Post by Pandora LeAmour on Jul 7, 2009 23:24:35 GMT -5
Pandora LeAmour
Mathas
Tathar Seregon
Location: The Tower
Time: Sunset
Lying there within the Chambers that she shared with Tathar Seregon, Pandora's eye's snapped open. There was no need to stir, or delay in waking. A vampire simply was not, and then they were.
It took her a few minutes, however, to figure out where here was. Afterall, this clearly was not her own soft cot that she was lying in. Struggling to recall the events of last eve, something Pandora herself had never had to do her entire existance, it seemed hazy at best. If this was what a hangover felt like, she'd never drink from a live feed again.
Ah yes... Now she knew exactly where she was. Apparently, when she managed to find her way into their chambers last eve, she had not gone to her own cot as she usually did, but instead sought out comforts from the sleeping Tathar. So this too hard, too thin cot must very well be his.
Without needing to look around, she was already certain that Tathar, however, was not lying there beside her. Oh, how she hoped he didn't mind the addition to his cot. She probably should have woke him up to ask permission last eve, but for some reason had elected not to. Infact, bits and pieces of flashes were even now flickering across her mind. She had, it seems, gone through great lengths to ensure that she did not, under any circumstances, wake him up.
She had lay atop the comforts of the fabric, and even ensured that there was enough space and material between their two seperate bodies to protect him from her cold form. Why she had not simply ordered him awake to gush out the details of the evening, was beyond her. Blame it on the blood alochol feast, blame it on her current state of exaustion, blame it on fear, she didn't care. The fact of the matter was, she had not told him.
Even now, as she lay there straight as a board on her back, her eye's staring up at the ceiling of the Tower directly above Tathar's cot, she did not relish the idea of going into details with the Lycan. Her Lycan. Yes, it was amazing what a little alcohol could do to someone. Oh, how it can make you think. Even of those thing's you tried so hard to ignore.
That was but one thing that had come out of the mess that was last eve. Pandora was, now, more certain then anything that she wanted to spend her nights with the man she had been sharing her chambers with for the last month. Perhaps it was the couple in the Tavern whom had their chairs sitting practically atop each other, as if they couldn't bare to have any space between them. Oh, how Pandora was jealous of those two.
More ideal, though, was the knowledge that she had thought last night that she would not live to see another evening. There had been many ways she could have gone. Mathas could have killed her right out, and given his state of mind last eve when she had accidently called him Tathar, she had no doubt he would have had he weapon in hand. Or it could have been a series of Witch Trials had the drunkards visiting the Tavern taken his ranting seriously. Or the journey home from the Tavern without her guards, if Remy had any desire to be Master of the City. Hell, she might not have made it home at all, if not for him, and all one would find was a considerably large size of ash come morning.
Rising from Tathar's cot, Pandora placed her slippered feet on the floor, having apparently sought out rest fully clothed, and dragged her aching form into a standing position. She would need to feed again, since last evening's feed was only enough to ensure she could climb to the top floor of the Tower, but first, there was a stop she had to make.
She would not rest easy to do a damned thing until she had seen with her own two eyes, that Mathas was still chained and locked in his cell.
She didn't even have the patience to attend to her appearance, so if it weren't for Bertha already waiting for her, Pandora would have simply passed it by. As it were, however, it was probably a good thing that Bertha was there, already filling a tub with water. She reminded Pandora that she smelt like stale sweat and alcohol, not the best scent for someone such as herself.
Without saying a word, mostly because Pandora's thoughts were elsewhere and she still hadn't gained enough strength back just yet, Bertha set to work on helping the Master Vampire out of her gown. When she was free of her clothing, and quite unbashfully, Pandora crossed over to where her personal attendant had filled the small bathing tub at, and stepped into it.
The feeling of the water was a bit of a shock to her, which just irritated her rather then anything else. She should have been prepaired for the sudden flash of warmth against her icy cool skin. Clearly she was more off then she thought.
Slowly, she lowered her pale form down into the rim filled tub, until her bottom met with the coolness of the metal. Settling herself down on it, her legs bent, knees poking out of the water, she then lifted her hands and scooped her hair up in her hands, until Bertha fastened a clip in it so that it would be off her neck.
All that was left to do, thankfully, was sit. Bertha would do the work of scrubbing her back, arms and legs down. As her private attendant worked, Pandora allowed her thought's to drift once more. She had wanted a night off from duty, a night out on the town like any mortal girl, and had not gotten that in the slightest. She wanted a chance to feed freely, the challange of mind rolling, and the challange of the game. Oh, she most definately got that. Moreso then she bargined for.
Lets see here... Mathas, Remy, and that bookworm from NightWorld.... Joel, Chris, and and the other six from that group for DayBreak... Add on the Tavern Bartender, the two guards, and the bouncer... Yeah, that was too many people whom knew what went on. Too many people to have risked it.
Even now, when she still wasn't certain if she'd manage to recover enough before someone posed an attack (which was always a possibility), Pandora knew that she had done the right thing. If the mortals would have believed Mathas' rants about Tathar, they would have sought out to capture him. Kill him, or worse, torture him. People kill what they do not understand. So, though her body, her strength, and her scenses were regetting it, Pandora herself was not.
She thought over and over again about what had taken place, and how she had only rolled the minds of the Mortals, as Bertha worked scrubbing her down, the water turning color from the paint job she had done the eve before. Perhaps just rolling the minds of the Mortals wasn't a good idea. Perhaps it would be best to roll the minds of the NightWorlders' involved as well. Then no one would have known what had taken place.
