Bitten Ch. 04

Rhys hadn't been exaggerating how busy he would be. He was essentially playing three identities at all times. It was exhausting work, especially while still being present for Tierney. He had even asked his brothers Soren and Renwick to help him out. Mostly, he wanted them to pose as him to be seen so no one would put together what his identities were. He created a necklace that was filled with glamour magic that would make them look like him when they wore it under their clothes.

They didn't do much other than mingle, because he didn't want them in the line of danger. He was okay putting himself in that danger, but not anyone else outside of The Shell. He knew what he had been signing up for. He didn't want his brothers to deal with the dangerous side of it though.

The times he wasn't able to get away long enough to see Vasile, he would leave letters in his room for him. He never signed his name, but Vasile knew his handwriting. He always put a D at the end, for the nickname that Vasile loved to call him. On the days where a letter was on his desk, Vasile quietly but excitedly closed the door and sat down to read it. He read slowly and deliberately, as if he were savoring each word individually and together with the rest of the sentence.

On those days, he carefully placed the letter in a hiding place he had been using since he was a child and went to bed happy, dreaming pleasant dreams of more kisses. At some point, he devised a code that allowed their correspondence to appear to simply be chatter and shared it with Rhys on one of his rare in-person visits. There was some struggling at first to master the code but before long neither of them needed to take the time to decode a letter, sight-reading the coded message along with the written message.

Rhys loved that they could now write what they truly wanted to instead of just updating each other about what they were doing; something he wasn't even allowed to do right then. A lot of Rhys' letters were about what his life had been like while he was gone, but also just how much he had missed Vasile, and how he hated being away from him.

Vasile tried to take it easy on his messages, coding them as if he were leaving messages for the room attendant regarding the cleanliness of his room and which clothes he would require. He still managed to say quite a bit about his day, however. He hoped Rhys wasn't struggling too much to catch up on his backlog of letters, but he still guiltily couldn't stop himself from indulging in as much communication as he could manage.

He was also completely incapable of hiding his much-improved mood from his family and other denizens of the Capital city. His closer siblings, Nik and Aisling, knew exactly what - or rather who - was responsible for the change in Vasile's mood, but they swore themselves to secrecy and even joined him in trying to prep their parents for the inevitable revelation that Vasile had blood-bonded.

Rhys was generally in a better mood too when he was at home. Even Tierney noticed and commented on it, and Rhys smiled at her and told her that he was catching up with a good friend who he liked a lot. He could explain more to her later, once they had things figured out. He wasn't fooling anyone else though; everyone in his family knew who had put the smile on his face.

The only thing that could cast a shadow on their happiness was this coup. A few vampyres had come back to court after traveling for a while, and one of them was Rhys' second identity: Roland Andras, son of Baron Andras. When he had last been at court, he had been a very arrogant and cocky man. What Rhys knew about him now was that his travels had humbled him quite a bit, but no one at court knew that yet. He had given permission for Rhys to use his identity to infiltrate with. So for now, cocky and arrogant he had to play.

Most of the people who had come back didn't bother Vasile any. They were polite and respectful enough to him, but something about Roland Andras bugged him. The few times now that they had run across each other, Roland had looked at the royalty like they were a pest or something. He had made comments about how high and mighty the royals acted, though in front of the Queen and King he was nothing if not politic.

It killed Rhys to have to act that way, but it was the only way to get noticed by the people doing the coup. If they eventually told him to cool it, then he would, but he needed those that were against the crown to see that he didn't hold it in particularly high regard. The only good thing about it was that no one in the royal family would ever have guessed it was him, especially not Vasile.

Unfortunately for Rhys, Roland's vocal criticism of the royal family (not to mention the ruling class) led to a multitude of false leads. Rhys was actually shocked at the frequency with which Roland was approached, both privately and otherwise, by commoners and nobles alike to commiserate about his viewpoints.

He took the time to really hear them out, and later took notes about what he was told. He may have been working to stop the coup, but if the public, commoners and nobles the same, had problems with how things were going, then he wanted to look into that. It might be the only way to make sure this didn't happen again later. He took notes in a notebook at home with codes as to who had told him, what their social class was, and then just plainly wrote what they had said. Eventually, he would make a copy without the code for who told him to give to the royal family.

Rhys needed to adjust how he was handling things, but not to an extreme degree. Changing his behavior too fast would cause people to notice in the wrong way. So he very slowly shifted the way he was acting, from being as overt and obvious, to being more subtle about it.

