The Princess and the Blade

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi tried to understand what on earth was happening while the guards bolted the palace entrance behind them. Several men gave chase along with Atul toward the escaped prisoner, leaving Havi in the foyeur. Some quick-thinking servants pulled two of the plush benches that dotted the palace corridors together toward them. One of the maids reached out to help take Tenara from him. Havi's first reaction was to back up, staring at the strange women and servants warily.

"She'll help," Vlad muttered over his shoulder.

"I don't know where that other one ran off to," Havi scowled. He didn't know what was going on, and he didn't trust anyone right now. If he set Tenara down, he wasn't sure his arm would let him pick her back up.

"Spiky, you're shaking." Vlad's tone was surprisingly soft, and yet also edging on desperate. It occurred to Havi that his adrenaline might be exciting the predator he was holding.

"You said I smell like shit."

"..."

"How bad is "won't be able to do it nicely"?"

"That piece of trash is running around the palace, and Atul's having all the fun," Vlad snarled.

Havi closed his eyes, counting all the reasons he was losing his mind, and sat on one of the plush benches. He arranged Tenara carefully at his side and rolled the injured vampire onto the velvet next to him. "Make it fast."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele shook her head, resisting the urge to follow after Atul. She was torn, looking back and forth between the two choices until Atul turned the corner. Then, she finally caught on to Vlad and Havitharon's conversation.

"Vlad, no. You don't even know what his blood would do to you. He's not from this world. It could make you sick." It could also do any number of other things they didn't know about. Death. Hallucinations. A rash. Or, given how long he'd barricaded himself away with Tenara when they first arrived back, an erection lasting longer than four hours. Actually, the last problem didn't sound much like a problem at all.

Tenele started to roll up the sleeve of her dress, planning to slit her arm open with Havitharon's battered sword. She knew her husband, he wouldn't let blood go to waste.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad shook his head, and a telekinetic grip tugged the sword aside as Tenele tried to slice herself. The effort made him gag and twitch in on himself. If he bit her, or even the servants, in hunger right now, he would regret it. But Spiky might make it. The alien smelled different, but he still smelled unmistakably like food. That meant his blood would suffice. He decided to take him up on his offer before his wife got any more funny ideas.

He reached for the man's forearm. Havi looked down at Vlad's hand on his arm, and then considered how Tenele had just nearly opened her vein in the same spot. He didn't know how this was supposed to work, but he bent forward so the vampire had access to his arm. A moment later, Vlad's teeth plunged into his skin. The pain seared, but he was accustomed to injuries. He'd even had a dog bite him once in a similar manner, and he did the same thing now that he'd been instructed to do then. He held still, without panicking or attempting to retreat. Don't provoke a predator's instincts.

That said, if the vampire didn't stop, he'd need to figure out a way to break him off. He glanced to Tenele. The woman had hated him up until a few moments ago, when he'd seen a glimpse of some kind of regard. Perhaps she'd give him some kind of guidance if it came to it.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele watched cautiously as Vlad drank from Havitharon. She wasn't particularly worried about the alien's welfare. More so, she was worried that Vlad would draw away, screaming in agony, because Havitharon's blood might be acid in his mouth. They honestly had no idea what his reaction would be, if any. Vlad made quick meals of people when he was starving, and this was no exception. She saw the gray of Havitharon's skin begin to turn a moon-pale color before she reached out and grabbed Vlad's shoulders. "Enough," she said.

Down the hall a ways, Atul had paused to lean against a wall while the guards continued on a head. The little fucker had ducked into a room or a closet somewhere, and Atul was still reeling from helping fuel Knight, and then porting back across the Ongore Sea from Ighten. He rarely ever made long distance jumps. Usually he took them incrementally, which took longer but conserved energy. He was two steps from his knees buckling, but he shoved the weariness down as he shoved off the wall and went in search of the bastard who'd betrayed his daughter. The sad thing was, Atul had caught him that morning, and they'd been on their way back when Knight was needed. This Rami fellow had almost managed to escape before Atul materialized again. This was, technically, the third time Atul had searched for him, and the king had lost all patience for him. Not that he'd had much before.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad drew back from Havi's arm with unusual ease. The alien was like an exotic dish that was palatable only in small doses. The blood seemed to be rich with energy, but it didn't trigger the same uncontrollable thirst he was accustomed to. He sat up slowly, and his muscles seemed to be responsive.

Havi reclaimed his arm, clamping a hand over it. He'd done weird things, but this had to be one of the... "You're glowing."

Vlad cocked an eyebrow at him. "I do feel better, but don't flatter yourself."

The alien rolled his eyes. "You're literally glowing."

