Llyr's Court

[.David Talbot.]

Nicolae snarled at the vines as they attacked him but not much else for a minute or two. He stood still and let them cut into his hard flesh. It didn't matter when they would heal instantly.
He wasn't surprised that Antha was ready to pounce but he was glad she didn't. He could take care of them himself.
"Rynn this is starting to really piss me off," he growled while his spirits gathered and the heat of his power met Antha's and became fire. He fed off of her power a little bit to fuel it but once the fire was going it was all Nicolae. He sent it traveling up the vines but kept it from his own skin. Either they would have to retreat or more would come after him and he would have to burn them before they got to him. "Antha let's just burn this whole damm thing down. I'm sick of this."

 

[.David Talbot.]

[WHERE THE HELL DID RYNN GO?]  

[XCandy and LunacyX]

((A very good question indeed. It's a touch difficult to proceed without him...)))  

[.David Talbot.]

[he's dead i knew it]  

[XCandy and LunacyX]

((That's really a rather dreadful thing to assume.
...
Though, you could very well be right.))  

[Rynn Calais]

[Almost.]

Rynn looked at Antha, his eyes strange and glittering in the dim light. "Do you want to keep him?" he asked. As if it didn't matter. As if Nicolae was no more than a snarling, errant pet.
The briars dug in, even as they burned. They liked his blood, tainted as it was. They liked what their lord liked, and they could sense the grim pleasure within him at the sight of Nicolae's throat, those razor-thin threads of scarlet spreading and subsiding into his white skin. Already they drifted forward, experimentally. Were the eyes of a vampire as hard as their flesh? Could the undead be blinded?
But even the blind could have heard Liesse's intake of breath. She spoke suddenly, and without thinking. "Don't!--Please, don't burn it down. It was my fault, I was careless. Don't--"
Her brother stilled her with a touch, and a cool glance. Something unspoken passed between them.
"That's gratitude for you," he said, softly.
Then, turning, in a tone as biting as acid--"Come on. Liesse will keep it from putting your eyes out, won't she?"
The path to the heart of the maze was near.
Rynn could hear its beating.

 

[XCandy and LunacyX]

Antha's eyes settled for a small fraction of a second upon the twins, sweeping coolly over Liesse and then flickering with something darker as her gaze touched Rynn---the only response to his question that she dared to give. The emotion in that single glance had been intense, but it was vague. She didn't quite know herself. If forced to give it a name, she would call it anger, but that wasn't entirely it."Nicolae," she said slowly, returning her attention to him. Her voice had hardened with her eyes, sharpened and gone cold. It was how Antha gave orders, and how those under her power knew not to question her. "Burn whatever attacks you but contain the fire." She turned, one sharp, rapid movement, to face Rynn. "If you and your sister do not wish harm upon your plants, then I give you one minute to put an end to the attacks upon my brother." She took one step closer, her movements tense in a way that suggested she was restraining herself. "If they do not cease, I will have the entire grounds up in flames."

 

[Rynn Calais]

For a moment, that strange look in his eyes grew potent, a soft and choking miasma within him that was almost--almost a challenge to her own authority.
Then, within an instant, enough to make any onlooker wonder if they had only imagined it, the look was gone.
He waved a dismissive hand, before turning and letting Liesse take his arm. "Don't worry. My sister will keep them back." He did not look back to see if his words were true; Liesse dropped her hand obediently to the wall of ivy and continued with him. And indeed, the flaming vines dropped then easily away from the Mayfairs.

"I'd hoped they'd ignore your blood because you were with us. This place was built by my ancestors, consecrated by my ancestors, the earth stained red with their blood. It belongs to our family as surely as your red hair belongs to you, Miss Mayfair. And we have always been a little territorial." He spoke absently, to take her mind off of things. "When I was small, we used to play in the maze. After dark, we could sometimes see the ghosts; so many of them, I could never keep count. This place felt--safe, then." Silence fell, for a moment. "Not anymore."

 

[XCandy and LunacyX]

Antha was silent---gravely so---as her eyes followed Rynn, tracking even his smallest movements. "Nicolae," she said softly, calling her brother to her side before she took his arm and followed after the twins. Still, she didn't respond to Rynn. She feared she might say something rude if she dared to speak to him. "Mon cher," she said to Nicolae, glancing up to meet his eyes and pretending, if only for that moment, that she wasn't angry, "I think our cousin is planning something. I can sense his thoughts, that he's plotting something, but I do believe he's trying to block me out." Her eyes sharpened, meeting his with all the force of her power and position, "You wouldn't happen to know Courtland's schemes, would you brother dearest?"

 

[.David Talbot.]

Nicolae was obedient to his sister. He walked beside her when he was released and kept quiet until he was spoken to. His eyes were still burning and the torn flesh on his body was still mending.
"I might have heard some of his thoughts," he answered. It was only a murmur. He thought about telling her the rest in private but thought it was only fair that Rynn and Liesse hear too. "Courtland thinks you should marry one of the Calais boys." He scoffed. "He thinks it will be the best solution to your problem and a good alliance for the Calais family." He didn't mention which of the brothers Courtland had in mind. The thought made him angry. "He also thinks if you do bear another heir it might be good to have some fresh witch blood in the line." He growled. "It's stupid. They wouldn't be fit to join with our family anyway."
He didn't want to think about it. Nicolae didn't want his little sister marrying anyone.