Vasile noticed the subtle jabs though. The worst part is that some of it, which Rhys had taken from other people who he had spoken to, hit way too close to home. It was jarring when it happened, because Roland would smile right after the comment and walk away or move to someone else, and Vasile couldn't even argue with him because what he had said wasn't untrue. It hurt Rhys to do it, too, but it was necessary. He just hoped Vasile would forgive him for it one day.

Vasile was more than a little concerned about how popular this Roland fellow seemed to be. The Spymaster reported that the man had more invitations for meals than he could possibly answer in five years with more piling in. It was a little alarming to Rhys as well, but he found that many of those invitations were from people who were simply frustrated with the way things were going right then. Some of them, much like his own family, had bastard children who were treated like less than people, and it bothered them that the royal family did nothing about it.

Many dhampyr bastards had come to him as well, talking about their own bullying they went through; things that easily mirrored Rhys' own experiences. It hurt to hear it, partly because it triggered memories Rhys had pushed deep down into the recesses of his mind where he was sure they were locked away enough not to hurt him anymore. Mostly, though, he hated seeing those younger than him dealing with the same issues.

For a little bit, though, Rhys was worried that this wasn't going to get him what he needed. It was helpful to learn all of this, but it would all be for naught if the royal family was killed in the end. Of course, Rhys would do almost anything to keep Vasile alive, even if it was at the expense of the rest of the royal family if it came down to it, but he wasn't going to walk down that line quite yet. That would only happen at the last minute if he had no other choices.

The more subtle approach did, eventually, lead him where he wanted to go. Roland had earned himself a very sought after invitation to a dinner with people who were on his list as people to watch just in case. They were some of the highest families of nobility in the land of Arcasias, and it was exactly where he needed to be. It was also telling that not a single member of the royal family had been invited to this event.

The dinner started off normally enough, with everyone talking as they had their drinks and then eventually sitting in their assigned seats. Rhys was between quite a few noble men and women his age that he had wanted to watch closely, so it gave him a chance to talk to them. As himself, Rhys would have been the type to listen first and only join in when he had something to add. As Roland, though, he joined into the conversation that was going on around him like he loved being the center of attention.

They talked about court life, about the royal family, and about the regime that was currently going on in the other countries that made up Avanær. Rhys kept up the same general attitudes he had the entire time. He viewed the royalty as an annoyance that held far more resources than they needed to, and that they weren't doing anything to help with the half-breed situation.

Of course, the way he said it could be left up to interpretation, and it had been. He could either mean that they weren't doing anything to curb interbreeding or that the half-breeds weren't being taken care of. Most of the lower classes who had spoken to him so far had actually been for breaking down the barriers between races so that those who were mixed could have higher standing. That sentiment wasn't held by a lot of the nobility though.

Rhys thought as the party began to wind down that he wasn't going to get any further, but then one of the women came over to him, a Lady Josephine Ebenholz, and took his arm with a sly smile. "I do hope you'll be willing to join us for drinks and cigars once most of the others have left," she said quietly to him, so only he would hear. "I think you would like our inner circle here, Lord Roland."

"I would love that, Lady Josephine," he replied with a confident smirk.

"Excellent," Josephine said and led him away from the larger group that was getting ready to take their leave. She led him down a long hallway off of the entryway, one that went down to a large study that was filled with couches, a bar, and a coffee table. "What will be your poison tonight?" she teased, her tone flirtatious.

Rhys' eyes twinkled at her. "O negative, with bourbon."

She turned her back to him as she poured the drink, and then brought it over to him. He had some expectation that he would need to prove himself somehow. He swirled the drink around for a moment, and then brought it up to sniff before taking a sip. There was something there in the scent, something unpleasant. Something he recognized. He gave a disgusted look and held the drink away from him.

"Wolfsbane?" He hissed at her, the look on his face one that showed he was annoyed. Wolfsbane was dangerous to both vampyres and werewolves alike. Of course, as a dhampyr, it was only unpleasant and would give him a stomach ache or leave him sick all night, but he needed to play his part. "Are you trying to kill me?"

She smiled at him and took the drink before she dumped it down the drain and threw the glass away. "You understand we have to take precautions. Only the right people can come into our inner sanctum here. We need to make sure you aren't someone we shouldn't trust. I only have one more test for you to pass, and then I'll invite the others in."

