Heirot

Vlad grinned at her. "If you'd like. Assuming Atul is up for it. Come to think of it, the last time I saw him, I was dissolving from the inside out. How did he fare, after everything that happened?"

Tenele contemplated it. "He seemed very tired," she sighed. "Perhaps I'll wait to call on Knight and let the two of you rest. You both could use it." Tenele sat up and drew the towel around her. She watched the sun setting with a smile. "I'm excited about the future... I'm excited about the possibility of a quiet, or at least a fairly safe, future."

Tenele jumped up. "Let's go check on the King," she told Vlad, tugging on his hand to get him on his feet. She turned him lose and skipped back into the bedroom where she scooped up a thin robe and drew it around her shoulders.

"Yes," Vlad murmured as he turned to follow her. He began pulling on a pair of slim-fitting black pants and a crimson silk shirt. "The king may need some help getting back on his feet. I, however, do not need rest. I'm perfectly fine," he gloated, holding the door for her.

Tenele shook her head with a smile. "Ever the cocky one," she muttered. Tenele knocked softly on Atul's door, and hearing no response she pushed it gentle open.

The room was dim, the candles unlit, and the setting sun painted orange light across the floor and walls. Panels of sheer curtains surrounded a platform where the King's bed sat.

Tenele pushed through the curtains and smiled down at Atul, stretched out on his bed, fast a sleep. "It would be a shame to wake him," Tenele whispered to her husband, smiling. "He looks very content."

"Aw, very content," Vlad mused in agreement. Something about the huge bed and the extravagant room made the single resting man seem strangely alone. The vampire reached down and traced along the side of the half-god's forehead. That was about all the tenderness he could muster. With a smirk, he poked his icy finger into Atul's sleep-warm ear.

Atul slapped the hand away with a groan. His eyes opened drowsy, glancing up at Vlad. For a moment it appeared as if he didn't see them. He rolled over and tugged the silk covers up over his arms.

Tenele giggled. "He's adorable," she muttered, climbing onto the ultra-soft bed and around to where Atul was facing opposite Vlad.

Tenele poked his cheek lightly, until his eyes shot open. "You'll miss dinner if you sleep much longer."

"I'm a king," Atul replied, his voice laced with weariness. "I'll hardly miss anything. In fact..." Atul sat up and looked at the sun before flopping back in bed. "Judging from the sun a beautiful maid should be waltzing in with a tray of dinner for me. And after dinner maybe I'll manage to muster the energy for the concubine that will no doubt somehow find her way in." He gave Tenele a cocky grin.

Tenele rolled her eyes, poking his cheek roughly one last time.

Atul tugged the sheet over his face. "I'm sleeping."

"How discourteous, eating dinner alone when you have guests," Vlad demanded. "We're not tired, so prepare yourself to entertain us." He studied the king closely. Something seemed off. He'd never seen Atul this wiped out before.

"I hope you're entertained by snoring," Atul murmured, barely awake. "I've got hours of it ready for you. Just... give me... five minutes and..."

He was out.

Tenele drew back the sheet and looked at Atul. "Poor thing," she whispered, cupping the side of his face. "He's exhausted."

Atul nodded slowly.

"You're still awake!"

Atul shook his head. "Sleeping."

Tenele crawled across the bed to where Vlad stood and wrapped her arms around his waist, looking up at him. "He's not in the mood to play. Shall we let him sleep?"

Vlad frowned stubbornly, displeased at his friend's unavailability. "Apparently there's not much choice in the matter," he muttered. "I don't feel like a dinner at court. I'd sooner watch our friend sleep than endure politics tonight. I wonder how the maids will talk if we join in on his room service," he smiled darkly. "Besides, someone will need to help the concubine roll him over later."

Tenele snickered at her husband. She flopped back next to Atul and stared at the ceiling of his room. "Very well," she sighed, stretching out. After several minutes the sun set and the room grew dark. A maid came in, carrying a tray of food, and behind her another went about lighting all the oil lamps and candles in the room.

"Thank you," Tenele told the maid. "Would you mind bringing a tray for me as well. We plan to have dinner with his majesty in his room tonight. He's feeling weary from the recent events, so we suspect a quiet evening is best." The woman looked Tenele's robe form over, and then assessed Vlad. She gave a stiff nod, bowed, and left the room.

Several minutes later the maid returned with a second tray of good and sat it at the small private dining table near the balcony. When the maid was gone Tenele took a plate of food from it and carried it to Atul. She shook him. At first he didn't wake, so she shook him harder.

"Atul?" she asked, pushing roughly on his shoulder. "Atul, wake up. Food!"

The King snapped awake, shooting straight up with a gasp, nearly knocking the plate from her hands. "Wah?!"

"Gods you sleep heavy," Tenele muttered, shoving the plate against his chest. "Eat."

Tenele went back to the table, taking a seat. She began to eat her own dinner.

Vlad had taken a seat against the headboard of the bed, and from that vantage point he calmly observed Tenele and Atul as they ate. His body was no longer tired, but apparently his mind still was, because he didn't feel much drive to talk or even to leave the room for the stimulation of the outside world. Sitting still on Atul's bed and watching his mortals do their mortal things was about all the excitement he was in the mood for.

He raised a skeptical eyebrow at the king, who looked like he might pass out again right into his food. "What's going on with you?" he asked in a low voice. "You're acting like you're half dead."

Atul shrugged. "Just tired. Got to be tired some time. Been busy, you know, killing my father," Atul muttered with a smirk and a mouth full of food. "I get drained when I use my powers," he finally answered, never really able to keep anything from anyone. "It will go away as suddenly as it comes on. Could be an hour, could be a minute. I never really can tell. I usually just have to power-nap and then I'm good." He scarfed down the food and sat the empty plate next to him before flopping back in bed.

"Power nap?" Vlad scoffed, while studying him intently. "What you're doing is a power coma."

Atul chuckled. "It does the trick," he added. "Okay, going to sleep for like... five minutes. Promise."

Tenele laughed as she quietly ate her dinner from across the room. She drew her knees up, her feet in the chair, and leaned back with the plate pinched between her chest and her legs. She stared out the open window at the pretty night sky.

Five minutes passed, then turned to ten, and then twenty. Thirty minutes after Atul fell a sleep the door to his room opened and a beautiful woman with olive skin and raven hair flowed into the room. She was wearing a dress that was so sheer it left nothing to the imagination, perfectly designed to attract the attention of a man. It shimmered in the light of oil lamps and candles.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, bowing her head. "I was not aware that the King had guests."

Vlad appraised the concubine with a pitying look and turned a meaningful glance toward the passed-out king beside him. "Tonight may be the most challenging night of your career," he grinned at her. "But he told us he DEFINITELY expects your attentions this night. He is trying out a new form of karma sutra, which involves being completely relaxed, the entire time. He is already in the mood for you."

"Don't mind us," he smiled darkly. "We'll just be in the corner. Act like we don't even exist."

Vlad retreated to the edge of the room where Tenele was sitting. He leaned back in a chair, crossed his legs, and steepled his fingers in front of his mouth to hide his wicked grin.