Mathas, of course, would still have to be dealt with. She was not considering rolling the NightWorld minds for his protection, but for her own. Now, all those involved and knew the truth, would also know that Pandora is weakened when she mindrolls, and that she would do most anything to protect Tathar. This was not a good thing.
Of course, even attempting to MindRoll anyone else for the remainder of the week was a dangerous thing. She was only supposed to Mind Roll ONCE a week, to build up her strenght before she attempted it again. She had done so nine times in total last night alone. And now, she was thinking, nay prepairing to do it another seven times tonight. You'd think she had a death wish.
When Bertha finally finished with her task, Pandora placed both hands on either side of the washing tub, and pushed, forcing herself to her feet. Bertha wrapped a thick strip of fabric around her, and holding it into place, Pandora stepped free from the wash bin.
She quickly dried herself off and disgarded the fabric only when Bertha had the gown she would be wearing in her hands and ready to go. A quick step into it, a quick wiggle to slide it into place, and Bertha's fingers flying over the knots to fasten it up, and then she was done. Or damn near.
When Bertha reached up to remove the clip from Pandora's hair, it fell to her shoulders, and Pandora took a step away from her.
Not that she had any intention of leaving the Tower again. Never. No way. Oh, yes she would. She needed to complete the NightWorld mind rolls.. But then again, she could summon them to the Tower. Yes, that was what she would do. She was not going out there again. Not until she had enough strength to fight off whatever may lay in wait for her.
Without waiting to hear the rest of Bertha's protest, Pandora quickly crossed the floor of the upper level, and paused only when she reached the drop. Just looking down it gave her an uncomfortable feeling, and thus, she walked around the hole until she reached the wall. Then, using the hooks in the wall, Pandora began to decend, one step at a time.
When Pandora reached the ground floor, she stepped away from the wall and glanced around. William wasn't sitting at his usual table, and instead there was an unknown guard there. Well, not completely unknown, Pandora had seen him around the Tower working odd duties, but he was unknown to the guard position. This did not do wonders for her already jumpy mood.
Her voice was nowhere near what one would consider polite, and the guard jumped, seemingly utterly surprised of someone appearing from behind him. This only futher served to aggravate her. How could someone protect the Tower if they couldn't even hear someone coming up behind them. Of course, she was a vampire, and Vampires by nature didn't make much noise, but right now Pandora wasn't thinking rationally.
He muttered something about how William was given the night off, and he was filling in for him, and the look on Pandora's face was priceless. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't master the effort to keep it expressionless.
The guard bristled, but did not move. Infact, if Pandora hadn't known better, she could have sworn he actually rolled his eyes at her. This notion was further suspicious when she heard his reply. He, apparently, did not have to take orders from her as she was not the Master of the City. He, furthermore, called her a 'spoiled little girl who had better learn now to treat higher beings', so men in general.
Had she more strength, she probably would have snapped his neck right then and there, gladly so at that. Unfortunately, she knew she simply couldn't. Not if she wanted whatever little strength she had left to attempt the seven more mindrolls. Oh, but she wasn't letting him think he had gotten the best of her. Wagging her finger in her face, she all but spat out her reply.
And then hissing furiously, Pandora stalked out of Williams Room and headed first and formost to the Holding Cells. Mathas had better pray he wasn't in his cell....
As a matter of fact, mathas WAS in his holding cell. He was, in fact, screaming, as loud as he possibly could, and had resumed banging his body agianst the cell door. He was not yet of a sane frame of mind, and after all, he wouldn't be Mathas if he was anywhere Pandora wanted him to be.
Pandora didn't even need to enter the holding cells before she knew that Mathas was still locked up inside. His voice carried well enough through the damn place. Giving the two guards stationed at the door a brisk nod, she then entered the room and marched directly over to Mathas cell.
Not even waiting for him to stop his feble attempts at escaping, nor to cease his hollaring, Pandora started in on him. Her voice was not loud at all, hell she didn't even think she had the strength to make it loud if she wanted to. It did, however, ring with the authority one got used to after being in a seat of power for so long.
It was her! It was her! He fell silent at once, clawing at the door silently.
"M-master!"
But no..that wasn't right...was it? Was that right? He no longer knew who he was supposed to be working for.
Pandora took a threatening step towards the bars of his cell and hissed as viciously as she could. Enough so where the guards themselves flinched even though it wasn't aimed at them.
Her icy blue eye's instantly turned red in her rage, in her lack of strength. She was no longer acting as a reasonably minded person, but a woman scorned. A woman in a fit of rage. A woman, whom at this very moment, was deadly dangerous.
She wasn't even aware that her voice actually had gotten louder. Too loud. It carried, not only through the holding cells, but down the hallway as well, bouncing off the walls and echoing until it could reach no further.
While she seemed to be losing control, he miraculously seemed to be regaining it--and quickly. He curled his fists around the bars of his cage, and his eyes were oddly bright as he looked back to her. His face actually registered sorrow.
He shook his head, almost as though it was a pity. In a way, it was.
His eyes beaded up at her, quite angry. Perhaps she could feel it.
And he turned his back on her.