She came back over with a cup of tea, still hot and already well steeped, for him. She stirred it now, and he could smell sweetness and something metallic. He knew what this would do to him, and how much it would hurt. It wouldn't be enough to kill him, but he'd definitely be sick for a few days. It wasn't enough iron to be lethal. He smiled at her, put all of his concentration into keeping his glamour up, blew on the tea to cool it down enough to drink, and then downed it.

It took great effort for him to not react or cry out in pain. It burned the entire way down. He made sure the tea hit the back of his throat and not the front of his mouth, mostly so his tongue wouldn't swell. His throat felt tight but it wasn't anything that would keep him from breathing for now. He'd have to get something in him later though to help it.

Once it didn't feel like he might react, he looked up at her. "Could use more sugar," he commented, putting a lot of effort to sound even and normal.

She grinned at him and took the cup, putting it to the side. "Let me go get the others," she told him, and swept out of the room.

Rhys waited until she was gone and then went into his pocket, grabbing a small mint and throwing it into his mouth. He had been prepared for something like this. The mint would calm down the effects of the iron; a medicine his cousin had made him before as a just in case thing. It wouldn't fix it though. It would just get him through the rest of the night until he could get home and have leave to be sick.

When she came back in, Josephine was followed by a smaller group of men and women, all around their age. He recognized all of them, though he was surprised by a few. Two of the Altmann brothers were there, and Rhys had thought their entire family was loyal to the crown. Three children of the Rambussac family were here, and another Ebenholz besides Josephine.

Josephine made him his drink now, and he could tell nothing was in it this time, so he sipped it, swallowing the mint discreetly so no one would notice it. Josephine explained to him, now that everyone was here, that they were a secret group that was trying to change the way things were going not just in Arcasias, but also the rest of Avanær.

"There's so much unrest right now," she told him. "And we can use that unrest to our advantage."

"What do you plan to do, if you succeed?" Rhys asked.

"We'll take over," one of the others, a man by the name of Carlysle Altmann said. "The Valravyns have had their time ruling, and now it's time to usher in a new age. A council made from the best of the nobility. No interbreeding allowed, everyone sticks to their own lands."

"There are far more half-breeds than we likely know about," Rhys pointed out. "Thousands of them are already in quite high up places, like Ambassador Draven and Commander Stalwart over in the Werewolf territory."

"Those ones will be taken care of," Carlysle commented. "In fact, Rhys Draven might just be the next one we need to speak to."

Rhys let himself look confused, because the expression worked for both him and for Roland. "For what purpose?"

"We intercepted his letters to Prince Vasile," Josephine explained. "It's obvious to anyone who knows the two that Draven is in love with the prince. We need to either trick him into helping us, or use him against the Prince if we can. If the Prince feels the same way, then Draven is a weakness for him."

"You've been quite popular with everyone, pure bloods and half-breeds alike," Peter Altmann said. "Surely you could get the Ambassador to us."

Rhys found that interesting. This would be more dangerous, so he would have to plan with Soren and Renwick how they would do this. He knew he needed to agree though. "Consider it done," he said after a moment.

The rest of the night was spent talking and joking, with a little bit of explaining to Rhys what they were doing. They wouldn't give a newcomer too much information, but just enough to whet his appetite and make him want more. Once he left there, he took his time taking one of the cars away, going to the backyard of the Andras estate to make sure he hadn't been followed before he teleported away.

He let the glamour fall once he was near the palace. He held up his credentials to the guards, and one of them walked him onto the palace grounds. He was taken to where Viktoria was, and he bowed once he was in front of her. "Your Highness," he said.

"Your Excellency," she acknowledged with the slightest of tilts of her head. "Have you come to report your progress?"

"Yes, I think I see a way in, but I need to get deeper to get more information," Rhys explained. "It looks like they want to build some sort of council rather than the royals being in charge."

Viktoria listened intently as he described the basics of what he had learned. Rhys was careful not to say too much, however, as he didn't want to be a source of misinformation. Besides, he was under instructions from the King and Queen not to reveal too much of his secret identities. Once Viktoria was happy with his report, she sent him off, and he walked through the palace until he was alone and then teleported to Vasile's room.

It was late now, and he could hear the shower going when he stopped to pay attention. Rhys sat down on the couch, starting to feel the effects of the iron again. His stomach was killing him, and he laid down on the couch with his face against the pillow there.

Vasile, completely unaware that Rhys was horribly ill on his couch, finished his shower and toweled off, wondering to himself if he would see the man who was coincidentally mere feet away from him. He wrapped the towel around his slim hips and finally emerged from the steamy bathroom. He smelled Rhys' distinct scent once he was in the still air of his room and froze mid-step.

