Bitten

The area Virmarus and Rhys ended up in was dark and narrow, like a thin hallway somewhere behind the walls of the palace. While Virmarus looked around curiously, Rhys moved over to one side of the wall and looked through a small peephole, checking the room to see if anyone was around while also listening intently for any movement.

"What is all this?" Virmarus asked once Rhys gave the thumbs up that they were alone.

"Secret tunnels behind the walls of the palace," Rhys explained. "Only the royal family knows about them. Not even the guards are told they are there. They are used for a variety of reasons, but they are first and foremost meant for safe travel through the palace in case a problem ever happens, like this one."

"So we're the only ones who would be using it right now?" Virmarus asked.

"Yup," Rhys said with a nod of his head. "We're right near the royal chambers, next to Sylvae's room. No one washed the sheets here though, so they are likely all sleeping in the guest rooms. Lady Leora will likely be kept somewhere easy to defend, like one of the sitting rooms. We just need to figure out where."

Virmarus listened intently around them before pointing toward the south. "I hear people talking that way."

Rhys gave a nod and led them through the tight hallways in that direction. They had to take some turns as they went and at one point they even took some stairs down into the first basement above the dungeons before they made their way back up. The voices got louder as they went, other than when they were underground, and now they could hear them easily.

Rhys looked through one of the peepholes, checking to see how many people there were. He could see three rebels, with one of them standing over a handcuffed head of the guards. The man standing over the guard, who Rhys knew as Eldrac, demanded to know where the royalty would have gone once they fled the palace.

"Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you," Eldrac told the man.

The man picked up a tool that looked like it was made of iron on the end. "You're going to regret that."

Rhys turned and looked at Virmarus in alarm, and Virmarus gave a nod of his head. Rhys pulled out two of his daggers, and then he was behind the man instead of in the walls. The other two men let out cries of surprise as Rhys grabbed the man in charge, pulling him backwards and bringing one of the daggers up to cut his throat open. He was using silver daggers for this because he didn't want to cauterize the wounds. The man let out a guttural sound and then fell to the floor holding onto his throat.

Eldrac looked up at Rhys in shock before he looked back over at where Virmarus had taken care of the other two in the room. One man had been cut open from pelvis to sternum and the other now had his throat ripped out. Virmarus wiped the blood off his face onto his sleeve before he turned back to Rhys. Rhys wiped his blade off on the dead man's pants and put one of them back before he came over and started cutting the bonds that held Eldrac's feets and legs.

"Prince Rhys!" Eldrac finally managed to find his voice. "You shouldn't be here! They'll harm you too!"

Rhys smiled at him while Virmarus went around to snap the handcuffs with his strength. "They want Cyran, not me. Besides, by the time they realize I'm here, they should hopefully all be dead. Are you okay? Did they harm you?"

"Just some burns," Eldrac replied as he pulled the broken cuffs off and rubbed his wrists. "Let me help you, Your Highness. I failed to protect the palace, but let me help prove myself now."

Rhys frowned at him. "You didn't fail, Eldrac. You did your best, and you have stayed loyal to my family despite threat of torture and death. But if you wish to help, then I will not say no. At least let me heal you first though."

Rhys put his hands over the wounds on Eldrac's back and concentrated on his healing magic. It wouldn't be as good as Sylvae helping him, but it would get him through what was to come.

"Eldrac, do you know where Lady Leora might be held by these people?" Rhys asked him once he was done.

"I heard them say that a VIP was being kept in the ballroom, but I had no idea it was Lady Leora," Eldric replied, looking stricken as he knew how this would affect Cyran.

"Leora is our priority," Rhys explained. "We get to her and get her out. Then we take out everyone left. I'll give you the location of where to take Leora. Can you get her to safety for us?"

"Yes, my liege," Eldric said and bowed to Rhys.

They took their time going through the palace room by room, taking out everyone who they came upon. With the attempt on the royal family's lives already done, they had no reason to keep them alive. They would just be put to death once they were put on trial anyway.

Back at the Draven residence, Tierney got put to bed for the night and then everyone sat to wait in tense silence. Alavara had some of the staff bring in food for people to eat, which mostly got picked at by all but Cyran. He kept getting up to pace the room, clearly unable to stay still for long when everything was so uncertain.