As today had been his day off, so to speak, at least from his duties as Master of the City, however short his term may be, he had taken to nearly an entire day of solitude within the empty expanse of the Keep itself. It was oddly silent, here....only the soft sound of the shifting of the air within was evident, except of course for the blatant and incessant screaming that had been coming from Mathas since the man had woken...But that had seemed to stop, and so he was enjoying the near complete silence once more...Meditation was something he did not do very often at all...Only when he felt that his mind was far too crowded with thoughts and business did he indulge in it's uniquely soothing practice, and right now was one of those times...It was his short respite so that recent events could settle within him...A way for him to sort them within his mind so it seemed there was more space for other things. A rare gift, as the only place so far he had seen it practiced was in the lands far to the east. On his journey of life he had arrived there as he moved south from his initial home, and it was a beautiful land, steeped in custom and honor and pride, some of the very things that his kind held in so high reguard, and so he had instantly taken a liking to them...their way of life...In truth they were a small people, physically weak, but they more than made up for it. They learned to use their size to their advantage...To tune their bodies into weapons with secretive teachings of combat and philosophy, and they harnessed the power of their minds to temper this....In a way, he missed them. He could have stayed with them for quite a long time, much longer than he had, but certain events had made that impossible...But that was neither here nor there...and so he drew a deep and soothing breath, holding it at it's peak before releasing it equally slowly, letting troublesome thoughts set more easily within him.
She hissed once more, his words making her only more angry with him, with her, with everything and everyone.
Then, staring at him for a fraction of a moment longer, Pandora grunted and spun around on her heels, not a good thing to do given her current state, and had to pause until the foolishness magic that made the room keep spinning even after she stopped moving.
When everything seemed to move at least a bit slower, Pandora made for the door again, pausing only to hiss at the guards.
Having threatened them, Pandora then exited the Holding Cells and into the Tower's hallway again. Unfortunately, she had no idea where to find the one she was looking for.
If she wanted to get the dangerous task of seven mind rolls done tonight, there was no time to waste. First, Tathar. Then the idiot guard that refused to listen to her in Williams Room. Then the Mind Rolls, and finally.. Mathas. Let him sit in his cell and worry about what she was going to do to him. She didn't care.
Right now, she didn't care about anything, except her own agenda. Afterall, she wanted to kill Tathar for letting Mathas out. She wanted to kill the guard for dismissing her. She wanted to kill Mathas for what he'd done, and she nearly expected to kill herself just to cover up Mathas' tracks by attemting to mind roll another seven people, putting her 14 people over her weekly limit in under twenty four hours.
Marching herself painfully slow towards the Meeting Room, Pandora entered and was disappointed, no furious to find that Tathar was not there. Then she remembered, today was the third day of the week. Tathar, as she once did, had it off. Clearing her throat, Pandora hollared as loud as she could manage.
Oh how he had needed this...It would appear that he had many more troublesome thoughts floating around in his mind than he had previously expected...And as he sat there on the cold stone floor, the scents of old and stale kills and lycans flooding his nostrils a thousand times over, he began to think that this was going to take quite a bit longer than previously anticipated....But even as that thought left the lips of his mind a yell met his ears, and seemingly he would have to cut this session with himself short, by a long shot. Even so, the voice behind it, no matter how strained, gave him reason enough to leave his meditation for another time. After all, he had managed to get somewhere with it at least, and he stood, pushing himself up from the floor and giving a slight grunt as he did so. There was no real reason behind it...it was just a habit he had grown accustomed to doing in order to appear more human. As he stood there he brushed himself off, relieving himself of the bits of dust and dried fur among other things before moving toward the exit. And as he passed through he gave no glance, no word, no recognition that Mathas was there even as he passed right by his cell and out, form moving slowly but fluidly toward the meeting room, where she was very likely to be...Inwardly he wondered if she had yet to meet William's replacement for the night. After all, the man deserved a night off every now and then just as everyone did. He wouldn't last very long without them, and the only time he could recall him not being at his station was when he had been recieving his own punishment for allowing him to venture into pandora's chambers and wake her in the middle of the day...The rememberance of that moment brought a slight grin to his lips, and just after that he rounded the bend and stepped into the meeting room, eyes falling to her form as he did so.
The moment Tathar enter the room, and spoke caught her off guard. What, she didn't even hear him approaching? Oh, no. This would not do. No this would not do at all. Sinking into the nearest chair, which just so happened to have been one of the ones along side the table rather then at the head, Pandora turned her eye's towards his voice. Not icy blue, as they usually were, but red, deep deep red.
Without even waiting, Pandora harped on, not even remotely aware she wasn't pausing long enough for Tathar to get a word in edgewise.
Good lord, was it a mighty good thing that Vampires did not NEED to breath, else she'd surely have died from lack of oxigen. Now who in their right mind wants to listen to a woman rant, and esp. one that doesn't even need to take a breather? Talk about hell.
He merely stood there...He could almost feel the tension in the very air, and he swore that he could reach out and cut it with a knife...There was a saying...That hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn...Well, he could relate to that right now, especially since she was practically chewing his ear off for damn near nothing at all. And as such, as she mentioned "her night", he got an idea of what had happened...roughly.,..He knew that she had gone to the tavern to have her fun...And he had found out later that Mathas had somehow managed to make his way out of his cell, as well as the Tower itself, and that he had been carried back kicking and screaming by Pandora's escorts...A foolish move, really, as that left her unprotected...Anything after that he was unaware of...But yeah, he got the gist that her night had been less than satisfactory. Still, that was no reason for her to speak to him so...After all, he was still technically the Master of the City...Why...Her gifts had even arrived today, and now he was seriously beginning to doubt whether or not he would give them to her right now. When she had finally finished ranting and raving he spoke, his words tainted with irritation and quipped short at their ends.
The rant had nearly wore her entire energy down, at least the little bit that she had managed to wake up with. But hearing his words, she somehow got a second wind, so to speak. Her eye's remained red, her temper still at it's peak, and thanks to the exaustion, she even remained in her chair, something she'd probably be thankful for later.
