Heirot

"It is not the King," Vlad said, hating the icy finger of fear that was scratching at his excited mood. "It is... this is extremely private," he muttered, glancing around at all the other nurses and patients within earshot. "If we explain, you alone can know. Is that clear?"

He registered Atul's question and turned to go to the king's side, handily ignoring the doctor for the moment. "What is it?" he asked as he reached his side.

Atul glanced at him and then motioned down to her hand as he lifted it off the bed again, holding it delicately in his fingers. "She wasn't hurt when we left her this morning," he muttered, lifting his gaze to Vlad. "And Stalker is with her... There is only one person Tenele would let close to her, one person..."

Tenele drew her hand away as her eyes opened. She looked around the room as her mind tried to discern where she was. She smiled at Atul and Vlad, and then reality checked in hard. She glanced down at her wrist and then pushed to sit up. Atul put a heavy hand on her shoulder and forced her back down.

"Easy," he muttered, brushing his hand through her hair. "Slow."

"Vlad," Tenele started. "Talon, he..."

"Talon what?" her brother called as he moved to the end of the cot. Stalker snarled behind him, but only for a second before quieting. "Are you okay?"

Tenele's throat closed over her words. She drew her hand away and hid it beneath the covers, even if they'd already seen. She wasn't sure how to keep the ruse going. She wanted to tell Vlad, but with Talon standing there she was afraid. She had nothing to fear with her husband and her lover right next to her, but something in his posture frightened her. Talon felt too dangerous to her at the moment. And there was a darkness in his eyes she didn't know.

"Nothing," she finally forced out. "I was just wanting them to warn you so you didn't worry... But, you're here. I'm fine. I just had a little fainting spell. Its probably because I didn't eat breakfast. I wasn't feeling well."

Vlad's eyes turned and sought Talon's knowingly. He knew his wife too well to accept her words. She spent most of her time avoiding Talon's concern, not indulging it. He noticed his bloodling wasn't quite meeting his gaze.

He wanted to speak with Tenele. He wanted more than anything to celebrate this moment, to give himself time to absorb what it meant.

But he also smelled abuse and treachery when he smelled them. "Look at me, my blood," he said quietly to his protege.

Talon set his teeth tight. He couldn't disobey. He turned his head to his master and looked him in the eyes. "Yes?" he asked, his voice colder than ice.

Tenele pushed to sit up in bed, reaching out for Atul's hand. She grasped it tightly, afraid for what was about to happen.

Vlad studied Talon in a silent appraisal that lasted the better part of a minute. "Come with me," he directed quietly, his own hard red eyes offering little more than Talon's were.

"I need to speak with my blood," he said gently to Tenele. Not 'your brother', or 'my brother in law'. My blood. "I will return soon."

Tenele nodded and watched as Talon followed Vlad out against his will.

Atul sat on the edge of the bed and hooked his hand at the back of her head. "Are you okay?" he asked, brushing her hair from her face with the other. Tenele nodded, but he could see the pain in her eyes. He drew her in tight and let her cry softly against his chest. Shielding it from the others.

Vlad let Talon back to his own quarters. He could have easily ported them both through the door, but instead he faced Talon and ordered him to unlock it. As if to prove a point, he waited while the new vampire opened the door the old fashioned way, then let himself inside. Rather than lock the door behind him, Vlad made Talon do it. And then they were alone. Vlad 'invited" Talon the the center of the room and stood less than a pace away from him, studying his blood with a deep, inscrutable gaze.

"You've hurt your sister," he said quietly. "You've hurt my wife. Ruby eyes bored into his skull. What came next should have been a threat, or an attack.

Vlad only maintained that steady gaze and said "Talk to me, my blood."

Talon's jaw flexed and his eyes grew empty. "I hurt her," he admitted. "I pushed her up against the wall, I held her there. I nearly bit her... I killed. I wanted her to heal the girl I killed and she couldn't. I'm a monster." He glowered at Vlad. "And you made me this. You made me this way. I'm supposed to protect Tenele, and what do I want to do when I'm near her? Not protect her. I want to eat her. Ravage her. Bathe in her blood. That's what I did to that girl. That sweet girl. I liked her. I'd liked her for a while. She offered herself to me, and I took her. But, I didn't know I was the first man to do it. And I smelled her blood, and sensed her nervous fear and pain and.... I broke. I destroyed her. I hurt her because it brought me joy and I was happy. And I would have hurt Tenele. I wanted to hurt her. I still want to hurt her. YOU MADE ME A MONSTER!"