Vasile looked around concernedly and spotted Rhys on the couch. With a mere thought, he crossed the distance faster than any onlooker would have been able to perceive and picked Rhys' limp form up as if he weighed nothing. He brought the ailing dhampyr over to the bed and did the only thing he could think of to diagnose what might be wrong: he bit him.

Rhys' blood had a metallic taste to it, one that Vasile recognized as iron. It had no real effect on Vasile other than to ruin the flavor of the blood, but Rhys was half fae. Unfortunately for Rhys, Vasile only had Fae blood on hand in his chambers. That wouldn't do at all to help dilute the pain from iron-poisoning. Vasile did the only thing he could in the moment and opened one of the veins in his wrist with a flick of his fangs and dripped some of his own blood into Rhys' open mouth.

Before long, Rhys' eyes fluttered open, the teal of his irises dull and animalistic. He latched onto Vasile's arm with strong fingers and began suckling at the open vein hungrily. It worked to take the edge off the pain, because it forced his vampyric nature to take over. It also pushed the iron laden tea through his system faster. He would still be sick for a little while, but he would be able to handle it.

It took quite a bit of effort to force himself to let go of his grip on Vasile's arm and take his mouth away, but he managed to do it. He laid back on the bed, looking up at Vasile with eyes that were still having trouble focusing. He forced himself to focus on Vasile's face, which he could see was filled with concern.

"Don't worry, Princey," he said, his voice hoarse and weaker than normal. "It takes far more than this to kill me, I promise."

Vasile grunted, sounding less convinced than Rhys would have liked. "So what prompted you to try spicy foods?" he asked.

"Ah, I didn't really have a choice," Rhys explained. "It was either prove I was fully vampyric, or probably be killed. So I did what I had to."

Vasile nodded his understanding, though the expression on his face showed he clearly didn't like it. "Just don't kiss me until you've brushed your teeth," he said, completely deadpan.

"I don't have a toothbrush here, and it's not like I can ask your dad for one," Rhys teased, though it did remind him to use his sleeve to wipe his mouth off. "I did not drink any of the wolfsbane laden drink if it puts your mind at ease."

Vasile rolled his eyes dramatically. "Oh yeah, loads," he said sarcastically as he handed Rhys a monogrammed handkerchief. "Us civilized folks use these instead of sleeves, by the way."

"But it's so pretty. I'd hate to dirty it," Rhys joked, though he took it from Vasile and finished wiping up the rest. He tried to sit up, but the pain hit him again when he did, and he fell back onto the bed with a groan. He reached into his pocket to pull out another mint, popping it into his mouth and taking the time to actually suck this one down instead of swallowing it early.

Vasile watched him concernedly for a moment, then asked, "Do you have a doctor you can go to?"

"Yes, but I'll have to go to Fyrie for it," Rhys admitted. "None of the doctors here in Arcasias know how to deal with iron poisoning."

"How possible is that and how long would it take for you to return?" Vasile asked.

"I can teleport there if I can get the pain to go down enough," Rhys explained. "As to how long, I can't say for sure. Sylvae is one of the best healers I know, so it might not take that long. If I'm lucky, she can get me in and out in just a few hours, but it probably depends on how bad this is."

Vasile nodded again. "One more question: can she come here?" he asked.

Rhys looked like he hadn't even considered that, but after a moment he nodded his head. "Yes, I suppose she could. Do you have a pen and paper I could send a note to her with?"

Vasile gestured toward the desk, then offered Rhys a hand as he said, "Cuilë nienna na cuilëlye." (My desk is your desk)

Rhys smiled at him and got up off the bed so he could move to sit down at the desk. It still hurt, but nowhere near as much right then. He picked up a pen and wrote down on the paper in Elvish, "Sylvae - Ingested iron poisoning. Can you bring supplies to the palace in Arcasias? Ask for Vasile. -Rhys."

He folded the note up into a small bird, and then held it in the palm of his hand before putting magic into it. Vasile watched as the bird began to flutter out of Rhys' hand, flying around the room for a moment before it disappeared into a flash of colorful glitter. Rhys gave a small nod of his head, and then moved back over to the bed.

It only took about twenty minutes before one of the guards knocked on the door. "Your Highness, Princess Sylvae Caimaer is here to see you. She has an entire bag of... something... with her. What do you want me to do?"

