Heirot

"Whoah now," Vlad called, halting the man as he retreated. "You must forgive the goddess, she's had a blow to the head. Come have a look at her. I won't bite," he said with a jagged smirk.

Tenele grumbled something under her breath as the priest halted and tilted his head over his shoulder with a great big smile. He bowed continuously on his way back, jingling all the way as the cold rings and other things bumped together. He bowed to his prince and then to the goddess, who was glaring at him. "Okay," she finally replied, letting her hands slip from Vlad and she turned towards the edge of the pool.

She knelt on the ledge and put her hands in the air for someone to pull her from the water. Atul reached down and wrapped his hands around her wrists and tugged her up gently until she was standing on her feet. She shivered a bit, for the afternoon air was cooling with the setting of the sun, and the wind flowing over her wet skin brought a chill to her. Her thin light colored dress clung to her. She wrapped her arms about herself and glanced to Vlad, narrowing her eyes. She smiled slightly before mouthing the words, 'I'm going to kill you.'

"Alright," she muttered, trying to ignore the fact that she felt a bit exposed and self-conscious and she wasn't even about to look and see if the dress was transparent, she already could feel it clinging to her like a second skin. She took a seat on one of the stone benches that were scattered about around the pool and waited patiently to be observed."

Atul glanced to Vlad. "Do you want to talk about what you found?" he asked him quietly.

"Not especially," the vampire taunted through a stiff smile without looking at the prince as he observed Tenele with the priest. Vlad was rather enjoying watching the doctor awkwardly fumble for a polite way to listen to the pulse in her chest amidst the wet gossamer fabric. The human's confidence earlier seemed slightly shaken by the task of actually inspecting the goddess without disrespecting her earthly form, and the dance of apologies and humble requests seemed more than worth the heat he might pick up from Tenele for this later.

Eventually, though, he did look at Atul. "Actually, I did get something from Verin. It seems he has a secret love of baking pastries."

Atul blinked at Vlad’s comment, and the mental image of his father in an apron before a kitchen brick oven pleasantly pulling pastries from it was a bit disturbing on many levels. “Alright, well just let me know if were going got our asses handed to us or not.”

Tenele glanced up at the short man as he seemed to dance about her, examining everything but what was causing her actual problem. She waited patiently as he checked her pulse. "Are you quite finished?" she asked him, glancing up to meet his dark eyes. He smiled, and shook his head eagerly as he went behind her and began to part her silver hair down the middle of her head. His hand brushed over the bump where she'd cracked her skull. "OW!" Tenele cried out, jerking away and clenching her hands in her dress skirt. There was no way she was going to clutch her head after all.

"I'm sorry, your holiness. I'm sorry. I beg your forgiveness, oh, holy one." He was nearly on his knees groveling, as if he were pleading for his life.

Tenele waved her hand, shaking her head. "No," she muttered. "Its fine... I just wasn't prepared for that."

"You have big bump," he acknowledged, shifting his hand into his pocket and drawing forth tubes of liquid and powder. "Usually I through a bit of dust in the air and tell the person I've blessed them so the Gods will heal there wound. Hehe, but as you are a Goddess I do not entirely know if that would work. Doesn't work normally..." He scowled, shrugging his shoulders. "But, it keeps the peasants happy." He chuckled darkly and set the tubes down, digging more in his pockets as if he were searching for something else. "Where is it... Hmm... Well, I thought it was... Ah! found it." He pulled from his pocket a tiny brown seed. "This will do the trick. Take this, and the pain will go away. Poof, like it never happened. But! And listen carefully. Do not sleep for at least 12 hours. You bumped your head pretty hard, your holiness.”

She took the seed from him and observed it for a moment. “Ugh… Thanks.”

He grinned while nodding wildly before gathering all the things he’d pulled from his pockets and placing them back in. His eyes looked her over, as if he were trying to keep a mental note of what a goddess looked like in human form. “Your holiness,” he bid farewell as he bowed while backing away towards Atul.

Vlad's attention cut away from Atul as the apparently incompetent doctor began trying to escape. "Hold it," he said, "She has to ride with her men at dawn. So if you're going to ask her to eat magical little seeds, you'd better tell us what they do first. We can't have her passed out, or dancing like a monkey, or hallucinating monkeys, or anything else to do with monkeys."

The priest looked at him as if he were totally confused at what the vampire could be hinting towards. "Its a herb that is well known as a deafener to pain. It is called serza. It will do nothing but get rid of the pain, it won't make her any more fit to ride tomorrow. It will simply make it less painful to do so. No hallucinations... and if she gets any its not my fault. Hmph..." He wagged his finger at them dangerously. "Now, your highness... I will attend to my other duties." He bowed to Atul and to Vlad, and finally a deeper bow for Tenele.

