Heirot

The Colonel stepped into the room at the sounds he was hearing, and he could see the vampire on the floor, moving ever so slightly. "Bet that hurts," he muttered, bending over the Vlad and looking at the burning on his chest. "Here, better help you."

And the only reason he was helping was because he knew that Vlad was controled mostly by the Queen. He would not go psycho and start killing people. At least, that is what the Colonel believed. He scraped his boot across the top of Vlad's chest, knocking the talisman away. "You can thank me later."

* * *

Tenele was curled up against in the alcove where her bed was, partially against the glass window with her back against the wooden wall. She had her knees hugged up to her chest, and she was trying her best to think of a way out of this situation. Of a way to turn back time. But, it was impossible to go back into time, wasn't it?

A knock sounded on her door. "Lady Tenele, please, come out."

She closed her eyes and pressed her cheek to the cold glass. She wouldn't come out. Not until she could turn back time.

The moment the pendant was pushed off of him, the feeling of being buried under a pile of sandbags eased. The pendant clattered across the ground, and its white-hot surface burned a dark groove where it came to rest on the wood floor. Vlad rolled onto his side, coughing, and looked up at his rescuer without much affection. Thanks were not the first words that came to mind.

"This is your fault," he accused hoarsely, frowning down at the charred hole in his shirt and the ruined flesh underneath it.

"How cold. It worked out for the best, didn't it?" the man returned without much sympathy.

"Where is she? You didn't let her go off alone?" Vlad asked through gritted teeth.

Barely following the pace of the conversation, the colonel shook his head slowly. "She's in her quarters. The men are outside."

"Give me you wrist," Vlad said flatly, reaching out a hand as if he wanted help to his feet.

The colonel apparently didn't think it through as he reached out reflexively and took Vlad's hand. He immediately felt an inhuman strength pull him forward to his knees, and before he could even be afraid, a sharp pain split into the underside of his arm. He stared in shock as Vlad's mouth pressed to his wrist. After the initial shock, it hurt surprisingly less than he would have thought.

Vlad's eyes grew bright with relief as he took less than a pint from the man. Just when it should have gotten scary, the vampire drew back, dropping the man's wrist unceremoniously and wiping his mouth on the back of his sleeve. "Bandage that," he said indifferently, "And I'm not done with you." With that, he climbed to his feet and disappeared.

The jump to Tenele's room was a little more than he was ready for, but he still felt control over his body as he appeared just inside the door, scanning the room for her scent. He smelled her immediately, in the same instant that he spotted her crying, curled up against the wall. He frowned. He'd done this to her.

"Tenele," he said, cautiously holding his position across the room from her. His cold fingers knotted at his sides tensely.

Tenele blinked, knowing she had to be imagining things. Knowing that it wasn't possible, for she had shook his lifeless body for well over three minutes. Afraid to even glance in his direction, she sat up strighter, her back to him, and slowly tilted her head to peer over her shoulders.

The feeling that washed through her was something she had never felt before. It was the strangest feeling of happiness, and grave sadness, all at once. It was so much, almost too much, that she suddenly felt intensly light headed. Her face flushed with color, and she was moving before she was even ready to.

Her bare singed feet were moving across the floor. Her face was a mixture of so many emotions that it was hard to tell what she was thinking. When she was standing right in front of him, her hand came out and around and slapped across his face so hard that the sensitive burned nerves screamed at her. It was the hardest she had ever slapped someone. But, before she could even hold onto that anger she was clutching his shirt of support, and letting what emotions wanted to come forth out in great heaving sobs.

"I hate you... I hate you. I hate you." She muttered, though Vlad was smart enough to know that this was not the truth. She had never been this upset. Never.

Vlad felt a surge of almost overwhelming relief as she sobbed against his chest. That didn't seem like the right reaction. After a few seconds, he realized that he'd been fairly sure he'd never be able to hold her again, even if it was like this. The pain in her voice seemed to blow away everything around him but her. Even his thirst, made almost maddening by her closeness, seemed irrelevant. He pulled his arms around her, holding her against him almost too tightly, and pressed his lips to the top of her head. "I know. I'm sorry," he said.