Vasile told the guard to bring her in at once. Fortunately, the bedroom was situated where it was impossible to see from the door. Sylvae was led into the room by the guard, but he left her behind when Vasile dismissed him. Sylvae had bright red hair that went down a little past her butt, the same rich tanned skin as Rhys, and the same markings on her face and arms. She wore a long white gown, with accents of dark green and gold. The rope of green and gold around her bust created an empire waist on the gown, and white ribbons of chiffon cascaded down her arms.

Once the door was shut, Vasile took her into the bedroom where Rhys was laying down again. Sylvae took one look at Rhys and shook her head in what Vasile could only assume was exasperation based on her expression. "My dearest cousin, what have you done to yourself this time?" she asked him, her accent that of the posh regions of Fyrie.

Rhys gave a pained smile at that. "Oh you know, just testing out what happens when a half-elf, half-vampyre ingests tiny particles of iron. Turns out, it's not fun at all, and I would very much like it to stop. So is that something you can do?"

"It is," Sylvae admitted and put her bag down on the desk. She began pulling out a bunch of ingredients, stopping briefly when she recognized the flower sitting on the desk in the vase. She could feel her cousin's magic in it, and she looked briefly thoughtful before she went back to pulling things out.

She quickly used a mortar and pestle to grind up some herbs and seeds before pouring them into a bowl. She added spring water, her own healing magic, and an herbal agent that would destroy the iron in his system. She poured it into a bottle and then brought it over to him.

"Drink all of this, spare not even a single drop," she explained. "It will not taste good, but it will do the trick. Expect to be sick for the rest of the night, and iron will do more harm than normal for a good week after this. I would appreciate it if you avoided it for that time period, at the very least. I will make you more just in case, but I will not make house calls again!"

Rhys smiled at her. She said that, but he could tell by the look in her eyes that she would come straight away if he needed her. "Vasile here is a prince, he could pay you handsomely for your house calls," Rhys teased her, which earned a glare from Sylvae. He held up the bottle like he was trying to cheers and said, "Sláinte," before drinking it down.

From the look on Rhys' face once he had drunk it down, Sylvae had been right that it didn't taste good. He grimaced at the flavor, his body shuddering slightly at the lingering aftertaste. Vasile stifled a smile at Rhys' reaction, glad to see some color returning to his cheeks. Vasile bowed solemnly to Sylvae, saying, "Honored Healer, I am deeply in your debt. Should you need anything, you must only say the word." in passable Fae.

Sylvae took the time now to look over Vasile, and she smiled almost like a cat when he spoke to her. "Impressive, Your Highness," she commented. "I would tell you it was no problem, but I am still a fae and favors are some of our favorite things to trade. Though truly, the one who would owe me would be my idiot cousin. I won't say no to that offer though."

She looked back at Rhys, who had laid his head back down. He had more color now but he still didn't look great. The pained look had stopped but now he just looked sick. He felt like throwing up but didn't think he actually would. His body also hurt as the medicine was getting rid of the toxins. Sylvae gave him a look that showed she had very little sympathy for him right then, but the more Vasile watched the way she acted with him, like how she put a cold washcloth on his forehead when he started sweating, he could tell it was because she cared about Rhys.

Vasile knew full well what a commitment a favor was to the Fae, but he trusted Sylvae and she seemed honorable to him, so he gave it freely. "Will he be safe to teleport?" he asked her. Vasile was slightly worried about damaging Rhys' commission from the Royal Family should he be discovered here, but he was willing to do what he needed to for his safety.

Sylvae looked thoughtful as she finished filling up a few more bottles with the potion she made just in case. "He probably can, yes, but he should be careful. Without the right concentration, he might end up in the wrong place. I could also take him home if you need me too. Auntie Alavara will be happy to see me, I'm sure. And that cutie butt Tierney."

Vasile was relieved but also slightly disappointed. Rhys seemed out of it now so it's not like they could have done much, but being able to give him some comfort by holding him would have been nice. Sylvae seemed to pick up on that, and said, "If it suits you, Your Highness, I can make a trinket that will send him home to his bed. It's a one use item, but it would give you time with him while also giving you an option to not let him get caught with you."

Vasile, careful not to owe her a second favor, asked, "What price would you place on such an item, Honored Healer?"

Sylvae grinned at him, that catlike look again, as she considered it. "A trinket for a trinket. Give me a broach or other such decorative item, vampyric in nature, and I'll make the teleportation one for you. I happen to like sparkly things, and I collect ones from other cultures."

