Post by Pandora LeAmour on Jun 21, 2009 23:18:58 GMT -5
Pandora LeAmour
Tathar Seregon
William the Tower Guard
Mathas
Hajia Portier
Location: The Tower
Time: two hours after sunset
Finally finished with her appointment for the evening, Pandora crossed the length of the Meeting Room, through the archway and into the Tower hallway. From there, she turned left and walked the short distance to the archway that led into Williams Room, the sound of deliberate footsteps echoing her every move merely to announce to William she was approaching. She had no desire to scare him half to death.
As she stepped into the small room, she gave the Tower Guard a brisk nod of her head, and crossed to the far right corner. There, she crouched and pushing off with the balls of her feet, jumped up to the second landing of the Tower.
The NightWorld library, located on the second floor of the Tower, was surrounded in darkness. Not even the candles positioned around the room were lit. Since no one had ventured into the Tower from the outside world, the servants must not have felt any need to waste perfectly good candlelight.
Not that it matered to Pandora LeAmour. Her eyesight, afterall, was better in the dark then it was in the light. Of course, as was such for all beings of her status.
Now, that she was alone, Pandora moved with speed and stelth, across the Library and towards the chair that had been brought from her private quarters. The Library had been her resort since she arrived back from the Smithary just the eve before, ever since the renovations on the top floor of the Tower started.
Sinking into the chair, Pandora stripped herself of the immortal abilities and enjoyed the luxary of curling her legs up underneath of her, the floorlength gown bellowing out around both legs and toes. She simply sat. Staring into the darkness. Enjoying, for once, the peace and quiet.
It had been a long week, even by immortal standards. The arrival of Portier, greeting and lecturing 7 new NighWorlders whom all had managed to find their way into the Hidden Realm of Tranquility, transfering 11 new Meals to the holding cells, starting the renovations on her personal quarters and then of course, there was Tathar.
Yes, even for one whom had the ability to life for eternity, it had been a long week. Even now, Pandora still had a large stack of parchments that she really ought to have been shifting through now that she had a few free moments to do so, but couldn't seem to bring herself to it. The Master of the City never seemed to get nearly enough time to enjoy living for an eternity.
As she stared off at one of the bookshelves within the NightWorld Library, her mind rolled over the events that had recently gone by. Oh, if the NightWorld Council got wind of this, she wouldn't live to see next Moon Phase let alone another century. What on earth had she been thinking.
Until she was certain of where thing's stood between Vampire and Lycan, Pandora had simply vowed to focus on her work. There was plenty of thing's to keep herself occupied, and she was so certain that out of sight may very well prove to be out of mind. Oh, how wrong of that she had been. How wrong of that indeed.
With a gentle shake of her head, Pandora snapped out of her daze and hunched over in the chair to scoop up one of the stray parchments. Settling back once more, she turned her eyes to the written words. After a few moments, she still had not made it past the first paragraph, having had to read and reread thing's just to get it into her mind.
Finally, she gave up. Obviously she couldn't focus right now. Her hand lowered the parchment to her lap, and Pandora's eye's stared unseeing across the Library once more, her mind a million miles away.
She thought of Portier, and what the woman had said to her last they saw each other. She thought of Tathar and what they themselves had said last they saw each other. And she thought of them together, in the small Smithary, every day while she slept.
Pandora wasn't much of a jealous woman, but damned if that didn't irk her. It would only be a matter of time before Portier worked her magic. So far, no one had been able to resist the shapeshifter's own charms. How nice it must be, to have a natural charm whereas Pandora herself needed the gifts that came along with being a Vampire to make any progress.
And for the briefest of moments, the Master of the City found herself missing Mathas. At least with him, he was always around when she needed a release. With her thoughts travelling her recent past, Pandora LeAmour sat stone structured still, not moving, not blinking, not breathing.
Again, Pandora forced her attention back to where it rightly belonged. Tonight, William had told her that after the greeting of the new Meals, her schedule was wide open, though he had bravely mentioned that perhaps it was the perfect moment to get the pile of Parchments sorted, binded and added to the NightWorld Library shelves.
She, of course, pretended not to take notice of his coy hint, and left him standing there in the Meeting Room. So she had inspected the newly arrived meals, and then retreated her to the Library, where she should have been working. Rising her left hand once more, parchment grasped in her gloved fingers, Pandora started again from the top.
He chuckled lightly to himself as he walked, moving through the village on his way to the large stone structure that was his destination. The shifter was arrogant and confident, though whether or not it was overconfidence was yet to be seen. While she may heal faster than a human, she had nowhere near the ability that lycans had, and she apparently had no prior experience with their rather unique...appetites....Voraciousness and ferocity were commonplace in almost every aspect of a lycan's life, and if only she knew what she was really asking for, maybe she would think wisely of her choice, but in any case it was up to her. She would simply have to find another candidate, for he was clearly not interested. Of course, her wiles had worked to a degree...He was only male, after all...but control was a mainstay in life, and something he had a great deal of, as well as patience. Upon reaching the door to the Tower he gave a light knock, something he had grown into a habit of doing, just to make sure that he did not draw undue attention by beating on a door at the back of a tower in the middle of the night.
William glanced up from his game of cards at the knocking on the tower door. With a quiet grunt, he shoved his chair back and rose to his feet, leaving the cards behind him. A few steps was all it took to reach the doorway that seperated the room from the hallway, and then directly to his left the door to the tower itself. Placing a hand on the wooden door, he leaned forward and peered through the small slit, spotting the traditional deep green cloak worn by those within NightWorld, those whom had been given unlimited access to the Tower. Grunting once more, he then backed from the door and with both hands, lifted the heavy wooden bolder that was used to keep the door locked. When that was out of the way, he grabbed the doors handle, and pulled. He always kept his body behind the door as he opened it, as if using it as a sheild.
He stepped within, offering William a cordial nod of his head and waiting until he had closed the door completely before removing his hood from his head, pulling it back to his shoulders. It would seem that William was feeling much better than he had been before, but it always amazed him at how slowly mortals healed. They waged war and battle more so than any other race in the world, but still they fought knowing full well that they would likely be wounded for weeks or months at a time....Simply amazing...But he shook the thought away, being neither here now there, just the rambling thoughts of a man, and he moved off toward the library, taking care when climbing up the notches in the stone wall leading upwards and to the second floor, trying to be as quiet as was possible given the situation, as well as that damn restrictive cloak before finally pulling himself up and onto the ledge and trying not to disturb Pandora, looking within while, at the same time, removing said cloak. He didn't need it anymore..at least not for now.