She shook her head. "You're sorry?" she muttered, moving back slightly to look up at him. "You could have warned me! Told me what you were going to do. What if... What if you hadn't turned back! How did you know this would work... assuming this was your plan. I'm so mad at you!" Though, she was mad, she still couldn't seem to tear herself away from him. Maybe because she felt if she let go of his shirt, she wouldn't be able to remain standing.

"My lady! Are you alright? Who are you speaking with?" There voices were worried, wondering if she had gone mad.

Vlad ignored the voices outside. What could he tell her? He hadn't known it would work. If she knew there was no certainty of his plan's success, that he could have really died, it might only upset her more. "I thought you would be too squeamish," he lied. "And if the men heard me explain the plan, they might have stopped me."

Oops, that part didn't sound particularly believable. Why wouldn't the men want Tenele human again, at the expense of Vlad's life or not?

Tenele narrowed her green eyes, they could have burned holes in him. Her head tilted when she spoke, and it was clear she wasn't buying it. "Squeamish?" A dangerous smirk came to her lips, almost daring the vampire to tell another lie. Though, she seemed to be picking an attitude, it didn't stop a few tears from falling from her watery eyes. "You weren't concerned whether I'd be squeamish last night."

Vlad shook his head slowly against her hair. "You wouldn't have done it. If I'd told you to kill me, you'd have stopped me." He paused, knowing he was getting too close to the truth. "I thought I'd be back right away. I never thought it would take so long to....how long was I dead, anyway?" he asked, suddenly curious. The room had been empty when he'd woken up, and they'd even performed holy rights on him. He grimaced as he remembered the burn on his chest.

Tenele shook her head. "I don't know. Everything happened so fast. I couldn't think of what to do. I just wanted too..." Horrified she looked up at Vlad and the naway suddenly. "I came here and haven't left." Now, she too was lying. She didn't want him to know how mad she had suddenly gone. How she had just wanted to be free of her vampire prison. How she had wanted to...

And now, with him here, it all seemed so silly.

"I'm sorry for leaving you," Vlad said, suspecting what Tenele was afraid to tell him. He couldn't help but picture what could have happened if he hadn't come back. If he'd really died, would she have...he hadn't even had time to consider that she'd do something like that, but standing with her now and seeing how upset she was, he certainly could picture it.

He leaned down slightly and lifted her up into his arms, carrying her to the bed. He lay her on the edge of it and knelt on the ground next to her. Something large in his pocket made it seem like his pants would rip at the position. Vlad straightened up enough to dig Sinead's communicator out and set it on the nightstand, then returned his attention to Tenele. He picked up her hand, which still showed the angry burns from the priests' enchantments. He took her fingers gingerly and kissed them one by one. He didn't try to lick them or touch the wounds, although it might have actually helped them heal. He just slowly stroked her skin, trying to help her calm down. Or was he trying to calm himself down?

The knocking outside was louder now. "Lady Tenele! Is everything alright in there? I know you might not trust us, but let us help you!"

A faint snarl pulled at the corner of Vlad's mouth, but he didn't intend to leave her side unless they started trying to break in.

WHAM

Vlad looked crossly at the door.

WHAM

"I will be right back," he swore to her, rising to his feet. He marched to the door, opened it just as the men were about to ram it again, and closed the door behind him. A flurry of muted arguing began taking place on the other side of the door.

Meanwhile, Sinead's communicator sprang to life. The blue light glowed around it, and Sinead's face appeared. Here eyes looked swollen, and worry lines were creasing her elegant features. "Vladimir?" she called into the air of Tenele's room. "Vladimir, please tell me you haven't done anything yet. The mages think they might have a safer way. Vlad!" her voice sounded choked as she stared at the empty screen.

Her eyes softened when she looked at him now, and her breathing was coming in slower gasps. She was starting to calm down, though very slowly. Her heart was even beginning to beat a bit slower. Then, he left, and she listened the the yells coming from the other side of the door. They were probably going to try and condem him to the same fate as her, or think he were the ghost of the vampire... Supersticious paranoid dolts.

The half-elf blinked, looking around the room for where the voice was coming from. She immediately assumed she had gone mad, until she caught the glow of the gem on the table. She picked it up and held it in both of her hands, seeing Sinead's face there.