Vasile considered that for a moment, then asked her leave to get something. She gave a nod of her head and sat down next to Rhys to get to making the trinket she would trade to him. Vasile ducked out of the room and into a back hallway that circumvented his guards. It was the work of a few minutes to arrive at his mother's chambers and enter through the secret door. Luckily, she was at a State dinner with the Werewolves and would not miss the item he was taking.

When he arrived back at his own rooms, he bowed politely to Sylvae and presented her with a hair clip in the shape of a raven in flight. It was a family heirloom, but at their ages, there wasn't much that wasn't. Sylvae smiled and took it from him, running her fingers over the small details. After a moment, she gave a nod and then handed him a necklace. It was an intricately carved knotwork heart made out of a rich hardwood that was filled with the lines to show the age of the tree.

"Put it around his neck," Sylvae instructed. "When you need to send him back, press the small button in the middle of the knotwork and it will take him to his room. Unless he changed the layout, which I doubt, he should land right in his bed. Worst comes to worst, he ends up on a chaise or the floor."

Vasile nodded his understanding as he accepted the necklace gratefully. He immediately placed it gently around Rhys' neck, careful not to jostle him too much. Rhys looked up at him, his eyes trying to focus despite being so out of it. He smiled when he finally focused on Vasile's face and brought his hand up to run along his cheek and jawline. Sylvae took that as her cue to leave, packing up her stuff and stashing the extra potions inside one of the desk drawers, while Vasile nodded when she pointed to it. Then she disappeared out of the room.

"I'm sorry for causing you so much trouble," Rhys said to him wearily. "I just need to protect you from these people. I'd never forgive myself if you got hurt and I could have stopped it."

Vasile smiled warmly, his eyes twinkling in the dim light of the room. He excused himself to go to the main door of his chambers and inform the guard there that he was not to be disturbed until further notice. Once the guard signaled his understanding with a salute, Vasile ducked back inside and warded the door. It wouldn't stop his guards, but random visitors like his parents would be kept out.

When he came back, Rhys was struggling with his formal wear. He had managed to get the tie off and unbuttoned the vest, but was having trouble with the shirt because his hands were shaking so badly. Vasile immediately moved to help, chortling quietly and saying, "My, my, my, so quick to disrobe. I hardly think you're in any condition to enjoy that."

Rhys let out a breathy laugh. "If I'd known we were having a sleepover, I might have brought something to wear, but the tight clothing is making this all worse. I feel overheated and nauseated."

Vasile helped him with the worst of the buttons and then stepped away to get a comfortable shirt from his chifferobe. Rhys got his pants off while rejecting a couple of shirts because the collars were too close to the neck. When Vasile found one with a lower neckline, Rhys finally nodded his head and gratefully accepted the shirt and put it on. There was something very comforting in wearing something of Vasile's that was so embedded with his scent.

Rhys took a moment to gather some of the fabric in his hands and sniffed at it, like he couldn't get enough of it as he laid back down. He closed his eyes for a moment before he murmured, "For so long, I thought I'd never catch your scent in the air again."

Vasile laughed as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Some day you may tire of my scent. Blood-farts are the worst!" he said, waving his hand in front of his nose for emphasis.

Rhys smiled at that, letting go of the fabric of the shirt so it fell back down against his chest. The shirt was a little big on him, so it showed more of his chest than it did on Vasile. "Tire of it? Never. Not even after thousands upon thousands of years."

Vasile felt a warm feeling in the deepest part of himself; a feeling he had never felt before. Knowing from a single bite that they were destined to be together was one thing, to actively connect on every level beyond the animalistic drives of their shared lineage was quite another. Rhys' whole chest felt warm as he looked up at Vasile, and it had nothing to do with how sick he was feeling. He reached out his hand for Vasile, wanting him as close as possible right then.

Vasile scooted closer and reached out himself. Their hands touched and it felt like a very slight current was running between them. Rhys let out a sharp inhalation at the feeling, his eyes locking with Vasile's. Vasile was equally caught off-guard. Now that he had Rhys in his bed, Vasile was surprisingly unsure of what to do. On the one hand, he didn't want to risk being caught and wrecking their plans; but on the other, he wanted to finally hold this man who had been flirting with his heart for so long.

Rhys felt similarly, even with being rather sick and out of it. Feeling that current and looking into Vasile's eyes made him forget why he was laying in the bed in the first place. All of his attention was on the man he loved.

"Sufletul meu," Rhys murmured, which meant "my soul" in the vampyre language.

"Nae, úva sinome illë naurë hrondin enean," Vasile responded in the Fae language, which roughly translated to "I'm not into feet, sorry."

