Heirot

"You're welcome, dear, she said, patting her forehead gently before leaving the two of them alone.

Vlad smiled. "Alright, my lady. You're not allowed to sleep until at least half of this goes down the hatch." He spooned out a portion and held it out to her, fighting the temptation to tease.

Tenele frowned at him. "You're spoon feeding me," she muttered darkly. She tried to push herself to sit, and gasped at the fiery pain that ran through her back. She rested back into the pillows, allowing him to feed her. "If you start making little noises and fluttering that spoon in my face I will put it someplace you'll have to excavate to retrieve."

"Well, I've had more than my share of excavation today," the vampire scoffed as he helped her finish the food. When he was satisfied with what she'd eaten, he finally stopped the forced march of food and set the bowl aside. "Alright, now I expect perfect health when you wake up. I need you to fight the army while I take a bubble bath."

Tenele smirked. "If you don't eat," she said in a sigh. "That might not be far from the truth." Her eyes stayed closed, and her breathing evened out.

Vlad listened to her breathing and leaned forward on his elbows, raking his fingers into his hair. It was an abnormally human gesture, but he was tired. And as Tenele said, only one thing would change that. He wanted these people's approval, and that didn't feel good. But it meant he was going to have to wait for someone to decide when he was allowed to feed. That wasn't necessarily new to him; waiting for permission had been one of the rules of his relationship with the queen for many years before he'd been entrusted to use his own judgment.

The hunger bothered him less than the nausea, and what truly bothered him there was that he suspected it was not related to the hunger. It was linked to the holy ground he was standing on. He couldn't deny it anymore, but it was possible he could ignore. Just one more day, and they could get rid of the bastards attacking them and be married in this place. All he had to do was stomach the place one more day.

They certainly were taking their time. After an hour or so, a monk finally came back to the door. "Lord Dracul," he said to the ragged looking vampire. "There's been a decision. They are ready for you."

"Good," Vlad said, standing up and walking to the door casually. "Honestly, I don't see why you even gave those prisoners a second thought....anyway...." He froze in the doorway.

A line of people stood outside the door. More than fifteen. "What is this?"

"Volunteers," the monk said uneasily.

"We're useless in a battle," said one of the men lined up. A monk waiting to offer a blood sacrifice to a demon. That was a new one. "If we're going to lean all the responsibility on you, we'll have to lend our strength some other way."

"I want to protect this church. It's all that's left," a woman said quietly from further back in the line."

"What happened to the prisoners?" Vlad snapped quietly to the monk who had summoned him.

"They...committed suicide, Lord."

Vlad looked at the volunteers, wondering if he had fallen asleep at Tenele's bedside and started dreaming all this. "Do you people even know how this works?"

The man at the front of the line turned his head to show the vampire his neck. "Go for it and get it over with."

Vlad reached back to close the door behind him and approached the volunteer. He looked straight into the man's eyes. The rest of the line gazed in disbelief as the tension seemed to leave the man's face. Vlad leaned down slowly, though his target was already sedated, more for the benefit of the people waiting behind him. Their fear funneled into his nervous system like a drug. He bit the man as gently as he could, but he was the first, and the man had to know he would receive the roughest treatment. The rest backed up a little, but didn't go anywhere. In a matter of moments, it was over. Vlad released the man as if he had just been standing there the whole time. The confused look left his eyes, and he blinked, his hand going to his neck. Vlad's hand followed his and pressed the man's palm to his own neck.

"Pressure here," he directed the dazed man. "Sit against the wall." The man pressed, and sat.

The vampire raised his eyes to the next in line. "Do you still volunteer?" he asked her, a hint of amusement in his gaze. The woman held her own neck, as if in sympathy, but she lowered her shaking hand and stepped forward. Now that they knew he could actually stop, the rest of them looked a little calmer.

Twenty minutes later, eighteen people sat resting against the wall. The chef had brought out some water and dates for everyone, and they had calmed enough to talk quietly among themselves. Vlad stood against the opposite wall. The group seemed more accustomed to him after so much time in close proximity, maybe because of the intimacy of their sacrifices. He almost fit into the strange scene.

