Heirot

Vlad placed his hands over hers. "Yeah," he said, taking a deep breath. "After all that searching, even making an agreement to work for the lease to that house you chose. I thought it was time to settle down, but this..." he pondered for a moment. "This also... could be nice."

Tenele chuckled. "Oh yes," she replied. "I doubt there will be much settling in our future, however. The Outerlands are more turbulent than Ighten is because most of their country is under marshal law. I suspect Atul will be using us to help reign in the ones who aren't willing to accept his rule. It won't be relaxing, but I was worried that settling down would make you bored with me. Now, you don't have to be bored."

"I could hardly be bored," Vlad said warmly. Whether he'd admit it or not, his mood was greatly improved. "It would have been peaceful, and it's been many years since I've seen peace. But, given the state of the world at the moment, perhaps this isn't the right time for peace." He reached up and grabbed and armful of clothing from a shelf as well as a spare pair of boots.

Tenele nodded. "Peace can come for us when war is over." She did the same, taking her warmer summer clothes from the back corner of the closet and carrying them to her trunk. She folded them neatly and placed them inside, and packed a few of her dressier clothes encase she needed them. She wasn't sure how the Outerland court system worked, but ambassadors often had to attend fancy meetings.

Within a few minutes Tenele had managed to the entirety what she needed in a single trunk. "There," she sighed with a heavy sigh, sitting down on top of it.

Tenele watched her husband, smiling softly. "So if it were peace time, you would settle down with me? You'd go to work, and come home to me?" Tenele tried to hide the twitch of a frown. "You'd be okay with watching me grow old? Even if it will be slower than most humans... That doesn't bother you?"

"I can enjoy it while letting it bother me. Isn't that the natural human response?" Vlad smirked. "I'm sure I will always be expected to support the queen when strength is needed, but I predict even I would be granted time to settle with my wife."

Tenele smiled at him, enjoying the warm feeling his words brought her. She hopped off her trunk and dragged it towards the door. "I'll get someone up here to take our trunks to the docks," Tenele muttered. She stood up straight abruptly and turned towards him. "Talon! What are we going to do about Talon? He's sired to you, we can't exactly leave him to fend for himself... Should we take him with us? I mean, what better place to teach him to be a vampire than where demons are welcomed?"

"You want to take your brother on a floating vessel full of effectively caged humans with the vampire and half-god you share your bed with." The vampire smirked. "Sounds like fun."

He teleported to Talon's room, catching the man off guard. "I'm kidnapping you," he announced playfully. "Put some clothes in a box and let's go. It will be hot, so pack light."

* * *

Before Tenele could protest, after Vlad had pointed out the now very obvious flaws to her plan he ported out of the room. She was left staring at the empty place on the floor where he'd been standing, wondering after his words. "Share my bed with?" she muttered to herself. "Not 'shared'?" Tenele tapped her chin lightly with her finger, her cheeks turning a lot rose as the thought brought heat to her skin.

She stood up and feverishly began straightening up their bed, picking the covers up from the floor, doing anything she could that was menial to calm herself.

* * *

Talon blinked at Vlad, trying to craftily hide the many drained vials of blood he'd stolen under his pillow. "Okay," he said, hopping up quickly. "Hot. I like heat... Packing."

* * *

Vlad slipped away amidst all the packing and chaos of that morning, and found his queen in her study. "Sinead," he greeted her with a level gaze. He hadn't forgotten how she'd responded the last time he addressed her by name, but he wasn't in the mood for titles.

She didn't correct him as she raised her sapphire-blue eyes to her servant and surveyed him expectantly.

"We'll be casting off in a few minutes." His voice was cool. Perhaps guarded. Her attack against him the night before had bruised him, she acknowledged as she met his ruby gaze.

"May the sea carry you safely," she responded with the ritual blessing.

"What are the parameters of this trade? Are we to be gifted to Atul's kingdom?" Permanently, the unspoken modifier lingered like an invisible chill in the room.

"For now, just do as you've been requested." Her words weren't cruel, but they held no kindness either.

"I suppose it has been crowded here, with Tenele and I both at court. Surely your ambassadors will rest easier without a monster and his poor bewitched wife roaming the palace."

