Heirot

Tenele huffed and moaned, fisting fur in her hands. "Vlad," she purred. Her muscles clenched as his touch drove her closer to a sweet ecstasy. "Please..." She thrusted her hips against his touch. "Please, make love to me."

Vlad winced at the invitation. He couldn't stand the images... The thought of hurting her... The thought that the monster in him knew how to enjoy it, was already enjoying the thought of it. Was he just bearing with what had happened, or was he pretending it was okay to indulge in it? He stopped his lips cold, frozen there against her. Couldn't he just put up with it until she finished? Couldn't he at least be a good lover to her, even if he couldn't enjoy it? "I am making love to you," he whispered in a well-performed moan.

Tenele smiled, laughing warmly. "Yes," she let out. "But... I want you inside me. I want your length, every inch..." Tenele reached forward and curled her fingers in his hair. He was still affected by those visions Lelana showed him. She bit her bottom lip, thinking. He had admitted that Atul wasn't safe from his affections... Maybe...

"Do you want to... do it like how you make love to Atul?" she asked softly. "I don't mind having you that way."

Vlad drew back and paused, fighting off despair. She wanted him so badly. And he wasn't even... He didn't need his vision to know he wasn't erect. "I love you," he promised quietly. Invisible magic untied the blindfold and set it in her hands. "But, I can't. I truly love you." He placed a gentle kiss between her legs and stood up, then used all his willpower to walk rather than run from the tent.

His legs carried him quickly across the camp. He thought of heading off into the sands. He thought of going straight to the city on foot, and then jumping in the water, and swimming for Ighten.

Instead, his harsh pace brought him to the campfire. He sought out Atul across the gang of drunken cheering men, waiting for his gaze to find him, unwilling to come any closer to the crowd in case he started screaming.

Tenele watched as Vlad fled, feeling her stomach turn sour. She hadn't... She didn't mean to hurt him. Tenele hurriedly gathered the robe and drew it on, tying the sash around her waist as she headed out of the tent. A rough grip caught her just as she was coming out of the tent, a hand clamped down over her mouth before she could call out. Her bare feet dug into the sand as the figure drug her back to the empty edge of the encampment and to the other side of the ruins.

Tenele reached up and drug her nails along the skin of her attacker's face. "Fuck!" he cursed, sweeping around and throwing her into the wall.

Tenele lurched up quickly, and very dizzily. She saw the stars, the sand, and then focused on the movement heading towards her. The glint of metal reflected off the moon. Tenele twisted to the side, grabbed the wrist, and planted her hand palm-flat and firmly into the elbow. She kicked out her legs, tripping him up and sending him into the wall.

She sucked in air as his fist planted in her stomach, but she didn't let up until she'd flipped him over. His hand wrapped around her ankle, snatching her down. Tenele lost her grip on his wrist, and the knife. They wrestled in the sand, throwing licks where they were possible until the man managed to get the knife angled towards her throat. Tenele didn't flinch, she reached up with a hand and dug her thumb into his eye while she grabbed hold of his wrist and directed the knife away from its target.

* * *

"Hey," Atul sighed happily, heading towards his fiancé. The look on Vlad's face wiped the careful smile away and revealed concern. "Are you alright? You look like a ghost."

Vlad swallowed. "I'm..." He twitched sideways. "Tenele..." he stared in the direction of the tent like a man who didn't believe his own senses. Was he just imagining the sounds of struggle? They weren't that different from everything else that had been playing in his head the last few minutes. Groan of pain, fists meeting flesh. He'd left her nearly naked... He narrowed his eyes in frustration, knowing he had to be imagining it. What could hurt them out here?

But it was too real. "I'm losing my mind, lover," he muttered, his expression drained as he braced himself to act like a crazy person in front of the whole camp. "She's being attacked," he snarled. "Men!" he snarled, startling the laughing soldiers. Even drunk, they knew not to question. When Vlad broke into a spring back toward the tent, a well armed troop was behind him straining to catch up to his pace.

Tenele threw sand in his eyes from over her shoulder as she strained to get to the knife she'd knocked away. His hand fisted in her hair, his knee in her back. Her robe had worked its way nearly clean off her, leaving her fighting half-naked for her life.

Her attacker's hands tightened when his vision went dark. His other grip on her shoulder disappeared so he could wipe the sand away. "Fucking bitch!"

Tenele twisted, planted her foot in his stomach. When he let go, she flipped backwards into the wall, scooping up the knife and holding it out towards him. "Come any closer and I'll cut out your one remaining eye," she hissed, clutching the robe closed.

* * *

"Attacked?!" Atul asked, following after Vlad. He caught up much easier than his men. Atul wasn't sure if Vlad was serious or not, or if he was having memory issues again, but he followed the vampire. He wanted to believe the man wasn't going mad.

