Heirot

Tenele smiled at him and continued to eat her chicken. "It doesn't take a lot of energy to talk, mind you my lord," she said, admiring him from his feet up to his oddly beautiful blood colored eyes. Her bright green eyes sparkled in the sunlit room.

* * *

Rai ran slightly a head of her father, looking back at him with a smile. She looked like a peasants daughter, dirty and her nightgown that she had been wearing since Hepian had burned was filthy and tattered.

Vlad noticed the way Tenele was looking at him. He blinked, not really looking away. But why couldn't he think of anything sassy and brilliant to say back like his usual amazing self? Her eyes were amazingly green.

Soran and Rai reached a pair of ornate wooden doors that led to the cafeteria. The rogue touched his hand to the golden handle and paused. He was hardly one for vanity, but it was a fact that he didn't look any better than Rai did. His coat had been ruined in the fire, and the thin shirt he had remaining was shredded in several places from their bushwhacking on the way here. The feeling only stopped him for an instant; in the situation they were in, there wasn't much point in sweating details.

With a light push the doors swung open and they walked into a spacious, well-lit room that smelled wonderful. Soran stepped in and immediately locked eyes with a man sitting in the middle of the room. Red eyes, pointed ears. Soran turned as though he'd seen nothing, leading Rai towards the cooking area. Whoever that vampire was or whyever he was moving freely within Sinead's palace, the elf wanted nothing to do with him.

Vlad watched the elf's blank expression with interest. "Well well, we seem to have a guest," he said purposefully to Tenele. The elf showed no reaction to his words.

Rai watched the man with red eyes with intrest and the woman that sat next to him. The woman had silver hair, which shined like that of silver jewelry. Her eyes sparkled green and her skinned glowed. She was very pretty and that distracted Rai for a moment.

"You're pretty.... are you a princess?" Rai muttered. The woman indeed looked like a shimmering princess like the ones she heard about in fairytales.

Tenele looked from Vlad as he spoke to the girl who spoke so soon afterwards. Tenele laughed softly. "No, I'm not a princess..." She smiled to the little girl, who she noticed was Half-Elf, just as she. The man was clearly full-blooded elf.

Rai looked up at Vlad, whose eyes she finally noticed were red. She stood in awe for a moment and finally pulled away from her father. She sprinted over to the vampire rather quickly, before Soran could stop her. "Wow, I've never seen red eyes before!" she giggled and tilted her head, admiring the handsome vampire. She hadn't yet realized he was a vampire for Rai had never met one. She had, however, heard stories.

"Rai, get back here," Soran ordered darkly. He didn't want them involved with anyone else here, especially not some vampire and his escor.... 'No', he realized, [/i]'not an escort. That's a maiden of the queen.'[/i]

"Why so cold, elf? We're really quite friendly," Vlad said without getting up, grinning wide enough to show fang.

"Rai, come back," Soran said again, not taking his eyes from Vlad's.

Tenele looked at the little girl and then back at her father. She noticed how the little girl was suddenly intranced by Vlad. However, Soran's stern voice shook her from her thoughts. She looked back at her father and ran towards him, standing by his leg and hugging him from behind. She looked back at the vampire with a cute little smile.

Tenele glanced at Vlad and pushed her chair back, rising shakily to her feet. She walked towards the Elf. Trembling, though she held herself as if she were strong and she walked with the grace of a noble. She had to concentrate hard to keep her knees from bluckling as she made the short trip towards Soran. She held out her small elegant hand towards him and with a smile said, "I am Maiden Tenele Raider, welcome to the Palace of Light..." Though, it was improper for her to be wearing just a robe in public, no one needed to know that she was nude underneath.

Tenele glanced down at Rai and gave her a playful wink. Though, she was praying the man would shake her hand before she began to shake to the point where she could no longer hide it.

Soran watched the girl very closely as she approached. He hadn't been able to see her face before with her back to him, but now his attention was drawn to her brilliant green eyes. Though she was beautiful, she looked strangely drained. This was a queen's maiden...why would she extend her greeting to him like this? No, he was thinking too far into it. Soran almost thought he detected a tremble in her grip as he slowly took her hand. Falling to one knee, he touched his lips to her hand. The only thing that betrayed his inexperience with such things was that he rose a bit too quickly afterwards, taking a courteous step back from her person.

"Soran Nightblade. I will be staying briefly on this level," he said, neither friendly nor rude. His eyes flickered to Vlad and than back to her, keeping an eye on the vampire's location. "My daughter, Rai," he said, touching Rai's shoulder.

Vlad eyed this turn of events curiously, rising and walking toward them with a self-amused smirk. Soran's gaze hardened as he approached.

Tenele noticed how Soran's eyes glanced away from her and back to the man behind her. "Don't be worried about him," she said softly. "Vlad won't harm you or your daughter unless you give him cause..." Tenele said, suddenly realizing how much she needed to sit down. She felt suddenly lightheaded and tried to hide it. Her eyes darted around for a moment and she placed a hand flat to her midrift, resting her eyes breifly. She composed herself, though the feeling hadn't left and her knees began to tremble.

She was a hard-headed woman and if you knew her you knew this well. If she wanted to stand, she would stand and do it until someone forced her to sit or she fell to the ground.