Talon huffed, his eyes glowing red. "And if you let me stay near her I will. I'll hurt her. Its inevitable. She'll just end up another body in my trunk. You don't believe me?" Talon chuckled. "Well, my trunk is currently buried in the desert..."

Vlad's eyes narrowed as he heard out Talon's story, his accusations. The desperation in his tone was not unfamiliar to the no-life king. "Tell me, if destroying this young woman's life was so wonderful to you, why you are standing before me, breaking yourself apart under your own maul. A mortal would never see it, but I know the look. The look of a man who regrets his own existence. A man who is killing himself from the inside out." The vampire's eyes were uncharacteristically soft as he cupped a hand against Talon's cheek. "I gave you a monster's body. It was a cruel thing to do. What are you trying to do now? Let your insides go as cold as your outsides? Torture yourself to death with guilt and anger? Destroy your body to make it all end?" Red embers burned into his. "What are you doing to yourself, my blood?" he asked, his thumb brushing Talon's cheek faintly.

Talon smirked. "I'm adapting." The words were ice, and his eyes were too. "I don't want to feel this guilt. I don't want to feel that fear. I don't want to hear the sounds coming from your room at night and wish it was me with my sister. Its sick. Its twisted. I don't want to feel it. I don't want to feel at all. So, I won't... Talon straightened, taking a step back from Vlad. "You're right. I'm killing myself. I'm killing what's left of Talon Raider. Tenele's brother is gone, Vlad. He died the moment he took that poison."

"How unfortunate, then, that Tenele still needs a brother. She still has one, and he is too terrified of his body to fill the role. Perhaps if you hold her down and rape her, she'll disown you herself and save you the trouble of severing ties. Perhaps I'll kill you and release you from your pain. Are these the kind of shitty, mewling excuses you're making for yourself? Don't pretend you can feel nothing. It's not in our nature. We are creatures of intense, heightened emotion. Sometimes terrifyingly so. The one thing we can never be is numb, so don't feed me petulant lies."

Talon glared at Vlad, covering his ears when he spoke of Tenele. "I don't know what I want!" he huffed, pacing the floor. "I don't know how to make this stop. It won't stop. It just keeps rolling over in my head. Over and over and over. She's screaming. I can't make her stop screaming. Make it stop!" He picked up the wardrobe and through it across the room. It broke apart against the wall, cracking the plaster.

He slid down with his back against the wall, huffing air though he didn't need it. He put his head in his hands. "I'm sorry," he muttered.

Vlad dropped his aggressive posture as Talon seemed to regain himself a bit. The dead king didn't mind the violence. He knew how therapeutic it could be, and sometimes when no deserving living targets were available, a little tantrum was all you had to keep yourself sane. He crossed the room and knelt in front of his Blood. "I can have your room changed. If you wish it, I can quarantine you from Tenele completely. I can command Stalker to fight you if you enter her presence. It will hurt her, more than an outburst like today's ever could. But I will do it, if that is what you choose. You may go free and live as you like, but the moment you turn against Sinead or Atul, I will kill you with my own claws." Ruby eyes held his meaningfully. "It will hurt me, badly. Enough to serve as revenge for the fate I've given you."

He took a deep breath and swept his hand through the air as if washing a slateboard blank. "Or, I can get the palace warders together and create a sound shield for your room. I can equip Tenele with blessed metal for defense. I've done it before. One touch from it will torture your flesh until you no longer crave punishment for yourself. You can resume your lessons under me, and I can make this place as bearable for you as possible until you are less New. And believe me, Talon, no one is New forever."

"These are both options. They are in your hands. I owe you a choice, at least."

Talon stared at Vlad thinking over his words. The idea of hurting Tenele, of distancing himself from her even after all that he'd said and admitted to made his heart ache. Even with all the disturbing thoughts rolling around his head, he could still recognise a sliver of himself that remembered her as his sister. He still cared for her.

"Choice two," he whispered, glancing down. "If that doesn't work we can go to choice one..."

Vlad didn't show much expression, but his eyes flared approvingly. "Good choice. You are satisfied with your disposal of the body?"