The vampire examined himself. A soft violet light was radiating from his skin. When he looked back at Havi, the whites of his eyes had filled with black around his bright red irises. "I guess I am glowing," he muttered, looking half amused. "See, love. Absolutely fine," he smirked at his wife. Actually, better than fine. A strange euphoria washed away some of the concerns he might have had about the situation, although he probably wouldn't been amused dead sober.

[Emora Deen]

There was something slightly horrific about the black stealing the whites of Vlad’s eyes and, coupled with the glow of red, he looked more demonic than usually. That was saying a lot, considering he was a… vampire. Then, there was the glowing

“Your eyes,” Tenele whispered, taking his face in her hands.

Then, she turned her gaze on Havitharon. “And you?”

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad blinked at her. "My eyes?" he asked curiously. He glanced around and summoned a brass vase from a pedestal near the door. It flew to his hand, and he examined his warped reflection. "Well, I suppose it could be worse." He turned his attention, along with his wife, to Spiky.

Havi regarded them both with a guarded frown. He looked pale, but Vlad wasn't entirely convinced it was all his fault. Now that he could see straight, he was curious. At a glance, the alien's hand seemed to be resting on his leg, but when he looked closely, it was clenched around his thigh like a vice. If it was bothering him, Vlad found it intriguing how well Spiky was keeping it out of his expression.

He kept the observation to himself. There was a very short list of people Vlad was willing to coddle through an injury, and Havi wasn't on it. He noticed, then, that the man's other hand was resting on his sleeping daughter's shoulder. Havi himself wasn't looking at either of them. He'd turned his attention to the hall where Atul had chased his captive earlier.

"That male betrayed her," Havi condemned coldly, watching their surroundings like the man might appear at any moment and try to hurt Tenara again.

Vlad pushed back the euphoric feeling that was tempting him to settle back and relax in this situation. He'd been so out of it that Atul's chaotic arrival almost felt like hallucination. But he was remembering it now... the exhausted desperation on his husband's face as he'd arrived in terrible condition, only to take off after a dangerous captive. He lurched to his feet, but hesitated. Tenara was vulnerable right now too. He looked at Tenele. The two of them had worked together a long time, and could divide and conquer a battlefield without a word when the situation demanded it.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele appraised Havitharon’s protective posture, and followed his gaze to the hall. He really did care about her daughter.

He was right to be wary, Tenele thought. They knew very little about this Rami fellow, or wha the was capable of. If he was willing to bargain with Arken, there were no telling what he’d do for freedom.

Tenele new where her husband’s attentions would lie, so she motioned to two guards standing nearby. “Help me get them to the princess’s chambers.”

One of the guards stepped forward to scoop up Tenara and the other offered Havitharon a hand. Tenele grabbed up the sword.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad nodded to his wife and took off down the hall. Not as fast or graceful as he normally was... his movements looked unusually human. Spiky-infusion or no, he'd just survived an exorcism.

Havi didn't take the hand that was offered to him, mostly out of habit. There were too many ways to poison someone on his world. He rose and followed close to Tenara as they made their way back to her room. Even though he knew his leg was fine, he indulged a slight limp. His muscles were tired and his energy slaked.

His gaze held fast to his Yurivis as they walked. It didn't bode well that she was still unconscious. He didn't even really understand what had happened to her. "Who were those people?" he asked Tenele. "What did they do to her?"

[Emora Deen]

Tenele’s gaze settled on her daughter, cradled in the arms of a soldier in walking ahead of them. “They are fanatical followers of Thar, the God of Light. In recent years, they have made it their mission to rid Hajara of the evil that rules it. The evil, in their eyes, is Vlad. For some reason, Atul is immune to their ire, even if he is the direct son of Verin, the antithesis to what they believe in.” She realized she was getting into the weeds of it and sighed. “They used her—us—as bait to lure Vlad out, taking advantage of her exit from the palace courtyard and the chaos it caused. The clerics meant to excise Vlad—destroy him. Their spell would have done the same to her. But, it was a botched, rushed, spur of the moment endeavor. Instead, it was killing them slowly… torturing them to death, essentially.” Tenele frowned. “We’ve done very well at keeping Tenara’s parentage quiet. Most people believe Atul is her sole father, and have left her alone because of it. They didn’t know it would kill her to put her in that circle and when they found out… They wanted to purify her.” Tenele wiped her eyes. “She shouldn’t have had strength for magic after that, but she did. She’ll rest. Vlad gets his energy from consuming others, Tenara and Atul get it from painfully long naps.”

[Soran Nightblade]

"Long naps," Havi repeated thoughtfully while watching the guards lay Tenara gently in her bed. In that case, Tenara might remain unconscious for some time. A wave of melancholy hit him by surprise. "How long?"