After an hour, he said, "What could be taking them so long? How long would it take to find a single person?"

Vasile shared a look with Nik before answering. "I've never been to the Caimaer palace but I have seen photos and it's fairly large. I understand your frustration, your highness, but worrying ourselves won't benefit anyone. Would you like to play a nice game of Intimidation?" Vasile asked.

Cyran turned and looked at him incredulously, like he couldn't believe that Vasile would suggest a game at a time like this. Sylvae jumped in, though and said, "It might help get your mind off of it, brother. It may seem silly but focusing on something else might be what you need right now."

Cyran shifted his eyes to his sister, then back to Vasile, before he nodded his head and sat down again. As they began to set up the game to play, with the others coming over to watch, Deldric looked at Alavara with a smile and said, "I see your son has good taste in partners. I suppose he got that from you."

Alavara grinned up at him. "He

has

had very good role models," she told him. "And that includes you and your late wife. You two were a wonderful couple. I'm still sorry for her passing."

Deldrich sighed at that and nodded his head. "Yes, it still hurts most days, but I think she would be proud of her children. They're growing up and finding their places."

Alavara looked over at where Sylvae was sitting next to Nik again as she had pulled her chair up to be able to watch him play and give him tips. "

All

of them?"

Deldrich looked at where his eldest daughter was sitting and took in the smile on her face. "I did notice that. I can't say I can think of any reason to object to a union between the two. He is of royal blood, and he is here to help our family and is doing what he can to help her and her brother. I'd be a fool to stand in the way of her happiness like I tried to with you."

"So you

do

learn from your mistakes!" Alavara teased.

Deldrich laughed. "I do, finally."

Cyran, once he actually focused on the game, seemed to finally manage to get his mind off how long it was taking. If he could actually follow along in the palace though, he'd be worried. Rhys had just stepped up to the corner that would lead to the ballroom, his eyes searching the area for any threats. He looked back to Virmarus, who gave a sniff to the air for a moment.

"Six men plus one woman," Virmarus told them. "Two at the door, most likely."

Rhys checked around the corner and found one of them standing right at the door. He pulled out two of his daggers that were connected to ropes and slipped the end of the ropes around his wrists to secure them there. "Alright, Eldrac, once we're inside, you get to Lady Leora, cut her binds, and get her out of there. Virmarus and I will take care of the rest."

"Yes, Your Highness," Eldrac said, bringing his hand up into a fist against his chest.

Rhys nodded to acknowledge the gesture, and then he walked around the corner like he was just going for a nice midnight stroll. The man who was guarding the door looked over at them in surprise. Before he got the chance to alert the others, Rhys swung one of the daggers around his body with the rope and the blade cut through the man's neck as though it was made of butter.

He caught the knife as he swung it back to the other side, wiped the blade off, and then kicked open the door. This door was also made of heavy oak and wouldn't easily break, but unlike Sylvae's workroom, it wasn't locked, so it easily swung open, surprising those inside. Virmarus had shifted into a large black wolf behind him and leapt forward to grab one of the men by the throat with his teeth.

"Evening, gentlemen!" Rhys called out as he swung one of his blades around by holding onto the rope. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything."

The remaining four men came at him, giving Eldrac the chance to slip in through the door once the fighting started and make his way over to where Leora was tied up. Her eyes widened when she saw him. He came over to cut the ropes that held her in place, and once she was standing, he put his arm around her waist and the two of them disappeared.

Rhys, up until the two of them disappeared, had been using his feet to keep his attackers away, but now that Lady Leora was out of danger, he started to swing his daggers around with deadly precision. This had been a technique Virmarus had taught him, and he had taken to it easily and with finesse.

Between Virmarus' teeth and Rhys' blades, it didn't take them long to take out everyone in the room. <

Let's take out everyone else in the palace, then we can head back,

> Virmarus said telepathically.

Rhys pulled out his communicator to message the update to Eowyn, and then they kept moving. Within twenty minutes, they met up with Leonard and Eowyn who had taken out the rest from the other side of the palace. All they needed to do now was secure the palace and get the guards back in place.