She had almost told him exactly what took place last eve, but feared he was too smart for that. If he knew exactly what happened, he would know exactly what she had planned with the rest of her evening, and she was uncertain which she was worried of more. That he may try to stop her, or that he would let her go, his own secret greater then that of her life.
Weakly, she shoved herself up from the chair and onto her feet. When I say weakly, I don't mean she weavered and stumbled about. She is, after all, a vampire. Imagine the way a mere mortal moves. That is about what weakness is for a vampire.
Not being aware of the words until they had already been spoken, Pandora visibly flinched.
She was slightly torn. She needed to feed, so that she could at least gain strength enough to fight the NightWorlders whom she intended to tango with this evening. Not all NightWorlder's would take too kindly to her marching up and asking to Mind Roll them, which was another thing she needed to take care of to ensure not only Tathar's life, but NightWorld's.
And she needed to deal with Mathas before he could find another way to escape. Only, how does she do this without Tathar finding out the full details of the evening? She would most certainly have to Mind Roll the two guards whom were her escorts first. Tathar would know to speak with them, since he was aware they were there for that. He would not know about Remy and the bookworm until he had spoken to either them or Mathas himself.
Oh, how she wished now that she had never left the Tower. How she wished that she had never thrust upon Tathar the punishment of the Master of the City. He had let it go to his head. He was supposed to be doing the chores of the Master of the City, not actually making any of the decisions. Her own error could very well cost the exposure of NightWorld. And dammit, she would willing die trying to prevent that.
As she felt it necessary to further debase and humiliate him he visibly snarled at her, lips pulling back to reveal his perfectly white teeth, his brow furrowing. He had done what he viewed best, and had done what he considered to be the most viable option in order to protect them all. He had been the one to have Mathas locked up in the first place, hadn't he? And so it was only fitting that he take the subject of the man's escape personally...After all, he had threatened to expose him, and in doing so he would have likely exposed them all. But from the way she spoke, it was as if she had only just come to realise that...or...had something else happened...? She had not lied...No, as far as he could tell she had told the truth with little to no deviation. What exactly had happened to make her so enraged at him? Surely he had not been the cause of it, after all he had been here within the Tower the entire night, all the way up to when she crawled into the bed beside him...He did not like the fact that she apparently not only didn't trust his judgement in permitting others into the Tower, as well as his abilities to serve this position, but apparently she also did not care for his ability to keep her safe...And even as she softened somewhat after the last of her raged outburst he felt pained from it. Could he do nothing right by her? Well, if so, then he could at the very least bring William back to his position, as well as have the man who had replaced him for the evening taken to the feeding rooms. If she did not want him, then at least someone would have the pleasure of his still free feeling flesh and blood.
OKay, so she didn't like this new outlook she had in the slightest. Any other time, for any other being, she wouldn't have cared that she had wounded them so. It was, after all, what she did best wouldn't you agree?
But, when it came to Tathar, came to her current state, it wasn't pride that she felt for having hurt him. It was shame. A deep and unwanted weight of shame. And one, that if I do say so myself, didn't seem to suit her in the least.
Anyway, back onto the matters at hand...
Pandora flopped back down into her chair, as if his words had come with a shove, much like the one Mathas had forced upon her just the eve before, and her head actually fell back to slam uncomfortably against the back of the chair. Now, if she weren't a vampire, that definately would have left a mark, but unfortunately...
Her voice was softer now, clearly reflecting the agony in which she was feeling at the damage she had caused (and about damned time too!).
I'd like to suspect that she would break down right here, and now. Blubber out how she was deeply sorry for what she had said. Crawl into his lap, and cry upon his shoulder, unburdering herself of the eve before's events and going into a lengthly whine of a detail about why she really was so upset, but that wouldn't be Pandora LeAmour, now would it?
Instead, she simply sat there, head resting on the back of the chair, her red eye's discoloring and returning to their icy blue orbes, as she waited to hear the sound of Tathar's footfalls while he left the room, and left her to more.. challanging tasks.
Before he could make it clear out of the room, however, Pandora called out to him again.
Sneaky sneaky vampire. She certainly had a way of working around things, now hasn't she? She gets the replacement into a harmless position, without allowing Tathar to speak to the guards himself. She can speak the truth, so that he does not detect her lies, without actually telling all of it. And she can do all of this, without so much as moving a muscle. Perhaps an eternity as a walking, talking icecube wasn't so shabby after all, no?
Even as she softened herself further his expression only served to do the same to a certain degree. While he knew she meant well enough...well...it still pained him to know that she would accost him in such a manner...and he did not speak...Merely, instead, moving off to tell William's replacement for the evening to go and fetch the two men who had escorted her the eve prior, letting him know where to find them, or roundabout anyway, as well as giving him instructions to seek William out afterwards and to make his way to the feeding rooms. Of course, he did not refer to them as such...No, he called them the dining rooms. As far as he knew, he was going to perform some guard duty there as well...But no, when he made it he would visit him himself...He could do with a good feeding, as he had not had one of his own for a good long while, and the fact that he had damn near starved himself was beginning to show...His movements were becoming lethargic.
Now, since Pandora's system was already out of wack, you can imagine how well she did with just idly waiting around the Meeting Room for her two escorts to show up. Why, if that room had been decorated before she got there, I have absolutely no doubt that it would have been in shambles by the time those poor guards actually arrived.
As it were, there was not but a long table and a dozen skewed chairs to keep her company, that and her own thoughts, and thus if she really was hell bent on causing some trouble, would have to take it out on the poor defenseless wood in the room, and by that I mean of course the table and chairs!
