Heirot

Vlad scoffed at the idea. Well, until Queeny can gain control of this war, the best we can probably do about these nutballs is make sure they don't interfere with the area's remaining havens. Which, as much as I hate to admit it, means protecting the church compounds in this region. He raised his eyes and took note of white stone walls becoming visible amidst the trees a short distance ahead of them. The compound was extremely large and castle-like, with towering stone walls surrounding it. "I believe we've reached our destination," he observed almost sourly. Churches were right at the bottom of his list of places he wanted to be stationed, but the fact that Tenele was wounded at least lent him some motivation to approach the fortresslike building.

Tenele looked up at the giant cathedral like castle, at the flying buttresses and elaborate towers. A lot of money had been sent to this place to build its walls, and such things usually happened with abbeys. “Will they even let you in?” she asked him as they grew closer to the gatehouse. Her hand absentmindedly holding her arm as they walked.

Well, the queen sent us both," Vlad theorized without much conviction as they made their way through the snowy forest to a large and elaborate pair of wooden doors surrounded by holy statues and gargoyles. Vlad might have preferred to take in the place at a distance for a while longer, but instead, he walked to the door and struck it three times with its huge steel knocker. Normally, he's have a singed hand for this effort, but his skin rested normally against the metal.

Several moments passed before a miniature door big enough to see through unlatched and swung open. A man looked out at them both critically. "State your business," he said warily. Apparently security was getting rather tight here.

Tenele dropped her hand from her arm and stood straight as the man stood uncertainly before them. “I am Lady Raider, Queen’s Maiden to Sinead, and this is Lord Dracul. This is Mylo, our aid… and…” Satine looked at Stalker, and everything about him said Hell Hound. She wasn’t sure if he had immunity to the church, or if they would let something like him in the walls. “Queen Sinead has sent us here to aid in your defense against the Arkens.”

The man's expression grew warier. "We are very pleased to have your help, Maiden, but surely her majesty does not expect us to admit these....abominations within these sacred walls?"

"How cold. And I even went on a diet the whole way here," Vlad griped.

"The man didn't seem to know what to do with Vlad's taunting, so he continued to appeal to Tenele for understanding. "We have of course heard of Lord Dracul's reputation, but this is not the type of.....we can not possibly allow him in here. This is a sacred place. He is of the darkness, unclean."

Tenele walked towards the man who stood at the door, and motioned behind her at Vlad. “But, he has found favor with Thar,” Tenele told the man. “He touches this sacred place, and Thar does not punish him. His good deeds have won him mercy from our God.” She smiled kindly at the man. “You have my word that he will do nothing to harm anyone… and that his presence here will insure the safety of your men, the refugees… and even the priests.”

The man didn't seem fully convinced, but he didn't seem fully skeptical, either. "I may need to ask the Magistrate before allowing him in," he said apologetically.

"Well, while you go ask mommy's permission, maybe you can let Lady Raider in to see your cleric. She was injured earlier, and there's no need for her or my servant to remain out here," Vlad advised the man politely. Too politely.

"Oh, dear! Of course, Maiden, I had no idea you were hurt," the monk gushed, unlocking the door and opening it for her. "Please, come in. I will show you to the ward."

Tenele angled her eyes at Vlad, not liking that he drew attention to the fact she was injured. “It’s only minor,” Tenele told him as she stepped through the doorway. “But, it requires stitching.” She looked back to Vlad as Mylo hurried through the door. “I’ll make sure he hurries,” she told him softly as the monk hurriedly shut the door behind them, leaving Vlad and Stalker out in the cold forest.

The priest apologized repetitively to Tenele as he walked her down long, gothic stone corridors lit by sconces. "It really is wonderful to know the queen is thinking of us, but it's terrible that you were hurt getting here!" he gushed for the 4th or 5th time as they took a left. He led her into a room that was well lit by candlelight. A number of wounded men and women lay on cots in the room. From the looks of their injuries, they were probably hurt in skirmished similar to the one they'd just faced.

A nun stood up from beside the patient she was checking on and looked over at them as they entered. "Is someone hurt?" she asked gently.

Vlad crossed his arms and smirked as the door slammed in his face. "Guard not at post equals door now open," Vlad observed logically, using his telekinesis to open the heavy door. With a satisfied smirk, he strolled inside.

Tenele moved to undo the leather armored corset around her waist that held the sheath of her mother’s sword. She set it down on the floor next to the wall, and unbuttoned the coat to also lay it down. She lifted up the sleeve of her shirt, where the bloody patch on the white fabric was, to reveal the bloody bandage that Vlad had helped her wrap around it. “The arrow went straight through,” Tenele explained to the nun. “I think it needs stitching… If you can stitch me up, I can heal… Maybe I can help you with the wounded?”

“There are more out in the nave, some throughout the aisle… No one’s sleeping in the choir or the apse. It’s sacred ground. However, if more show up I fear we might have to put them there. The small chapel to Attara is empty too.” One monk said idly as he bandaged the leg of child.

Tenele frowned and looked to the nun. “Well, I’m here to help… Maybe we can find a solution.”

"As long as we continue to pray, the gods will protect this place," one of the monks commented so automatically that it sounded like a mantra.

