Heirot

"Of course," Vlad indulged, studying her expression. She had become unexpectedly comfortable kissing him in a casual manner. Though he'd formed the habit of flirting and seducing women, none had assumed such casual liberties with his body. It was unusual for him, but he didn't mind it. It was another thing she did that fascinated him. She was an interesting woman, and that was a very, very rare compliment from him. Most humans bored him terribly. He liked that he couldn't quite tell what was going through her head at the moment. "And what about this particular journey inspires such anticipation?"

Tenele smirked, pulling the skirt on and tucking her shirt in before drawing the belt around her slim waist. "I've never been to the Outerlands... It seems very exciting to see such a different place..." She thought for a moment and then grabbed his hand. "Oh! We'll be late! Come on!" She tugged on him, trying to draw him to his feet as she turned and slipped the brown knee high boots onto her feet.

"Oh, we couldn't have that. I haven't seen the queen's sorcerers in such a long time," Vlad scoffed, remaining on the bed like a sack of sand against Tenele's tugging. It was easy, but not easy enough, to forget that Sinead's spell-nerds had been responsible for the "experimentation" that ultimately brought him to his status as a no-life king. They'd practically broken him of the concept of pain or fear, so that after the fact, he couldn't exactly conceive of any reason to hold any of it against them. Still, for some reason he couldn't bring himself to like them much. He set about conceiving of some way to add an element of entertainment to their encounter.

Tenele ran to the door, not quite sure how much time she had let pass while she was dressing. She turned back and looked to Vlad. "Hurry it up, Lord Dracul!" She grinned at him, her voice carrying authority like she was playfully ordering him around. She ran from the room, carrying her sheath and sword in hand, clipping it around her belt.

With in moments she was in walking distance of the great hall, the guards that stood in front of the large bronze doors tugged hard, allowing her passage into the next room.

The room was large and oval. A group of about twenty mages were spaced around the room in a wide circle. There were a good number of candles and insenses burning. They wore long robes of various deep colors and all seemed to be well within their middle ages or older.

"Please, step to the center of the room," one advised her, and as she did so she looked around to see where Vladimir had gone to, or if he had been following her the whole time. The mage continued, "We need to hurry, so please be quick."

Vlad watched Tenele rush out of the room and rolled his eyes. She could scramble to meet their arbitrary deadline, but he decided to give it another minute. Sorcerers were so obsessive-compulsive, it just wrecked their whole day when calculations were less than exact. Of course, given the nature of their work and the possible consequences, that sort of thinking may very well have been a prerequisite for the profession.

"Very well, if the vampire is going to be late, we'll perform the spell in two parts," stated the Archmage, also known as Xin. "Let us work with the Maiden first. My lady, if you'll please stand at the center of the runes," he implored.

Tenele glanced around and warily stepped into the center of the ruins. She stood with her hands clasped behind her back, shifting from one foot to the other as she looked around. It was weird to stand their, and she felt out of place really, but the thing that was disturbing her the most was the magic part....

She hoped these guys were as good as their reputation proclaimed.

Their chanting began as a low rumble and then began to grow. The ruines that were scattered across the floor glowed to life with sudden feirocity and she stood stock still at that moment, almost afraid that if she moved something would go horribly amiss. Getting turned into a frog was the last thing she wanted.

The spell grew in intensity, making the air in the room feel thick. Static raised the hairs on Tenele's arms as energy began to swirl in a textureless mist of blue and silver light around her form. The archmage began chanting the final incantation. The words blurred into the blurry energy of the spell. Something about a transfer of knowledge and an exchange of form. Seemed about right for a translation spell, though any sorcery strong enough to change the mind was far too powerful to be merely cosmetic. It was important that the procedure go correctly.

And that was, almost always, where Vlad came in.

One moment, Tenele was standing alone in the center of the circle. The next, Vlad was next to her, looking generally bored and disinterested in the swirling light surrounding them. He reached out and touched a swoft of blue light with his pointer finger idly. He'd been through enough spells to know by sight that this one was close to complete. He mentally applauded himself for his timing. Only one of the mages noticed Vlad's appearance at the center and waved his arms frantically to get out of the circle. Of course, that was too late. Vlad felt a surge of energy - a bit stronger than he'd expected - fly through him. A shower of sparks formed from the glowing light and the spell concluded rather dramatically. Vlad raised an eyebrow, because he hadn't seen that particular special effect before. Where the magic usually dispersed gradually, this time the light flooded away almost immediately and left the ring of sorcerers staring open-mouthed at the two at the center of the spell.

"Lord Dracul!" berated the Archmage. "This spell was for one only!"

