he had no need of it. She slipped the wet boots off and then pulled the soaked gown over her head, dropping it on the floor.

There on her side were four wide cuts, but they weren't too deep. That thing could probably have ripped her in half with one swoop. She wasn't sure if there was time to clean it, or what exactly there was time for.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad raised his hands, and with a deliberate twist, the iron ripped loose from the men's necks and dropped to the floor. The scouts collapsed, gasping, to the floor as Vlad left without incident. If the high priest wanted them alive so bad, he could chain them up himself. He followed after Tenele and didn't give her much time to herself before following into her room. He only stopped to tug off his clothes, soaked with black spinal fluid and all manner of other liquids, and drop them irreverantly on the good carpet of their holy library. He threw open his suitcase for a clean pair of pants and then went to Tenele's room.

His ruby eyes scanned the gashes on her side. "I brought salve," he noted evenly, going to his suitcase for the bottle of liquid they'd packed. Injuries weren't exactly an unexpected calamity on their journeys. "We should be thorough. This will be the only opportunity for preparation we're likely to find on our terms," he said as he took a knee next to her to inspect her gashes. He met her eyes for confirmation before pouring the fizzing ointment across her wounds.

[Emora Deen]

"You brought it?" she asked, with a laugh. It was funny to think of a vampire bringing human medicine. He poured it over the wound and she hissed, her muscles clenching. She watched him as he cleaned her wound for her, the way he gently treated her. "I want to marry you," Tenele told him abruptly. "Before we are attacked... If we really are surrounded by demons and human soldiers... if they breach these walls... I want to at least spend one day as your wife. I want to call you husband."

[Soran Nightblade]

The fierce glint in his eyes tamed a little at her words. He tied her bandage, meticulously, and rose to kiss her. "I'm afraid we can't be quite that thorough in our preparations," he amended a little teasingly. "We'll just have to keep ourselves alive and pretty until af-" he cut off, confused by a sharp sensation in his chest. He tried to glance down without really glancing down. The pendant the priest had given him was so bright to his vampiric eyes that he couldn't see if the flesh was truly scalding, or if it was just his imagination that the whole room seemed to be pushing down on him. He held his breath carefully, and the feeling passed again, leaving him tense but unharmed. He reached up to the pendant and wrapped his hand around it like it was any other metal. It was warmer than him, but his skin was unharmed beneath it. He realized he was staring and brought his gaze back to Tenele with a start.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele followed his eyes as she drew her pants on. "Is something wrong?" she asked softly. Her hand reached up to wrap around his. "The priest gave us his blessing..." She thought that might be what was bothering him. "He said that we can marry... Maybe he wouldn't mind performing a quick ceremony?"