It wasn't difficult to hear someone moving up into the Library, and the two guards stationed in the darkness instantly set on alert. Pandora herself rose to her feet, the parchment slipping from her fingers to drift back to the floor. Her eyes darted directly to the entry of the Library, waiting for the visitor to climb the rest of the way. Before he made it to the landing, however, Pandora knew who it was. The scent gave it away.
She held up a single gloved hand to the guards, and lowered herself back into her chair, this time both slippered feet on the floor beneath her. Her gloved hands came to fold in her lap, eye's forward. As the rustling of the cloak being removed from the Lycan's form drifted to her ears, Pandora straightened her shoulders and raked the expressionless feature onto her face. Her voice from the darkness greeted him.
He grinned cruelly at the guards, offering them only the barest of nods in greeting before removing them from his attention completely. He dropped the cloak on the ledge and stepped foreward, keeping his pace slow. Why, oh why did she need those guards? He was all but forced to act as he properly should around her due to her station while they were present, but he made no comment about it, merely stopping a few feet away from her, hands clasping behind his back and keeping his tone unrevealing and even
Pandora, eye's on the Lycan, gestured with a flick of her wrist as if shooing something or someone away. Her voice was called louder, clearly not speaking to Tathar.
Of course, Portier wouldn't like that. Hell, the NightWorld Council wouldn't like it either, but the guards didn't argue. Perhaps they sensed it was an automatic death sentence should they speak up against her. Instead, they cast another threatening glance to the Lycan and made the drop from the second floor to the first.
Pandora gestured around her, there being only the one uncomfortable chair which she had brought over from the table to rest her feet on.
Her eyebrows arched, and she tilted her head ever so slightly to the left, as if studying him.
Oh how he could tell that those two guards did not like him...and rightly so...If someone shoved hi to the ground he would hold sour feelings toward them as well...But at least they followed orders well enough, and as they turned to leave he moved to sit, taking the only available chair. He rested his form against the table, supporting himself with his elbow against the surface. And had she just called him by his family name....? What on earth had she done that for? No pet names...? She was beginning to confuse him, but that was a common occurance, so he merely shrugged in answer to her words. She could do a great many things for him...But he was sure that she would think him rude and barbaric, so rather than that he instead chose to be civil and gentlemanly as possible
Pandora's lip twitched and she chuckled ever so quietly. Reaching out, she gestured to the many piles of parchments on the table between them.
She then relaxed consderably, as she drew her knees up underneath of her, and settled all but sideways in the chair she occupied. Even as her eye's return the parchment in her hands, she spoke. Thank god for the ability to multitask. With her vampiric improvements, she could read and talk at the same time. How many could say they could do that?!
Her voice was gentle, and she appeared to actually be being nice to him. Yes, the moodswings between the two of them were enough to drive anyone crazy. She never knew how she was to act. Should she act as if she hated him? Carry on as if she were but a teenage girl in love? Or as if she actually had a softer side? Oh, the confusions!
He looked at her with a raised brow for a moment, a slight grin appearing on the corner of his lips and lingering as he moved to begin binding the piles she had indicated with her icy and slender hand, his mind wandering to the other night when that very hand had touched his cheek in a near tender fashion, as well as the night after when it had rested on his shoulder, taking away his ability to speak for a moment when the new lycan had arrived. To be honest, he was unsure of himself...About what he should do when around her. He never knew when to act according to the way she was feeling, as she rarely ever showed emotion, and soon after she did she bottled up again and revealed nothing, as if prior events had never happened at all. But, he was content with the nicety she was currently showing him, and did as she requested, tying the thin strips of binding neatly at the top of each stack before moving on to the next one, thinking of a reply to her question before speaking. He remembered how she had mistaken his words before, and he wanted to make sure that he was as clear as possible when he spoke in the future
The corners of her lips tugged upward ever so slightly in a small grin, her eye's racing from left to right as she read through the last scripture on the parchment before she looked over to him.
Leaning forward, Pandora added the document she had just finished reading to another pile, before settling back in her chair, and scooping up the second to last stray parchment. Though her eye's settled on that, she didn't disregard him.
The question was posed as simple curiousity. Though she wasn't pleased with a mortal woman and a shapeshifter spending their days with her Lycan, she wasn't immensly jealous. Afterall, he had found himself here within her Tower when he had his freedom, did he not?
He soon finished with the rest of them, saving the last stack for when she was finished with the one page left as well as the one she was reading now. His eyes did catch that grin, however slight it may have been, and he could not help but think of how much more appealing she looked when she showed emotion. It didn't matter which one...just as long as her face wasn't as if it had been painted onto a sheet of porcelain. As he waited for her to finish, quite patiently at that, he leaned back slightly, clasping his hands together in his lap. It seemed almost as if they were old friends conversing business rather than the mortal enemies that instinct told them that they were....Wasn't that enough to prove that they could work past certain differences?
Okay, so she is usually good at hiding her emotions, but for this moment Pandora let that slip as a small smirk formed on her thinly pressed lips.
Yes, that definately sounded like Portier. The woman always had a way about her that drew men in, and Pandora had never come across one the shifter hadn't be able to win. She suspected it was only a matter of time that Tathar too would succumb to her tricks of the trade.
Perhaps that was why Pandora was always so cordid to the Lycan. Portier had the habit of making sport of stealing those whom Pandora grew in kind towards. It had always been that way. Though Pandora had only two lovers in her past, Portier had managed to steal both her maker Marius, and her lover Raistlin.
No, she had no doubt at all that Tathar too would grow to find Portiers games enjoyable. She did not, however, voice these thoughts. Finishing the final Parchment and reaching across the table to offer it to him, she instead, with a teasing note in her voice, weighted with pure curiousity, she posed question.