Rhys laughed at that, using what little strength he had left to pull Vasile into a prone position on the bed to lay next to him. They both laid on their sides, facing each other now. Rhys reached over to run his fingers along Vasile's jaw, feeling that current again as he did so. Vasile giggled quietly at the feeling along his jawline.

Rhys kept his fingertips moving along Vasile's skin, taking them down his neck next, as he asked, "When did you learn the Fae language? Before we met?"

Vasile smiled gently, saying, "I had a Fae nanny when I was younger who taught me some basics and my parents felt that I should learn the language if I could as part of my training. Honestly, I didn't put the effort into it that I should have until we met."

Rhys couldn't help the smirk that came onto his face. "Well, I'm happy to have been of inspiration to get back into your studies, My Prince."

"Am I?" Vasile asked curiously, then clarified, "Your Prince, I mean. It seems you've got places in three very different realities. I would never make you choose, but there are others..."

"I do, that's true," Rhys agreed, looking serious again. "But I am here, and not in one of the other two places right now, so I already made my choice. I mean, my family is also at risk, and I asked Virmarus to send me here instead of to Fyrie. You have always, and will always, be my Prince."

Vasile nodded at that. "I wasn't trying to imply that you have unclear loyalties, or even that it's necessary for you to clarify those loyalties. I guess I was just wondering how you felt about your lineage?" he finished with a questioning tone, as if asking without saying it if that made sense to Rhys.

"What, my vampyre side?" Rhys asked.

Vasile gestured vaguely, explaining, "I mean the whole thing. I've never asked about it and my experience is very standard for vampyres, so I don't really know what exactly you go through from your perspective."

Rhys let out a sigh, turning his head so he wasn't looking straight at Vasile. "Honestly, it's complicated. I love both sides of my family. I wouldn't trade them for anything, but... there are tensions that have been difficult to deal with. My uncle is still annoyed with my mom for choosing her spouses over the family, and they haven't spoken much other than about me for a long, long time.

"I grew up known as the Duke's bastard, a dhampyr, and I got bullied heavily for it. All through school, in the times when I wasn't just being tutored privately, I grew to hate being a dhampyr. I used to wish I was just fully elf so often after someone would use their abilities to make me do something, or I'd be run down and bitten. When we met, I planned to leave here and never come back, as you know. You caught me off guard when I joked about you reading my mind and you got so upset with the implication. You were the first person other than my family who said outright I was one of you."

Rhys shifted his eyes back to Vasile's. "Now that I've traveled around more and met so many other half-breeds, as well as lower class vampyres, I see that my experiences were colored by how stuck up the nobles can be. There are so many people, on all sides, who are accepting of my lineage, and I feel far prouder of it now. I want Tierney to be proud of it too. This coup comes from a place of hate, and it makes me wonder if the way our separate groups are running things is the wrong way. Ruling families with no voice from the people, or from mixed heritages like me, may be the wrong way to handle it."

Then he smiled. "You make me proud of my vampyric side."

Vasile's eyes were watering a little by the time Rhys began to wind down. "Honestly, your criticisms of the vampyric government are very well-placed. Feudalism may have been ideal when there were relatively few of us and we had to hide ourselves from others but those times are well behind us. I recognize that Father has ruled honorably for millenia, but he has gotten quite set in his ways and tolerates far too much from those he has installed as nobility in order to feel like he holds a legitimate court," he responded.

"I won't knock on how your father has run Arcasias," Rhys commented. "But ruling classes may not be the way to bring unity to Avanær. I don't know that someone like me can get through to them though."

Vasile thought about that for a few moments, weighing Rhys' words on their own merit instead of trying to see his perspective as a partner. "I will admit that the ruling class as it stands is no longer sustainable," he finally said. "Perhaps if this division hadn't been allowed to fester and we had been far more welcoming of the 'voice of the commons' as the centuries had waned, but that's not the reality we find ourselves in, so there isn't much point in speculation.

"Like you, though, I'm not sure what I can do about it, even as the eventual Crown Prince. Much of what can be done is being done at the moment: gathering information and transmitting it to Father. I will see if he will consider my voice when we next discuss politics, but so far he has kept things... instructional rather than seeming open to discussion."

"Perhaps we'll have more chance to confront the issue once the danger has passed," Rhys replied.

Vasile shook his head, sighing slightly. "No, I'm starting to think from talking with you that the issue is where the danger is coming from. We will have to address the underlying cause in order to survive this crisis," he said.