As it were, and much to my dismay, she didn't even budge. Blasted vampires and their abilities to sit perfectly still, unnaturally so. How utterly boring for the rest of us!
With her eye's open and staring up at the ceiling of the meeting room, or would it be the floor of the NightWorld Library, Pandora began to organize her thoughts. Her first order of business was to speak to Tathar about the bloody fool in Williams Room, Check. Next, was to summon the guards from last eve whom had escorted her to the Tavern, Check. She would then have to perform the daunting (and rather nifty) task of rolling their minds so that they witnessed only the arrival of Mathas at the Tavern, and had no other memory of anything that took place past that point. And then, of course, she would have to go and do the same for Mathas, though I doubt he would be in much of a hurry to agree to her demand. She may very well have to ensure he CANNOT talk, I do hear if you remove one's tongue, even when they attempt to speak, not even a troll could understand what was being said.
Once she was certain she had Mathas' silence, she would then have to seek out Remy, and that odd bookworm girl with a forked tongue, and repeat the mind rolling trick, if she could still even think a coherent thought by then.
And then, the rest would be easy. All she would have to do is support Tathar's plan of executing Mathas for 'threatening' to reveal NightWorld and all it's monsters. Alright, so maybe that wouldnt' be so easy after all. Can anyone really see Pandora supporting ANYONE's decisions, least of all the hot Lycan? Yeah, I thought not.
Alas, we shall see if she can pull it all off... Tomorrow. For, even though Pandora is very much a NightWorlder, and has another five hours to go before she must sleep for her DayDeath, I am clearly not, and my old butt is in desperate need of some sleep. So, without further adu... Until next time, folks!
(To Be Continued Tomorrow Evening, 18 hundred hours HRT)
Mathas
Tathar Seregon
Location: The Tower
Time: Sunset
It took her a few minutes, however, to figure out where here was. Afterall, this clearly was not her own soft cot that she was lying in. Struggling to recall the events of last eve, something Pandora herself had never had to do her entire existance, it seemed hazy at best. If this was what a hangover felt like, she'd never drink from a live feed again.
Ah yes... Now she knew exactly where she was. Apparently, when she managed to find her way into their chambers last eve, she had not gone to her own cot as she usually did, but instead sought out comforts from the sleeping Tathar. So this too hard, too thin cot must very well be his.
Without needing to look around, she was already certain that Tathar, however, was not lying there beside her. Oh, how she hoped he didn't mind the addition to his cot. She probably should have woke him up to ask permission last eve, but for some reason had elected not to. Infact, bits and pieces of flashes were even now flickering across her mind. She had, it seems, gone through great lengths to ensure that she did not, under any circumstances, wake him up.
She had lay atop the comforts of the fabric, and even ensured that there was enough space and material between their two seperate bodies to protect him from her cold form. Why she had not simply ordered him awake to gush out the details of the evening, was beyond her. Blame it on the blood alochol feast, blame it on her current state of exaustion, blame it on fear, she didn't care. The fact of the matter was, she had not told him.
Even now, as she lay there straight as a board on her back, her eye's staring up at the ceiling of the Tower directly above Tathar's cot, she did not relish the idea of going into details with the Lycan. Her Lycan. Yes, it was amazing what a little alcohol could do to someone. Oh, how it can make you think. Even of those thing's you tried so hard to ignore.
That was but one thing that had come out of the mess that was last eve. Pandora was, now, more certain then anything that she wanted to spend her nights with the man she had been sharing her chambers with for the last month. Perhaps it was the couple in the Tavern whom had their chairs sitting practically atop each other, as if they couldn't bare to have any space between them. Oh, how Pandora was jealous of those two.
More ideal, though, was the knowledge that she had thought last night that she would not live to see another evening. There had been many ways she could have gone. Mathas could have killed her right out, and given his state of mind last eve when she had accidently called him Tathar, she had no doubt he would have had he weapon in hand. Or it could have been a series of Witch Trials had the drunkards visiting the Tavern taken his ranting seriously. Or the journey home from the Tavern without her guards, if Remy had any desire to be Master of the City. Hell, she might not have made it home at all, if not for him, and all one would find was a considerably large size of ash come morning.
Rising from Tathar's cot, Pandora placed her slippered feet on the floor, having apparently sought out rest fully clothed, and dragged her aching form into a standing position. She would need to feed again, since last evening's feed was only enough to ensure she could climb to the top floor of the Tower, but first, there was a stop she had to make.
She would not rest easy to do a damned thing until she had seen with her own two eyes, that Mathas was still chained and locked in his cell.
She didn't even have the patience to attend to her appearance, so if it weren't for Bertha already waiting for her, Pandora would have simply passed it by. As it were, however, it was probably a good thing that Bertha was there, already filling a tub with water. She reminded Pandora that she smelt like stale sweat and alcohol, not the best scent for someone such as herself.
Without saying a word, mostly because Pandora's thoughts were elsewhere and she still hadn't gained enough strength back just yet, Bertha set to work on helping the Master Vampire out of her gown. When she was free of her clothing, and quite unbashfully, Pandora crossed over to where her personal attendant had filled the small bathing tub at, and stepped into it.
The feeling of the water was a bit of a shock to her, which just irritated her rather then anything else. She should have been prepaired for the sudden flash of warmth against her icy cool skin. Clearly she was more off then she thought.
Slowly, she lowered her pale form down into the rim filled tub, until her bottom met with the coolness of the metal. Settling herself down on it, her legs bent, knees poking out of the water, she then lifted her hands and scooped her hair up in her hands, until Bertha fastened a clip in it so that it would be off her neck.
