Mature: Desert Moon

[Emora Deen]

"Who did this?" Atul asked, stepping closer to her bed. "Who hurt you? Tell me. I will have them punished."

Lelana stared at Atul like he was on fire, a mixture of terrible awe and horror. "What do you care?" she asked him, swallowing.

"I care," he said. "I... You are my sister."

She snorted, grimacing at the pain in her face. Instead of answering him she turned her gaze to the floor. "I do not know..."

"What did they look like?" Atul asked. "I will have them found. They will know justice."

She laughed, dark and cold. "How kind of you to seek justice for your sister's tormentors. Its a little late to be taking up the role of brotherly protector, isn't it? It doesn't concern you..."

But it did, Lelana thought. It concerned a great many people. But, how could she... tell them. How could she explain... Her dark eyes looked to Vlad, as if asking him what she should do.

"You're not healing," Atul said, after his gaze lingered on a nasty gash at her brow.

Lelana jerked her head back to him, immediately regretting the quick movement. She groaned, sinking deeper against the bed.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad studied her quietly. *This didn't happen with a clean hit from behind. Someone took her apart slowly,* he thought in Atul's head. *It must be someone she wants to protect. Or someone she doesn't think you can punish safely..

[Emora Deen]

Atul's jaw set tightly as he listened to Vlad's words. He looked into his sister's hard gaze, that defiant look, and he knew that no amount of talking would get the answers he wanted from her.

"Are you protecting them?"

She scoffed.

"Lelana, someone beat you to a pulp. You are one of the strongest sorceresses I know. I've seen you take apart people with a laugh and a twist of the wrist..." That meant that whoever did this was very powerful... and very close to his home and his family.

"Have all the wedding guest gathered in the throne room. We'll interview them. I will find who did this, with or without your help. It has to be someone of considerable..."

Lelana rolled over and vomited onto the floor, bile and blood washed over the stone. She heaved.

"There could be a concussion or internal bleeding," the doctor said nervously from the post Vlad had placed him in.

* * *

Tenele wasn't the picture of a queen when she entered the infirmary wrapped in in a comfortable Hajaran gown she'd dawned for convenience and hastiness.

She saw everyone gathered outside the door to one of the private rooms and knew that it had to be where they were keeping Lelana. The sea of people parted with bowed heads and hushed whispers. She hesitated outside the door, unsure if Lelana would want her around at all, or even if she could be of help to them.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad gestured to the doctor that he could move now. "Help her." The vampire felt he had many talents, but medicine wasn't one of them. His expression was calm and stern, but inside his head, he was worried, and furious.

She'd worked so hard to make herself come here. To try to start over. Who felt they had the right to knock her back a peg? Who would dare pass judgment, if not them?

[Emora Deen]

The doctor eased Lelana back in bed, checking her eyes. He hummed, going over her slowly. She smacked him away when he touched her broken arm. "I do not need your help," she said. "I am fine."

"Pardon," the doctor sighed. "But, you're not fine. You have a concussion and a host of other problems."

A soft knock wrapped against the door and Tenele poked her head in hesitantly. She immediately regretted it when the doctor's eyes lit up.

"Attara! Yes, my Queen, I believe your blessing services are in order. This poor woman has been severely injured and needs your attention. Could you spare some time to heal her?" He went to the door and opened it for her, bowing his head and motioning for her to enter.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad's thoughts hesitated. Would Tenele even want to heal Lelana? Healing a descendant of Verin would take inordinate amounts of strength, just as it did with Atul. He didn't want to see both women lying on sick cots.

A supernatural force took the doctor and threw him like a ragdoll backwards into the wall, away from the door. "If we say treat her, you will treat her," the vampire growled. "If you are afraid of treating your patient, or unable to put her at ease in your care, perhaps you lack the caliber to serve in the palatial infirmary."

[Emora Deen]

The doctor looked completely offended, with wide eyes and a red face. He opened his mouth to speak, and then realizing he was in a room with the three most powerful people in Hajara he immediately clamped his mouth shut.

"I can heal her," Tenele sighed, stepping forward. "I can at least ease the swelling from her concussion."

Atul frowned. "Tenele... Sinead said you were to stop healing people for a while. You've burned through quite a bit of your life-force healing me and the demon children. Gods, you barely had enough left for her to heal the arrow wound in your arm."

Lelana turned a horrified look on the woman volunteering to help her. After all she'd done to her, and to her husband, she was willing to risk her own well being to ease an enemy's pain.

"You aren't healing?" Tenele asked Lelana, getting closer to the bed.

Lelana looked pale as a ghost and Tenele lifted her hands out to touch the woman, looking rather like she planned to wrap her hands about her slender neck and ease her into death.

[Soran Nightblade]

"Tenele," Vlad murmured. His hand brushed hers as she passed him. *Just the concussion. The rest will not kill her. We will care for her normally. Okay?*

[Emora Deen]

Tenele nodded, reaching out and placing her hands on Lelana's head. The woman tried to evade her, but she hadn't much room to move and eventually the Queen of Hajara rested her warm hands on either side of the woman's head.

When healing Atul it took a great deal of concentration. Her power constantly fought her, and she had to focus harder on forcing it into the flesh. But, for Lelana, the magic immediately began to flow into her. The cuts on her face healed and the bruises lightened, the swelling around her eye lessened. Tenele healed her, enough to where the damage to her head looked less sever and then she drew her hands away.

