Holier Than Thou

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad studied the men in the room before giving Sifan his full attention. I am Vladimir Dracul, of the Kingdom of Ighten. I come on behalf of King Atul Hajaris, whose convoy waits outside for my signal the city is safe. It appears that it is not," he commented, his eyes sinking into one of the Arken men as he said it.

[Emora Deen]

"I'm afraid the King won't want to enter our city today, or any other day until this plague is gone," Sifan muttered. "I am glad the King has decided to grace us with his presence. I know we are not on good terms with Arken, but they have been kind enough to lend us their resources and men while I've waited on word for King. I heard he was on a diplomatic mission, and that when he returned there were other important matters that directed his attention."

Sifan bowed his head. "Its good to meet you Ambassador Dracul, I heard word that you and your wife had arrived from Ighten as representatives to our land. It pleases me to see one so brave to venture in a city of death. I hear rumors that your wife can heal the sick... Despite that, I do hope she didn't accompany you on your trip. A place with this much sickness is not good for anyone, even if they are the embodiment of Attara. "

"Lord Vladimir Dracul?" an Arken soldier piped in, removing his helmet. He had short choppy brown hair and a scruffy jaw. The man appraised the vampire quietly. It didn't seem the soldier had anything else to say on the matter, he mere exchanged quiet glances with his men.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad studied Sifan as he spoke. He liked the way the man talked. He liked how he spoke about his people, and his king. "High Lord, I am grateful and impressed by your bravery and kindness," he said. "But are you aware that this kingdom and Arken are no longer allied? These men's responsiveness is admirable, but how did Arken forces come to be within this country's borders in the first place?

[Emora Deen]

"No, I understand we are no longer allies..." Sifan muttered. "But, we still trade with Arken out of necessity. We simply cannot cut them off all together without finding an alternate means of getting the supplies that we need."

"There is no need to cut us off altogether," an Arken diplomat interrupted. "We may not be aligned as we were, but that does not make our two countries enemies. We can be friends, and that is why we are still here. We see our friend hurting, and we offer it help. As we speak my sorcerers are searching for a cure for this plague, what is the King Hajaris doing in the mean time?"

"To be fair," Sifan interrupted. "The King was unaware of our plight until a few moments ago. When I sent word that we needed to meet, it was before the plague had come to fruition. I would greatly like to meet with the King... I have not seen him since before the war. Unfortunately, I do not think it is wise for anyone from the city to venture to meet him. Anyone of us could be carriers... You yourself may want to cleanse your body before returning to him."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad nodded. "Is there an uninfected place I can guide him to meet with you?" He checked himself, looking the man over again and singling out his unsteady pulse from the others in the room. "More importantly, are you well enough to leave this place?"

[Emora Deen]

Sifan smirked. "No," he admitted. "Seems I'll be joining the pile soon. Until then, I'm going to try and do what I can to save what's left of my city. I can send my daughter out to meet him. I've kept her isolated since the start. I'm sure she'd be eager to get out of the city and away from the smell. I noticed how you entered my chambers, can you leave the same way? Can you get my daughter out without cutting through the city? She can debrief the king."

"I insist one of my men accompany them," the Arken diplomat muttered. "Marcus," the man called. The one who had removed his helmet to called Vlad's name stepped forward. "Meet Ambassador Dracul and the High Lord's daughter at the edge of the city."

"Yes, sir," Marcus replied, heading for the door.

[Soran Nightblade]

"I think not," Vlad said, stopping the Arken man before he could leave. "Your assistance here is valued, but bringing a second person who has certainly been exposed to a plague with us to the capital is unwise. If you require treatment, I would advise your men to transport you to Arken, where you've indicated research is underway. Atul may have a better plan to provide resources to protect the survivors who have been exposed, in which case we will implement it immediately, but the high lord's daughter must come with me alone.