[Emora Deen]

Tenele smiled softly, sitting in one of Tenara’s chairs by the balcony curtain. She nodded for the guards to leave them. They remained just outside the door, however. “For Atul, it depends on how much power he uses. Sometimes it's a few hours, sometimes a few days…” She appraised him, and then looked down at the dusty, dented weapon in her lap. "I have never tried to heal a sword," she said quietly, her voice carrying easily across the silent room. "It isn't a normal sword. Part of it is living, in some way. You are also not a demon... My magic doesn't work on monsters... I wonder if it would work on you, on this. The alternative is to take it to a blacksmith, which would require placing it in the forge fires and hammering out the damage. If this hurts you, this damage, I can't imagine what that would feel like."

-----

A procession of guards were going from room to room, flinging doors open and searching them. Atul allowed his men to do what they did best, mostly because he was shaking now and on the verge of collapse, but refused to seek solace until they found the bastard. He edged further down the hall, past the rooms the guards were searching. He might have gone up the stairwell, Atul thought. He could be hiding in the sleeping chambers... Perhaps he'd dove out a window, or found the servant's entrance.

He wasn't sure how much Rami knew about the palace, or how much Tenara had told him. She had carried on this relationship in secret for far longer than most people could keep things such as that quiet. She had obviously trusted him. Had she trusted him enough to tell him about the secret passages weaving their way through the castle. Only a handful of people knew of them, mostly in his immediate family.

Atul sighed, and turned to head back towards the stairs when he caught sight of Rami's shape darting around the corner. Atul sprinted forward, swinging into the hall and throwing a coiling blue-tinged ball of fire into the man's back. Rami toppled up the stairs, and then rolled back down them. In the same instance, Atul collapsed to his hands and knees, seeing white stars dancing in his vision. He shook his head, the world spinning. He was too disoriented to see Rami clamoring dizzily towards him. The Hajaran man was bloodied and burned but feral—determined to live, escape, at any cost.

"I never hurt your daughter!” he roared. “I sold my room for the week. That's all. That's all I did! It's not my fault they took her. Maybe she wanted to be taken? All that talk of freedom and adventure... Maybe she let them have her! Maybe she wanted it!"

Atul snarled and somehow found himself over the man, hands around his throat, choking and singeing him with fire-hot fingers. The king, once, had every intention of having him publicly executed as a symbol to those who would hurt them. Now, he just wanted him dead.

It was then, in the midst of suffocation and fire, that Rami seemed to understand he was going to die. He flailed, striking Atul over and over and it did nothing to slacken his grip on the man, even when the hits were hard enough to knock Atul’s head sideways. What did it matter? He couldn’t see anymore, anyway.

When hitting didn’t work, and Rami’s vision began to blacken, he heaved out in broken, tight words, "Please. Don't. I can tell you the name of the man who paid me. I know the name of their ship! Please. Don't. I can be…useful."

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi's gold eyes flicked to the sword, and back to Tenara on the bed. He wasn't It was one thing for Tenara's powers to overwhelm him with desire, but when he thought about someone else doing that to him... He'd rather take the blacksmith. "I appreciate it, but I...can't do that with you," he said carefully.

_____

Vlad was running when he caught the scent of Atul's blood mixed with a human's. And then he heard the begging. His vampiric senses caught every word. He veered down a corridor and into a stairwell to find Atul pinning his prisoner to the floor. Seeing the man's fists pounding at Atul's skull, mixed with the telltale exhaustion he knew to notice in the king's features, drew his senses into murderous alert. He jumped in opposite his husband and pinned Rami's flailing arms violently above his head against the floor. He glanced up at Atul. The man looked dizzy enough to pass out. How much power had he used? "Husband," he growled tenderly. He had no desire to intervene. If Rami passed out, that made things easier. If the man accidentally died in the process, he couldn't say he would complain. But then again, he had said something about being paid. "Tell us who paid you right now. I will choose if the information is worth your life."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele arched a brow. "Can't do what with me?" she asked. "What is it you think I'm offering you?"

-------

Atul's grip on Rami's neck began to loosen just as Vlad arrived. He still held the man by the throat, but the pressure wasn't enough to kill. Rami seemed indignant, his eyes darting between the two men as he calculated how to divulge information in a way that suited him. Atul relenquished his grip reluctantly, sitting back on his heels. He was beginning to feel the throb of hits to his head. "Speak," Atul snarled. "Before I have him tear out your throat."

Rami's gaze turned fearfully up to Vlad. "H-he said he was Finnick Shaw." That was it. He said no more, willing to see what the name got him before offering up more.

[Soran Nightblade]

Havi looked at the wall next to him, not wanting to have this conversation. "You offer to heal me," he said. "Tenara already attempted it, and it was not effective on the sword." He set his jaw and hoped that would settle it.