Mature: Desert Moon

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad nodded. He hoped she understood. "Let's walk today," he said, taking her hand and leading her through the halls. The nobles watched in curiosity as they passed, as they always did. The dominant theory was that she'd used another man to produce the child, since her husband could not. The less dominant theories weren't as kind.

After a long walk where Vlad avoided most of the court distractions, they reached the hospital ward and went to Tenele's room. "Mommy's arms and legs are sore, so let's be gentle with her. And remember what I asked," he said as he knocked and opened the door.

[Emora Deen]

Tenara tugged free from her father and went to her mother's bedside. "Mommy!" she called up. "Mommy, I missed you all day. You were gone forever."

Tenele looked down at the beautiful silver haired girl with her pretty blue eyes. "Oh, you beautiful thing you." Tenele sat up slowly and reached a hand down to cup Tenara's face.

"Daddy said you are sore," she whispered.

"I am," Tenele replied, wondering why her husband hadn't come to visit if he knew she wasn't well. It made her chest feel tight. Maybe they didn't have a good relationship...

"You'll feel better soon," Tenara whispered to her, touching her cheek. She clammored up into the bed with her mother, curling her arms around her neck. "Daddy says you member things weird."

Tenele swallowed. He knew that too and he hadn't come to visit her.

Her eyes glistened with tears. She lifted her chin to hide her face from the child burrowing into her neck. "Things are fuzzy. But, I remember you."

Tenara smiled. "Because I come from mommy," she giggled, placing a hand over Tenele's belly.

"Yes," Tenele choked. "Because you come from mommy."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad sat down in the far corner and watched them. At least she remembered Tenara, or it would be terribly hard on the girl.

"I'm going to do some research in the library," he said. "Tenara, can you take care of your mother for a little while?"

[Emora Deen]

Tenara nodded. "Yes, daddy," she cooed, clutching her mother tighter.

Tenele's eyes opened like someone had dropped cold ice down her back. Her gaze hit him with the quickness of lightning. She couldn't seem to find her breath.

This whole time.

And he hadn't told her.

He was her child's father? Her husband? That was impossible. Vampires couldn't marry. They couldn't have children.

"Tenara, sit up," Tenele whispered. "I can't breathe."

"Mommy?" she asked curiously, leaning up off her mother.

"I'm fine," Tenele swallowed. "Just need a little air."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad's eyes softened as he felt her pulse take off and her met his sharply.

She knew. And she was unhappy. "Not what you expected, I suppose," he joked weakly.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele swallowed. "That's not it, entirely," she replied before she could get a handle on her tongue. "I kept asking about my husband, wandering where he was. He was here the whole time... I was starting to think he didn't care about me at all, now I don't know what to think." A vampire.

A vampire and she'd had a child with him. Tenele needed air. She needed space. She needed a drink. Suddenly it was not a great time for her daughter to be visiting, especially when she wanted to yell so badly.

"That's why you were so angry when you found that man. That's why you were so persistent with your question earlier. Well, yes. Yes, he did. So what of it? What does it matter? What does anything matter now? I don't remember anything. If I loved you so much, why don't I remember you?" Tenele felt her words running away from her in her panic and confusion and fear. She just wanted this day to be over. To go to sleep and wake up and remember everything. She was tired of the world being so frightening. She covered her mouth before anything else could slip out, horror masking everything in the wake of what she'd just said. Tenele heaved.

"Mommy?" Tenara murmured, placing a hand on her forehead.

"Sweetheart..." Tenele choked. "Please, wait outside for daddy. Mommy needs to sleep. You know how you get cranky without a nap? Mommy needs her nap."

"Okay," Tenara sighed, placing a kiss on her mother's cheek and struggled with the door.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad reached down to the door in a daze and let his daughter outside. A small nudge closed it behind her. He'd expected the words, even thought them himself, but now she'd really said them. And she'd...

He couldn't think of a single thing to say as his soul throbbed. He couldn't talk about it. If her words became any more real, he was going to break. So he focused on her other revelation. "I should have killed him more slowly. I should have peeled his skin from his flesh."

[Emora Deen]

Tenele covered her ears. "Please," she hissed. She didn't want to talk about him. He was dead. He was dead, and with him the memory. She'd been very good at blacking it out, along with most everything else in her head. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I didn't mean to. It just came out." Tenele sniffled. She took a deep breath. "This day..." Tenele looked at his hand. "It makes so much more sense now. The ring... and how you promised to find a way to put it back on. Why didn't you want to tell me who you were?"

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad reached to his left hand and winced as he tried to fiddle with his ring. "I," he barely breathed. What could he say? What good was his love if he'd let her be raped? What good was he to her? And now she wanted to know why he would keep it secret. "If you loved me so much, why don't you remember me?" he echoed her words in a whispered answer to her question.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele blinked at his words. "I don't know," she cried. "I don't even remember who I am. I'm sorry I don't remember. I want to remember. I keep thinking and thinking and all I remember is a light and mud and grass and water."

What were they going to do if she never recovered her memories? What were they going to do about their daughter or their lives? What if she couldn't love him? What if he couldn't love her? Especially now.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad stared at her, and wanted to hold her so badly he couldn't breathe. "I know. That wasn't fair. I shouldn't have said it. Listen to me, Tenele. You have me. I am yours. You don't need to be mine right now. You don't need to be anything. Just be Tenele. Tenele Dracul, Tenele Raider, or just Tenele."

He looked down. "I can tell the doctor," he said quietly. "If you think you might be...at risk. There is a treatment you can drink, that prevents..." The thought knotted his throat.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele shook her head quickly. "No," she breathed. "No. Don't tell anyone. Please." Her hands shook and she drew them to her chest. "I'm fine." She nodded more for her benefit than his. "I'm fine." She repeated the words with her eyes closed until they felt real.

She didn't know him. But, she knew that some deep part of her trusted him. Every once and a while it surfaced, urging her to trust his words or his judgement. She wanted to go back and strike the admission from his memory just as swiftly as she seemed to forget her own world.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad took a step away from the wall he'd been leaning into and knelt slowly before her, tall and elegant in the practiced court gesture. He bowed his head with a sweep of his hand, as he had done in the earliest part of their acquaintance. "As you wish, Lady Tenele," he said fondly. His red eyes flickered up to meet hers. "I meant it, when I said I wouldn't eat you," he joked with a courageous smirk. "We've just met, but if you'd like someone to talk to in this big castle...you can talk to me. Your brother will be here shortly to escort you and Tenara to your room. He is a vampire also, to spare you the shock. His name is Talon. You can trust him, if you'd like. The servants in this building are yours to command, if you need help finding something. I will be in the library tonight."

He bowed his head. "Would you like me to go, my Lady?"

[Emora Deen]

Tenele stared at him while he spoke, wanting desperately to throw her arms around him. That seemed like a silly thing to do to a man she didn't know. But, she did know him. She reached up and wiped her tears. "I can trust you," she admitted aloud. Tenele leaned down close to his ear. "I'm scared. Will you stay a little longer..."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad smiled at her. "Always. Did you forget that too?" he teased through a tight throat. He walked to her bedside and pulled up a chair psychically.

*Should I stop in to see her?* Talon's voice echoed in his mind as he stopped outside the door to pick up Tenara.

*Not tonight,* Vlad answered. *It's too much for her right now.*

He felt the man's unspoken assent in his mind, and turned his attention back to Tenele. "Here's what the queen and I did when she was scared," he murmured, touching her hand very carefully and sliding it over his. "Have fun with that. Hold it, crush it, whatever the mood calls for. You'll find me quite durable."