Holier Than Thou

[Soran Nightblade]

Sinead shook her head. "No one wants to die, Vlad. It's not an excuse to make him a monster."

Vlad looked up at her. "He is no monster. He is my ward."

A magical blow whipped across his face, almost knocking him flat to the floor. "Your ward!" she spat in disgust. "You cannot even honor your own commitments to your queen."

"Sinead," Vlad spat blood out of his mouth in annoyance. "I can protect him. I will teach him."

"You have doomed him. Do you understand, Dracul? He will come to hate you for your so-called mercy. You arrogant, selfish fool!" She punctuated her remark with blasts of magical energy that literally crushed him into the floor until the stone beneath him began to crack.

[Emora Deen]

"Stop!" Tenele yelled, running to her husband's side. She knelt next to Vlad, placing her slender hands against his back. "You cannot call him a monster! If he is what you say he is, then what do you think of me, who loves him? Talon was dying, he made the decision to be turned. It was his own choice. If he comes to regret it, he has no one to blame but himself."

Talon stood quietly, all the rage in the room making him want to rip something apart. He was too afraid to speak and risk ripping out Sinead's throat, so he stayed put.

[Soran Nightblade]

Sinead frowned at Tenele, her temper letting up slightly at the sight of her maiden. "Lord Dracul, you are ordered to the dungeons. Talon as well. Now."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele shook her head. "Don't," she whispered. "Please, don't." Fear took a firm hold in her chest.

Talon stepped towards Tenele, taking her arm and drawing her up. "Its okay," he told her. "We'll be back, I promise."

"You just got back," she pleaded.

Talon grabbed Vlad and helped him up from the hole Sinead had made in his floor. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, mother," Talon told her, red eyes flashing her way.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad stumbled for just a moment as he let Talon pull him back to his feet. Good. Go, Vlad confirmed the man's actions, accepting his support as they made it past Sinead.

"I did not accept Vladimir into my trust easily, Talon, and even that may have been a mistake" Sinead said into their backs. "I'm sorry, but this will be the same."

Vlad narrowed his eyes. He reached out, before either of them could say something they'd regret, and clasped Talon's arm firmly. A moment later, they were both in the dungeons.

"Down here again, Lord Dracul?" the dungeon warden sighed at him, climbing up from his desk where an open book sat half-finished.

"Reporting for duty," the vampire scoffed. "Mick, this is Talon Raider. First time. Go easy on him."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele stared at the place where Talon and Vlad had been standing, feeling knots of disgust. This was the first time she could honestly say that she was furious with Sinead. Tenele had always obeyed her, unflinchingly, and even when Sinead had hinted that she wanted her to end the relationship with Vlad she'd almost done it.

The Queen's Maiden straightened, kneeling to begin to collect the pieces of broken stone from the floor. Have nothing to say to Sinead, nothing good at any rate.

* * *

Talon glanced around the dungeons. "Go easy on me?" he asked. "What, am I really to be tortured as you were?" Talon scowled at the idea of torture. "Sinead wouldn't. She'd lose Tenele forever."

[Soran Nightblade]

"Tortured?" Mick's gaze flicked to Vlad. "You do somethin really bad this time, vamp?"

"Queenie's pissed, but not that pissed," Vlad waved a hand at Mickey. "And Talon, the guy who made me this way is nowhere nearby, so relax. I don't think Sinead's heart will let her do that to anyone a second time." His eyes darkened slightly. When she'd first seen his condition after being released from his experiments, when the Doctor had first presented him to her, she had been horribly upset. Vlad had been too numb from torture to care at the time, but she'd shed tears right in front of him, and had fired his creator on the spot. She'd sworn she wouldn't use such methods again. And yet she'd sent that lunatic after him, to tweak his immortality for reasons he couldn't understand at the time. The very memory filled him with a sense of fierce betrayal.

His expression darkened. He thought he understood, just a little, why the queen had attacked him so harshly for this decision.

"Relax," Vlad told Talon, grabbing Mick's keys off the desk. He waltzed into on of the cells and gestured for Talon to take the one adjacent, like he was offering him a chair.

****

Sinead watched Tenele pick up the pieces of broken rubble where she'd just thrashed her husband. She gathered her composure and drew a deep breath. "I'm sorry, my dear. I loathe upsetting you."

[Emora Deen]

Talon went inside his cell and to the back where a bench sat and plopped down on it, stretching out his legs. "So, how long do you usually sit in here?" he asked Vlad, peering through the bars at him.


* **

Tenele nodded, gathering the small bits of stone into the dip she'd made in her skirt. "Of course," she whispered, but couldn't keep the emotion from her voice. "Everything's going to be just fine."

Tenele felt tears burn her eyes. Felt the knot in her throat choke her, the same one that had bothered her for a while now. Since her father had told her everything.

But, Tenele was about to explode.

