Mature: Desert Moon

[Soran Nightblade]

Atul jumped into motion, while Sho froze and stared. "Tenele," he asserted that he was there with her as he knelt before her and drew her good hand away from the wound, clasping it tight in his. He placed her hand on his shoulder and wrapped her fingers around his tricep. "Squeeze. Tight as you can." He took her wounded arm in a steadying grip, grasped the shaft with a hiss of burning skin. "Three. Two." He ripped the offending weapon free on the last count, swift and clean. "Hold on to me," he reasserted to keep her from grabbing at the pain. He guided her arm out over the earthen floor and poured something over it that fizzed.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele screamed as the arrow ripped free, curling her hand around his arm tighter, until she was nearly hugging it to her chest. She turned her face into her opposite shoulder and bit at the cloth there, while liquid burned into the wound. She came up with a ragged breath, her injured arm shaking.

Tenele blinked the tears, trying to wipe her face against her shoulder before he noticed them.

"Your hand?" Tenele turned her green eyes on him.

[Soran Nightblade]

When his dark blue eyes met hers, they were as bloodshot as hers were. "Itches a little," he smiled, warm and breathless. He leaned against her knee as he dug a bandage out of their pack and unwound it. One more rinse, water this time, and warm cotton began its snug descent down her arm, over the wound. He was slow and exact, not nearly as efficient as Vlad with all his practice bandaging her up, but he hoped he was at least as gentle.

[Emora Deen]

When her arm was neatly bandaged she curled the opposite around his neck and pressed a kiss to his lips, "Thank you."

Then, she burrowed down against him, burying her face into the warm crook of his neck. They'd been riding a day and a half without sleep, and even worst they'd been up the night before because she'd been spending time with Knight. It suddenly hit Tenele, like the world was dissolving and this huge invisible weight bore down on them.

"We should rest," she murmured.

[Soran Nightblade]

"Agreed," he hummed into her hair. "Not much to do until the storm calms. At least with children around," he teased, helping her to her feet.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele smiled at him, her tan cheeks turning pink. She kissed him, long and deep. "If you have energy for that, you aren't as far gone as you appear." She stooped for their bedrolls and rolled them out across the floor one by one.

She made their pallets further from the fire. It had started to heat up the clay walled room, and the desert was beginning to warm. Eventually it would feel very much like a furnace inside the walls.

Tenele draped across the floor, lying on the opposite side of her wounded arm. "Rest," she demanded of the King, motioning for him to lie next to her.

[Soran Nightblade]

Atul freed himself of his boots and eased down next to her. He tucked his head above hers, happy to have her warmth in the curve of his chin. Even more convenient to have a good view of the door from this angle, just in case there were survivors after all, friend or foe.

He glanced toward the fire. "Sleep, Sho."

She snorted rudely and frowned into the flames. "Talon is not sleeping," she muttered to herself.

But within the hour, all three lay fast asleep in the small shelter while the wind whistled outside.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele woke a good eight hours later, sweating and too warm. The sun was setting outside. The storm had passed, leaving the sky perfectly clear. She wondered how long it had been since the storm passed. Tenele sat up slowly, turning her attention to her lover. She brushed his hair away from his face and admired the nearly healed wound at his neck. He was luck it wasn't holy, or it would have taken longer. She knew the other one wouldn't be so lucky.

Tenele's fingers skimmed under his shirt, over his side lightly as she drew it up to have a look at his chest. There were scorch marks where the arrow had entered, and a small puncture that she hadn't been able to heal completely. But, the scorched skin had cauterized enough that he hadn't bled.

[Soran Nightblade]

Atul twitched in his sleep as the warm air tickled his wound. He always generated a lot of heat when he slept, and he was slick with sweat from the warm enclosure. He rolled his shoulder groggily, assuming he was covered in Tenele's ridiculous number of blankets again. When that didn't succeed, he grunted in frustration, absently wondering where Vlad was. The vampire made an excellent heat sink.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele smiled at him as he moved in his sleep. She wondered if he was dreaming, and what he might be dreaming about. She bent and pressed a kiss to his cheek. He was damp with sweat, and looked perfectly handsome this way, and she knew that it wasn't the time or place to desire him, it was instinct. Natural as breathing air.

"Gods its hot," she huffed, drawing her shirt up above her naval and tying it off there. She tangled her long hair up around her head with one hand and laid gently back against the mat.

There was a lot to do, and none of it Tenele wanted to.

