Holier Than Thou

[Emora Deen]

Talon swallowed hard, like the idea of the body made him sick. "No one will find it, unless we have a good sand storm. By then it will be too decomposed to gather real evidence." He deserved to be punished for what he'd done... and he here he was getting the two people he cared for most to cover up his crime.

"Is it true?" he asked, lifting his gaze. "Tenele told me... That you are going to have a child. I said some very cruel things to her."

[Soran Nightblade]

The mention of the child made Vlad's chest surge with childlike excitement. He indulged the giddy feeling with a telling smirk that was all the answer Talon needed. "Tell me what you told her," he offered.

[Emora Deen]

Talon winced. "I told her she was selfish... and that you were only placating her so she wouldn't be upset. That no vampire would want one more reminder of how everyone he loves would die." Talon stretched his legs out on the floor. "I don't think she believed me, but the hurt in her eyes was real. I regretted saying it, but by then the words were already out. As it is, its too late now..." Talon grew quiet and let it sink in that his sister was going to be a mother.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad sighed and took Talon's chin in his hand, like he was speaking seriously to a pet dog who'd just gone through the trash bin. "Listen good, Talon. We love them because they can die, and they are all the more precious for it. When that beautiful child is born, the pain will be nothing against the joy of that moment." He released his grip and thumped the man casually on the head. "Apologize to her," he advised with a smile as he stood up. "We'll talk more later."

[Emora Deen]

Talon sighed with a soft smile. "I'll apologise... But, right now I think I want to give her space. I think she fainted because I scared her. I thought she was faking it at first so I could get passed the guards... But, I'll visit her later when she's calmed down and I'll apologise then." Talon settled back against the wall again. "You go on..."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad nodded. He could imagine the kind of scene that had probably taken place, and it wasn't pretty, but he also knew they both had the strength to move past it with time. "I'll do that," he said, facing eagerly in the direction of the infirmary. "Behave yourself," he chortled and was gone.

His sudden appearance in the clinic was enough to startle the nurse who was standing over Tenele. When she composed herself enough to really look at him, his facial expression seemed to startle her even further.

"Tenele," he grinned, sitting next to her with a sunlight gleam in his red eyes.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele had dried her eyes by Vlad's return, and Atul was good to cheer her up. When her husband sat done next to her with a smile on his face and in seemingly good spirits it brightened the weight in her heart. It seemed things had gone well between him and her brother.

"Vlad," she smiled, sitting propped on the pillows lying against the cots headboard. She reached out and took his hand, drawing it to her lips. She kissed the part of his skin below his thumb and pressed her cheek to the back of her hand. She then smoothed his hand palm flat over her flat stomach. Atul sat at the foot of the bed, grinning like a mad cat. He stood up slowly and went to speak with the physician.

[Soran Nightblade]

The beaming smile that broke out on Vlad's lips was enough to fully scare the nurse away. The vampire was rarely seen in such spirits about the palace, except with his family. He spread his fingers across her skin, along the contours of her abdomen. He leaned down and kissed her on the lips, softly for about a second before letting all his excitement run through the kiss. There was no lust behind it, but he kissed her like no one in the kingdom could pull him away.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele wrapped her arms around his neck and returned his kiss with a smile. Her heart felt lightened despite all that had happened that morning, and for a moment she forgot it all. "I love you," she whispered to him, pressing her forehead to his.

Atul popped back in, clearing his throat to break the two of them up. "How are you feeling now?"

Tenele peeked over Vlad's shoulder at the King. "I feel fine. I can get up now. I just got a bit woozy."

The doctor stood on the other side of the bed. He reached out and placed his hand over her forehead, and then took her arm and checked her pulse. "I'll let you leave. I was going to suggest you stay over night, but you have two very diligent watchers..." He looked down at the wolf. "Three very diligent watchers. I'm sure you'll want to celebrate, anyway."

"I really am okay," she replied.

"Yes," the doctor agreed with a forced smile. "But, this is a very fragile time. You need to avoid as many forms of stress as possible, and take it very easy. Before you take her, Ambassador, I think you were going to tell me something earlier? You mentioned that it was a private matter..."

Tenele narrowed her eyes on her husband curiously.

[Soran Nightblade]

"Yes," Vlad said, scanning the room for nurses or techs. When he felt confident they were in private, he drew the doctor to the opposite corner and sat down with him.

"The child's lineage is rather complicated," Vlad informed the man in low tones. "And it must remain confidential."

[Emora Deen]

The doctor nodded. "Confidential," he agreed, but his expression grew very curious.

Tenele watched her husband from where she sat on the bed. "Is he telling him?" she asked Atul while she pushed the sheets off her legs and stood up slowly. The soft dress she wore swooshed around her legs to her feet as she slipped on her shoes.

"Probaby," Atul muttered. "But, he's very knowledgeable about births and the mother's of my family. It would be best if he knew about Knight... We are in uncharted territory, Tenele, and we need you to be well taken care of."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad grinned, looking forward to telling this story. "So, the god of darkness was bothering my wife. Atul and I didn't take kindly to it, so we performed a spell to bind our souls into a single being. That being took form and used our combined strengths to murder Verin. At this point, he is essentially the new god of darkness. While he is nearly indestructable, Atul and I are not, so we'd like to keep this all low key," he added with a flip of his hand. "Oh, he is also the father of Tenele's child." He flashed a devilish grin at the doctor.

[Emora Deen]

The doctor was grinning through the whole store until the end because he kept waiting for the joke... that never came. Then, he started to sputter. "But... but... I... Killing a god's impossible..." He shook his head, and stood up, and began pacing in a circle. "That's... I don't... I don't even know how to respond to that. That's... This is amazing!"

The whole infirmary grew quiet. The doctor glanced over his shoulder. "Get back to it! Nothing of importance here!"

Slowly the room returned to a gentle murmur. "I'm afraid that doesn't help me with treating her. I don't know... what that means for the child. Something that powerful fathering one with a mortal woman, albeit a mortal-bound Goddess, is uncharted territory for me. If he was strong enough to defeat, and I still can't believe this, but if he was strong enough to defeat Verin it could mean that his offspring would... maybe take the same toll on the mother as Verin's offspring did." The doctor lifted his gaze apologetically. "And of course, there is a great possibility that it might not. I just don't know. I really don't. But, this will help me if any abnormalities start to occur. It also means that I have to stress that she take it easy for the next few weeks, understood?"

"That doctor seemed awfully excited," Tenele muttered to Atul as she stroked fingers through Stalker's fur. He brushed his muzzle against her hand. "He is trust worthy?"

"Of course," he admitted. "He's been with my family for years. He was with my mother when I was born."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad took the doctor's warning with a cooperative nod. "No stress," he agreed. He tried not to think too much about his warning as he turned to leave with Tenele and Atul. "It is lying down time for you," Vlad snickered at his recovering wife, gleeful at the opportunity to fuss over her.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele scowled at him as she looped her arm in his. "You better relish it while you can, my love," she told him, tapping his nose with her finger. "I will not always be so apt to listening."

In all honesty Tenele wanted to protest the fact that it was "lying down time" as she'd been lying down all night and most of the morning. She had a sinking suspicion, however, that there would be no arguing with Vlad this time around.

"I do believe this is the first time I have ever seen Tenele cooperative!" Atul praised with a grin. "I like it."

"Shut it," Tenele muttered, giving his shoulder a hard shove.