Oh he was just so terribly glad that she thought his situation with the shapeshifter was humorous. Good to know that he could give the vampire a chuckle now and again at his own expense...But those thoughts were well enough in meaning, should she somehow manage to read them, and he just nodded, that grin still playing on his lips as he moved to bind the last remaining stack of parchments, purposefully taking his time with it. Readjusting the binding here and there, making sure the stack was straight, and nitpicking over how it was tied for a good long few moments. In truth, he wanted the time they were spending together to last, and right now the only thing that was keeping them here and talking were the papers, but he could not delay it forever, and so he finally finished with it, pushing it neatly with the rest before sitting back in his chair once more, the uncomfortableness not bothering him in the least. A chair was a chair. If it was meant to be comfortable, it would be called a bed. In fact, the shifter's games were beginning to wear on his nerves rather than his defences. She was grating on him with her constant, but mostly subtle, advances...He supposed that she just didn't get the fact that she wasn't his type...but eventually she would find out
As he took his sweet old time with the final binding of the parchments, Pandora rose from her chair, sliding each set of the bindings towards her on the table. She then began sorting the Bindings into two groups. NightWorld Library, and Personal Collection.
When he did finally speak, she paused in her sorting to look up at him. His words were one thing, but the truth of them were something entirely different. And where as he might very well mean them now, there was nothing to say he always would. Portier always won. Always.
Realizing that she was silently staring at him, while mentally battling the meaning behind his words, Pandora cleared her throat and forced herself to speak again.
Then, she scooped up the NightWorld collection of binded parchments and abandoned the table, slowly walking down it's length and towards the many bookshelves. She continued talking, merely in hopes he would follow and not think she had dismissed him. In truth, though Vampires are solitary beings by nature, she had rather become accustomed to his presence.
Oh the stars, the stars! How could they glitter so bright? So bright. Like the diamonds of her eyes...NOT that her eyes were what he was interested in. No, not in the slightest. No, he knew what he wanted...what he needed...and he needed it NOW!
He stumbled, near blindly, through the square, a rise of cold, cold prespiration popping along his skin. Why was the air so WARM? So so warm, warm and soft, not like her skin, her lovely skin, because it was cooooold. He grinned sickishly. He could feel it wearing off. He did not like it wearing off. Time, time for more!
She made her way to the tower and rapped softly on the door. Not giving william a whole lot of time..as she heard him approach, she barely could speak..
It came out like a whisper, she supported her weight against the door, and breathed. Reminding herself to do so was the only way she kept herself from passing out. She was soaked with sweat, her endorphines were through the roof.
He watched her as she watched him...staring at him in silence after he spoke with those icy eyes...Those blue pools that looked finer than the sapphires that he used in his work. He could tell that she was thinking, though about what he was completely oblivious to, and he very nearly came outright and asked her about it, but he was unsure of how she would react to being asked her thoughts. She was the Master of the City, after all...She asked the questions, and the curiosity of others was likely as significant to her as much as a grain of sand in a desert...And what was more, he did not have an inkling of an idea as to exactly what he was to her. Was he just another lycan she had to babysit during the full moon? Was he a plaything that she could amuse herself with and ignore until she felt the need to do so again? He just didn't know. But her words brought him out of these thoughts, and he smirked quite visibly at them. Apparently the shifter had done Pandora wrong in that aspect at some point in the past, but he couldn't be sure about it.
OH, what was this, what was this? Surely it couldn't be the night air, embracing him so completely? Nay, surely not! More likely it was...it was...the sheets of her bed, so soft against his skin...the embrace that preceeded the pain, pleasure, the certainty? Oh, to be certain of anything again! Mmm, how lovely that would be! He could FEEL the color draining from his face...oh yes, oh yes, draining from his face and seeping into the night. Look at all the pretty colors, tee hee.
He stopped outside a residence, staring up open-mouthed at the latern hung with care outside the door. Such a pretty yellow, like a little sun. But noooo...the sun was bad. The sun...the sun! It could SEE him, it knew what he was! He stumbled onwards, the desperation, the need, so physical, pounding through his veins. Soon, soon dear sweet little death dealer, you'll get yours! To see her, she would...she would be so kind, so kind and so sweet, like sugar coated with arsenic, that was what she was... Giving him her Opium Vitae...what a good master she was, oh yes, oh yes...Almost there, almost there...he could SEE the tower stretching before him, so high, so high, surely he could reach the moon if only he could climb, but no. first...first...he needed his fix.
William heard the request before he even had his eye pressed to the small slit in the door. For Pandora? But Pandora didn't have any appointments tonight? The woman's voice seemed weighted with something, so clearly this wasn't a social visit. But when had she arrived before and been welcome? He was uncertain what to do, then his sight adjusted and he realized she did not wear the proper deep green cloak.
Pandora was positively glowing with the words in which Tathar had just spoken. Bend to none but who I deem worthy... Did that mean he had deemed her worthy? Or was it a hint that he would not bend to either women?
Slipping one of the freshly binded Parchments onto a shelf, she spoke to him over her shoulder, even as she moved onto the next spot in the Library.
As she reached the next bookshelf, Pandora wiggled a few of the books aside so that she could squeeze another new binding inbetween them.
Then she turned, her back to the bookshelf, to peer at Tathar. It was an honest question, and she hoped, nay she expected an honest reply.
Ah, such sweet bliss! Victory at last! It tasted so sweet, like, well...like the first few salty drops of Vitae. Mmm, Vitae. So caught up in these lovely, foggy thoughts was he that he did not even see the woman sag to the ground, stumbling right past her and slamming desperately into the door. He was so overjoyed he could cry. In fact, he was. Tears leaked out of his bleary blue eyes as he carressed the cold metal of the door.
His clumsy, shaking hands drew forth the hood of the cloak that hung snug about his shoulders, but he had to stop for a few moments, his eyes wide and unseeing as his fingers danced across the fabric. It was so soft. Had the man ever felt how soft it was? Still, he had more pressing matters, and as such drew the hood up and gazed desperately through the slot.
Her time was draining fast, her vision now very blurry she groaned at william.
Her words were short. Strained. She pushed herself from the tower door and sauntered back to the inn. her Orbs shifting everwhich direction. Making her way to the inn, through the door she avoided the keep and made her way to her room.
His ears caught the slight sound of a rapping on the door below...But that was no major feat to accomplish. The Tower was stone, and as such sound bounced about from it easily....But his attention moved completely to her as she asked her question. He had been watching her before that moment, of course, observing as her form moved to place the sheaves of parchment into the shelves, but now, at her question, and as she turned to face him he really had to think...Should he just say it outright? No, that was probably likely to be an uncomfortable moment if she wasn't used to such things...He chose to instead have a little fun with it
Pandora held up a hand, momentarily cutting Tathar off as she stared into the darkness of the Library. Though she may very well appear as if she just lost her train of thought, she was infact listening. She heard Portier request entry and William turn her away. She heard him state that she did not wear the appropiate cloak and thus he could not grant her entry. She even heard her reply of disgust, and then she heard the woman no more. Instead, another voice pickedup.