"I know I sound nuts," he growled, pushing his legs far faster than any human. Vlad almost didn't believe his eyes as he came into view of the tent and saw Tenele holding an attacker at bay. A feral snarl started deep in his throat, like a wild beast. He could hear her frantic heartrate now. He could see the glint of steel in the dark air. His claws were out, his body bracing for murder.

"That man..." Atul growled. He was the one from the garden. The one he couldn't find any information on. The one that had tried to convince her that she was having an affair with him. "He's the one that was stalking Tenele."

"What?" Tenele grumbled, wincing. Two months. She was missing two months.

The figure hunched over, chuckling. "Fuck," he sighed. "I wasn't expecting so much of a fight..." He sat up. He wiped his hand over the eye she'd dug out with her thumb, smearing the blood. He dove for Tenele, a suicide move. She pushed the blade of the dagger into his chest. His weight fell heavy and limp over her, crushing her into the ground.

Vlad shot his claws into the man's neck and literally flung him aside like he was flipping a steak. His eyes burned scarlet as he turned back toward his wife, looking more demon than man. He knelt in front of her, studying her for injuries. The glow in his gaze was so fearsome that only his wife and fiance seemed willing to be near it. The soldiers pulled up a safe perimeter away, waiting for directions and praying it wouldn't involve getting close to Dracul the way he was right now.

"Are you hurt?" Vlad murmured.

Tenele dropped the knife and smeared the man's blood on the robe as she readjusted it around her for modesty sake. "Fine," she muttered, but wasn't really sure. Everything had happened so fast. She'd taken licks. What damage those hits had done she wasn't sure. The alcohol dulled her sense of pain.

Atul knelt over the body that Vlad flung away and was about to check for a pulse, but he knew better than that. The man was dead. His head was nearly ripped off from Vlad's claws. Instead, he turned his attention to Tenele, going to her side and kneeling.

"Oh," he winced, reaching up to her face. "That's going to hurt."

"Hmm?" Tenele reached up, touching were his fingers danced around. "Is it bad?"

"Not awful," Atul lied, smoothing his thumb lightly over her cheek.

Vlad watched them interacted and felt gradually calmer. Atul was much calmer than he tended to be in these scenarios, and he was grateful for it. His instincts were heightened to a murderous killing edge, and it would take some time to come back from it. He hadn't done nearly enough damage to that man to feel satisfied.

A wave of his hand warned the men to fall back and stay on guard, leaving the three of them alone. Vlad stood nearby, claws still out, in case there was someone else to slice up.

Tenele watched her husband stand like a murderous statue, claws out, full of rage. Atul sat down next to her and drew her into a tight embrace, pressing a kiss to her head. "Can I look you over?" he asked, once the men had cleared the area. "Let's get back inside my tent."

He stood up, lifting Tenele off her feet. "I haven't lost the ability to walk," she protested.

Atul laid her gently on their bed of furs, caring very little for her dirty appearance. "Okay... out of that," he sighed, taking her robe and pealing it off her shoulders. He ran his fingers lightly over her sides, feeling along her ribs and arms. "You're just bruised. It could have been much worst. But, thankfully you are back to yourself."

"You said he was stalking me?" Tenele asked him.

"Yes, it seemed so," Atul sighed. "He tried to convince you that you had an affair with him."

Tenele laughed. "Oh, that's hilarious."

Atul laughed too. "It is, isn't it?" He sighed, brushing his fingers through her tangled hair. "There was also an assassination attempt on you. I had thought that he might have been the one, but he's not. He wouldn't have died so easily, and you wouldn't have been able to hurt him."

"Why is that?" Tenele asked, stretching her aching arm.

"Because... he was strong. Very, very strong. He survived my magic and being thrown through a building," Atul whispered. "Not, exactly a man that would die from a knife wound or daggers to the neck." The king glanced over his shoulder to Vlad.

Vlad kept a little distance from the pair, but he did come into the tent. "How would he know to find us out here?" he said, wondering who else was behind all this silliness. "I'd assumed he just wanted to sabotage our relationship to throw things into turmoil with you and send you toward Espha...but that decision has already been made. What point is there in attacking now?"

Atul frowned. "I don't know. It doesn't make much sense," the King agreed. "He might have been here the whole time, hiding in the ranks and waiting for the right opportunity. Either way, he didn't accomplish whatever it was he set out to do." Atul cupped Tenele's face gently in his hand.

Tenele nodded. "Maybe he was just crazy."

"That's probably it. You are a popular woman... He probably hoped to capitalize on your amnesia and sway you to him. There probably wasn't anything else he wanted, and once you had your memories back... Well, maybe he grew desperate and realized his efforts would never be fruitful." Atul stood up slowly. "I should go talk to my men."

The King ducked out of the tent.

Tenele drew her robe back on slowly, staring at her sand cluttered feet. "I'm sorry," she whispered, putting a hand over her head. "I pushed you a few minutes ago. I shouldn't have. I love you. It isn't only sex I'm after, I swear. I just... I wanted to be with you."