Sinead's expression stiffened. "Get on your ship, Lord Dracul."

He turned away from her and was gone, along with the demonic power that had been glowing through the room.

The queen marked her book and rose to pour some tea from the kettle on her desk. Cradling the cup in her hand, she walked to the window and gazed out at the tall ship waiting at dock, the tiny men scrambling to and from its flank. Ants.

Thieves.

A warm droplet rolled off her high-boned cheek and into the tea. Her fingers squeezed the cup a bit tighter. The drink had gone cold.

***

Vlad walked toward the ship, Talon close at his side. He looked up and saw Tenele already on deck. "The last time we sailed to the Outerlands, Tenele and I traded races and were nearly torn apart by a crew of religious bigots," he recounted to Talon with a cool sweep of his hand. It was interesting having the man at his side. He'd not really known what to expect from a monster he'd sired, but it was nothing like he might have predicted. Being near Talon filled him with a fierce, aggressive dominance that was sometimes difficult to keep in check. He would not be one of those Masters who abused his Blood like slaves. But the mirroring power in Talon's new form could quickly inspire both possessive affection and competitive wrath in him - feelings he wasn't accustomed to.

The vampire didn't spare a look at the crewmen who swept away with their luggage as they boarded. He walked to his wife's side and surveyed the city from his calm perch against the rail. "I was getting bored of it," he muttered as his eyes swept up the tall white-stone walls of the castle, to the thin tower that pierced the midday sky.

Talon stood on the opposite side of Tenele. "And I wasn't welcomed in it anymore," he pointed out with a flicker of a smile.

Tenele sighed, stretching her arms out and draping them over her brother and her husband. "Well, now we all get a change. Look to the east and what awaits the two of you is a dry desert realm where men coexist with demons, welcome them into their homes and into their beds willingly without judgement. Oh, and did I mention or fail to remind you that less than a year ago we started the war to liberate them from under Verin's boot?" A wiry smile stretched across her face and excitement lit in her eyes. "It won't be boring, that's for sure."

Talon folded his arms. He glanced up and down the deck at the bustling crew. "Well, if they are so accepting of demons then we won't have to worry about religious bigots this trip."

Tenele blinked at him. "Oh," she replied, when she finally remembered what he was referring too. "No, as long as you don't eat anyone I think they'll be fairly warm towards you."

"Well, let's cross our fingers," Talon told her with a grin. It was starting to unnerve her how Talon's smile began to mimic Vlad's. She wasn't sure if that was the sire bond, or not.

"Psh. What fun would a voyage with no entertainment," Vlad smirked, part of him feeling honestly eager to be away. Had the queen's words really bruised him that badly? He let himself feel an icy disdain for Sinead as the men began to cast off, swinging up from the docks on the long tether lines to climb on deck of the moving vessel.

"And there's the little matter of Verin to consider," he added. "We're not going to lie quivering in bed waiting for him to make his move. We're taking this to his territory now, bringing the challenge to him. Let's see how he handles that."

Tenele's green gaze fell on her husband. She gave a slow nod of agreement, but couldn't really say she was pleased with that matter. Where Verin was concerned she'd rather pretend he didn't exist, that he wasn't tormenting them. She enjoyed the days when Vlad could make her forget that a mad God was after them.

Talon chuckled. "Yes, let's see how he handles it," Talon agreed all to eagerly for Tenele's liking. The hate in his voice, the pure malice, told Tenele that Talon was thinking of a lot of terrible things to do to the God.

"Well," Tenele sighed, forcing a smile. "I'm not for lying quivering in a bed either, but let's not be hasty in our quest to challenge him? I'd like our first days in the Outerlands to be smooth, if possible. If not for our sake, but for our adopted King."

Tenele nodded to the King's suite.

Vlad followed her gaze. "He hasn't shown his face all morning," he noted. Not since that scene in their quarters. His knuckles still remembered the impact with the demigod's jaw.

He turned and touched his wife's cheek far more tenderly. "We will not approach him recklessly, my heart. I promise you that." Of course, he didn't mean he and Talon. The young vampire's spirit was admirable, but also useless. It was he and Atul who would eventually need to protect Tenele. When that time came, he could only hope Talon didn't get destroyed like a cat caught in a stampede.