Now that voice Pandora was fully aware of. Mathas. Oh, she had thought the poor boy had learnt his lesson during his own two week punishment. She had only just released him from his confined coffin a forthnigh' ago. And he was back already.
She could even now hear as William disengaged the lock on the Tower door, to let Mathas in. Unfortunately, her attention snapped back once more as Tathar answered her previously asked question.
She could smell it on him. He lusted after her. Oh yes, she could smell it. All Master Vampires could catch the scent of anger... Lust... Joy. Each strong emotion had a different smell, and Tathar's was clearly Lust.
With a playful smile, Pandora took a step towards him, shifting the last three binded parchments under her right arm, as with her left she trailed up his chest to his chin, which she tapped with the tip of her index finger.
Making inside, she said not a word to anyone and did her best to climb the stairs. Entering her room she squinted into the darkness.. Her room was a mess, the bath was still there the water ice cold, the frangrance from her soaps was lingering, scattering in. She raised her eyes and found her cloak. She knocked over the lantern, and then the books on her table. Taking in a deep breath she grabbed the cloak tearing the one from her, she caught a glance at her appearence. She had cuts along her throat, several very deep. Blood was still seeping although it had slowed it's mark. The cut on her arm was deep enough that the skin pulled away from each other. Her lip was bleeding, and upon further inspection she noted there was a bite mark on her left shoulder. That bastard...he had taken some of her, while she was in fury. Lovely. She shoved herself away from the mirror and placed her cloak about her shoulders. With thick steps she passed through the door, and almost takin' a tumble down the stairs. She swore. She would look and sound like a drunk. Perfect mode, if anyone should see her that's what they would think. Clipping down the steps to the bottom she swayed a little and made for the door...Her features all hidden from view by the cloak, stepping outside she once again made her way to the Tower, sluggishly. Her feet dragging, and dust stirring up because of it.
Oh, and just when he thought he couldn't take it any more, relief, so blessed relief, the man let him in. He could have cried. Oh wait...he WAS crying. That's right. He'd forgotten. But how could he have forgotten? Those tears, they felt so good on his cheeks. Little angel kisses to keep him company as he faced the daunting task before him. Fly, fly little Mathas, with your little blue wings!
And so he jumped. And so he failed, nearly smearing the wall with his face. It had been far too long since he'd fed. Where were his heightened reflexes now? Damn damn damn. With mounting trepidation, he turned his wide, staring eyes to the slits in the wall. Oh so many! Look at them all lined up there, neatly in a row, so many black liness, like the ribs of a skeleton. He grit his teeth until his jaw creaked alarmingly, but to him the sound was like music as he slowly, painstakingly began the upward trek. He tried to whisper, but could only bellow.
And another slit, and another slit, and there was the floor to the library, looming before him, if he could only reach it, if only it would stop skipping away from him!
He had stopped speaking when she'd raised her hand signaling for silence, feeling slightlu put off, but as soon as he had thought that it was alright to continue he had, and her attention moved to him once more. Apparently, his answer has piqued her interest...and she had also apparently discovered exactly who he had meant, and he moved not an inch as she approached, a smile showing on her lips. My how appealing that was...and how often was it that a vampire, much less a Master, actually smiled like that? And thus far he had managed to coax several from her...As her her hand moved to his chest and up to his chin, tapping there with her finger, and he nodded. His heart, that beating organ that was one of the many diufferences between the two of them, began to beat slightly faster. Surely she could hear it, as well, for it was a thundering wardrum pounding in his own ears. He was excited, and very much so...but could she possibly feel the same way?
The rapid increase in Tathar's pulse became a background noise as Mathas' voice drifted up towards them. Oh the urge to sink her teeth into the Lycan right then and there, to mark him in a way that she had never before marked Mathas. Oh yes, she had marked Mathas twice already. But never had she done so to the extent she wanted to give to Tathar.
Mathas had never been bitten by Pandora. He had never been marked. She had, in a moment of loneliness, allowed him to drink from her, but never had she sunk her teeth into him. She had not wanted to mark him. A Vampire, after all, could only mark One person at a time, and she had not wanted to risk that.
As Tathar spoke again, Pandora turned attention back to him. She didn't want him to know of the awful thing she had done to Mathas, but clearly all that was about to be aired. Her voice, tinted with the charm that she had never used on him before, purred quietly into his ear.
Though she was pleading for an answer, the enchantment on her voice made it sound tempting. As if she were flirting with the Lycan. She wanted an answer, and before Mathas appeared. If she needed enchantments to do so, dammit she would.
Once again she found herself propped up against the door, she raked her nails against it, and mouthed the words. They slid from her lips as if they were just a mere whisper.
She was fully covered by the cloak.. Her features and wounds not noticable. She rubbed her lips over each other, tasting a metallic sweet taste she knew it was her own. She straightened her back and shifted her weight. HEr shoulder rested against the side of the Tower.
Tathar Seregon
William the Tower Guard
Mathas
Hajia Portier
Location: The Tower
Time: two hours after sunset
Finally finished with her appointment for the evening, Pandora crossed the length of the Meeting Room, through the archway and into the Tower hallway. From there, she turned left and walked the short distance to the archway that led into Williams Room, the sound of deliberate footsteps echoing her every move merely to announce to William she was approaching. She had no desire to scare him half to death. As she stepped into the small room, she gave the Tower Guard a brisk nod of her head, and crossed to the far right corner. There, she crouched and pushing off with the balls of her feet, jumped up to the second landing of the Tower.
The NightWorld library, located on the second floor of the Tower, was surrounded in darkness. Not even the candles positioned around the room were lit. Since no one had ventured into the Tower from the outside world, the servants must not have felt any need to waste perfectly good candlelight.
Not that it matered to Pandora LeAmour. Her eyesight, afterall, was better in the dark then it was in the light. Of course, as was such for all beings of her status.
Now, that she was alone, Pandora moved with speed and stelth, across the Library and towards the chair that had been brought from her private quarters. The Library had been her resort since she arrived back from the Smithary just the eve before, ever since the renovations on the top floor of the Tower started.