[Emora Deen]

"That's all very well," said the Arken diplomat. "We expected as much. That is why a fleet has been dispatched to the capital already. We were unaware that the King was coming to Ida, or we would have not sent one to Ringuard. We simply wanted to offer our aid as quickly as possible. We have long been friends with the Hajarian people, and just because of differences recently doesn't mean we are willing to turn our back on them. Marcus will stay here, I understand your wariness to present him to the King."

Sifan nodded. "It pleases me that Arken is so concerned for our people, and our King. Give me one moment and I'll send for my daughter."

Sifan nodded to a servant near the door, and he disappeared quickly.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad took a step back and studied the Arken men's words while he awaited Sifan's daughter. A fleet? Dispatched to the capital? "How...proactive of you," he said, biting back his skepticism. He did not want those people reaching the capital while he and Atul weren't present. It felt too much like an invasion.

And to his furthest memory, Arken didn't have friends. It had allies, enemies...and victims. His gaze went to Sifan. "Since I cannot bring you and King Atul together in person, what may I bring to him as your immediate needs, for your self and the city, high lord?" the vampire asked, allowing the question to be open to the room and the Arken soldiers. Whatever they were supplying, it clearly wasn't enough.

[Emora Deen]

The High Lord sat back wearily in his chair. "Arken sent for food, it will be here shortly. Our immediate needs are doctors, nurses... Something to keep the people comfortable until they pass. Right now, we have no idea what this is. Arken has been helping with that as well. We need researchers, Alchemists... healers. We need the gift of the Goddess Attara. Evything, Ambassador Dracul. We need everything."

"Father?" murmured a soft voice from the doorway. A pretty young girl, no older than twenty stood leaning into the room. "Is it okay to come in?"

"No, child. Stay out... This is Ambassador Dracul. He is going to take you out of the city to meet the King. I need you to explain to him what happened," Sifan told her firmly. "Please, do this for me."

"I can't leave you..."

"Espha," Sifan replied sternly. "Do not come in. Go with Ambassador Dracul."

Espha looked warily to Vlad, and then slowly she nodded. "As you wish, Father."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad frowned at the young woman. She was still girlish, but he could see the beginnings of her father's calm wisdom already in the girl's eyes. "Your king will send you further aid. You've done a remarkable job, high lord," Vlad said nodded his respect to the weakening man. "Your daughter will be kept safe."

His ruby eyes fell on the girl. He walked to the fireplace at the back of the room and drew a large armful of logs from the wood bin. "Lead me the way you came, my lady. Toward your chambers. Stay ahead of me," he directed, giving no explanation as he approached her..

[Emora Deen]

Espha nodded. She turned around and lead Vlad back down the hall and up a small spiral staircase, then down another hall until she came to a small door near the end. Espha pushed the door open and stepped out of the way to allow Vlad entrance. "I'm sorry, I don't see how this is going to get us to the King. Do you have magic of some sort?"

[Soran Nightblade]

"I do," Vlad smirked. "But I'll need to touch you."

He didn't offer much more explanation than that as he explored her room, giving her a wide berth. Like most of the structured he'd seen in Hajaria, it was built mostly of cobbled sandstone and very little wood. He proceeded to take everything that did have wood, including the door and the shutters, casually from their hinges and drag them to the center of the room, using her bed as the centerpiece. He rummaged through her vanity and dumped all her perfumes out onto the blankets, throwing the bottles carelessly aside. "I need a match," he muttered, looking around.

[Emora Deen]

Espha had no idea what he was doing, but she went to a drawer near the bed and pulled out a small tin box of matches. She tossed it to him and backed away slowly. "Is this part of the magic?"

[Soran Nightblade]

"Not really," Vlad sighed. He took a seat on the bed like he was about to clip his nails. "If I had magic for this, I wouldn't need matches. Try to tolerate the smoke. It will help get you clean as well. This will only take a minute." He struck a match idly and dropped it to the blankets. The perfumes ignited in a rush of flame, surrounding him. He pulled the box in half and let the remaining matches scatter all around him. It didn't take long for the extremely dry wood to catch fire and rise up over his skin. He gritted his teeth and accepted the pain without much emotion. It was only pain.

"Oh, and take your clothes off," he called over the dancing plasma.