* * *

Talon went to the nearest horse trough and fell completely inside it. He wallowed there until the store patron bucked him out of it, but by then all the blood on his skin was washed away and the water now tinted pink.

He almost ripped the man's head off, and in fact came very close to digging his claws in before he snapped his arm back to his side and gave a dark chuckle. "Lucky little human," he muttered, stalking off center street, leaving watery footprints behind.

He'd travelled very fast when it occurred to him that Tenele and Atul could still be in danger, and that he should warn his sister's husband of their miss-fortune. Even if the last thing he wanted to do was go crawling back to his master.

Talon went straight up to their room. He wasn't sure if Vlad would be waiting their, since with the King gone he would need to assume his duties, but he thought he'd check there just to be sure.

He heard Tenara's giggling from the other side of the door. It was a sweet alluring sound, and he imagined her bright face beaming up at him. It was the first face he thought of that he hadn't wanted to eat.

Talon swung into the room, a little more flamboyant than normal.

"Uncle Talon!" Tenara cheered, running up to him. She wrapped her small arms around his sopping wet leg. "Eeew!" She stepped back, squishing his pants. "Did you play in the fountain?"

"Yes," Talon smiled, tapping her nose. "Where is your father?"

[Soran Nightblade]

Talon's eyes tugged slowly open at the touch of Tenele's lips. He took in her blurry form with her hair glowing in the light from the fire and her shirt tied up above her naval. "Is this heaven or hell?" he grinned coyly, swiping a wrist across the bridge of his nose. "Winds let up?"

[Emora Deen]

"Its all clear. The sun is setting," Tenele replied, turning to look out the door. "I don't think anyone has moved. There are a lot of bodies. We should collect them. Bury or burn them before they start to smell. Maybe we'll recover survivors." The idea was never pleasing, but made worst by the thought that a majority of the bodies they would find would be children.

She didn't want to do it. She didn't want to look upon the faces of the innocent and dispose of their remains. But, if she was to be queen, Tenele would have to come to terms with doing the difficult.

* * *

"Can we go play in the fountain?" Tenara asked, reaching up for Talon's hand.

"No," Talon sighed. "I need to speak with your father. If he isn't here..." Talon brushed passed Tenara and began opening doors in their suite to look for Vlad. "Your mother needs him."

"Shh... Rhi is sleeping," Tenara pressed her small finger to her lips and then pointed to her bed where the little lizard girl was lying surrounded by heating oil lamps burning with the brightest blaze.

"Talon?"

The vampire cringed. He'd really hoped she would not be here, especially in the state he was in when his control was limited. But, there was no avoiding it, and he wasn't going to ignore her.

"Espha," Talon greeted, turning to face the young woman. "Are you stuck babysitting today?"

"For the moment," Espha smiled, moving around the chair and going to him. She glanced down at Tenara and then up to him. "You are soaking wet, you should change."

Talon chuckled tightly, feeling like he had a hand around his throat. A slew of words almost spilled out before he could get the better of them. "An accident," he sighed, pinching his wet clothes.

"I didn't see you last night," she whispered, a playful smile on her lips. She took a step forward, curling her fingers in his wet shirt. "I missed you."

Talon's gaze averted. "I had to go with my sister," he muttered. "Things came up." She was young, much to young in comparison to him. Twenty-one to his one-hundred and fifty in half-elf years. He guessed that in human years he was only a few older than her, but...

Vladimir was several hundred years older than Tenele.

[Soran Nightblade]

Before Tenara could answer, Vlad himself swung open the door from their bedroom. His expression was drawn and taut, power glowing in his eyes. He stood there, not speaking, staring at his protege.

[Emora Deen]

Espha's fingers uncurled from Talon's wet shirt and she jumped away, clasping her hands behind her.

"Vlad," Talon greeted, bowing his head respectfully to his master. He then proceeded to tell his master what had happened, leaving out any detail about the couple he'd met before reaching the city.

"Talon, your back," Espha muttered.

"There's red stuff on the floor," Tenara chirped reaching down to touch the spot of blood staining the carpet at Talon's feet.

Espha stepped forward and reached for the stains at his back. Her fingers pressed into the wound, trying to move the fabric around to see the wound.

Her gentle touch across the holy wound drove him made in an instant. Fast as lightening he had her by her throat up against the wall. He bared his teeth at her, staring down into wide, frightened brown eyes.

[Soran Nightblade]

*"Release"*, Vlad said, the hard command resonating in the small room and in the connection between their minds.