The Cost of Peace

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad rolled his eyes. He should have been surprised to hear of Atul's lineage, but right now Atul was correct. The only effect the knowledge had on him was that it heightened his distrust of this whole situation. And, oddly, Fero's blunt revelation of what Atul apparently held as secret elevated his opinion of the rotund man from distrust to dislike. Of course, he had no reason to feel protective of Atul. It was just the principle of the matter. "I'm sure you understand that one well-flung stone will not destroy a giant. If these people do not intend to sustain this effort, my help will only ensure your demise." It was clear from the vampire's tone that his warning was merely a disclaimer. Ensuring Fero's eventual demise didn't appear to conflict with Vlad's plans in any way. Of course, Fero was talking about pitting him against Verin. That had its complications, to put things lightly. Just as lightning didn't strike in the same place twice, he hardly expected another divine information if he invited the god to lock arms with him.

[Emora Deen]

Fero sighed and scratched the back of his head. "I'm old. Bound to die eventually. How I've lived this long having defied the great God Verin I don't know. I'd assume that whatever awaits me in the afterlife will not be pleasant. I don't want to die having been a failure as a priest, and a failure as person. I want my life to have meaning, and I want to give these people the knowledge that there is something out there besides giving in. That they have choices. That though you fear something, you should always fight for it nevertheless. I want Atul to be king, because he might not believe that he can be better than those that have come before him, but I know he can. He longs to free his people from Verin. Help me, help him."

Tenele sat up slowly to lean away from the tree. "We need to discuss this."

"I understand," Fero said. "If you help me, I'll send you home."

"If we help you, then the chances of seeing home again are very slim." Tenele told him. She grabbed the tree and pulled herself to her feet. She held onto the tree just to be sure she could keep her balance. Tenele was a soldier in many ways, and the concept of not seeing home again wasn't something new to her. "Now, where is this bath you mentioned?"

"Follow Nadia, she'll show you."

"Usa has prepared you a room, and I've laid you both out clothing," Nadia told them, bowing her head respectfully.

Tenele reached out and grabbed hold of Vlad's arm, her green eyes flickered up to him. She didn't want to admit that she was unsure of whether she could make it there on her own or not.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad looked down at her, her gentle weight pressing unsteadily on his arm. He stepped in front of her and pulled her in against the front of his body, careful of her wounded shoulder. He didn't care how sandy she was. He kissed the top of her head and wove his hand into her hair against the back of her head. His body was actually warm for once, thanks to the sun. "You are an impressive woman, maiden girl," he said against her hair, using her nickname for old time's sake. He breathed against her head, then released her and proceeded to walk her toward the house without explaining his sudden display of affection.

[Emora Deen]

She leaned against him for support, which probably wasn't effecting him in the least. Nadia lead them into the house. Atule was towards the living room, leaning out an open window to look at something she couldn't see. He seemed troubled, and you could almost feel the heat billowing off of him. They passed a room with a large door. It was sealed closed, and had an emblem of Verin on it. Tenele's eyes watched it, half expecting the demon god to stop out to cause trouble. But, nothing happened and they passed by it with no trouble.

There room was towards the end of the hall. It wasn't large and elaborate as the room in the palace had been. It was about half the size. The window was made from 4x4 pains of red tinted glass, and unlike the other windows in the building it still remained closed. The bed was large mahogony, intricatly carved. Sweeping gold fabric hung from a hoop over the center of the bed, and tied to each corner. The footboard was level with the matress, while the head board displayed a carved processional scene. There was a dressing table, and a small chair. Across the heavily embroidered cover laid a rust colored dress and mans tunic.

"Usa has prepared you a bath..." Nadia told them as she stepped over and pulled the fabric back from a doorway. The room was filled with lamp light and steam, and Tenele immediatly recognised the smell of scented oil. "We'll have a meal prepared for you in a while."

"Thank you..." Tenele replied as the woman left, and she eased into the washroom, gripping the door frame as she left Vlad's steady grasp reluctantly.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad watched her make her way into the bath room, glancing in long enough to be sure there was no one else there and that there were no special entrances. Satisfied, he left her to bathe privately and walked back out to the hall where Atul was standing. Vlad had never seen the prince so anxious. "What has your buns in a knot, your highness?" he asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall behind him, looking at Atul's back.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele stepped into the room after Vlad left. She watched him leave a bit reluctantly, but she knew he needed to do what he needed to do. Not to mention she didn't want him to be babysitting her. She had forgotten the ache in her shoulder up until the point she had slipped the shirt from her arms and reached for the sand caked banadage around it. The wound had stuck to the guaze, and sand and grit had gotten underneath it. She hissed as she pulled the thin now not-so-white fabric away.

"Oh," she muttered at the sight of the wound. Sand everywhere, but honestly could she expect any less? Quivering she lowered herself into the very hot bath after finishing undressing. The water felt good against her skin. She slowly sank under the water, clenching her teeth as the water ran over her wound. Now it was getting feeling in it again. She scurbbed her hair, but seriously doubted that all the sand would come out in one night. She tried her best anyway. Sitting up in the water she leaned her back against the bronze tub with a heavy sigh.