That made a lot of sense and Rhys couldn't figure out an argument against it. Instead, he brought his hand down to rest on Vasile's chest, feeling his heartbeat there. "I'll share my notes with you then and we'll see what we might be able to do. Maybe we can kill two birds with one stone. Change the way things are while getting rid of those who would seek to do harm against the ruling families right now. I'll talk with Virmarus and see if he has ideas too. He's long since been wanting to change the way things are but needed the right push for it. He never wanted it to be something dangerous like this though."

Vasile thought about that briefly. "How much do you know about this Virmarus?" he asked. "He seems to have gained your trust rather quickly. Obviously, if you vouch for him, I don't question it, I was just unaware of his existence before you told us of him, though it seems my father at least knows something of him."

"I wouldn't say it was quickly," Rhys replied thoughtfully. "I met him about six years ago, when I was trying to get information on Haven. They are a group of half-breeds who built a home for all of us to feel at ease and welcome in. Virmarus just happens to be the leader there.

"I know his heritage, family issues, and what he hopes to make out of Haven eventually. He's a half-werewolf, half-dryad. He grew up in Fyrie because his werewolf family rejected him and forced his parents apart and his dad wouldn't fight for his family against his parents and siblings.

"He immediately brought Tierney's parents into the town when they were injured and got them medical help. The injuries were just too much. Tierney lived on because her mom was wearing her at the time and she was so little. She used her arms to protect her from the weapons used against them. I trust him because I've seen him in action, and I know his character fairly well now. I have a home there that I own and was living there until I came back to stop this coup," Rhys explained. It was clear he looked up to Virmarus, and there was some friendly affection there. "He's a good man, and I hope you can meet him soon."

Then he rested his head on his hand on the bed, looking at Vasile curiously. "Are you worried I might be putting my trust in the wrong person?"

Vasile nodded, his face still showing his doubt and perhaps a touch of jealousy. He seemed lost in thought for a moment, then dismissed whatever he was thinking of with a brief shake of his head. "I can't say that putting trust in the royal family is the right choice, but better the devil you know?"

Rhys couldn't help but smile at that. It was sweet to see Vasile's concern, as well as the jealousy. He never thought he would see Vasile being jealous of anything involving him. "I'm being careful, I promise. As new information presents itself, I am always ready to change what I am doing, and for now, just trust that I am well trained and capable."

Then his expression softened and he moved closer to Vasile, so there wasn't any space left between their bodies anymore. "As to any other worries you have, I will remind you how much I love you. Not a single person has ever turned my head since I've met you. The only person who has ever taken my breath away is you."

Vasile winced at that, asking, "Are you allergic to something I wear? Or is it me?"

Rhys chuckled at that. "You're just that stunning, my love."

Vasile breathed a sigh of relief and winked at Rhys. "The feeling is quite mutual, Dukey," he said quietly.

Rhys smiled at that. He moved so he could bury his face in Vasile's neck, where he felt safe and comforted. He didn't think he could completely trust the royal family, Vasile was right, but this royal family member he knew he could trust. Sometimes he wished he could just stay in Vasile's arms and ignore the rest of the world completely.

Vasile held Rhys carefully, not wishing to worsen the damage that Rhys had already endured. He couldn't help but worry that they would be caught out, not feeling safe even in his own rooms. His family had no issue coming into his rooms unannounced at any time. While Vasile worried that over, Rhys gave into his body's demands to be unconscious. He slept restlessly, mumbling out soft exclamations of pain for a while until he seemed to fall into REM sleep where he was still and quiet finally.

Eventually, exhaustions took Vasile to sleep as well, though his ear was always on alert for anyone coming into his rooms. No one bothered Vasile through the night, and as the sun began to rise into his room, the sun falling on Rhys' face where he was laying in Vasile's arms, he realized he didn't feel any pain or nausea anymore. When he realized what time it was, he knew he had to leave. He knew how worried Vasile was about them getting caught, and couldn't let that happen.

He gave a brief kiss to Vasile's lips before he got up and grabbed the clothes he had discarded the night before on the floor. He picked up the bottles of extra potion, and then looked back at where Vasile was sleeping. At the last minute, he tucked the shirt he had been wearing before he came to see Vasile under his pillow, so his scent could linger longer and Vasile would have something of his. He wasn't bothering to change anyway, so he could take Vasile's scent with him as well.

Then he disappeared out of sight, leaving Vasile to whatever he had to do that day.