Rai watched the woman curiously, as well as the vampire that had come to stand beside her. She giggled and waved to him, still hugging her father's leg with her other arm.

"Well, I just arrived here myself... My home..." she didn't feel the need to go through the whole story of how she and Vlad had angered a band of slave drivers and a sick woman to the point where they would stalk and try to murder them. "My home was destroyed... so I'm staying here now."

She trembled more and she suddenly realized that if she moved her feet at all she would end up lying on the floor. She should have listened to the damned doctor and rode in the stupid chair... or not gotten up from her seat. She hoped if she did fall someone had the sense enough to try and catch her.

'Maybe I can make it back to the chair,' she thought. "If you'll excuse me I need to sit for a moment..." she said faintly and moved her feet to turn. 'Wrong move Tenele.' Her strength failed her and she began to crumple to the floor, her head swimming with the angle in which she was falling.

Soran frowned and dove forward to steady the collapsing maiden, but just before his hands touched her, the vampire literally appeared there, crouching with Tenele safely secured in his arms. Soran had to shuffle his feet to keep from following through on his action and grabbing onto Vlad. What surprised him even more than what he could only call teleportation was the possessive glint that shone up at him from those blood-red eyes.

"You seem to have exhausted yourself, maiden girl," Vlad said without moving his gaze from Soran's. Soran eyed him dryly. He'd once allied with a vampire under Mizuki's persuasion, but the experience had hardly changed his opinion of the species. "You seem like you have something to say, elf," Vlad smirked, lifting Tenele up.

"Lady Tenele, are you secure with this creature?" Soran asked flatly. If she really treated this vampire as a companion, then the rogue wanted nothing more than to leave them to their business, but the vampire seemed to be up to something.

Tenele rested her hands wearily in her lap as Vlad held her in his arms. She glanced from him to Soran. She looked completely drained and she didn't entirely understand why. "Guess blood loss does take longer to fix than I had originally thought," she mused and looked to Vlad.

"Yes," she told Soran. "I'm safe with him..." Vlad had protected her from many things, she was more safe with him than she was with herself.

She didn't entirely understand why Soran was so distrustful of Vlad, then again not a lot of people liked Vlad. She stared at Vlad with soft loving smile, yet to notice the procective look in Vlad's eyes or the way the two men seemed to be having a stand-off.

Soran sighed and broke Vlad's stare. So they had a blood relationship together. The thought disgusted him, but he wasn't going to make the situation any worse than it was. "Well, if you'll excuse us," he said, taking Rai firmly by the hand and leading her over to the chef's counter.

"Hello, there. Chicken or fish?" chimed the chef, trying to ignore Vlad's sinister smirk in the background.

"Chicken," Soran said tiredly, looking down at Rai.

Tenele watched the elf curiously as he seemed so disgusted suddenly. She was taken a little aback, but to tired to put up a front or defend her own honor, not to mention Vlad's.

She glanced back at Vlad and placed an arm around his neck. "I guess we need to find where I'm living now," she muttered softly, her fingers grazing the back of his neck gently.

Rai looked back at them and waved. Tenele waved back in return. Rai then glanced up at her father, smiling at him. She loved him, but didn't understand him sometimes.

Vlad smiled at Tenele, guessing what the elf was thinking. "I'm sure we can find accomodation on this floor. There are several unused rooms, and I'm sure our new neighbors would like the company," he said, knowing the elf's ears would hear him. He paraded Tenele out of the room, but not before doing something with his eyes.

Soran acquired food for he and Rai and they brought it over to a table. The rogue sat down and looked at his dish dully. His interest in food was gone at the moment, but he cut a piece off and shoved it into his mouth, chewing mechanically.

"That's odd, where did my red pepper go?" muttered the chef to himself from behind the counter, a second too late.

Soran grimaced as flames erupted in his mouth. Instead of spitting it out, he swallowed the piece whole and struggled not to cough. His eyes teared up as the chunk worked slowly down his throat, searing the whole way down.

Meanwhile, Vlad carried Tenele casually down the hall, stopping next to a closed door. "If I recall, this one's the nicest on the floor. Sinead will let you stay here for now," Vlad said, turning the knob only to find it stuck. "That's odd, they don't normally keep these locked," he pondered. Shrugging, he closed his eyes and ported them both inside the room, only to find an unsuspecting half elf clad in only a bedsheet lying across the room from them. Vlad put a finger to Tenele's lips before she could say anything, a mischievous grin crossing his face.

Tenele narrowed her eyes and shook her head though his finger was pressed against her lips. 'Don't bother her Vlad,' she thought desperately.

She shook his finger from her face and whispered, "No, leave her be... We can find some where else..." Though, she doubt he would listen to her.

Mizuki stirred in her sleep, opening her eyes lightly but seeing nothing. If she had her powers, they'd be warning her in her sleep of Vlad's presence, but she was like any other person. Asleep and at another's mercy.

Vlad smirked at Tenele with a look that said "Who are you kidding?" He wasn't about to pass up this kind of opportunity. Putting on his straightest face, he folded his hands in front of his waist and cleared his throat politely to wake the sleeping girl.