All that was left to do, thankfully, was sit. Bertha would do the work of scrubbing her back, arms and legs down. As her private attendant worked, Pandora allowed her thought's to drift once more. She had wanted a night off from duty, a night out on the town like any mortal girl, and had not gotten that in the slightest. She wanted a chance to feed freely, the challange of mind rolling, and the challange of the game. Oh, she most definately got that. Moreso then she bargined for.
Lets see here... Mathas, Remy, and that bookworm from NightWorld.... Joel, Chris, and and the other six from that group for DayBreak... Add on the Tavern Bartender, the two guards, and the bouncer... Yeah, that was too many people whom knew what went on. Too many people to have risked it.
Even now, when she still wasn't certain if she'd manage to recover enough before someone posed an attack (which was always a possibility), Pandora knew that she had done the right thing. If the mortals would have believed Mathas' rants about Tathar, they would have sought out to capture him. Kill him, or worse, torture him. People kill what they do not understand. So, though her body, her strength, and her scenses were regetting it, Pandora herself was not.
She thought over and over again about what had taken place, and how she had only rolled the minds of the Mortals, as Bertha worked scrubbing her down, the water turning color from the paint job she had done the eve before. Perhaps just rolling the minds of the Mortals wasn't a good idea. Perhaps it would be best to roll the minds of the NightWorlders' involved as well. Then no one would have known what had taken place.
Mathas, of course, would still have to be dealt with. She was not considering rolling the NightWorld minds for his protection, but for her own. Now, all those involved and knew the truth, would also know that Pandora is weakened when she mindrolls, and that she would do most anything to protect Tathar. This was not a good thing.
Of course, even attempting to MindRoll anyone else for the remainder of the week was a dangerous thing. She was only supposed to Mind Roll ONCE a week, to build up her strenght before she attempted it again. She had done so nine times in total last night alone. And now, she was thinking, nay prepairing to do it another seven times tonight. You'd think she had a death wish.
When Bertha finally finished with her task, Pandora placed both hands on either side of the washing tub, and pushed, forcing herself to her feet. Bertha wrapped a thick strip of fabric around her, and holding it into place, Pandora stepped free from the wash bin.
She quickly dried herself off and disgarded the fabric only when Bertha had the gown she would be wearing in her hands and ready to go. A quick step into it, a quick wiggle to slide it into place, and Bertha's fingers flying over the knots to fasten it up, and then she was done. Or damn near.
When Bertha reached up to remove the clip from Pandora's hair, it fell to her shoulders, and Pandora took a step away from her.
"It looks fine, Bertha. I have not the time to wait while you make it beautiful. Just leave the knots. I promise, if I leave the Tower, I shall come and have you fix it first. I promise."
Not that she had any intention of leaving the Tower again. Never. No way. Oh, yes she would. She needed to complete the NightWorld mind rolls.. But then again, she could summon them to the Tower. Yes, that was what she would do. She was not going out there again. Not until she had enough strength to fight off whatever may lay in wait for her.
Without waiting to hear the rest of Bertha's protest, Pandora quickly crossed the floor of the upper level, and paused only when she reached the drop. Just looking down it gave her an uncomfortable feeling, and thus, she walked around the hole until she reached the wall. Then, using the hooks in the wall, Pandora began to decend, one step at a time.
When Pandora reached the ground floor, she stepped away from the wall and glanced around. William wasn't sitting at his usual table, and instead there was an unknown guard there. Well, not completely unknown, Pandora had seen him around the Tower working odd duties, but he was unknown to the guard position. This did not do wonders for her already jumpy mood.
"Where is William?"
Her voice was nowhere near what one would consider polite, and the guard jumped, seemingly utterly surprised of someone appearing from behind him. This only futher served to aggravate her. How could someone protect the Tower if they couldn't even hear someone coming up behind them. Of course, she was a vampire, and Vampires by nature didn't make much noise, but right now Pandora wasn't thinking rationally.
He muttered something about how William was given the night off, and he was filling in for him, and the look on Pandora's face was priceless. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't master the effort to keep it expressionless.
"No, you will not. You will get William back to his post immediately, and you will not attempt to cover his position again, am I understood?"
The guard bristled, but did not move. Infact, if Pandora hadn't known better, she could have sworn he actually rolled his eyes at her. This notion was further suspicious when she heard his reply. He, apparently, did not have to take orders from her as she was not the Master of the City. He, furthermore, called her a 'spoiled little girl who had better learn now to treat higher beings', so men in general.
Had she more strength, she probably would have snapped his neck right then and there, gladly so at that. Unfortunately, she knew she simply couldn't. Not if she wanted whatever little strength she had left to attempt the seven more mindrolls. Oh, but she wasn't letting him think he had gotten the best of her. Wagging her finger in her face, she all but spat out her reply.
"You will live to regret that, you imbosol Mark my words."
And then hissing furiously, Pandora stalked out of Williams Room and headed first and formost to the Holding Cells. Mathas had better pray he wasn't in his cell....
Not even waiting for him to stop his feble attempts at escaping, nor to cease his hollaring, Pandora started in on him. Her voice was not loud at all, hell she didn't even think she had the strength to make it loud if she wanted to. It did, however, ring with the authority one got used to after being in a seat of power for so long.
"Enough of that, you fool, before I have the guards dispatch you immediately. Now tell me, what the hell did you think you were doing last night?!"
[/center]"M-master!"
But no..that wasn't right...was it? Was that right? He no longer knew who he was supposed to be working for.