Sinking into the chair, Pandora stripped herself of the immortal abilities and enjoyed the luxary of curling her legs up underneath of her, the floorlength gown bellowing out around both legs and toes. She simply sat. Staring into the darkness. Enjoying, for once, the peace and quiet.
It had been a long week, even by immortal standards. The arrival of Portier, greeting and lecturing 7 new NighWorlders whom all had managed to find their way into the Hidden Realm of Tranquility, transfering 11 new Meals to the holding cells, starting the renovations on her personal quarters and then of course, there was Tathar.
Yes, even for one whom had the ability to life for eternity, it had been a long week. Even now, Pandora still had a large stack of parchments that she really ought to have been shifting through now that she had a few free moments to do so, but couldn't seem to bring herself to it. The Master of the City never seemed to get nearly enough time to enjoy living for an eternity.
As she stared off at one of the bookshelves within the NightWorld Library, her mind rolled over the events that had recently gone by. Oh, if the NightWorld Council got wind of this, she wouldn't live to see next Moon Phase let alone another century. What on earth had she been thinking.
Until she was certain of where thing's stood between Vampire and Lycan, Pandora had simply vowed to focus on her work. There was plenty of thing's to keep herself occupied, and she was so certain that out of sight may very well prove to be out of mind. Oh, how wrong of that she had been. How wrong of that indeed.
With a gentle shake of her head, Pandora snapped out of her daze and hunched over in the chair to scoop up one of the stray parchments. Settling back once more, she turned her eyes to the written words. After a few moments, she still had not made it past the first paragraph, having had to read and reread thing's just to get it into her mind.
Finally, she gave up. Obviously she couldn't focus right now. Her hand lowered the parchment to her lap, and Pandora's eye's stared unseeing across the Library once more, her mind a million miles away.
She thought of Portier, and what the woman had said to her last they saw each other. She thought of Tathar and what they themselves had said last they saw each other. And she thought of them together, in the small Smithary, every day while she slept.
Pandora wasn't much of a jealous woman, but damned if that didn't irk her. It would only be a matter of time before Portier worked her magic. So far, no one had been able to resist the shapeshifter's own charms. How nice it must be, to have a natural charm whereas Pandora herself needed the gifts that came along with being a Vampire to make any progress.
And for the briefest of moments, the Master of the City found herself missing Mathas. At least with him, he was always around when she needed a release. With her thoughts travelling her recent past, Pandora LeAmour sat stone structured still, not moving, not blinking, not breathing.
Again, Pandora forced her attention back to where it rightly belonged. Tonight, William had told her that after the greeting of the new Meals, her schedule was wide open, though he had bravely mentioned that perhaps it was the perfect moment to get the pile of Parchments sorted, binded and added to the NightWorld Library shelves.
She, of course, pretended not to take notice of his coy hint, and left him standing there in the Meeting Room. So she had inspected the newly arrived meals, and then retreated her to the Library, where she should have been working. Rising her left hand once more, parchment grasped in her gloved fingers, Pandora started again from the top.
He chuckled lightly to himself as he walked, moving through the village on his way to the large stone structure that was his destination. The shifter was arrogant and confident, though whether or not it was overconfidence was yet to be seen. While she may heal faster than a human, she had nowhere near the ability that lycans had, and she apparently had no prior experience with their rather unique...appetites....Voraciousness and ferocity were commonplace in almost every aspect of a lycan's life, and if only she knew what she was really asking for, maybe she would think wisely of her choice, but in any case it was up to her. She would simply have to find another candidate, for he was clearly not interested. Of course, her wiles had worked to a degree...He was only male, after all...but control was a mainstay in life, and something he had a great deal of, as well as patience. Upon reaching the door to the Tower he gave a light knock, something he had grown into a habit of doing, just to make sure that he did not draw undue attention by beating on a door at the back of a tower in the middle of the night.William glanced up from his game of cards at the knocking on the tower door. With a quiet grunt, he shoved his chair back and rose to his feet, leaving the cards behind him. A few steps was all it took to reach the doorway that seperated the room from the hallway, and then directly to his left the door to the tower itself. Placing a hand on the wooden door, he leaned forward and peered through the small slit, spotting the traditional deep green cloak worn by those within NightWorld, those whom had been given unlimited access to the Tower. Grunting once more, he then backed from the door and with both hands, lifted the heavy wooden bolder that was used to keep the door locked. When that was out of the way, he grabbed the doors handle, and pulled. He always kept his body behind the door as he opened it, as if using it as a sheild.
"Blessed be. Master is working in the library right now, Sire."
[/b][/u][/center]He stepped within, offering William a cordial nod of his head and waiting until he had closed the door completely before removing his hood from his head, pulling it back to his shoulders. It would seem that William was feeling much better than he had been before, but it always amazed him at how slowly mortals healed. They waged war and battle more so than any other race in the world, but still they fought knowing full well that they would likely be wounded for weeks or months at a time....Simply amazing...But he shook the thought away, being neither here now there, just the rambling thoughts of a man, and he moved off toward the library, taking care when climbing up the notches in the stone wall leading upwards and to the second floor, trying to be as quiet as was possible given the situation, as well as that damn restrictive cloak before finally pulling himself up and onto the ledge and trying not to disturb Pandora, looking within while, at the same time, removing said cloak. He didn't need it anymore..at least not for now.It wasn't difficult to hear someone moving up into the Library, and the two guards stationed in the darkness instantly set on alert. Pandora herself rose to her feet, the parchment slipping from her fingers to drift back to the floor. Her eyes darted directly to the entry of the Library, waiting for the visitor to climb the rest of the way. Before he made it to the landing, however, Pandora knew who it was. The scent gave it away. She held up a single gloved hand to the guards, and lowered herself back into her chair, this time both slippered feet on the floor beneath her. Her gloved hands came to fold in her lap, eye's forward. As the rustling of the cloak being removed from the Lycan's form drifted to her ears, Pandora straightened her shoulders and raked the expressionless feature onto her face. Her voice from the darkness greeted him.
"I see Portier has not killed you yet."
[/center]He grinned cruelly at the guards, offering them only the barest of nods in greeting before removing them from his attention completely. He dropped the cloak on the ledge and stepped foreward, keeping his pace slow. Why, oh why did she need those guards? He was all but forced to act as he properly should around her due to her station while they were present, but he made no comment about it, merely stopping a few feet away from her, hands clasping behind his back and keeping his tone unrevealing and even"Good evening.....Master."