"We'll head over to the other palaces," Eowyn told them. "We can take back the High Elf palace, and then come sunrise, we'll hit the Drow palace."

"I'll join you," Virmarus told them, now back in human form. "Rhys, you go back to your home and make sure everyone is okay and then get some rest."

"You sure?" Rhys asked as he wiped some blood off his face with his sleeve.

"Definitely," Virmarus replied. "Your family is likely worried about you, and I'd hate for the Prince to think we never let you sleep."

Rhys grinned at that, though he knew Vasile would blame the person actually responsible for his own lack of sleep - himself.

Back at the Draven residence, Eldrac and Leora appeared in the sitting room where everyone was waiting. That was really only because Rhys had given Eldrac what the room looked like in his head so he didn't go to the wrong place. Everyone turned to look at the two of them, and then Cyran was on his feet and moving toward Leora. Eldrac took a step away and went down to one knee to bow for Cyran. Cyran held onto Leora like he was sure she would disappear at any moment, and she clung to him much the same.

Vasile smiled at their reunion, though he couldn't help a pang of concern for his own love. He mumbled a nearly-silent prayer to whichever of the gods was listening for Rhys' safe return. Still, the scene before him was sweet and he didn't even mind the interruption in the game.

"Where is Rhys?" Cyran asked, looking first at Leora and then at Eldrac.

"He was fighting when we left," Eldrac explained. "He said they would finish clearing out the palace and then he'd be back."

All they could do was sit back down and wait. Cyran was checking over Leora to make sure she was okay and asking her if she was harmed in any way. She explained that all they did was tie her up and ask her where the royal family might have gone, but other than that they hadn't touched her.

It took thirty minutes, but Rhys finally appeared in the sitting room. His clothing was darker in some places from being wet with blood and he had blood splatter along his face and neck. They could see a few cuts on his face and one along his shoulder where his clothing had been cut as well, but other than that, he seemed to be okay. Not that Vasile ever wanted to see Rhys injured, but having cuts and bruises and still being alive was better than the alternative.

Vasile sprang up from putting the game pieces away after looking Rhys over from his seat for a moment. The remaining pieces were already forgotten on the side table as he strode forward and embraced his love with a fervor and enthusiasm that he had previously reserved for their private time. He immediately pulled away to arms' length and made sure that he wasn't hurting Rhys.

Rhys gave a smile to show that he was okay, explaining that the shoulder wound was the worst one but he had no doubt Sylvae could treat it. She came forward while Vasile was still checking Rhys over and put her hand over the worst of the cuts while she placed the other one on his back. Her eyes glowed a beautiful green color as her magic flowed out toward Rhys. He let out a little hiss at the wounds closing and then all that was left was a little shadow of where they were before they were gone completely.

Rhys gave her a smile of thanks and then hugged Vasile. "I'm okay, I promise. Thank you for helping me with my cousin, too. I know this wasn't easy on you either."

"'Many hands make light work,' or something," Vasile said in response. "It was a little easier to sit on my hands by keeping them busy."

Rhys looked over at where the game lay abandoned. "Strategy games distract you both then, eh?"

"All the way until Fae-folk started materializing out of thin air," Vasile joked.

Rhys gave him a sympathetic look, aware that his arrival was not a short time after the other two had arrived. "I didn't want to leave any rebels in the palace. They made their moves, and now we made ours. We weren't going to leave any inside."

Vasile nodded his agreement with Rhys' logic, still touching him as if he were concerned that Rhys would disappear again if he let go.

"I'm going to get blood all over you if you aren't careful," Rhys told him, though he didn't move away from Vasile. In fact, he turned his face more inward so he could nuzzle against Vasile's neck and shoulder.

Vasile chuckled at the mention of blood and gestured at himself. "Occupational hazard, I'm afraid. We've long ago developed fabrics that allow blood to wipe off with little fuss, love," he said with mirth in his voice.

Rhys nodded his head, as he knew that, but having the blood on him always made him feel like he'd need to take five showers before he felt clean again. Of course, part of that could be because it was his hand that had done the killing, and Vasile wasn't dealing with those same emotions right then. Then he murmured, "I need to shower and get it off. It feels..." He couldn't finish the sentence so he just sighed.