"Pandora...Pandora...dear, darling little Pandora, did you like our dance last night? I had SUCH fun, Pandora. Maybe now they'll hunt down your little mutt and put him in the kennel like he belongs! Wouldn't that be nice, so nice, so so nice...nice like the sound of your voice saying my name. Say it again, Pandora...say it for me..."
[/center]"Stop this nonsense at once, you fool. You will not speak of Tathar like that. He is mine. He is mine in a way you never have been, never will be. You, who threatened my very existance. You who have nearly killed me, you will get nothing from me do you understand? Nothing but a painful death. Stop this now, I tell you."
Her icy blue eye's instantly turned red in her rage, in her lack of strength. She was no longer acting as a reasonably minded person, but a woman scorned. A woman in a fit of rage. A woman, whom at this very moment, was deadly dangerous.
She wasn't even aware that her voice actually had gotten louder. Too loud. It carried, not only through the holding cells, but down the hallway as well, bouncing off the walls and echoing until it could reach no further.
"Do you not realize what you have done? Are you so dense you do not see what your actions could have caused? They could have killed him, and thus would have killed me. Me, the woman you claim to need. You could have killed me, you fool. Now, rest assured, it will not be my Tathar whom dies from your childish behavior!"
[/center]"Oh Pandora...are you so blind as to not see? Has it really been so long since you've been around mortals that you are forgetting so much about our nature?"
He shook his head, almost as though it was a pity. In a way, it was.
"I knew EXACTLY what my words would cause. I admit that I wasn't necessarily in a sane frame of mind--being addicted to whore's blood can do that to you--but I knew. And, news flash, sweetie--I didn't care. Kill me if you must. Let me live if you wish. I'll even suffer through this curse you bestowed upon me. I told your new pet that I'd never drink from you again and so I uphold, not because of your denial, but on my own volition."
His eyes beaded up at her, quite angry. Perhaps she could feel it.
"Not that you care--that much is obvious--but you no longer have a single thing I want. You are dead to me."
And he turned his back on her.
"News flash, you fool. I am dead to everyone!"
Then, staring at him for a fraction of a moment longer, Pandora grunted and spun around on her heels, not a good thing to do given her current state, and had to pause until the foolishness magic that made the room keep spinning even after she stopped moving.
When everything seemed to move at least a bit slower, Pandora made for the door again, pausing only to hiss at the guards.
"He is not to be left alone for a single moment, am I understood? And if he gets too loud, just shut him up by any means necessicary, or it' is your head."
Having threatened them, Pandora then exited the Holding Cells and into the Tower's hallway again. Unfortunately, she had no idea where to find the one she was looking for.
If she wanted to get the dangerous task of seven mind rolls done tonight, there was no time to waste. First, Tathar. Then the idiot guard that refused to listen to her in Williams Room. Then the Mind Rolls, and finally.. Mathas. Let him sit in his cell and worry about what she was going to do to him. She didn't care.
Right now, she didn't care about anything, except her own agenda. Afterall, she wanted to kill Tathar for letting Mathas out. She wanted to kill the guard for dismissing her. She wanted to kill Mathas for what he'd done, and she nearly expected to kill herself just to cover up Mathas' tracks by attemting to mind roll another seven people, putting her 14 people over her weekly limit in under twenty four hours.
Marching herself painfully slow towards the Meeting Room, Pandora entered and was disappointed, no furious to find that Tathar was not there. Then she remembered, today was the third day of the week. Tathar, as she once did, had it off. Clearing her throat, Pandora hollared as loud as she could manage.
"Tathar Seregon, get your hairy behind in here right this minute!"
[/center]"You called for me?"
[/center]"You are blood right I called for you! Where is William and who the heck is that in his position?!"
Without even waiting, Pandora harped on, not even remotely aware she wasn't pausing long enough for Tathar to get a word in edgewise.
"After my night, I expect to wake up and find thing's exactly as I left it. Not some fool who does not even know there is a drop in that room. Who jumps and looks as if I were a rabbit being pulled from a hat for appearing behind him. Who, by dammit of all that is shiny, does not even know that this is my home and he is under my ruling! Who is he, you tell me now, Tathar. Well go on, tell me that William has passed away and this idiot, this imbosol, this... meal is simply keeping the seat warm until a suitable replacement can be found!"
Good lord, was it a mighty good thing that Vampires did not NEED to breath, else she'd surely have died from lack of oxigen. Now who in their right mind wants to listen to a woman rant, and esp. one that doesn't even need to take a breather? Talk about hell.
"William is enjoying a night off. I saw fit to see to it that he be given one, as the man sits there day after day with naught to do but entertain himself. Plus, I want to be sure about something. About whether or not William aided in Mathas' escape. As for the replacement...well...He was hired from outside, so I do not doubt that he knows nothing of you. All that I told him was that he was to be a guard for the night. After that, he is yours to do with what you will. Call him a gift, so to speak."
[/center]"I do not want him as a gift, Tathar, I want him gone and I want William back ON duty. It was YOUR job to ensure Mathas stayed in his cell. That is what you do. Your little error nearly cost you your life. Nearly cost Me MY life, and damn well cost Mathas his. I want that guard killed, the insolen fool. I want Mathas killed before he can find another way to slip from your grasp and kill us all, and dammit Tathar I want to wake up to feel protected not exposted by some snotty meal that does not know his place!"
She had almost told him exactly what took place last eve, but feared he was too smart for that. If he knew exactly what happened, he would know exactly what she had planned with the rest of her evening, and she was uncertain which she was worried of more. That he may try to stop her, or that he would let her go, his own secret greater then that of her life.