[/b][/u][/center]Pandora, eye's on the Lycan, gestured with a flick of her wrist as if shooing something or someone away. Her voice was called louder, clearly not speaking to Tathar. "That will be all, you two. Leave us."
Of course, Portier wouldn't like that. Hell, the NightWorld Council wouldn't like it either, but the guards didn't argue. Perhaps they sensed it was an automatic death sentence should they speak up against her. Instead, they cast another threatening glance to the Lycan and made the drop from the second floor to the first.
Pandora gestured around her, there being only the one uncomfortable chair which she had brought over from the table to rest her feet on.
"Sit, Seregon. What can I do for you?"
Her eyebrows arched, and she tilted her head ever so slightly to the left, as if studying him.
Oh how he could tell that those two guards did not like him...and rightly so...If someone shoved hi to the ground he would hold sour feelings toward them as well...But at least they followed orders well enough, and as they turned to leave he moved to sit, taking the only available chair. He rested his form against the table, supporting himself with his elbow against the surface. And had she just called him by his family name....? What on earth had she done that for? No pet names...? She was beginning to confuse him, but that was a common occurance, so he merely shrugged in answer to her words. She could do a great many things for him...But he was sure that she would think him rude and barbaric, so rather than that he instead chose to be civil and gentlemanly as possible"I had nothing to do, so I thought to come and keep you company."
[/center]Pandora's lip twitched and she chuckled ever so quietly. Reaching out, she gestured to the many piles of parchments on the table between them."How kind. You can give me a hand here. Each of those piles needs to be binded."
She then relaxed consderably, as she drew her knees up underneath of her, and settled all but sideways in the chair she occupied. Even as her eye's return the parchment in her hands, she spoke. Thank god for the ability to multitask. With her vampiric improvements, she could read and talk at the same time. How many could say they could do that?!
"And how have you been for the past two nights, Seregon?"
Her voice was gentle, and she appeared to actually be being nice to him. Yes, the moodswings between the two of them were enough to drive anyone crazy. She never knew how she was to act. Should she act as if she hated him? Carry on as if she were but a teenage girl in love? Or as if she actually had a softer side? Oh, the confusions!
He looked at her with a raised brow for a moment, a slight grin appearing on the corner of his lips and lingering as he moved to begin binding the piles she had indicated with her icy and slender hand, his mind wandering to the other night when that very hand had touched his cheek in a near tender fashion, as well as the night after when it had rested on his shoulder, taking away his ability to speak for a moment when the new lycan had arrived. To be honest, he was unsure of himself...About what he should do when around her. He never knew when to act according to the way she was feeling, as she rarely ever showed emotion, and soon after she did she bottled up again and revealed nothing, as if prior events had never happened at all. But, he was content with the nicety she was currently showing him, and did as she requested, tying the thin strips of binding neatly at the top of each stack before moving on to the next one, thinking of a reply to her question before speaking. He remembered how she had mistaken his words before, and he wanted to make sure that he was as clear as possible when he spoke in the future"Busy. I have had a fair amount of work to do. And yourself?"
[/center]The corners of her lips tugged upward ever so slightly in a small grin, her eye's racing from left to right as she read through the last scripture on the parchment before she looked over to him. "Ah, you know how it is."
Leaning forward, Pandora added the document she had just finished reading to another pile, before settling back in her chair, and scooping up the second to last stray parchment. Though her eye's settled on that, she didn't disregard him.
"And how is Lily and Portier working out for you?"
The question was posed as simple curiousity. Though she wasn't pleased with a mortal woman and a shapeshifter spending their days with her Lycan, she wasn't immensly jealous. Afterall, he had found himself here within her Tower when he had his freedom, did he not?
He soon finished with the rest of them, saving the last stack for when she was finished with the one page left as well as the one she was reading now. His eyes did catch that grin, however slight it may have been, and he could not help but think of how much more appealing she looked when she showed emotion. It didn't matter which one...just as long as her face wasn't as if it had been painted onto a sheet of porcelain. As he waited for her to finish, quite patiently at that, he leaned back slightly, clasping his hands together in his lap. It seemed almost as if they were old friends conversing business rather than the mortal enemies that instinct told them that they were....Wasn't that enough to prove that they could work past certain differences?"Lilyian has not been around lately, but when she is there she is a good worker. Talkative, but dedicated. As for Hajia....well...She is a slow study in the lesson I amtrying to teach her, but she does her duties well enough, and without complaint, even if she does accost me in a manner that I find innapropriate."
[/center]Okay, so she is usually good at hiding her emotions, but for this moment Pandora let that slip as a small smirk formed on her thinly pressed lips. "In a manner that you find inappropiate, you say?"
Yes, that definately sounded like Portier. The woman always had a way about her that drew men in, and Pandora had never come across one the shifter hadn't be able to win. She suspected it was only a matter of time that Tathar too would succumb to her tricks of the trade.
Perhaps that was why Pandora was always so cordid to the Lycan. Portier had the habit of making sport of stealing those whom Pandora grew in kind towards. It had always been that way. Though Pandora had only two lovers in her past, Portier had managed to steal both her maker Marius, and her lover Raistlin.
No, she had no doubt at all that Tathar too would grow to find Portiers games enjoyable. She did not, however, voice these thoughts. Finishing the final Parchment and reaching across the table to offer it to him, she instead, with a teasing note in her voice, weighted with pure curiousity, she posed question.
"And however does she manage that?"
[/center]Oh he was just so terribly glad that she thought his situation with the shapeshifter was humorous. Good to know that he could give the vampire a chuckle now and again at his own expense...But those thoughts were well enough in meaning, should she somehow manage to read them, and he just nodded, that grin still playing on his lips as he moved to bind the last remaining stack of parchments, purposefully taking his time with it. Readjusting the binding here and there, making sure the stack was straight, and nitpicking over how it was tied for a good long few moments. In truth, he wanted the time they were spending together to last, and right now the only thing that was keeping them here and talking were the papers, but he could not delay it forever, and so he finally finished with it, pushing it neatly with the rest before sitting back in his chair once more, the uncomfortableness not bothering him in the least. A chair was a chair. If it was meant to be comfortable, it would be called a bed. In fact, the shifter's games were beginning to wear on his nerves rather than his defences. She was grating on him with her constant, but mostly subtle, advances...He supposed that she just didn't get the fact that she wasn't his type...but eventually she would find out"The woman cannot control her lust. She accosts me, subtly, but it is still becoming tiresome."