 

[XCandy and LunacyX]

With this little piece of information, the anger within Antha vanished almost entirely. It even brought a faint, amused little grin to her lips as she glanced at Nicolae, almost ignoring the other two in their company. "Is that what he's been plotting? Really, we should know better than to leave him alone with his thoughts." The grin deepened the slightest bit, grew perhaps more wicked. "But then, it is an intriguing notion in its own way. For Courtland, it's almost frightfully logical."
At that, Antha gave herself a moment---only one---to consider such a proposal. It wasn't entirely ridiculous, which was more than she could say for most such prospects, most of which had been put before her by Julien. The simple fact of the matter was that she would have to be married dreadfully soon, and everyone was coming to believe that any more incest within her line would create a complete monster, yet she needed a witch or the curse would certainly take effect. "But Courtland forgets," she continued, lifting her eyes and settling them on Rynn, "The Calais family would have to agree to such a proposal. As powerful as we may be, I think Rynn knows too much of the insanity that occurs within our family to ever agree to letting a member of his own family join ours. Have you not, mon ami?" This last sentence was said more directly to Rynn, her tone given a slight teasing edge.

 

[Rynn Calais]

He slowed, glanced over his shoulder at Antha before he restored his pace. There was something in his eye, bright and glittering, that was not wholly sane itself. "They say that there has never been any witch who was not at least partly mad, Miss Mayfair. I am inclined to agree with the opinion." He nearly smiled as one of the witchlights in Antha's hair illuminated Nicolae's sour look. He'd been wrong, to think of the man as Antha's pet. Even dogs were not this possessive of their mistresses.
He fell silent, momentarily, as they turned a corner. Ahead, at the end of the curving path, the high arch of the maze's heart made a silhouette against the sky. It was, as she said, a frightfully logical conclusion. The Calais line had nearly got both feet in the grave, and was only waiting for its last rites. Unless he--for it was his duty, he was head of the family--unless he acted.
"I suppose you would have Cian?" he said, absently. He'd noticed how she'd taken a shine to him.
The arch was another gate; locked, this time, with an ordinary keyhole and bolt. He unset the iron rod from its hold and took out a thin piece of wire from the pocket of his vest. The key to this gate had been lost long ago; he'd made do with lockpicks since.

 

[XCandy and LunacyX]

As they walked, the little gleam in Antha's eyes began to fade, as did the faint grin touching her lips. She thought again---for a longer moment this time---about the matter seriously, and it showed. Antha was so seldom serious that it looked entirely out of place when it came upon her, and more than once it had caused strangers to believe her to be in her right mind. "Of all your family, I think Cian would be most suited to the Mayfair name," she said thoughtfully, considering his words, "I have no doubt he could play the role well if he so chooses." Her mind considered the other three brothers briefly, noting immediately that of them, only Rynn might be able to amuse her. However, that seemed a very strange prospect indeed.
But then, the entire concept of marriage itself seemed strange to her, and though she had no choice, she did quite dislike it. "At the very least," she sighed, her eyes lifting to observe the gate before them as her interest in the other matter at hand began to resurface, "Cian and I seem to have one particular hobby in common." That made her laugh, the trickle of witch's laughter that others always found so wicked, and all at once Antha was herself again, glancing at her brother to see his reaction. She happened to know that he disliked the idea of her marrying even more than she did. But then, was there anyone who had met him that did not know this fact? "I take it, mon ami, that we have almost reached our destination?" she said to Rynn, casting her gaze again on the gate.

 

[Rynn Calais]

He had to wonder what that meant, and he asked. "And what qualities would you seek in a man who dares to take that name?" he asked. His voice was absent, as though he only made light conversation to ease the silence, but Liesse knew that her brother's curiousity was aroused. It was there, in the sharp knife's-edge of his eyes as he glanced up at the Mayfair girl. Plain as a portrait.
The tumblers in the lock turned over with a heavy c***k, and Rynn withdrew the pick, standing up. "Cian has few enough cares for life, save for pleasing his own mind. But I hardly think that counts as a 'hobby' that you might share." He paused, with his hand on the lock, and let his grim smile answer her last question. With a push, the gate swung open in abrupt and eerie silence.
The clearing in the maze ahead was paved, the first area to do so. Between the flagstones, moss grew in strange and idle patterns.
The clearing was round, perhaps a hundred paces all around, with seven entrances leading off deeper into the maze. Sunk into the ground, in the centre of the courtyard, and gated by a small fence of stones, was a spiral flight of crumbling stairs.
That was not what would hold the casual observer's interest, however.
This honor went to the maze's spectres.
Perhaps 'spectre' was not the right word, but it was closest to what the figures who walked the grounds were. They were slender wraiths, faintly transparent, strangely colorless. Their skin was white as marble; their bodies lithe and tall. And each and every one of them went masked, and did not remark or, indeed, seem to notice the intruders. Each, man or woman, walked the circle, seemingly intent on their own path ahead of them. They passed the open gate unseeingly.

 

[XCandy and LunacyX]

Antha merely stared at him, her head tilted and a highly suggestive smile to her lips. "I do no quite think I could explain it. Or rather, I could not do it justice." A faint laugh escaped her lips, light and unusually normal, as she swept her hair over her shoulder. "It is a strange thought, is it not, Nicolae?" she mused, glancing at her brother. She bothered to reach out to him, to take his hand, knowing how it must hurt him to think of such things. "I know you don't like it," she murmured, knowing that the others could still hear her, "But it must be done. You cannot continue the line, after all."
Following after Rynn and Liesse, Antha lost interest in the subject of her inevitable marriage. Her attention fell instead to the strange figures before them. It put a strange gleam in her eyes, urged her several feet forward before she restrained herself. It took all she had not to release her power, let it flood the clearing and trap everything it touched. "A somewhat impressive sight," she noted, glancing at Rynn, "But I do hope you have no intention of lingering, for I shall not last long before my power gets the better of me."