Mature: Desert Moon

[Emora Deen]

Tenara nodded, as if the cook had tasked her with carrying the most important object in the world. She was very careful as she carried it to the door to the kitchen, afraid of tripping and falling while holding something so valuable. One of the other cooks held the door for Tenara as she emerged with her mother's breakfast.

The butler was still keeping Tenele occupied as Tenara slipped up next to them.

"Mommy I made you something," she announced, pushing the plate on the table in front of Tenele.

Tenele turned her eyes down to the meal, and then to where Tenara stood with her face covered in flower, egg, and sugar. Her dress smeared in it. She covered her mouth with a laugh. "Oh, thank you!" she replied, bending down to hug her dirty daughter. "Did you make this?"

"Daddy taught me," she mused while her mother planted a kiss on her messy cheek.

"He taught you?" Tenele asked with a smile. "Oh, thank you for cooking breakfast for me. I'm going to eat it right now, I'm starving."

"Okay, I'll watch." Tenara climbed onto the chair next to Tenele.

Tenele picked up her fork and spared a glance up for her husband.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad made it out of the kitchen a moment later. Seeing Tenele and Tenara side by side chatting brought a glow to his expression. He rounded the table to give his wife a warm kiss on the neck and pulled out a chair across from them. "Good morning, beautiful," he admired.

[Emora Deen]

"Good morning," she replied, smiling at him. No matter how many times he addressed her like that, she still got butterflies in her stomach.

"This is so good, Tenara. You did a wonderful job," she told her daughter, taking more bites. She even downed the eggshell without even noticing it.

"Three years old and already teaching her cooking," Tenele chuckled, eyeing her husband. "She's a very bright little girl, I might be a little biased though."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad smirked. "She learns well. She will probably leave the other children in the dust when she joins school."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele grinned, imagining Tenara's excitement about school. She was such an inquisitive and curious little girl, she imagined the child would be very happy learning new things every day.

Tenele let out a heavy content sigh as she finished Tenara's gift, placing a hand over her stomach. "I am full," she told her daughter. "That was delicious. Thank you."

"You're welcome, mommy," Tenara replied, grinning.

"You seemed to be very devoted to your task," Tenele told her daughter, reaching out to take a strand of egg covered hair. "What do you say we go play in the fountain in celebration, and to get some of that egg off?"

"Okay!" Tenara giggled.

"Would you like to play in the fountain with us?" Tenele asked her husband, turning her eyes on him. She wasn't sure what he had planned for the day, or if he had any intention of helping Atul with his workload.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad smiled. "Oh, I'm a pro at fountains," he assured, taking Tenara's other hand. He almost felt like a normal father spending time with his family. Something he'd never been able to imagine before they'd met Atul, before they'd created Knight.

"Knight," he murmured to himself.

[Emora Deen]

"Hmm?" Tenele asked, turning her eyes up to Vlad as she walked along side him. She heard him say something, but hadn't caught what was said.

As soon as Tenara saw the fountain she sprang from her parents and ran to it, climbing over the foot high barricade and flopping into the water with a giggle.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad's garnet eyes followed his daughter, and he felt sorely tempted to jump in with her. "It just occurred to me, with so much happening. When was the last time Knight was summoned?" he asked, his tone uncharacteristically uncertain. He understood very little about his alter ego. Tenele knew more than he did, and he suspected she was the only one who knew much of anything. Curiosity about the powerful being nipped at his thoughts, as usual, and as usual, he pushed it back.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele didn't recall the last time. The actual last time was when they'd been trapped on the island, but when Tenele regained her memories she forgot that. She tapped her chin. "I don't know. The last two months are still a blur. Before that I think it was a few weeks after we returned from Maxwell's home in the mountains. I don't remember a time after that."

Tenele sat at the edge of the fountain with a frown. "I feel like a monster keeping him locked away. I feel sad when I summon him because I am the person that controls his existence. When I go too long without calling him I feel like I do him a disservice. I should call him soon so that he may at least visit with Tenara. Why do you ask?"

[Soran Nightblade]

"I don't understand very well myself," Vlad mused, skipping a stone across the surface of the fountain. "What is he to us? Does he even exist when he's not with you? Is he...family, or a weapon. Is he your husband?"

[Emora Deen]

Tenele blinked at Vlad, wondering where the sudden curiosity for Knight was coming from. "He's not just a weapon," she replied almost defensively. She tried to think of a way to explain Knight without making Vlad confused or worst, upset. "He is... I cannot think of him just as a weapon because there is life, and love, and passion in him. I cannot think of him as an object because he is made of two men that I love, and who love me. He is intimidating, but gentle. He is devoted to me, to Tenara. I suppose if you are my husband, and Atul becomes my husband, then yes, he is also my husband. I'd like for him to exist when he isn't with me, but he can't. He is you and he is Atul, and for him to exist the two of you must not. I'm not sure there is any way around that."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad tilted his head and rubbed at his black hair. "It's hard to know what to make of him. It feels strange to be part of him, and not be able to meet him. He seems to know everything about me. I owe him a great deal.... although each time we summon him, it feels like I got the shit kicked out of me afterward."

[Emora Deen]

"He is very powerful, it takes a lot to maintain his form, especially when he is fighting. Though, there aren't many beings that are up to the task... and I may or may not be burning through quite a bit of his energy in my own right," Tenele whispered and averted her gaze, running her fingers through the water as their daughter splashed through the fountain.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad smirked. "Now, don't make me jealous of the husband I may never meet," he teased. "Would it be strange...if I gave you a message for him, for next time?"

[Emora Deen]

Tenele smiled, lifting her gaze to her husband. "It wouldn't be strange at all. I'd gladly tell him anything you wish." Tenele pursed her lips together. "When we first summoned him, I had this unsteady fear that we'd created something that would eventually turn against us. We had no idea what sort of being we were creating. I didn't know what his allegiances would be, and I surely didn't expect him to come pre-programed with devotion. I think Sinead probably thought the same thing and that's why she disapproved so heavily of him. He is powerful Vlad. He beat a God in a fight and barely broke a sweat, and you were near death and drained when I summoned him. If he wanted to... if he could maintain the form without burning through the two of you, and if he were darker and more malevolent, he could conquer the world. I often think about the damage that could be done if the wrong people figured out who can summon and control Knight, and if they found a way to use that to their advantage."