She rested there, weary from her movements already. She knew that once she had food and more water her strength would return to her. So she'd just have to rest and save what energy she had until then. Her green eyes watched the flower petals in the water float around. She watched them as her eyes grew heavy. The water felt good, and she was comfortable...

* * *

Atul's eyes didn't leave the garden out back. He leaned out of the window, lowering his head with a heavy sigh. "Come on, Vlad. You're bright... You know what has me angry," he muttered, his swirling blue eyes flickering to the side as he peered over his shoulder at the tall vampire. "I'm surprised you are even in the same room as me, given what you know now. Unless the gravity of the situation hasn't settled on your shoulders."

He turned, sitting on the window, an arm outstretched and a hand gripping the wall next to him tightly. "I didn't mean for you or her to find out, but I guess I couldn't count on Fero to keep his mouth shut. Only the priests and a select few nobles are aware of who my father is." It was impossible for him to hide his obvious disgust. "He could have taken control of me at any point on our journey. See, unlike you, I cannot fight his control. Whether it be because his blood flows through my veins, or I'm really just that weak... He controls this land through my father... as he controls Arken through Shea. There is one place left that he has no control over... and he will find a way to control that too. Can't you feel it?"

Atul stood up and walked away from the window. "The air is building with something. Brewing and trembling. Our world is on the verge of exploding with chaos. You know, as well as I do... that Ighten is going to fall. They've already invaded your kingdom, and are pushing towards your capital. Arken will attack your ports, along with my father's kingdom. How do you suppose your queen can hold off two kingdoms? Her people will be slaughtered and inslaved. As much as I hate to admit it, if Tenele would have agreed to what they had proposed they would have suffered much less. Verin would have gained control over Ighten, and for the moment be appeased.They invited you here, because they knew that the Queen would send you and Tenele. He thought he could gain control of you, and use you to get Sinead out of the way. And Tenele..." He hushed as a maid passed them by and he went back to the window, gripping it tightly.

"I have risked nothing in getting you here, but the safety of these people. My people. If I go back to them, they will welcome me. They will forgive my transgression. But, they will not forgive Fero or his family... I have come to a point where I know not what to do."

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad studied the prince's back as he spoke. He was slightly surprised by Atul's candor with him, and perhaps due to that, he decided to speak seriously rather than heckle the prince for the moment. The matter at hand seemed so solemn and immense, and Atul so visibly burdened with it, that it was impossible for even Vlad to deal with it flippantly. He saw in the prince the same desperate helplessness he had felt nights before as he waited out the night, self-exiled, with Verin's relentless power flooding his mind and threatening to break it. He observed silence for a moment, because he didn't intend to speak his mind casually. When he had chosen his words, he spoke in the low, counseling tone of a friend.

"What you're doing now...do you understand that it's making him stronger? Your words tell me you believe in Verin and that you're convinced he will rule this world. You worship him with your faith and your fear," he said without judgment. He was quiet again, thinking. "They say the rule with kings is the same as it is with gods. Their power is equal to the sum of the confidence placed in them. It has nothing to do with being strong or weak, Atul; you don't oppose Verin because you believe, along with many others, that he is unstoppable. And your combined faith becomes his power and perpetuates his strength. With you, on the other hand, your only source of power appears to be Fero."

[Emora Deen]

Atul glanced over his shoulder and scoffed. "You make it seem as if it is just as easy as not believing in something. As if he is just a figment of all of our imagination. But, he is not. He is very real, and lives very much within me..." He turned back to Vlad. "Is that what you did?"

He sat in the window again. "You said, back at the palace... That you didn't believe in him. Did you mean that he didn't exist... Or that you believed he had no power over you? Is that what saved you from him?"

* * *

Tenele sat up quickly with a gasp, sloshing water around in the tub. She had fallen a sleep and hadn't meant to. And for a breif moment in her sleep something had told her that it was dangerous. But, when she opened her eyes there was no one there and it was perfectly safe. She finished her bath, taking her slow sweet time.

Stepping from the bronze tub she wrapped a thick off-white cloth around her. Slowly, she stepped into the bedroom and dried her body off. Too tired or too lazy to even dress she fell over onto the bed, curling up towards the headboard and resting her head on the pillows.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad's expression waxed toward a frown. "I didn't say it was easy," he said, looking away from the prince and the window. He had not meant to sound proud or to preach at the demigod, but really, how believable was that? "I was fortunate that others that believed in me when my resolve failed. I drew strength from them," he said cautiously, as if the truth of this was only just occurring to him now. He hadn't escaped Verin alone. Tenele, Sinead, and even Thor had supported him. It was a humbling thought, and as a general rule, he didn't particularly like feeling humbled. He could make out the sound of Tenele emerging from her bath down the hall, and listened attentively to her footsteps and her soft landing on the bed.