"Dirty?" Vasile asked quietly, the look in his eyes telling Rhys that he might know more about it than Rhys had originally thought. Rhys swallowed hard and nodded his head, both relieved and sad that Vasile seemed to understand. He didn't regret what he'd done but it was emotionally taxing all the same.

Vasile looked around at the others in the room, and it was obvious that the other pairs were caught up in each other. Alavara and Deldrich had beaten a hasty retreat while they were all distracted. "Let's get you cleaned up," Vasile said quietly.

Rhys nodded his head again and took Vasile's hand so he could lead him up one of the staircases and down the hallway to where his room was. It was the same room he had grown up using, but the look of it had changed as Rhys had grown. It wasn't as clean as Rhys would normally keep it, with one of the doors to the wardrobe open with the outfits for his disguises hanging up neatly and the door covered in various weapons and tools.

Rhys bypassed that and took them into the bathroom where he loosened his boots and got out of them before peeling the wet shirt off. He threw the shirt in the trash since it was cut and blood covered, then got his pants off. Vasile busied himself getting the shower going. He was impressed to see that Rhys' bathroom had both a shower and a large claw-foot tub. He knew from personal experience that Rhys would likely want to start with as hot a shower as he could stand for long enough for him to stare off into space and let the trauma of his experience wash over him.

That was pretty much what Rhys did, too, as he got under the spray of the hot water and adjusted it accordingly before using the soap and washcloth to get all of the blood off. He scrubbed at his skin until it felt raw and painful under the hot water. When it hurt too much to continue, he put the washcloth back up and ended up zoning out for a little while, his eyes on the tiles but not really seeing it.

Vasile watched him carefully as he washed, ready to intervene if it seemed like Rhys would go too far with his scrubbing. He sighed with relief when his love put the cloth away and began to zone out under the cascade of the steamy water. He busied himself, then, by filling the tub 3/4 of the way up and adding soothing scents to the mix. Vasile readied some oils near the tub and warmed up a moistened towel.

Rhys only came out of his thoughts once the water started to turn cold, and then he reached over and turned off the water and stepped out of the shower before looking over at Vasile. Vasile smiled and handed Rhys a towel to minimize the dripping on his way to the steaming bath awaiting him. Rhys abent-mindedly wrapped the towel around his shoulders and followed Vasile over to the tub.

Vasile helped Rhys sink into the hot water, setting the towel off to the side. He took a seat at the head of the tub, placing the warm moist towel over Rhys' eyes. He then coated his hands in the viscous oil and began a much-needed shoulder massage. Once Vasile had worked all of the knots out of Rhys' shoulder muscles, he moved down to the chest and upper arms before finally making his way to Rhys' face and scalp.

Vasile could feel Rhys slowly relax under his touch, and if not for the changes to his heart rate as Vasile's hands made their way over bare skin and the occasional soft groan, he would have wondered if Rhys had fallen asleep.

It was only when Vasile's hands started to slow down that Rhys asked a question that had been rattling around his brain this entire time. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but how does the heir to the throne understand what I'm dealing with so well?"

Vasile chuckled quietly before he answered, though whether from mirth or discomfort Rhys couldn't tell. "When I turned twenty, father sent me overseas to survive as best I could as part of my vetting to become the heir. I was doing well for myself, considering that I had a moral objection to taking the sustenance I needed to survive, when a civil war broke out. I was conscripted and spent the next five years fighting a war that wasn't mine," he said, his voice soft but with a steely edge to it.

Vasile could see Rhys' frown at that, and despite the washcloth being over his eyes, he could picture in his mind the way Rhys' brow had likely furrowed in response. Rhys reached up and took the washcloth off his eyes so he could look up at Vasile. There was no pity in his eyes; just sad understanding, though Rhys had at least chosen to join this battle himself.

"I suppose I'm lucky that this was my own choice," Rhys commented. "I keep thinking that I should feel bad for killing them, but I don't. I just feel like it was all a waste. A waste of life, a waste of blood, a waste of time they could have spent trying to change their world or themselves. It was senseless and I'm more angry at them than at myself in any way."