Heirot

Vlad grinned maniacally. Atul didn't seem to realize exactly how close he was to receiving a true earful from his companion. "Well," he interceded mercifully, "That remains for us to decide, but I doubt my bodyguard would allow me such a dangerous journey alone," he said to Atul pointedly. Maybe the prince could hold his own against Vlad in a brawl, but he was unlikely to have the same luck in an argument with Tenele. Pft! Safer at home, indeed. Sure, that always worked. He looked at Tenele, knowing he needed to talk to her about this in private. "I believe there are some people outside who have greater need of your company than we do at the moment," he said to Atul. "Unless you're feeling too drained," he teased.

Atul smirked, folding his arms and tilting his head. He walked away, reaching out and snatching Fero up by the collar of his shirt. The plump man was led out of the room leaving them alone with the unconscious soldier.

"He has a lot of nerve," Tenele muttered, swinging around so that her back laid against the arm of the chair and her legs hung off the other side. The split in the fabric caused one of her long legs to lay exposed.

She gave a heavy sigh, leaning her head against the back of the chair. Her hand came up and gripped her aching shoulder.

"You should not have been fighting," Vlad observed without really judging her. He decided not to hassle her and to just tell her what she wanted to know. "The villagers needed a push to take Atul's side against the capital, so I set myself up to be pummeled," he said. "It seemed unlikely that you'd appreciate the idea, so I didn't involve you. And you really should not have been fighting," he repeated again.

Tenele sighed. "I'm fine," she told him, still resting her head against the back of the chair.

Tenele stood up, walking to the window. "You're right, I probably would have advised against fighting each other. He could have accidently killed you, and then this kingdom would be short a prince... I guess it worked. The people fought with him. But, what next? We storm Verin's family's palace and just... tell him to give in? He has an army, and we have villagers. Vlad... There is a high chance that we won't make it back to Ighten. We could die here in this land. Suddenly I'm realizing...." Tenele paused and glanced away, deciding to change the subject.

"Do you think I should stay here? Where its safe? Like a helpless little peasant girl?" Tenele asked turning her eyes up to him. "

Vlad stopped smiling, wondering what she wasn't telling him. What was she realizing? "I don't think either of us should go with him," he said, watching her reaction closely. "This was our side of the bargain in order to be delivered home, and now it's done. This isn't our country, and it isn't our war. Ighten has its own war to fight."

Tenele nodded. "If only it was that simple. Vlad, the fate of Ighten could depend on the fall of this kingdom. If... If Atul is king, then the alliance with Arken will be broken. Arken will have no help in the war against Ighten, and we could have a chance. Against them both... I fear that our home is own its last legs, Vlad. If there is a chance that helping Atul create unrest in this country will help Ighten win the war... If giving our lives here means our Queen will be victorious, then we have to try. At least... I have to."

Tenele was a Queen's Maiden above all else. Her loyalty lied with the Queen of Ighten, a woman that she could call mother. If fighting and dying meant that the Queen would live, and her kingdom would live, then that was Tenele's duty. Her duty as her mother's duty had been, was to protect the Queen no matter what.

She stepped closer to him, reaching up to grab hold of his shirt with both her hands. "I don't want to do this. I don't want to fight anymore. I'm tired of fighting. I've been tired of it for so long now. But, Vlad, I can't stop now, not with the world the way it is. I still have a job to do."

Vlad shook his head. "Even though I believe now that Atul could be the linchpin to our victory with Arken, our queen sent us here as diplomats, not to take sides in a war she's not even aware of. Sinead has no way to contact us. There's no telling what she thinks is going on.

"More importantly... If Atul needs reinforcements, then of the two of us, I am the special ops. It is very possible that this whole uprising will only benefit us by the chaos it creates. It doesn't have to succeed, and it probably won't. If it does, it will be at the massive expense of human life. I may have that kind of durability, but you don't. As strong as you are, you are fragile." He looked at her very seriously. "I want you to go home, Tenele. If you want someone to fight Atul's war, I will stay. If you won't go without me, I intend us to go together."

Tenele blinked, having not really expected that from him. She felt a bit of anger rise up in her, for she just couldn't seem to make Vlad understand. "So you would have me hide?" she breathed. "While you give your life up?" She had to clench her teeth tight to keep from letting her emotions out.