[/center]As he took his sweet old time with the final binding of the parchments, Pandora rose from her chair, sliding each set of the bindings towards her on the table. She then began sorting the Bindings into two groups. NightWorld Library, and Personal Collection. When he did finally speak, she paused in her sorting to look up at him. His words were one thing, but the truth of them were something entirely different. And where as he might very well mean them now, there was nothing to say he always would. Portier always won. Always.
Realizing that she was silently staring at him, while mentally battling the meaning behind his words, Pandora cleared her throat and forced herself to speak again.
"That is Portier for you, Seregon. She is quite accustomed to getting what she wants from men. To resist her only incourages her to try harder and prolongs the inevitable."
Then, she scooped up the NightWorld collection of binded parchments and abandoned the table, slowly walking down it's length and towards the many bookshelves. She continued talking, merely in hopes he would follow and not think she had dismissed him. In truth, though Vampires are solitary beings by nature, she had rather become accustomed to his presence.
"Trust me, Seregon. I speak from experience."
[/center]Oh the stars, the stars! How could they glitter so bright? So bright. Like the diamonds of her eyes...NOT that her eyes were what he was interested in. No, not in the slightest. No, he knew what he wanted...what he needed...and he needed it NOW! He stumbled, near blindly, through the square, a rise of cold, cold prespiration popping along his skin. Why was the air so WARM? So so warm, warm and soft, not like her skin, her lovely skin, because it was cooooold. He grinned sickishly. He could feel it wearing off. He did not like it wearing off. Time, time for more!
She made her way to the tower and rapped softly on the door. Not giving william a whole lot of time..as she heard him approach, she barely could speak.." Hajia...Portier...to See ...Pandora.."
It came out like a whisper, she supported her weight against the door, and breathed. Reminding herself to do so was the only way she kept herself from passing out. She was soaked with sweat, her endorphines were through the roof.
He watched her as she watched him...staring at him in silence after he spoke with those icy eyes...Those blue pools that looked finer than the sapphires that he used in his work. He could tell that she was thinking, though about what he was completely oblivious to, and he very nearly came outright and asked her about it, but he was unsure of how she would react to being asked her thoughts. She was the Master of the City, after all...She asked the questions, and the curiosity of others was likely as significant to her as much as a grain of sand in a desert...And what was more, he did not have an inkling of an idea as to exactly what he was to her. Was he just another lycan she had to babysit during the full moon? Was he a plaything that she could amuse herself with and ignore until she felt the need to do so again? He just didn't know. But her words brought him out of these thoughts, and he smirked quite visibly at them. Apparently the shifter had done Pandora wrong in that aspect at some point in the past, but he couldn't be sure about it."She will not have me. I am an exiled lycan, Pandora. My pride and honor as such dictates that I bend to none but who I deem worthy. You should know that as well as I."
[/center]OH, what was this, what was this? Surely it couldn't be the night air, embracing him so completely? Nay, surely not! More likely it was...it was...the sheets of her bed, so soft against his skin...the embrace that preceeded the pain, pleasure, the certainty? Oh, to be certain of anything again! Mmm, how lovely that would be! He could FEEL the color draining from his face...oh yes, oh yes, draining from his face and seeping into the night. Look at all the pretty colors, tee hee. He stopped outside a residence, staring up open-mouthed at the latern hung with care outside the door. Such a pretty yellow, like a little sun. But noooo...the sun was bad. The sun...the sun! It could SEE him, it knew what he was! He stumbled onwards, the desperation, the need, so physical, pounding through his veins. Soon, soon dear sweet little death dealer, you'll get yours! To see her, she would...she would be so kind, so kind and so sweet, like sugar coated with arsenic, that was what she was... Giving him her Opium Vitae...what a good master she was, oh yes, oh yes...Almost there, almost there...he could SEE the tower stretching before him, so high, so high, surely he could reach the moon if only he could climb, but no. first...first...he needed his fix.
William heard the request before he even had his eye pressed to the small slit in the door. For Pandora? But Pandora didn't have any appointments tonight? The woman's voice seemed weighted with something, so clearly this wasn't a social visit. But when had she arrived before and been welcome? He was uncertain what to do, then his sight adjusted and he realized she did not wear the proper deep green cloak.
"I'm sorry, but you must do away with ye'self Madame. You are not dressed accordingly!"
[/center]Pandora was positively glowing with the words in which Tathar had just spoken. Bend to none but who I deem worthy... Did that mean he had deemed her worthy? Or was it a hint that he would not bend to either women? Slipping one of the freshly binded Parchments onto a shelf, she spoke to him over her shoulder, even as she moved onto the next spot in the Library.
"I see. And whom, pray tell dear Seregon, shall ever be worthy of such high a phase?"
As she reached the next bookshelf, Pandora wiggled a few of the books aside so that she could squeeze another new binding inbetween them.
Then she turned, her back to the bookshelf, to peer at Tathar. It was an honest question, and she hoped, nay she expected an honest reply.
Ah, such sweet bliss! Victory at last! It tasted so sweet, like, well...like the first few salty drops of Vitae. Mmm, Vitae. So caught up in these lovely, foggy thoughts was he that he did not even see the woman sag to the ground, stumbling right past her and slamming desperately into the door. He was so overjoyed he could cry. In fact, he was. Tears leaked out of his bleary blue eyes as he carressed the cold metal of the door."William...Willie boy, dear, sweet, simpering William, let me in please. It is time. I am here. I am ready, William! Please don't torture me so! Oh the pain, its like agony, like knives! Let me in, William, oh please."
His clumsy, shaking hands drew forth the hood of the cloak that hung snug about his shoulders, but he had to stop for a few moments, his eyes wide and unseeing as his fingers danced across the fabric. It was so soft. Had the man ever felt how soft it was? Still, he had more pressing matters, and as such drew the hood up and gazed desperately through the slot.
Her time was draining fast, her vision now very blurry she groaned at william. " Fine William...I'll return later..."
Her words were short. Strained. She pushed herself from the tower door and sauntered back to the inn. her Orbs shifting everwhich direction. Making her way to the inn, through the door she avoided the keep and made her way to her room.