"Of course you hate upsetting me," she said with a half smile, reaching up to wipe a tear. "I mean, the man you just pummelled into the floor only just returned a little while ago for being burned alive by elves, or half-starved from protecting a monastery. But, all his sacrifices in service to you don't matter in the light of one act, do they?"

She stood up, holding the rubble in her skirts. But, what was she to do with it now? Tenele was shaking. "Please go," she told Sinead, glancing to the door. "I feel like I'm splintering into a thousand pieces, I don't like for people to watch."

[Soran Nightblade]

"Tenele," Sinead said, "It's natural for you to protect your husband, but he broke an oath to me." Her expression softened slightly. "You're different than the last time I saw you. Perhaps stronger." She walked in front of Tenele and raised a hand, levitating all the broken stone she was carrying into the air. A few whispers sent the shards flying back to their rightful places and merging back into the floor until it was solid and whole again. She looked up at her maiden, who seemed to be almost shaking with effort to stay composed. "Apparently, you've both been through a lot." She sighed and sat back into the chair Vlad had brought her.

"Would you please try to explain?"

* * * *

"Not sure, in this case. Usually takes a day or so, until her temper comes down. Our queen is quite the hothead."

"Only with you, Dracul," Mick corrected from his desk, where he was reading again next to their cell.

"Acknowledged," Vlad said, turning the third key in Talon's cell and then locking his own. He threw the keys across the room, where Mick caught them casually.

"In the meantime, there are probably some things we should discuss," Vlad said, turning to Talon. "First of all, you're not a monster. The past week proved that. You're through the worst of it, so don't forget who you are. Second of all, you're not me either. My skills were carved into me. I cannot pass them to you. To someone like Sinead, you're a run-of-the-mill vampire who ought to have no special control over yourself. I can control you, if I must, but that's not enough. If you want to remain in the queen's service, you need to carve out an identity. You need to think past what you are and decide who you are. Show her why you're different."

[Emora Deen]

Talon frowned at him. "Show her why I'm different?" he asked. "Why am I different? I mean, I'm a vampire with alchemic knowledge, and I'm not entirely sure what my healing will do now that I'm dead. I'm dangerous in every possible way. She won't stand for me being around, and why would she? How do I prove to her I'm different, or safe?"

* * *

Tenele took a quivering breath, trying to calm herself so she could speak without breaking in two. She moved slowly to the edge of Vladimir's unmade bed and sat down.

"There is a lot going on," Tenele told Sinead. "There is no good place to begin to tell you what I've learned. Maybe you already know, and have been keeping it a secret as my father has... I met him on our journey. He helped Vlad in the battle for the monastery, after I was wounded." Tenele chuckled darkly, shaking her head. "When am I not wounded? I'm fragile, dead weight, and Vlad could move so much faster if I wasn't out there to distract him..."

She shook her head, and instead went about telling Sinead their story.

By the end of it she was in tears, and more than hating being scared, Tenele hated crying.

"That's why Talon took the curse of a vampire. He didn't want me to be abandoned again. Now I have all this to deal with and I don't know how. How do I manage what I know about my parents? How am I supposed to react to that? And I can't even begin to talk about how frightened I am. I'm trying not to let it get to me, I'm trying to stay strong. I don't want Vlad to worry about me, and I don't want him to do something stupid that gets him killed," she muttered, wiping her eyes.

Tenele wanted to run out of the room to keep Sinead from looking at her like this. She was supposed to be the strong Queen's Maiden. Tenele didn't feel very strong at the moment.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, trying to wipe the evidence from her face. "I'm just tired. I haven't slept much this week." She chuckled darkly.

[Soran Nightblade]

Sinead listened to everything she had to say, quietly taking it all in. "You are going through a lot of changes right now, Tenele. It's okay to be affected by them. It's okay to need time to digest them. I'm sorry you've had to go through so much so quickly." She stood up and placed a hand on your shoulder gently. "There is no 'right' way to deal with all this. Just be you, and be fair to yourself. Don't try to shelter Vlad or even your brother. They've been through less than you have, and they can handle a lot." Her arms embraced her gently. "You are not as alone as you feel you are."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele nodded, burrowing her face against the Queen's dress. She wrapped her arms around Sinead, the only mother she'd really ever known. "I need to tell Vlad," she whispered. "Everything has moved so fast. We haven't had time to sit and talk this out. I know I shouldn't keep things from him, but the last time Verin approached me he attacked him. Its why I am apprehensive of telling him this latest encounter." Tenele wiped her eyes, drawing back to take a deep calming breath. "Please don't punish him for too long."

[Soran Nightblade]

Sinead nodded. "You should tell him. But he's broken his oath to me, and that can't go unpunished. I am still considering the appropriate response to punish him without simultanously punishing you, my dear."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele nodded. "I understand," she finished drying her eyes and smiled softly. "I think I may rest for a little while. If it is okay, if I have your permission that is, might I visit him later on to speak with him about these things? It might be best to tell him while he's in the confines of bars."

[Soran Nightblade]

Sinead frowned at her maiden. "You may. Though it might be best to see him tomorrow."