"What is with you and him?" she muttered darkly. "If Verin thinks I'm strong enough to bare his child then that means I'm strong enough to face him." Her voice was a dark whisper as she turned to stalk away towards the open window. She gripped it tightly, her face flushed. She had let words slip out of her mouth that she hadn't meant to, and she hadn't the courage to turn and face him afterwards.

Vlad stared at her. "Bear your what?" he demanded, trying not to notice that she'd just compared him to Verin.

"Nothing," Tenele replied softly, lowering her head to stare at the grass.

After all, that is what those priests meant. The king's wife bore the son of Verin so that his blood would always remain in power. Not only that, but what he had tried on their first night there. He had wanted to send Tenele home back to Ighten unbeknowest that she carried another. He probably had wanted to use Vlad to assassinate Sinead so that Tenele would be made a make-shift heir, and his child would have been made King some day. Then, he would hold Arken, Ighten, and the outerlands in the palm of his hand. Eventually all would bow before Verin, and Thar would be a memory. Was he really that patient? Could he actually hold Shea's greed off that long.

Yes. He was a God, that amount of time would fly by to him.

In the end his plan had backfired. He had expected that Vlad had corrupted her, and he found out the hard way that she wasn't. She was protected from him. It through a wrench in the plan, and he tried to marry her off to Atul... And the rest was history. Now, because of that, Ighten would feel the full brunt force of Arken and the Outerlands.

She felt almost at fault for the troubles that Ighten would go through, even though she knew that wasn't her fault at all.

"Its nothing," she said again. "Please, forget I said it."

Vlad narrowed his eyes. "I'm certainly not going to forget it," he said angrily. "Why would Verin think you are bearing his children?" he demanded, remembering suddenly that night at the palace where she'd disappeared and then shown up half-dressed and too drunk to function. Did something happen? "And what could possess you to lump me with him in anything, let alone my protectiveness of you?" He was on the verge of shouting now.

"I wasn't trying to lump you with him. I never would compare you to him. I worded it wrong," she told him feircely over her shoulder. She turned, bracing her hands on the window seal to hold herself up. "Vlad, please, I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to fight."

Vlad's eyes swirled bright with frustration, but he didn't move and didn't try to approach her. "Oh, of course, that's fine. When you feel like telling me where you got the concept of a god IMPREGNATING you, you can go ahead, no reason to rush that," he growled. "And this rebellion is a gamble, at best. These recruits aren't trained, and Atul is still very insecure. If Verin were to make a move now, it would all be over in the same day. Uprisings aren't about individuals, they're about numbers, huge, massive, bloody numbers. They're clumsy and messy. I can watch them do that, but you aren't a statistic. Lucky you, you're special," he said bitterly, "and I won't watch you add yourself to another country's casualties."

Tenele clenched her fists down at her sides so tightly they hurt as she listened to his angry rant. She clenched her teeth.

She swallowed. "Either this war kills me, or the next one, Vlad. What are you going to do, send me away every time a battle arises? You get to risk your life while I wait patiently back at home waiting for word on whether your alive or dead? And what about years from now, if I live through this war? I'm going to die Vlad. I'm going to get old, and die. And I'm a half-elf so it will be years from now, far longer than a human's years... and you will live forever... You've never been like this. You've always believed in me, and now you act as if I'm made of glass. Why?"

Vlad subconsciously took a step back. He was having an uncharacteristically difficult time thinking of anything to say that could respond to that. Here it was, the massive elephant in the room. He felt hurt and was angry at himself for feeling hurt. It was stupid to be hurt by this. "It won't be that way," he said in an unreadable tone. "After this war, there can be peace. You won't always have to fight. If you weren't so bent on waving your life around like a flag, if you made the effort to survive instead of doing THIS, there could be peace and safety after all of this, and we could..." he cut off, unsure of how to end that sentence.

The fight was collapsing out of him. Why was he pressuring her like this? It was humiliating for him to sink to such a human argument, to such a petty mortal fear of losing her. And to even be scolded by her for it. There was a reason she was not in love with a human. She wanted him to practice a monster's detachment, so why couldn't he do it this time? "Perhaps I've grown too fond of you," he said out loud, somewhat resentfully.