"My queen?" she asked softly, have not the slightest idea what she was talking about. "He already tried whatever it is you warned him not to try. Stupid hard headed vampire. I thought I had killed him." She almost broke out in sobs again and the memory of realizing what she had done. It was a feeling that would not soon leave her. "He's fine. We're back to normal... I think."

Sinead's eyes widened with relief to see Tenele's face. "Oh, my dear maiden, I'm so sorry," she said maternally, wishing she could reach out and touch the girl's tear-streaked face. "He's alive? You're certain?" she asked, as if Tenele might be deceiving her. After all, she looked so upset, and Vlad wasn't there.

She nodded. "He is Vlad, just as he was before all of this happened. Mean, an ass, and in need of serious butt kicking," she muttered, glancing down. "I didn't think... I thought..." She sighed, unable to really express it. Or maybe she didn't want to express the fact she had had such thoughts. She didn't think it was right. Would people think there was something wrong with her because of those thoughts? Where they normal.

It was clear that a thousand things were running through her mind all at once.

"I'm not feeling very well... Blood does not sit well in a human's stomach," she murmered. Or maybe it was the shock. The stress. But, then again, humans were not made to drink blood for food. "Would you like to speak with him? He's just outside yelling at someone."

At about that moment, a series of loud thuds sounded against the wall outside the room, and the yelling stopped. "Stay there till you rot," Vlad was snarling as he came back into the room and shut the door - not too hard, to avoid upsetting Tenele.

He froze as he saw her holding the communicator. Shit, what had Sinead told her? He started to cross the room, but paused for a moment as a jolt of thirst paralyzed him. Shaking it off, he tried to walk normally toward the bed and perched next to Tenele to look grimly at his Queen. He was honestly perplexed by how shell-shocked Sinead looked.

"Looking a little stressed there, Queeny," he teased.

All at once, Sinead's relief seemed to transform into fury. Vlad seemed to have that effect on people a lot. "Lord Dracul, you worried me half to death!" she said fiercely.

"Half to death? Should I be impressed?" Vlad sneered, an undead smile growing on his lips.

"Behave yourself, Vladimir, or I swear I'll kill you myself," she threatened.

Tenele snickered softly, glancing at him. "Oh, let's stop talking about death, please." It was understandable why. Death wasn't the most light hearted of subjects, and Tenele didn't want to remember how close she had come to losing Vlad. She glanced sideways at Vlad and noticed the two very dark bruises on his neck. One from the night before, and the other from that very afternoon.

Vlad was back to being a vampire... and she was back to being human. Human-ish.

Vlad would forever be Vlad. Young. Immortal. Beautiful.

And she was frail, human. Though, she lived far longer than normal humans because of her blood, she still was obsolete in the sense that she would inevitable grow old and die. And, Vlad would continue on, and remain unchanged. She had never thought about that until now, and never thought about the details of their relationship. How, in the end, she and Vlad were not meant to be one... Not unless she too became a vampire or he became a human, which was probably and more than likely very impossible.

They couldn't be a normal couple. She couldn't have a large cathedral wedding, or a small out doors one. He'd burn up during the rights. They couldn't have children... Or at least, she didn't suspect Vlad could father children, though she had heard stories of many vampires who were born. Unless... No, that was silly. She couldn't believe how stupid her thoughts were at the moment. She had briefly considered the possiblity of pregnancy from that one act while Vlad was human. She shook the thought from her head. They had been lovers for quiet a while. So either she was barren, or Vlad had no ability to have children. Or maybe vampires came with the ability to just "decide" when they wanted children?

Tenele left that thought and moved on rather quickly. The point was, that they were never be a normal couple. She fully understood what Sinead had tried to explain before, when she was trying to keep them apart.

Still, that did not change anything. Tenele loved this man, this vampire, and nothing could change that. No matter if their relationship was doomed to fail in some way because of the differences, she'd always love him. And who was to say it was doomed, anyway?

"We're safe now, and I'm sorry we worried you my Queen. Really, we had no idea what was happening until it had already happened. I'm just so thankful it turned out like this and that he is alive."