Tenele watched them. It had grown increasingly darker now, and it was nearly to the point of being too dark to see. There were lights coming from the windows in the tower, where people had begin to fill the grand building. The night air was always cold in the dessert, and she couldn't quite figure out why. She hugged her arms to her, holding the seed in the palm of her hand.

Vlad climbed out of the pool, the water running off his muscled body as he came to stand next to Atul and opposite Tenele. He could see goosebumps on her arms, but he didn't need to try to warm her up to know that it wouldn't work. He was lukewarm, at best, by nature, and currently drenched, so he kept his icy arms to himself for the moment.

His eyes flickered to Atul. "What exactly is the plan for your march tomorrow?" he asked them both. While the preparations had been underway all afternoon, he had been contemplating how to get in and out of Verin's mind in one piece, so he'd fallen out of the loop on their strategy. As things were, what he'd gotten from Verin made little sense. A trap was waiting in a city they were presumably going to attack, but the details didn't make sense yet.

Atul shifted when Vlad asked him that question. It was a difficult and long drawn out one to answer. He shifted to sit next to Tenele on the bench as she hugged her own shivering form. “Tenele, why don’t you go inside and put some warm clothes on?” He asked her gently.

Tenele glanced to him for a moment, and then to the doorway that was dark and open. “I guess that would be the proper thing to do. Wouldn’t want to be too much entertainment for the feast,” she said, glancing down at her dress.

“I’ll be back when I’ve found something dry,” she told them as she slowly stood up, still gripping the seed in her hand. She was careful about her movements, not wanting to bring about the dizziness she had felt earlier. She glanced at Vlad with a smile as she passed him by before stopping and turning back to him. “And don’t think I’m going to forget. I still have to kill you for letting Dr. Snickers look me over only to give me a plant seed!”

Vlad gave the departing Tenele a self-pleased smirk as she threatened him. "Don't even think about sleeping in there," he warned. He watched her enter the house before turning his attention back to Atul. "If that's your best doctor other than Fero, it's no wonder you haven't won the war yet," he remarked, taking a seat on the bench where Tenele had been next to the prince.

"All joking aside, I did get something out of Verin," he said, his voice dropping to a lower, more serious tone. With Tenele away in the house, the chipper bravado seemed to strain out of his expression, making him surprisingly solemn. "He's got some sort of surprise waiting for us. He's planning for us to arrive and find the city empty. I'm not seeing a lot of sense in a plan like that. He has no reason to want to give us such a strong vantage point to defend from. Unless he's feeling prepared to sacrifice the whole capital to take us down in some sort of demolition..." The vampire looked annoyed as he thought aloud. It was clear he'd been thinking about this the entire time since his encounter with Verin. "I backed out too soon. Had I waited a few seconds longer, I would know more," he said with displeasure.

Atul watched him as he listened and then he turned his head up to the night sky, and the thousands of stars beyond. “Had you gone any further, I fear Tenele might not have been able to help bring you back from him,” Atul muttered darkly.

Atul rested his hands on his knees and he glanced up to the vampire. “We’re riding on the capital city, against my better judgment mind you. But, I am taking into consideration all that my advisers and generals have told me. They all agree that we must make our standing, and over throw my father by force. A prolonged revolution will be devastating for us. The faster, the swifter, and the more forceful the attack, the easier it will be for us to take them. Verin would not give us the capital, as you said, unless something was to be gained from it for him… What do you suppose we should do? They are bent on riding tomorrow… Bent on risking it all.”

“Maybe a small team should be lead in first to see what is going on. If it is a trap, or if my father really abandoned the city to make us think we had won the battle, but not yet the war? I don’t know, maybe even that is too much of a risk. Who could I ask to lead that suicide mission, though I know one head-strong and insane woman who might volunteer. I mean to lead it myself, I won‘t ask anyone to do something so insane and not be apart of it. So, what about you? What do you say? We all three go about it? Or maybe… one of us should stay behind? I don‘t know, I‘d appreciate and take any advice that you have. At this point, I‘d take anything given to me. ” Atul muttered disdainfully.

* * *

Tenele snuck around behind the gathered people as they talked and laughed amongst each other. They’d already begun drinking, having sacked the city for all its wine and brought it into the large common room at the lower and central part of the tower. She snuck up stares, keeping her head low as she passed some people. But, sadly for Tenele, when one looked as different as night and day amongst these people, it was hard to pretend to be someone else and keep the attention off of you.