[Emora Deen]

Atul sighed. "Well, doing what I've been doing hasn't been helping at all." He shook his head. "No, Fero is right. I should do something, and you are right as well. I should not let Verin control me." He stood up running a hand through his hair. The blue flames in his eyes cooled and returned to there deep black, and the scales slowly shrank and disappeared. Once again he returned to his human form. "If my people need something to believe in, then I will be that something. I will still my father's kingdom out from under him." He went to step passed Vlad and paused next to him. Reaching out he placed a hand on his shoulder. "You know, for a cocky bastard, you can be quite wise." Atul left out the front door, going back to speak with Fero.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad closed his eyes. "I have good reason to be cocky," he asserted with a smirk. He didn't seem to mind Atul's hand on his shoulder. Perhaps the prince was growing on him. Nah. He opened his eyes and watched the man walk outside, pondering him for another minute. Wondering if he could actually do it. The low throb of his hunger drew him out of his thoughts and turned his mind toward more practical concerns. In a town this small, taking a victim would attract attention no matter how cleanly he did it. He wasn't beyond the limits of control; he could wait. But the question was how long Fero intended to detain them in this place. He gathered his brain back together and made his way into the kitchen, where Nadia was preparing food for Tenele. Vlad watched her in perfect silence, observing to be sure nothing poisonous wound up in the meal. When the woman finally noticed him there, she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"I will bring this to her," he informed her without much warmth, taking the tray from her. He afforded her a polite, lukewarm nod and made his way out of the kitchen and back to Tenele's room. When he entered, he found her curled on the bed, though the pace of her breath told him she wasn't asleep yet. He set the tray on the mattress beside her and watched her rest. He ran his large hand along the side of her wet hair to wake her. It was probably the kindest method he'd ever used to do so. He promised himself he would invent some clever prank twofold for next time. It was so important to keep the love alive in long-term relationships; he didn't want her to think he was becoming lazy. He smirked down at her.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele's eyes fluttered open. Her green eyes flashed to him as she rolled partly over on her back and tilted her head in his direction. "I keep falling a sleep," she mused with a soft smile, nuzzling the side of her face into the soft feather pillow. She reached out and brushed his hair, and sand came fluttering out of it. "You should get a bath yourself..." Tenele pushed herself into a sitting position a little reluctantly, smiling at the sight of the food. The cloth around her from hung low on her back and sides. Her left side was a dark blue, from where Gray had hit her. Her chest wasn't blue, which surprised her, but her shoulder wasn't pretty.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad nodded to her. "I will do that. Eat before you fall asleep again. I'll see to your bandages when I return," he said, patting her hip as he stood and walked to the wash room. He seemed distracted, which he was. In the bathroom, he removed his clothes and took stock of his muscled body. He was well enameled in sand and dirt, which looked dark against his pale skin. Bathing seemed like as good a thing as any to distract him from his hunger. He walked into the tub, splashing slightly, and sat against the side. Leaning forward, he dunked his head between his knees and shook the sand out of his hair. When that was done, he flung his head up out of the water and tossed his wet hair out his face.

[Emora Deen]

Tenele watched him walk away, and knew that he was right. So she sat up, pulling the tray to her with one hand. The food looked good, but smelled better. She started eating slowly, but soon ate much faster. There was a lot of food, more than she usually would have eaten. But, this was good. Her stomach longed for this food. And when it was all gone, and nothing, not even a crum was left, she laid back against the headboard with a satisfied sigh.

She was usually a very lady like woman when it came to table manners. But, without her really being able to stop it, a soft burp escaped her lips. She placed a hand on her stomach, giggling softly.

Tenele was content, sleepy, but content and full. She sank back down against the pillows and pulled the towel so that it covered her chest a bit more modestly. Her eyes drifted closed, and once again she napped while waiting on Vlad to bath.

[Soran Nightblade]

Vlad sat in the hot water and tilted his head back toward the ceiling. He was mostly clean, but the bath left him feeling sluggish. At least, he wanted to believe it was the bath.

He thought about how he would get Tenele home if their hosts turned out to be useless. If he took a large meal in this village, he could probably Teleport them back to Ighten. That would involve killing innocents, and several of them. The queen's seal inside him would prevent him from that, or at least he believed it would. It also seemed an unbefitting parting gift for Atul, who had risked a great deal to bring them here, to dispatch a baker's dozen of civilians in the only town that hoped for his ascent to the throne. There seemed no good way but to wait, and the no-life king was not a fan of waiting on the best of days.

He remained in the bath a few more moments, then stood up and toweled off. There seemed little point in putting on his old clothes after bathing, and he hadn't given thought to a change, so he made his way back into the bedroom with his towel around his waist, not really caring if he discovered clean clothing or not. It was too damn hot for clothes.

Tenele was lying on the bed where he'd left her, apparently asleep. He noted with approval that the food was gone. He crossed over to the bed and sat down next to her, observing her sleep like it was something interesting.