His ears caught the slight sound of a rapping on the door below...But that was no major feat to accomplish. The Tower was stone, and as such sound bounced about from it easily....But his attention moved completely to her as she asked her question. He had been watching her before that moment, of course, observing as her form moved to place the sheaves of parchment into the shelves, but now, at her question, and as she turned to face him he really had to think...Should he just say it outright? No, that was probably likely to be an uncomfortable moment if she wasn't used to such things...He chose to instead have a little fun with it"Oh, I have a certain person in mind. Admittedly, she is likely the coldest person that I have ever been aquainted with."
[/center]Pandora held up a hand, momentarily cutting Tathar off as she stared into the darkness of the Library. Though she may very well appear as if she just lost her train of thought, she was infact listening. She heard Portier request entry and William turn her away. She heard him state that she did not wear the appropiate cloak and thus he could not grant her entry. She even heard her reply of disgust, and then she heard the woman no more. Instead, another voice pickedup. Now that voice Pandora was fully aware of. Mathas. Oh, she had thought the poor boy had learnt his lesson during his own two week punishment. She had only just released him from his confined coffin a forthnigh' ago. And he was back already.
She could even now hear as William disengaged the lock on the Tower door, to let Mathas in. Unfortunately, her attention snapped back once more as Tathar answered her previously asked question.
She could smell it on him. He lusted after her. Oh yes, she could smell it. All Master Vampires could catch the scent of anger... Lust... Joy. Each strong emotion had a different smell, and Tathar's was clearly Lust.
With a playful smile, Pandora took a step towards him, shifting the last three binded parchments under her right arm, as with her left she trailed up his chest to his chin, which she tapped with the tip of her index finger.
"Is that so?"
[/center] Making inside, she said not a word to anyone and did her best to climb the stairs. Entering her room she squinted into the darkness.. Her room was a mess, the bath was still there the water ice cold, the frangrance from her soaps was lingering, scattering in. She raised her eyes and found her cloak. She knocked over the lantern, and then the books on her table. Taking in a deep breath she grabbed the cloak tearing the one from her, she caught a glance at her appearence. She had cuts along her throat, several very deep. Blood was still seeping although it had slowed it's mark. The cut on her arm was deep enough that the skin pulled away from each other. Her lip was bleeding, and upon further inspection she noted there was a bite mark on her left shoulder. That bastard...he had taken some of her, while she was in fury. Lovely. She shoved herself away from the mirror and placed her cloak about her shoulders. With thick steps she passed through the door, and almost takin' a tumble down the stairs. She swore. She would look and sound like a drunk. Perfect mode, if anyone should see her that's what they would think. Clipping down the steps to the bottom she swayed a little and made for the door...Her features all hidden from view by the cloak, stepping outside she once again made her way to the Tower, sluggishly. Her feet dragging, and dust stirring up because of it.Oh, and just when he thought he couldn't take it any more, relief, so blessed relief, the man let him in. He could have cried. Oh wait...he WAS crying. That's right. He'd forgotten. But how could he have forgotten? Those tears, they felt so good on his cheeks. Little angel kisses to keep him company as he faced the daunting task before him. Fly, fly little Mathas, with your little blue wings! And so he jumped. And so he failed, nearly smearing the wall with his face. It had been far too long since he'd fed. Where were his heightened reflexes now? Damn damn damn. With mounting trepidation, he turned his wide, staring eyes to the slits in the wall. Oh so many! Look at them all lined up there, neatly in a row, so many black liness, like the ribs of a skeleton. He grit his teeth until his jaw creaked alarmingly, but to him the sound was like music as he slowly, painstakingly began the upward trek. He tried to whisper, but could only bellow.
"Oh Pandorrrrra! Matty's baack! I've come back from Fairy Land, Pandora, and its time, its time for us to play. I didn't like playing with the fairies, but I like to play with you! So sweet, so sweet, such a good master, so right to punish poor, bad Matty, but now, but now, I'm back and now...its time. Its time to help poor Matty. He needs you!"
And another slit, and another slit, and there was the floor to the library, looming before him, if he could only reach it, if only it would stop skipping away from him!
He had stopped speaking when she'd raised her hand signaling for silence, feeling slightlu put off, but as soon as he had thought that it was alright to continue he had, and her attention moved to him once more. Apparently, his answer has piqued her interest...and she had also apparently discovered exactly who he had meant, and he moved not an inch as she approached, a smile showing on her lips. My how appealing that was...and how often was it that a vampire, much less a Master, actually smiled like that? And thus far he had managed to coax several from her...As her her hand moved to his chest and up to his chin, tapping there with her finger, and he nodded. His heart, that beating organ that was one of the many diufferences between the two of them, began to beat slightly faster. Surely she could hear it, as well, for it was a thundering wardrum pounding in his own ears. He was excited, and very much so...but could she possibly feel the same way?"Aye. I think you may even know her."
[/center]The rapid increase in Tathar's pulse became a background noise as Mathas' voice drifted up towards them. Oh the urge to sink her teeth into the Lycan right then and there, to mark him in a way that she had never before marked Mathas. Oh yes, she had marked Mathas twice already. But never had she done so to the extent she wanted to give to Tathar. Mathas had never been bitten by Pandora. He had never been marked. She had, in a moment of loneliness, allowed him to drink from her, but never had she sunk her teeth into him. She had not wanted to mark him. A Vampire, after all, could only mark One person at a time, and she had not wanted to risk that.
As Tathar spoke again, Pandora turned attention back to him. She didn't want him to know of the awful thing she had done to Mathas, but clearly all that was about to be aired. Her voice, tinted with the charm that she had never used on him before, purred quietly into his ear.
"Tell me, my dear sweet Tathar, are you afraid? Are you ashamed to admit to others what you wish of me? Tell me now, are we to hide what you are to me? Tell me, mîn fea wulf, now before we are inturrupted. Do you wish me to hide it?"
Though she was pleading for an answer, the enchantment on her voice made it sound tempting. As if she were flirting with the Lycan. She wanted an answer, and before Mathas appeared. If she needed enchantments to do so, dammit she would.
Once again she found herself propped up against the door, she raked her nails against it, and mouthed the words. They slid from her lips as if they were just a mere whisper."..William...Hajia to see Pandora..."
She was fully covered by the cloak.. Her features and wounds not noticable. She rubbed her lips over each other, tasting a metallic sweet taste she knew it was her own. She straightened her back and shifted her weight. HEr shoulder rested against the side of the Tower.