When she was back in the seclusion and safety of the room she closed the door behind her and took flint to light the oil lamps. She set the seed down on the bed and she went to the wardrobe and sifted through it until her hand made contact with red silk. It felt nice on her finger tips, and so she pulled it free to admire it. She had to admit it was beautiful fabric, and she draped it over a chair for the moment until she could get out of her wet clothes.

When she had changed walked to the long mirror hanging on the wall opposite the bed. The dress was long, and hung from one shoulder. She pondered for a moment why she had chosen it, and why not something else. Hadn’t Vlad told her once that red was his favorite color?

Tenele frowned at herself in the mirror, the thin strands of her hair already drying. She was dressing up to impress Vlad, which she didn’t think was a bad thing. But, the reason she was doing it appeared to be. Did she honestly deep down feel like tomorrow could be her last day?

She’d rode into battle many times and never told herself she’d die. She was automatically assuming she would. But, she was human, and the frailty of her species had only become more apparent when surrounded by immortals. Vlad, a vampire. Atul, a demi-god. And Verin… Well, enough said. She felt like the lone-ranger on the front of an easily extinguished life form.

She spun in front of the mirror once, looking at the back of the dress, which really wasn’t nothing fancy. It was really quite simple, yet elegant and pretty. She liked it. More or less satisfied she turned to the wardrobe again and grabbed a cloak, knowing silk and the cold outdoors wasn’t the most intelligent idea. In the scuffle of opening the wooden doors and digging through the fabric she knocked something out. It struck the floor with a loud skidding thud, and in the process of that loud noise filling the air she heard a deep voice say something from behind her. “You look pretty in red.” At least, that’s what it had sounded like.

Tenele whirled around, almost falling back inside the wardrobe. Her eyes darted around and towards the deep black gaping hole that was the bathroom. She tried to pierce the darkness with her eyes, but could see nothing beyond. Her heart pounding, her blood rushing in her ears she stayed that way for a moment longer. But, not another would was uttered. Grabbing the cloak with her hands, her eyes not leaving where they were so intently trained, she whisked over to the bed and picked up the seed she still had not taken. She rushed to the door and pulled on the handle, and once again the stupid thing was stuck. It was strange that she felt so panicky and jumpy, but she could not help it. She tugged on the door harder and harder, the hairs on the back of her neck rising and a little voice in the back of her mind kept saying. “Something’s coming, its coming from the dark. Its coming up behind you. Something’s coming, run!” Tenele glanced behind her and saw nothing, but it did not stop her from being frightened. Tenele tugged hard on the door one more time and pulled it open. She skidding into the hall, and did not even turn back to close it behind her. She just kept going, walking fast paced towards the staircase.

She had not done that in a very long time. When she was little, and even into a teenager, she was scared of the dark. If she were walking down the hall in the middle of the night, some unconscious fear would consume her and she’d suddenly feel as if something were behind her and about to grab her. So she’d take off running down the hall to escape something that was of course not there. But, it did not stop her, she did it every time until she finally grew up.

Tenele pulled the cloak over her shoulders when she reached the bottom of the steps. She had to dance around to avoid a couple of heavy drinkers who wanted to dance. She wasn’t in the mood for that just yet. She slipped out through the front door, hugging the cloak to her as she looked around the dark and desolate city. There were a few people here and there, but mostly it was quiet.

“Stalker?” She called as she treaded down the steps, still in her bear feet. She’d forgotten to grab her shoes on the way out, but it didn’t matter. The sand was soft. She walked around back and forth in front of the large tower, a little unsure if she should go further into the city when no one knew where she was going. “Stalker?!” she called a bit louder, wondering silently if he was okay.

Despite how annoyed she’d been when first being accompanied by him, she really had grown attached to the hell hound… if that could be considered a good thing. She took half a seat on the edge of a cart, her legs sliding in the sand and her hands gripping the end. She yawned just slightly, the back of her hand moving to cover her mouth. “Come on, Stalker. I don’t have fur to keep me warm.”

Vlad crossed his arms and leaned back against the bench, deep in thought. For the moment, the no-life king and the demigod looked for all the world like a pair of old men conspiring in the park.

"It's a coin toss. If their plan is an ambush from within the city or to sabotage the city, then the quickest and the strongest are the best to investigate. That would be the two of us. But if the ambush is from beyond the city, then leaving the mortals at the sidelines would leave them as sitting ducks to enemy attack.

"But they have no reason to expect us to send a scout team. The vastly more probable theory is that they expect us to charge full-on." Vlad looked at Atul. "But if we hesitate at the edge of the city, it will be obvious what we know. If our information is going to be of any use to us, we need to walk willingly into their trap. Otherwise, they may abandon their plan."