Except he felt great. Strong, and confident, and ready. When they'd rested for about half an hour, he finally moved away from the wall. "We will keep you safe tomorrow. I give you my word," he said. He was never very good at thank yous. He just left it there and returned to Tenele's room to watch over her until dawn arrived.

Just before dawn, when the sun was barely cresting the horizon and the earth was filled with gray light, Tenele moved. Her eyes fluttered open and she licked her dry lips. She found Vlad still sitting where she remembered. "Is it morning?" she asked him. She couldn't tell since the room was in the center of the monastery and there were no windows. His eyes looked brighter, so she took that as a sign that he had eaten.

* * *

A hooded figure moved towards the side entrance of the monastery, one more closely hidden by the thick brush. He tapped on the wooden door with his leather gloves, and they singed around the knuckles. He shook the fire from his hand. A metal slate drew back and a pair of eyes peered at him.

"Are you..."

"I bring a message," he told the monk. "For the vampire."

"Who are you?" he asked slowly.

"If you don't want your little monastery and all inside to be slaves to Shea, you might want to fetch him in a hurry. It doesn't matter who I am, just the message that I bring," Vincent Raider told him sternly.

"Nearly," Vlad answered her. Her color had improved during the night. The other monks who shared the room had filtered in and were, surprisingly, asleep despite his presence.

Vlad heard the footsteps running down the hall, which kind of took the surprise out of the door slamming open.

"Lord Dracul, the monk whispered apologetically as all their roommates startled awake. "The one from last night...he's at the front door. He's asking for you."

Tenele moved to sit up, and her back went afire. She wouldn't be sitting up without help, and that didn't make her chances of fighting any better. "Did he say what he wants?"

"He says he brings a message for the vampire," the monk told him. "Maybe his terms have changed? He seemed urgent."

* * *

Vincent paced back and forth in short steps, his well tuned ears listening to the army a short distance away start to gather into some formation of what resembled organization.

Vlad narrowed his eyes on the messenger. "Fine," he finally said, standing up. He looked down at Tenele for a moment to reach a silent agreement, then gestured for the monk to lead the way, since he seemed barely able to contain himself. About halfway down the hall, he disappeared. Who knows how far the man would walk before realizing the vampire was no longer following him.

He appeared directly outside the front door, feet away from the stranger. Vlad crossed his arms and studied the man skeptically. "You have a flare for drama, don't you?" he mused.

Vincent turned slowly. "I'm afraid I don't know what your talking about," he muttered, sizing the vampire up slowly. "I came to make sure you and the Queen's Maiden weren't being foolish enough to turn yourselves over to Artanin. That would be the hooded man from last night... which is completely different from the hooded man before you now." His hand moved to lower his hood, and he stopped, dropping it back at his side. "The Queen's Maiden was wounded. How is she?"

Vlad smiled unpleasantly. "Is there some reason I should think any of that is your business?"

Vincent's nerves bristled a little. "Call it friendly concern," he muttered. "Whatever they try to tell you, do not let them get their hands on her. Those priests of Verin are mad and... Her mother had history with him. Even you are a danger to her."

"Exactly what is that supposed to mean?" Vlad demanded, darkness glowing into his voice. One question at a time. Thought it was tempting to just slice the stranger apart for his presumptuous bossiness. Who was he to inform him that he should protect his fiance?

"It means that what Verin wants, Verin gets, even if he has to use another body to do it," Vincent growled, the wolf coming out in his voice. "He wasn't even supposed to know about her. Its too late now. She shouldn't be with a demon it endangers her, regardless of Verin." He cooled his temper as much as he could. This guy was protective of her, but he couldn't tell if he was pleased by that fact or annoyed.

Vlad narrowed his eyes. He wasn't going to bother justifying to this stranger why he was safe for Tenele. He didn't trust him, and the less he knew about what they'd been through and what they had up their sleeves, the better. "You know her. How?"