Mature: Desert Moon

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad shook his head against the pillow. "No. She can't come here," he argued. "You shouldn't have either. There's no telling what he'll do with you when the year is through."

[Emora Deen]

Talon frowned. "I'll be okay," he muttered. "I can handle whatever he does to me. But, it seems I'm only here to be your keeper. And he can't reverse my training too much, can he? I mean... if anything, what he does will make me better?"

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad shot his head up. "He will not touch you. You are not his. You belong to me," he snarled protectively. "No matter what he offers in terms of strength or power, you must not agree to work with him. Swear it!"

[Emora Deen]

"I swear," Talon told Vlad before he could think to say another answer. His master had asked him to swear it, and he had. It was as simple as that. No matter what Maxwell threatened in the hopes of gaining his cooperation in the future where that was concerned, Talon would never be able to agree to it. The sire bond would hold him to it, even if he was being tortured into compliance.

"Get some rest," Talon sighed, pressing gently to get the vampire to sleep. "It will be some time before this is over. You need your strength."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad flexed to the bed under that light touch. He felt so tired... so beyond exhaustion and pain. It was a disturbing place to be. The threshold between pain and boredom seemed to get a little blurrier every day. "My Blood," he murmured affectionately to the man standing over him. "Foolish as it was, I am glad you came."

[Emora Deen]

"It was never a question for me," Talon told Vlad as he moved to his own bed. "I was coming."

* * *

A week later:

“I don’t like the look of this town,” Atul muttered as he dismounted and led the horse into the stables. “People don’t seem to look very friendly here.”

“This town was sacked by Arken soldiers,” Tenele muttered, glancing up as the stable keeper took her horse. She tossed him a few coins for his trouble. “We’ll only be staying here for a night, but keep your head down. Arken retreated, but I doubt all of them went back. There are probably some unsavory people in this place.”

“Then, you keep your head down,” Atul muttered back as he looped his arm around her waist. “You’re the one with pretty silver hair and a reputation among the Arken military. I’m just a guy who’s got a really hot woman next to him.” He reached behind her head and pulled her hood up to cover her. “But, I’d rather no one knew that. They might get jealous.”

Tenele scowled at him.

The inside of the inn was hot, and the common area was filled with people clustered around tables. It quieted bit when they stepped inside, which unsettled Atul. For Tenele it had been a little too amusing watching the King have to adapt to being a commoner.

“Why are they staring at me?” Atul grumbled.

“Because you’re new,” Tenele told him. “They’ll warm up as soon as they realize you aren’t here to rob them. I’m going to get a room.”

Tenele wandered off towards the inn keeper and returned with a key. “Let’s go get settled in, and come back for dinner.”

The room was small and drab with a hard bed. Hardly the things he was used too, but he didn’t complain. He didn’t need fancy things. He was fine with what they had. “Sponge baths it is,” he acknowledged when he realized there was no tub.

“There is probably a common bath on the bottom floor,” Tenele told him. “You’ll have to share it or wait until no one is down there.”

“Spong bath it is,” he repeated with a smile.

After dinner they returned to the room to settle in for the night. This was the first inn they’d come to in their week long journey, and he had to admit that it was a nice change from camping. Atul flopped onto the bed, stuffing the pillows under his head.

Tenele sat on the edge, peeling her boots off and chucking them into the corner. He tried to calm his interests as she stripped layers of her clothing off and left them at the foot of the bed. He turned his eyes to the ceiling and took a steadying breath.

This had been his torture, this woman, whether she knew it or not. It felt wrong to fancy such thoughts given their circumstances, and given that her husband was being tortured. But, his heart wanted her as much as his body did. He thought it was wrong to even try to comfort her like that. He couldn’t replace her heartache with pleasure, it would only return when the dawn came. But, gods was he willing to try.
He watched her wash her body clean with the damp cloth, watched her take such care with it over her skin. She’d been his lover for many years now, along with Vlad and yet he still felt skittish about approaching her when the vampire wasn’t around. Like he was taking something that belonged to Vlad, though he felt no hindrance about taking the vampire when Tenele was absent. He had been with Tenele alone, several times, but, for some ungodly reason it made him nervous.

Tenele folded the rag over the table. “There is a clean one here for you if you want to get cleaned up,” she told him, crawling across the bed to lie on her side next to him. “We have a week or more of traveling…”

“Yes,” he sighed, brushing fingers along her shoulder. “It won’t be long before we’ll be dawning the furs.”

“Have you ever seen snow?” Tenele asked him with a soft smile.

“No,” he replied. “I’m a little worried we are going to freeze to death in some cave.”

“We won’t,” Tenele assured him. She scooted closer to him so that her body draped along his side. “We just stay close at night and we’ll keep each other warm.”

Atul swallowed. “Yeah,” he sighed. “That sounds easy.” He slipped away from her and stripped his own clothing off to wash.

He decided to put on a show for her, but when he turned back from the wash-bowl to get in bed, the Queen’s Maiden had decidedly fallen asleep. He laughed to himself as he drew the covers over her and settled into bed. “We’ll get him,” he whispered to her as he drew her in. “I promise. We’ll save him.”

[Soran Nightblade]

Another dawn was about to rise. Vlad dragged himself upright and walked past Talon's bed to rinse his face in the bathroom. There was no mirror there, but if there were, he might not have known himself. He looked wired and weary at the same time, like a man who'd crossed his own limits and was paying with his sanity.

Blood was waiting in two tankards outside the door. Vlad rolled the small table in and downed his in a few unsavoring gulps.

[Emora Deen]

Talon crawled out of bed, taking a seat next to Vlad and eating his own meal. "Do you want to talk to her?" he asked the vampire, thumbing the necklace he wore. He'd been keeping it quiet, hadn't mentioned it and hadn't spoken to her through it since he first arrived. But, today Vlad looked like he needed a reason to hold onto his sanity. They just had to do it so that Maxwell didn't hear.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad stared at Talon. His soul dropped to his feet. "What?" he asked, his voice rough from disuse. "How?"

[Emora Deen]

Talon lifted the necklace off and handed the stone to Vlad. "Just speak, and she'll hear you. Hold it in your hand tightly and speak."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad stared at the pendant. Tenele...Tenele was waiting on the other side of that link. He could talk to her. Hear her voice again.

He glanced at the growing light on the horizon. There was very little time. He should really wait until nightfall, but the childlike excitement was more than he could resist.

He took the pendant from him carefully, cradling it in his hand. His fingers wrapped tight around it. "Good morning, Beautiful," he said, smiling at his closed fist.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele shifted at the sound of the voice so close to her heart. She rolled over in Atul's arms, blinking her eyes open. For a moment... she thought she'd heard Vlad's voice. But, that was impossible. She clenched her hand around the necklace that dangled between her breasts. "Stupid dreams," she whispered to it. Talon hadn't spoken a word from that link, and she assumed that Maxwell found and confiscated it. But, his voice had been clear as day. Beautiful. It felt like an eternity since she heard it. Tenele wiped the tears as they came, trying to dry them before Atul woke to find her a blubbering mess.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad smirked as he realized she was still asleep. He'd forgotten how much he loved her sleepy mumbling. "I suppose I am pretty dreamy," he mused. "Whatcha wearing, my love?"

[Emora Deen]

Tenele laughed even as she cried. Silly dreams indeed. "Nothing," she whispered, clutching the pendant tighter. "Is that really you?"

[Soran Nightblade]

"Of course," he said warmly. "Are you well?"