Heirot

Tenele moved slowly wincing at her sore form. She reached desperately for the robe near the bed and drew it on, moving as fast as her body allowed. "I'll go with you," she told Sinead, standing. She wobbled, bumping the side table and sending the empty vial shattering across the floor. "I just may need a little help."

Sinead jerked upright and would have left the room immediately, but Tenele's request to wait made her pause and look back at her. "You're hurt," she murmured in surprise. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize." She turned back toward Tenele and placed her hand lightly over the girl's forehead. A glowing spread through her, melting the injuries away and leaving her joints and back numb, but healthy. "Come," she said in a voice that warned she could afford to slow her pace. The priest had recruited the doctor into the group and was waiting urgently outside. When they joined him, he took off at a full run, down the stairs and toward the study beside the chapel.

When they got there, Vlad was lying flat on his back, unnaturally rigid and fighting to breathe. "You put him in a holy circle?" Sinead snapped.

"No! It's not hurting him. It's only a binding," the priest shivered at her tone.

"Take it off."

"My Queen, he's-"

"I said take it off!" she demanded.

The priest seemed to shrink six inches in her commanding presence.

Tenele hung back only slightly from the group. She belonged here, at least she thought so. She was his wife... It felt like she should be here, even though she felt desperately out of place.

Why was he tied up? Was his rage because of her?

Tenele crept a little close to the vampire as the priest prepared to remove his bindings. She knelt near him, feeling her heart rattle in her chest at the wild animal look he had.

Vlad looked at her. His muscles were shaking with the strain to get up. He met her eyes, and saw fear.

After that, it was like she wasn't there. She couldn't help him. She couldn't love him, any more than he could wear her ring. As soon as the binding fell apart, the vampire snarled and launched up at the priest, hurling him backward across his desk. The man hit the wood surface with a cry of pain. Vlad's hand closed over his throat, nails driving into the desktop while his opposite elbow drove down over his ribs. He felt a few of them crack under his violent weight.

"Vladimir!" Sinead warned, pushing toward the furious man. "Vlad, unhand him!" As she spoke, the power bled from his body, bound under the strength of her magic. He lost his grip, and Sinead waved a hand at him, throwing him into the opposite wall. The vampire staggered and stared at her breathlessly.

"Dungeon. Now," the Queen commanded. They had accumulated quite a few onlookers from outside the doorway thanks to the commotion. They lurched out of the way as Vlad sped from the room. He brushed past Tenele like she were a thorn bush.

Tenele felt shaken by what she wittnessed, but couldn't help but feel responsible for it. She stared helplessly after him, no where near knowing what to do about the situation.

"Please don't punish him too harshly," Tenele begged the queen. "This is all my fault. I made him upset. I said some cruel things to him. Please, let me speak to him and maybe I can calm him down?"

Sinead pressed her fingers to her brow. "This is very serious, Tenele. He's attacked a clergyman."

"You can't really think of keeping a monster like that in your court, after trying to murder a priest?" Lord Barrin demanded from the doorway.

"I will ask your opinion when I have need of it, Lord," Sinead snapped. "And you," she turned on the priest. "What business have you restraining a member of my court? You do release that using holy magic is no different than attempting to stab him with a knife?"

"I was trying to help him," the priest stammered. "H-his hand..." he glanced to the ring on the desk.

Sinead looked at it, and her eyes clouded over. "Oh, no," she whispered, picking up the cool metal. She studied it a moment, and sighed. "Talk to him," she said to Tenele as she wrapped the ring up in the cloth. "And return this. Tenele, try not to be hurt if he won't open to you. I will come along shortly. Take this," she handed her a first aid kit that the doctor had brought down from the hospital."

Tenele nodded, taking the first aid kit and the ring. She started out the door when she remembered she had no idea where to go, so she tapped a guard on the arm lightly and asked him for directions.

He showed her the entrance to the dungeon. The long dark staircase made her feel uneasy. She was greeted by guards who let her in. The dungeon was a series of hallways lined with cells and rooms for special cells.

She hugged the kit tightly to her while she walked center aisle down the corridors. Dirty hands reached out through the bars. Some begged for release, others made more colorful comments. All of them made her nervous.

When she finally found the room they told her to go to she nearly leaped inside, closing the wooden door behind her. There was a desk and passed the desk two iron cells.

It wasn't lit very well, so she wasn't sure at first if he was even in there.

"Hello?" Tenele eased further in. "Vlad... I brought a first aid kit and your ring."

"It's a bad time, Tenele," he muttered from inside the cell. The room was dim, but he could see her distinctly from where he stood. He was too tense to sit down and too upset to move, so he remained like a rock in the center of the cell.

Tenele followed his voice to the open cell. She paused at the doorway before taking a deep breath and going inside. "Let me help," she told him. "You helped me yesterday."

Tenele paused just in from of him and looked down at his burned hand. It was hard to see in the dim light, but the wound was mangled enough to boast the damage without better visibility.

She knelt on the floor, damp grime digging into her knees, and opened the kit. Once opened Tenele reached out slowly for his hand.

Vlad watched her movements, but made no move to offer his wounded hand into her care. Since she seemed determined to stay with him, he finally said "You brought the ring?"

"Mmhmm," she replied, taking his hand gently. The problem at this point was that she had no clue anymore about first aid. She scrunched her brow at the sight of his wound. "Something to numb it..." Tenele rummaged through the kit, reading every bottle until she found the right one... Hopefully. She poured the liquid over the burns.

Vlad melded slowly against the bars, his breathing coming in soft rasps of pain. He let her touch his hand, do whatever she wanted to it. His other hand clutched the swaddled ring against his chest like it was the only thing keeping him upright.

"Okay," she sighed, moving her hand to the bandages. She worked gently and slowly to wrap the wound with a protective layer. When Tenele was finished she dug through the kit for painkilllers. Standing up, she offered them to him.

"I can hold onto your ring until your hand heals, if you want," she said as she reached for it.

Vlad's hand tightened around the fabric. He mechanically extended his hand and traded the ring for the painkillers. As soon as the object was out of his hand, the sorrow crested over him. He rested back against the bars and frowned at his bandaged hand, the painkillers forgotten. They couldn't help much, anyway. "Be careful with it," he said stiffly.

Tenele slipped it on her thumb, but it proved to be too big. Then she recalled the necklace she was wearing. She took the pendant off and slippped the ring on the chain. When she was finished she dropped it back under the hospital gown.

Several long silent minutes passed before Tenele looked up into his red eyes. "Will you talk to me? I want to help you, but I don't know what is wrong." She put a hand to her heart. "I feel this pressure radiating off you. Like your going to explode and I think I witnessed a partial explosion on that priest. I might not remember my life with you, but I want to help."