Tenele thought for a moment and smiled slowly, tilting her hand against his cheek. "I understand," she told him softly.

The day wore into night, and since they were going to be on the ship for a little over a week she decided to make herself at home in their cabin. It wasn't exactly royalty accommodation that they would have had if taking an Ighten ship, but it was roomy enough. A bed just barely big enough for two pressed into an alcove with shelves on one side, and a washing stand and mirror on the other. Vlad was tall, and she imagined he might find the area cramped. Good thing they didn't mind sleeping half on top of one another. Over the bed there were two wide portholes latched shut.

When Tenele was done putting their things away and storing the trunks beneath the raised bed she headed to the dining hall for dinner.

Vlad hung back while his wife went to dinner. He wasn't much interested in food or the crowds of frivolous men. He would have time enough to entertain himself with them if he had the need for it, but he wasn't quite bored enough yet. His mind kept circling to Atul, and Sinead. It had taken a whole week to negotiate the terms of the trade. He'd been forbidden to interfere. After centuries of serving Sinead's court, this was the first time he'd been outright bestowed to another kingdom. Even if Sinead did still control his powers, at least in this form, he couldn't outstep the sense that they had just been sold. He didn't know what to think of that. If Sinead had even offered a few more gentle words, the feeling would have seemed stupid. But there had been an odd finality in their parting.

He shook it off. He could play the ambassador, for now, until he eventually figured out what was really going on. He had a wife, and a Blood-son. He needed no affection from Sinead.

He engaged himself by prowling the ship's corridors and learning it well. Unlike previous voyages, he noticed how comfortably people seemed to respond to his presence on board. He was more accustomed to panicked glances and shuttered doors. These people were used to vampires, but they were also accustomed to demonic power, which meant the could tell without looking very hard that he was a potent force to be reckoned with. The backward glances and abrupt stares he received were not quite fear; they were closer to a wary respect.

Perhaps Atul's kingdom could be a good arrangement, after all.

It was long past dinner, and the shifts had changed on deck when he had explored the vessel to his satisfaction and returned to their quarters. He knocked on the door and entered, scanning the room to see if his wife was back already.

Tenele stood outside Atul's room, leaning against the wall. She'd expected to see him at dinner, and hadn't. Men passed her, eyeing her with confusion as she glared at the wood panels. She knew it wasn't lady like for a woman to go to a man's room at night, especially a married one, and especially if the room belonged to a King. So, she openly stalked the outside for a while, hoping he'd emerge. When he didn't, she finally gave up and went back to her room.

She changed her into a warm night gown, as they had not yet left the cold winter air. She dimmed the lanterns to a warm glow and climbed beneath the sheets. When Vlad returned she sat up slowly.

"I guess we get to figure out if you fit on this bed or not," she told him with a musical laugh, patting the space on the bed next to her.

She slinked out of bed and reached for the buttons of his shirt. "I'll help," she told him with a flicker of a smile.

Vlad smiled at her and drew the fabric down and free of his shoulders after the buttons were loose. "I'll fit just fine, but where will you sleep?" His cool fingers slid along her cheek to the soft skin at the corner of her jaw.

Tenele smiled. "I'm sure I can squeeze in somewhere," she told him softly, reaching for the buttons to his pants. "If not I could always see if Atul's bed is bigger." She winked at him with a playful smile.

"That may not be wise. With the way our friend the king has locked himself in his quarters all day, he may have come down with something contagious," Vlad purred as he slid from what remained of his clothing and drew her down into the narrow bed with him.

"Oh, that's very true," Tenele sighed, resting against her husband. "Best not risk it then. I guess I'll just have to squeeze in here with you." Tenele pressed her lips softly to his.

Tenele rolled off him and climbed back under the covers, because she needed them and he probably didn't. She shivered at first until her body started to warm again. "Can we talk about Knight for a moment?" She lay on her side, tracing tantalizing circles against his abdomen. The circles snaked low, and just when they got close enough to their goal, she raked them back up to his collar bone. "Knight told me that there are no wrongs with him. That I shouldn't over think things. But, we haven't really sat down to talk about him, or about how I should act towards him."