"You're human," Tenele whispered, as surprised as Lelana looked. The woman swallowed, taking in a shallow breath as she stared up at the ceiling.

"I'm..."

"Something has taken your power, all of it... I would not have been able to heal you so easily," Tenele said, but even that small amount of energy made her feel a little light headed.

Lelana touched her nose.

"Tenele," Atul called, reaching across the bed. "Your nose."

Tenele touched the warm tickle at the top of her lip and brought her fingers away. Blood. She pressed the sleeve of her dress to her nose. "Its okay. Dry air. Happened yesterday. I'll take care of it," she said and turned for the door.

[Soran Nightblade]

"Tenele," Vlad called, looking conflicted about which girl to watch. He glanced at Atul, still trying to absorb what Tenele had just said.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele smiled behind a mass of fabric pressed to her nose. "I'm perfectly fine. Find out her did this to her, I'll check in with our daughter," she said, leaving the room as calmly as she'd entered.

"Its a waste of your time," Lelana said, frowning. "You won't find them."

"Tell me who did this," Atul whispered. "Please, Lelana. What Tenele said, is it true? Your power? Gone? Who or what could have done that?"

Lelana looked her brother's face over, and then turned her eyes to Vlad. There was terror in her gaze, a look that Lelana showed no one, but she showed it then. She had to say something. He would come for their daughter to take her power, just as he'd stolen hers.

But, how did she tell him...

"I want to talk to Vlad alone," Lelana whispered, turning her eyes away.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad looked sideways at Atul. "Okay," he eased. "I think Tenele might need some help anyway. Right?"

[Emora Deen]

Atul hesitated. He clenched his teeth and gave a sharp nod. He thought of Tenele and her nose, and the calm way she just shoved it off. "Alright. I will check on her," he said, turning from his sister's bed and heading for the door.

Tell me as soon as you know who did this...

When the door shut behind Atul and the Doctor Lelana relaxed. Her tense form went limp against the mattress and she stared up at the ceiling for a very long time. Seconds ticked by into minutes and she stared like the dead at the wood beams above her head.

"I can't let him know," she whispered. "I don't want anyone to know." Her eyes watered, and she turned her face away. She felt at the torn pieces of her gown and pinched them back together with the tips of her fingers. She huffed air and swallowed hard, trying to form the words.

"I... did something a long time ago and it has come back to haunt me," Lelana said. She reached up and fisted a hand in her black hair. "I can't do this. I can't tell you. I can't do it."

[Soran Nightblade]

"Come now, princess," Vlad said with a sad smile. He mentally drew up a chair and sat down. "We've done show and tell before." His red eyes met hers, the fury in their glow cooling by just a bit. "I have all day. But there is one thing I need to know. Is the palace in danger right now? Are Atul and the others safe?"

[Emora Deen]

Lelana swallowed and gave a nod. "For now they are safe. He departed this morning, leaving me where I was found. He got what he wanted from me..." she whispered, looking at his warm red eyes. It was true. They'd done show and tell before. He knew about her childhood... He knew about Verin.

"I tried to kill him.... He..." She blinked her warm eyes shut and a tear rolled down her cheek. "When I was thirteen I... Verin's torment resulted in... I was pregnant." She choked on bile, swallowing hard to keep it down. "They sent me away as soon as they found out. I lived in Ongo for a year. It wasn't shame, that's not why they sent me away, not entirely I don't think. Verin told them to send me to Ongo because there were priest their who could handle my condition... Not many people survive that, having a child by a God, but maybe because I am part God... I endured it growing in me and I knew that it was a monster. It was something black and evil and I knew that it couldn't be allowed to live. I stole it and took it into the desert and I left it there to die."

She turned her gaze away, knowing he had to think her monster. A child, an innocent child, and she'd tried to murder it. "I wasn't thinking straight. I wasn't old enough. I didn't understand... Atul never knew, no one told him. They planned to take the child anyway. It would have been as if I'd never had him at all... I was punished for killing him... Maybe that is when I lost Verin's favor and became nothing but his tool. Then, again, he found the boy. He didn't die. He told me so himself. I saw him last night with my own eyes..."

* * *

Atul stopped Tenele just outside the hall, curling his hand over her arm gently. "Are you okay?" he asked, turning her to him.

She smiled, wiping her face gently. "Yes. Its going to be a regular thing, I'm guessing. At least, if I get myself this weak."

"Why did you do it?" He shook his head. "Lelana has done so many things to hurt you and the people you love. Why would you do that for her?"

Tenele shrugged. "I didn't do it for her. I did it for you. You care about her... and Vlad... cares about her. As much as I don't like that, as much as I hate the idea of him protecting someone who damaged him so severely, I respect it. There is something redeeming he sees in her, and I will try to look for it myself."

Atul smiled softly, curling his hand against her cheek. "You are..."

"A good wife?"

Atul grinned. "A good wife, yes. Now, are you sure you're okay?"

Tenele nodded. "I'll be fine. I'm going to go save Sinead from Tenara."

"Wait," Atul said, motioning for the guards that stood watch over the hospital. "You've not been Queen long enough, but you will have a security detail, especially if we have savages attacking women in this palace. When Vlad is comfortable in his position as Captain of the Guard he will pick first hand your entourage."

Tenele scowled. "I do not need an entourage."

"You can't argue about it," Atul said, waving her off. "Please escort her majesty for the rest of the day. I'll have someone replace your posts."

The guards bowed deeply.