* * * * *

Elsewhere, several men were shakily trying to corner Vlad's hellhound against a wall, warily holding out ropes and chains that they hoped to use to trap the creature. One of them had a large hole ripped in the seat of his pants, and the others were not without their own evidence of their futile attempt to catch the beast. Stalker had taken Vlad's instructions to live a little and run with them to his heart's content, apparently pleased to have some entertainment. The hellhound lowered his head and snarled at the men, sending them all a few steps back. Suddenly, though, its head rose, ears tipped alertly forward. Before the men could blink at the change in the hound's behavior, stalker suddenly leapt literally over one of their heads and bounded off into the dark, leaving them mystified for a moment before it occurred to them to pursue.

Moments later, the beast jogged on silent padded feet toward Tenele, his body materializing like a shadow out of the darkness. His red eyes flashed to hers as he dropped his stride to a walk, his powerful legs bringing him to the maiden's side at a swift glide. He circled around her slowly, as if checking out her surroundings for threats, before coming to a stop at her side. His shoulder easily reached the same height as her waist. He cast her a diligent, alien red stare.

Atul glanced to Vlad. "Then we shall willingly walk into a trap, with all eyes and all ears expecting such.... But, we should consider a plan to catch them in there own trap... And I think I have just the idea. We'll need to speak with what is left of the priests that came with Tenele... But, I think I might have a reasonably amazing idea." He grinned wildly as he watched the fountains.

"Anything else in my father's brain that might be useful?" he asked finally, just encase there was any information he might have gotten and hadn't noticed.

* * *

Tenele smiled at Stalker, running hands along his back and sinking her fingers into his fur. "Were you having fun?" she asked him sort of rhetorically. She felt more at ease now with him around, and suddenly realized how on edge she'd been. She was half tempted to believe the voice she'd heard had been all in her head. It could have been, after all the noise of whatever had hit the floor had been fairly loud.

Tenele shifted towards the door and held it open for Stalker as she stepped in last. Most of everyone in the room went quiet when the hell hound entered. She placed her hand on his head and scratched behind his ears. “Its fine,” she told them softly. “He won’t hurt anyone unless they make a move to hurt me.”

And she didn’t think anyone there would do such a thing. It still didn’t seem to ease there minds, but it was all she could do. She smelled food in the air, and she followed the scent around the room until she found the long line of meat, fruit, and spice soup. She smiled at that smell and gathered various delicious looking things on a plate and headed to a quiet part of the room to sit on a bench and eat by her lonesome.

She devoured the meal quickly, but as ever in the most lady like way. Old habits died hard, and when manners were shoved at you since birth, it was hard to forget them no matter how hungry you were.

Vlad's eyes flickered slightly, but that was the only sign he was remembering his experience in Verin's mind. "Nothing else," he said with a straight face. "There's another issue as well. Tenele may act prepared for battle, but she took quite a hit. The men need her for morale, but if possible, I'd prefer to keep her away from the action. She'd never forgive me for suggesting it, so I'm counting on you to command her in the safest way possible."

* * *

In the banquet, Stalker flanked Tenele almost possessively as she moved through the room and found her seat. He remained standing beside her chair. He seemed to be watching her more warily than usual, studying her with a keep ruby gaze. The beast appeared to sense some apprehension in her, and was reacting by pumping up the security. Though he might not display the compassion of a housepet who lays his head in his master's lap when she's upset, Stalker clearly had his own kind of empathy and expressed it in his own hellhoundy way.

Atul glanced to Vlad, thinking he might never hear those words. "I was just going to suggest she be kept at a safe distance, but everytime I do I get bombarded by her and you never seem to back me up." He smirked at Vlad. "Well, she's goin to want to be in the thick of things. We both know that. So, what is your suggestion of a difficult looking job to give her to keep her out of the way, but in the battle all at once?"

* * *

Tenele pulled the cloak around her when she had finished eating and retired her plate to the stack of dirty dishes in the large kitchen. She felt for whoever would have to do them, or if anyone would. She sighed, looking visibly tired, and for a moment as she left the kitchen she thought about going up to the room and just lying down to rest her eyes. But, the memory of the voice and how frightened she'd been of whatever was in the room shook her. Her eyes glanced to Stalker, and she thought for a moment. Vlad would be back in soon, so Stalker could keep her company until then. And how did she know if anything was in that room or not?

Tenele sighed. She decided that Vlad would be angry if she attempted to sleep behind his back. She turned towards the door hall that lead towards the pool of water that she'd bathed in and just calmly and casually made her way down the dark length of that all.

"We may not know the roles to be played until a moment's notice," Vlad said, "but don't have her charge in first. Your men need her alive and leading, not on the front lines like a figurehead martyr. If their goddess dies, it will damage morale. Impress that on her. The queen has put her under your command, and as a soldier, she will obey you."