Mature: Desert Moon

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad shook his head, catching her hand. "Look at the shape of his head. See how it's big and flat, like a triangle? The flat-headed snakes tend to be poisonous. And down here," he touched the knobby bit at the end of the snake's tail. "This is called a rattle. Only the most poisonous snakes have these. In general, it's best not to touch anything that has fangs if you meet it in the wild. Stalker is the only exception, because he is tamed."

[Emora Deen]

Tenara glanced up. "You have pointy teeth," she replied, reaching up to tap her father on the mouth. "Do you eat lizards and mice too?"

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad grinned. "They're too small for me." He'd wondered a few times how this conversation would go when it came up. "I eat bad people."

[Emora Deen]

Tenara started at her father for a moment and then looked down at the snakes rattler. "Do you make a lot of noise, too?" She petted the snake gently. "Bad people are okay to eat?"

[Soran Nightblade]

"Yes," Vlad said. "For me, anyway. You and Mommy have different diets. I doubt you would enjoy bad people." He poked at her flat teeth gently. But for other people with pointy teeth, I want you to treat them just like the snake. Stay far away, okay? Talon and I are the only good pointy-teeth."

[Emora Deen]

Tenara nodded. "Do other pointy teeth eat good people?" she asked, settling back against her father. "Do they eat little girls?" She watched the snake try and wiggle his head, his tongue flicking out.

[Soran Nightblade]

"Yes," Vlad said. Better for her to have some bad dreams than to wander into a trap someday. "Most pointy teeth are very dangerous, especially to little girls. They can tell if you're afraid, and attack."

[Emora Deen]

Tenara was very quiet as she watched the snake struggle. "But, I'm not afraid," she replied, lifting her head so she looked up at him. "I'm brave. Like mommy."

[Soran Nightblade]

"That will help you," Vlad grinned. "You are very brave, like your mother." He thought of her trying to sleep with him that morning. It was misguided and maybe a little self-destructive, but it had also been brave. "Let me set him loose for you. He's agitated," Vlad said, placing his grip just above hers on the creature's neck. "No more picking these up, okay?"

[Emora Deen]

"Okay," Tenara mumbled a little disappointedly. She reached up to the shaking rattle and tried to uncoil the creature from her little arm. "I promise not to play with pointy teeth things."

[Soran Nightblade]

"Good girl," Vlad grinned, unwinding the snake. He took it to the grass, where it took off without hesitation as soon as he released it.

The vampire looked back at his pile of reading.

Vlad worked hard all day. There were a few new clues that had him interested. It was the first he'd seen any theories about how to regain memories, but the specifics were still very vague. More or less, the legends said that the Hesic itself could choose to uncloud a mind. How to make it do so, however, was a different story. And there was nowhere to even start as far as how to find one in the first place. All he had was advice about not finding them. Avoiding misty streams at night, being cautious around soft moss and brush. The stuff of children's stories. Their accuracy was sketchy at best.

Still, he reported back to the rest of the committee Atul had assembled, and they all set goals to review key texts the next day. New volumes from loaner collections were due tomorrow as well, and hopefully they would find more with this new information in mind.

[Emora Deen]

"Vlad," Atul called as he entered the room. The committee hushed as the King entered and he went to the vampire's side. "I need to speak with you in private. Its probably best if Tenara doesn't hear."

"Papa," Tenara scolded, waving her finger at him.

As if knowing the cue, one of the scribes knelt next to Tenara. "Do you enjoy being read to, Lady?"

"Yeah!" Tenara replied. "Do read?"

The man laughed lightly. "I do. Can I read to you?"

"Okay," Tenara replied, grabbing hold of his hand and dragging him away.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad watched Tenara drag off the man, pondering that she'd probably need to have a talk with her about strangers sometime soon. The curiosity about Atul's serious mood took priority. "Okay," he told the king. "Lead the way."

[Emora Deen]

Atul led his lover into a private study room and closed the door. "Tenele visited me today. I've spent the afternoon looking for her to apologise, I can't find her. I didn't have the heart to barge into her room, so I'm going to assume she's in there..." Atul went about telling Vlad what transpired between the two of them, every detail, until he hung his head and pressed his palm to his forehead. "I think I was too harsh on her. I feel terrible. I just... I had to make her go before I did make love to her. I could only say no so many times..."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad listened carefully. He'd never imagined she would do such a thing. "She and I had a very similar scene this morning. I was upset last night, and she may have gotten ideas into her head. I'm not sure why she's trying to use her body as a tool like this. I will talk to her," he murmured. His red eyes met and held his. "But she's not the one I'm worried about right now." His cool hand touched the side of his face gently. "