Vlad looked unimpressed. "Between the two of us, I'm sure we can translate," he comforted the man with a cold sneer.

"My lady, are you alright?" the Archmage turned to Tenele, trying to sound less frustrated when speaking to her. "Do you feel well? Ordinary?"

Tenele smiled. "Just a bit dizzy, but that's because I was watching the pretty swirling light a little to closely." She looked around, trying to figure out what all the fuss was about, after all she wasn't missing a limb, and Vlad seemed perfectly healthy. "Really, everythings fine... Thank you for your hard work..." She bowed her head at them, thanking them for their work and then she glanced to Vlad.

"You just have to be fashionably late, don't you?" she asked with a pretty smirk, poking him in the ribs. "Well, since you don't need to wait around for them to preform the spell now, do you want to go pack your own things?"

"Yes, Let's," Vlad said to Tenele somewhat distractedly. He was amused by the mages' reactions, but somehow the looks of shocked horror on their faces didn't seem proportional to the degree of the inconvenience, even for a mage. He decided to let their therapists handle it. It was nearly impossible for the vampire to picture a spell that warranted concern on his part, so he trusted his instincts. Taking Tenele's hand, he guided her from the circle and strolled out of the room, raising his hand in a condescending salute without looking back as they left. Once they were out in the hall, he shook the incident from his mind and teleported them both up to his quarters.

"Sorcerers are such a carefree lot. A blast to be around, but the work it takes to get them to attend to anything," he tsked as he drew a suitcase and clothing from his wardrobe with a wave of his hand.

Tenele flopped back onto his bed, lying with her arms spread out and sying at how comfortable his bed was. She rolled over almost onto her stomach and rested her head in the crook of her arm, covering her eyes. "I don't think they were happy about your intrusion, but, I think they were over-reacting with the concern. Probably trying to get back at you by making you worry about the effects. But, I guess the assumed wrong." She smirked into the covers, sying as she let her body relax, feeling a bit sleepy now that she was curled comfortably.

She listened to the rustly of clothes as they flew into the suitcase, her heart thudding in her ears. Maybe it was the excitement of the trip? She couldn't help but feel like everything was moving really fast, like she was riding on the wings of some great destructive force and actually enjoying every minute of that ride. The thrill of it was surprising her, and for the first time she realized how truely trapped she had felt for the past couple of weeks.

She pushed herself up and walked behind Vlad, slipping her arms around his waist and hugging herself to him, pressing her cheek against his back. She smiled, letting her hands slide upwards and hold his chest as she stood on her tip-toes and leaned in close to his neck. She smirked playfully, tilting her head and dragging her teeth across his flesh.

"Better pack quicker, I don't know if I can control my excitement for adventure much longer..."

Vlad stopped packing as Tenele's warm arms wrapped around his back and her cheek heated his back through the thin fabric of his shirt. "I won't get much packing done like this, My Lady," he purred playfully, placing a cool hand over hers on his chest.

Tenele smirked, brushing her lips against his neck before leaning closer to his ear. She was now having to stand on the tips of her toes and lean against him for support. "Think of it as a challenge?" she asked, her lips brushing his ear. Then, she tilted her head and bit his flesh playfully before relaxing back on her feet and leaning against him again.

She felt perfectly safe and at peace right here next to him, knowing that he was hers... for as long as she lived.

Vlad drew a thick breath and levitated another tunic toward his suitcase. "Can't...concentrate," he muttered in his most sultry voice, allowing the garment to change course halfway across the room and fly into the side of Tenele's head.

She giggled lightly, hugging him tighter and closing her eyes as the garment smacked lightly into her face. So to get him back she just let her hands slide slowly downward, over the smooth fabric of his shirt. Sliding down from his chest, across the muscled abs and her finger tips resting there just at the edge of the lip of his pants. "Hmm? Can't concentrate?" She leaned back up, her hands slipping ever so further, and her lips pressing against the back of his neck. "Really? Do I distract you so easily?"

Her hands inched closer and then she suddenly withdrew them, stooping to pick up the garment of clothing that had fallen to the floor. She folded it neatly and walked to his suitcase, smoothing it flat on top of the rest of the clothes. She was smiling softly to herself, her heart filled with such happiness. It was strange to feel so utterly happy with Vlad's presense around her, he always filled her with such joy.

Even knowing her purpose, Vlad's nerves swelled with excitement at her teasing touch. "You know, you're fully recovered now. I don't have to go easy on you," he warned her, reaching a hand over his shoulder and running the smooth skin of his fingertips across the warm flesh of her neck. His fingers stopped at the choker she was wearing and played along the edge of it.