Mature: Desert Moon

[Emora Deen]

Tenele swallowed, taking the dress. The style wasn't the problem... She was nervous about getting naked in front of him. Which was completely ridiculous considering what they'd done on the ship the other day. She sucked it up and stripped the ruined dress off and pulled the modest attire on.

A few minutes later Talon was entering the room. "The palace is going mad. What's happened?"

[Soran Nightblade]

"Atul and Tenele were attacked," Vlad explained quickly. "Atul fought back, and they still got away." He'd paid almost zero attention to his wife's uncomfortable changing of clothes. He was not Vlad the lover right now, or even Vlad the nurturing husband and father. He was a powerful creature, angry and protective of his territory. "I'm going to Atul's side. Stay with her. Alert me if anything happens." He snapped his fingers, and the hellhound in the corner posed obediently, prepared to guard at his master's command.

[Emora Deen]

"Okay," Talon nodded, watching Tenele head into Tenara's room. "I'll watch them. If anything out of the ordinary happens, I will let you know."

Tenele climbed into bed with Tenara. "Let's read," she whispered to her daughter.

"Papa was going to read to me," Tenara replied. "I'll wait."

"Papa isn't feeling well," Tenele swallowed. "He can read to you tomorrow, though. Is it okay if I read to you tonight?"

"Okay," the little girl murmured in disappointment.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad left their suite and arrived at Atul's door like a storm.

"Lord Dracul, the king is being treated-" one of the guards warned.

"I will enter, or you will lose a limb," Vlad snarled, pushing past the uneasy guard and into the room with Atul, the doctors and advisers, and all the rest.

[Emora Deen]

Atul sat quietly while the nurse stitched the extremely deep wound. "It will heal," he reminded her.

"If you don't bleed out first," the nurse barked. The whole room hushed. No one ever really talked back to Atul. But, the concern on her face touched the King.

"Fine," he sighed.

"The bones are broken in your arm, my king. The wound is very deep. If it were a holy weapon you would have lost your arm," she sighed.

"Well, I've already lost an eye, what's an arm?" Atul replied darkly, tapping the scarred right eye. It wasn't a complete loss, but it wasn't the best resource.

"All of you, out. Out! Guards are enough outside my door, I need my space. I'm suffocated by the amount of people in here. Go! I will update you all in the morning." The servants and advisers began filing out of the room, passing Vlad as they went, all except Mathis.

"Rumors..." Mathis muttered.

"So?" the King sighed.

"The Ighten woman, really? You couldn't have your affair inside your room? You had to take her out?" Mathis tapped his chin. "This will not instill confidence in your union to Lady Espha. We need the people to side with her, and they adore Lady Dracul. If they thought, even a fraction of a possibility, that you and she... They would never accept Espha. You know what this means, don't you?" Mathis glowered at Atul.

"No," Atul hissed. "The only thing I know at the moment is that a man tried to kill her and he got away."

"You have to move up your wedding, Atul. The sooner this is out of the way, the sooner we can stop worrying about it."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad glared at Mathis. "Do not presume to command your king," he said. His voice was red ice.

[Emora Deen]

Mathis glared at Vlad. "Do not presume to tell me what to do, ambassador. I am not commanding my king. I am giving him the stern advice he needs to hear. He is a king, and he has to realize that a king has no freedom. Your existence is subject to the will of the people. You exist for your people. You need a Queen."

"I could have died tonight, Mathis, and all you want to talk about is getting a ring on Espha's finger?" Atul chuckled. "Okay, fine. I'll marry her in two weeks. Two weeks, does that sound good enough to you? Is that kingly enough courage?"

Mathis frowned. "I do not mean that you lack courage or resolve, your majesty. I only mean that you should remember where you thoughts and heart must be at all times... on your people." Mathis placed a hand on Atul's head. "Rest."

He turned and headed for the door. "Shouldn't you be more concerned with the fact that your wife is openly engaging in an affair with a soon to be married man?" he asked Vlad. "Put a leash on her, Lord Dracul."

"Mathis," Atul warned darkly.

[Soran Nightblade]

"If you loved your king, you would see that his heart is not in this and be less thoughtless in your demands," Vlad snarled at Mathis.

[Emora Deen]

"I care about my king," Mathis replied. "I want him to be successful and rule for a very long time. I want no one to question his authority or attempt to take his throne. I want him to have security. He will have that with a wife and eventually a child. You do not know this, Dracul, because you do not understand the meaning of responsibility. Good night, sir."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad's gaze was murderous as the man left. He waited until the door closed and then focused on the wall inside him, covering this new anger brick by brick, leveling out his foundation before he showed it to the man sitting behind him. When he turned, he looked grim but composed. He didn't say a word, just walked up to the king and sat next to him. His thorough gaze scanned the bandaged, splinted arm.

[Emora Deen]

Atul sagged in his chair when the last person left and it was only himself and the vampire left in the room. "I won't be awake much longer," he muttered, pulling the arm up to his chest and holding it. "Is Tenele okay? She seemed shaken when we got back to the palace. I'm sorry, I didn't think she'd be in any danger on our date. I should have watched better."

[Soran Nightblade]

"You did everything you could," Vlad said firmly, sliding further onto the bed and helping the man get into a more comfortable position. "Tenele is fine. Talon and I are watching her. I will be here with you." He stroked the king's hair back, knowing how tired this made him.

[Emora Deen]

Atul nodded drowsily. "I couldn't kill him," he growled. "When I find him I will kill him." Atul's eyes dragged closed and he fell a sleep well before he could hear any response from the vampire.

[Soran Nightblade]

"I've got you," Vlad whispered to his unconscious friend. He guarded the room with a fierceness that would likely have killed anyone who tried to intrude on them at the moment. Maybe thinking about Atul's marriage had a part to play in his dark mood. His wall stood rigid and suffocating, preventing him from making the emotional connection that would have driven him to despair. Instead, there was just protective rage and the sense that something was deeply, irreversably wrong.

[Emora Deen]

*Tenele and Tenara are sleeping soundly,* Talon told him through their link. *Nothing a miss. Except Tenele's heart is racing in her sleep. Makes me hungry.* The young vampire was just about to head out to dinner when he was called by Vlad.