Weakly, she shoved herself up from the chair and onto her feet. When I say weakly, I don't mean she weavered and stumbled about. She is, after all, a vampire. Imagine the way a mere mortal moves. That is about what weakness is for a vampire.
"Forget it. If you want something done, you must do it yourself. My own error for allowing a man to do a woman's job. Clearly you cannot protect your own life, let alone mine!"
Not being aware of the words until they had already been spoken, Pandora visibly flinched.
"I am sorry, Tathar. That was quite uncalled for. I am upset, and I have much to do tonight. It may be your night off, but I still have a duty to NightWorld. A duty to you. Please dismiss the fool that is supposed to be guarding the Tower and have one of my own there. It was kind of you to give William the night off, but I do not trust the man that has taken his place. I do not trust him with my life. And I most certainly do not trust him with yours."
She was slightly torn. She needed to feed, so that she could at least gain strength enough to fight the NightWorlders whom she intended to tango with this evening. Not all NightWorlder's would take too kindly to her marching up and asking to Mind Roll them, which was another thing she needed to take care of to ensure not only Tathar's life, but NightWorld's.
And she needed to deal with Mathas before he could find another way to escape. Only, how does she do this without Tathar finding out the full details of the evening? She would most certainly have to Mind Roll the two guards whom were her escorts first. Tathar would know to speak with them, since he was aware they were there for that. He would not know about Remy and the bookworm until he had spoken to either them or Mathas himself.
Oh, how she wished now that she had never left the Tower. How she wished that she had never thrust upon Tathar the punishment of the Master of the City. He had let it go to his head. He was supposed to be doing the chores of the Master of the City, not actually making any of the decisions. Her own error could very well cost the exposure of NightWorld. And dammit, she would willing die trying to prevent that.
"Forgive me my errors once again, then. It would seem that I am incapable of meeting your expectations for this position. However I fear that you shall have to continue to berate me for them until the end date of my sentance. Now if you will please excuse me, I will have William brought back to his station."
[/center]But, when it came to Tathar, came to her current state, it wasn't pride that she felt for having hurt him. It was shame. A deep and unwanted weight of shame. And one, that if I do say so myself, didn't seem to suit her in the least.
Anyway, back onto the matters at hand...
Pandora flopped back down into her chair, as if his words had come with a shove, much like the one Mathas had forced upon her just the eve before, and her head actually fell back to slam uncomfortably against the back of the chair. Now, if she weren't a vampire, that definately would have left a mark, but unfortunately...
Her voice was softer now, clearly reflecting the agony in which she was feeling at the damage she had caused (and about damned time too!).
"Thank you, my Tathar. It means the world to me."
I'd like to suspect that she would break down right here, and now. Blubber out how she was deeply sorry for what she had said. Crawl into his lap, and cry upon his shoulder, unburdering herself of the eve before's events and going into a lengthly whine of a detail about why she really was so upset, but that wouldn't be Pandora LeAmour, now would it?
Instead, she simply sat there, head resting on the back of the chair, her red eye's discoloring and returning to their icy blue orbes, as she waited to hear the sound of Tathar's footfalls while he left the room, and left her to more.. challanging tasks.
Before he could make it clear out of the room, however, Pandora called out to him again.
"Tathar, my sweet trying Tathar. Could you have your replacement fetch the two guards whom were my escort last eve? I truely do wish to have a word with them."
Sneaky sneaky vampire. She certainly had a way of working around things, now hasn't she? She gets the replacement into a harmless position, without allowing Tathar to speak to the guards himself. She can speak the truth, so that he does not detect her lies, without actually telling all of it. And she can do all of this, without so much as moving a muscle. Perhaps an eternity as a walking, talking icecube wasn't so shabby after all, no?
As it were, there was not but a long table and a dozen skewed chairs to keep her company, that and her own thoughts, and thus if she really was hell bent on causing some trouble, would have to take it out on the poor defenseless wood in the room, and by that I mean of course the table and chairs!
As it were, and much to my dismay, she didn't even budge. Blasted vampires and their abilities to sit perfectly still, unnaturally so. How utterly boring for the rest of us!
With her eye's open and staring up at the ceiling of the meeting room, or would it be the floor of the NightWorld Library, Pandora began to organize her thoughts. Her first order of business was to speak to Tathar about the bloody fool in Williams Room, Check. Next, was to summon the guards from last eve whom had escorted her to the Tavern, Check. She would then have to perform the daunting (and rather nifty) task of rolling their minds so that they witnessed only the arrival of Mathas at the Tavern, and had no other memory of anything that took place past that point. And then, of course, she would have to go and do the same for Mathas, though I doubt he would be in much of a hurry to agree to her demand. She may very well have to ensure he CANNOT talk, I do hear if you remove one's tongue, even when they attempt to speak, not even a troll could understand what was being said.
Once she was certain she had Mathas' silence, she would then have to seek out Remy, and that odd bookworm girl with a forked tongue, and repeat the mind rolling trick, if she could still even think a coherent thought by then.
And then, the rest would be easy. All she would have to do is support Tathar's plan of executing Mathas for 'threatening' to reveal NightWorld and all it's monsters. Alright, so maybe that wouldnt' be so easy after all. Can anyone really see Pandora supporting ANYONE's decisions, least of all the hot Lycan? Yeah, I thought not.
Alas, we shall see if she can pull it all off... Tomorrow. For, even though Pandora is very much a NightWorlder, and has another five hours to go before she must sleep for her DayDeath, I am clearly not, and my old butt is in desperate need of some sleep. So, without further adu... Until next time, folks!
(To Be Continued Tomorrow Evening, 18 hundred hours HRT)