"It is safe inside these walls," the guard who had walked her there told her. "We do what we can for those who seek refuge from outside, and pray for their safety. But we have nothing to fear. As long as this compound stands, no evil can enter here."

* * *

Vlad sauntered down a hallway, smirking at the holy emblems carved into the walls. His eyes didn't burn, nor did his chest buckle with the unseen pressure of the blessed grounds he trod on. He, a creature of night, walked down these halls unharmed. Other than his instinctive unease at being in such a place, he felt no adverse effects from being there.

He paused as a nun wearing an apron burst from a door in the side of the hallway carrying a huge tray of pitchers and food. She rushed right into him, immediately losing her balance with the tray. Vlad raised a hand and stopped the falling plates in midair, then restored them to their original place in the young woman's arms as he took a step back. "That's a lot of food," he observed with a smirk.

The nun stared at the restored tray, then at the stranger she'd run into. "I beg your pardon!" she gasped. She took a second look at his battle-worn attire and then back to his face. "I don't know how you did that, but thank you," she whispered. "Are you visiting someone at the sick ward?"

"No. I came here to help," Vlad grinned, spreading his arms wide as if presenting himself to her.

"Really?" the woman murmured, glancing away from his well toned arms.

"Rosalie! No chatting, you need to deliver the.....food," an older woman with a heavier set to her stormed out of the kitchen door behind her. She halted her tirade when she noticed Vlad standing there. "Who are you?" she demanded brusquely.

"He's here to help," Rosalie stammered.

The woman looked him up and down. "You won't work in my kitchen looking like that. Come get changed, and we'll get you a bite to eat," she commanded, taking him fearlessly by teh wrist and drawing him into the room.

"I suppose I could use a bite," the vampire scoffed to a flustered Rosalie as he allowed himself to be dragged away.

They were out of herbs for pain, so Tenele made due with herself as the nun stitched up both sides of her arm. She thought it was a little stupid of her to wish that Vlad was there to hold her hand, but she did. However, Vlad was not there, so she instead held very tightly to the arm of the chair she sat so very tensely in until the woman had cut the last string.

Tenele let out a ragged breath, swallowing hard. She tried to ignore the aching sting the skin stretched and tied together. She blinked the water from her eyes and looked up to the Nun, “Thank you.”

The nun smiled at Tenele and wrapped gauze around her arm. “When I’m finished doing what I can here, I need someone to take me to see the High Priest. That is if you haven’t seen to it that Vlad has come in from the outside to speak with the priest himself. Could you do that please?” she asked the guard, sending him away.

She replaced her arms through the coat and pulled it back on slowly, careful not to let it brush heavily on her wound. Then, she wrapped the corset back around her, fastening the buckles. “We can just leave our things in the corner for now, Mylo,” Tenele instructed as she went to the first cot.

There was a child there, with a wounded leg. It was the one the monk had been bandaging earlier. “Does it hurt a lot?” Tenele asked him with a smile. The young boy nodded.

“Can I touch it for a moment? I promise, it won’t hurt afterwards,” Tenele assured him as she slowly reached her palm down to the wound.

The boy jerked, making a small muffle sound into his hands. But, a soft light emitted from the bottom of Tenele’s hand, and after a second she pulled her hand away. She unwrapped his leg slowly, to reveal a perfect leg. “Better?” He grinned suddenly, nodding with vigor. “Good.”

“Gods be praised,” someone whispered. “Thank you!” It was the mother, and she was suddenly, as if appearing out of thin air, next to Tenele.

“No problem…” Tenele patted her shoulder before moving on to the others in the room. She felt her head was a bit lighter than it had been earlier, and she knew that she would be extremely tired… But, these people did not need to suffer if she had a means of ending it.

Besides, she never got to use her power. She could not heal herself, and since Vlad was not exactly alive, she never used it.

A few minutes later, a young nun walked into the medical ward carrying a large, heavy tray of foods. "Sorry I'm late," she said, sounding a little out of breath as she walked to set the tray on a table. "Things were a little tied up in the kitchen." She glanced over at Tenele and noticed for the first time how excited everyone seemed in the room. "What's going on?" she asked, her eyes drifting to Tenele, the one person she didn't recognize.

Tenele glanced up as the pale light fell from her finger tips. When she was finished healing the woman she stood up. “Queen Sinead has sent me and Lord Dracul here to help you, and protect you if you need it.” Tenele told the woman, suddenly looking visibly tired.

Not using her power had caused her to forget how it drained her of energy rather quickly when used repeatedly. She had a few more left in the room, and wouldn’t deny easing their pain after they had seen everyone else relieved of theirs.

"Lord Dracul," the young woman asked blankly. "Is that the one helping Fran in the kitchen?" She looked down at Tenele's hands and the way she was holding them over the injured man next to her. "Do you have some sort of power as well?" she murmured in amazement.

"Wait," interrupted the monk who had been watching Tenele heal the patients. "The Dracul I've heard of is a vampire enslaved to the queen. You can't mean that she sent that monstrosity here?"

"V-vampire?" Rosalie murmured, her thoughts flashing to Fran, alone in the kitchen with that man. "He s-said he could use a b...bite," she stammered, looking shocked enough to faint. She looked to Tenele for some sort of reassurance that she was wrong.