There had been two compromises as of late. One came in the form of a letter from an unknown source - King Alerion of the realm Aleris. Verial did not recognize the handwriting that was so fluidly sprawled across the parchment. He did not know why another king would be writing to him, the fallen king of Oneiro. Maybe it was some other interest, but the final words of the letter seemed to confirm what he was hoping against. King Alerion knew somehow that Verial was alive and had abandoned his kingdom to the feast of monsters and beasts some years ago. It was bad enough to see the recent faces of Drezyn and Rod looking at him with contempt for what he had done. Mostly, Verial had spent some number of years trying to hide away and it never seemed to work. The letter was short and to the point, but had Verial musing over it for what seemed like days before a hand snatched it away from him.

---

Greetings King Verial Akilara of the Realm of Oneiro,

Allow me to introduce myself if you would. I am King Alerion of the kingdom Aleris and I come to you seeking questions. Within my realms there are many gates which lead to other lands. One of these recently discovered gates was for a realm that has come to be identified as Oneiro-Zoe. I would ask of you to come and visit me in my kingdom and tell me anything about your realm - most importantly, why you are not there. I will have a ship waiting at the docks of Mystra-Amor for you until you are ready to depart. I look forward to meeting with you, and hopefully if possible, soon.

Farewell,

King Alerion of the Kingdom Aleris

---

The fingers that curled around the top of it were none other than Calamaya's. By the time Verial managed to pry it back from her hands, she had already read the letter. If Verial had a choice, he would have kept the letter hidden and let the damn ship sit at the ports of Mystra for as long as it would like too. But somehow in all her persuasion and insisting the two of them should check it out, Verial was convinced into setting sail for Aleris.

By the time the ship landed on the docks, it was morning once again and a near blinding light came upon them and their first steps into Aleris. The kingdom nearly made from all white marble and stone shone brilliantly from the light of the sun. Verial rose a hand above his eyes to look around better. The city was a huge port of which Verial had never seen the likes of before. Gigantic steeples, clock towers, and buildings reached into the sky seeming to blend in with the clouds. Seagulls flew overhead cawing and diving into the splashing ocean waves for small fish, while people busy and plentiful, pushed carts and slipped into shops. Everyone seemed to know each other, or thought they did. Calamaya and Verial received a few cheery hellos from people they did not even seem to have ever met.

However, his skeptical attitude kept him from enjoying all that he could. There seemed to be no reason why he should have been here; it could have been a trap. But Verial went for Calamaya and in her awe over the sights, she held her hands over her eyes, pushing small tears back inside her eyelids. Verial wondered how they ever let such darkness in their lives and sighed that he had even allowed her to wander endless amounts until she found him again. They were together now, but at a certain agreement. The second compromise.

After their reunion on the beach, Verial somehow convinced the judging eyes of Calamaya's caravan to let her stay with him - to make up for his wrong doings. Or at least, this is what he told himself. Calamaya was just happy to have him around, that Verial wanted her to be around. But he was trying to redeem himself in a sort of sense and he kept also trying to tell himself that falling back in love with her would only complicate things. So, they had a friendship now and had came to Aleris together, although both with a sort of distance between them, moreso him.

"Verial, this place is beautiful," she whispers from behind her hands.

"That it is," he began as she leaned into his body for a moment. "It's okay. We don't have to leave for a while." Though, being honest with himself, he wasn't entirely sure the full reason for being here. Verial doubted it was just to have King Alerion talk to him.

They made no promises to each other, about their future and if they would go or stay anywhere. Though, Verial somehow had the feeling Calamaya had grasped onto some longing of being in a place such as Aleris. She was lost in the beauty of the kingdom and he did not blame her. Although, some part of him feared losing her again to something else which he could just as well prevent. Ever the hesitant one at times he didn't need to be, Verial took a step back from her, gently wiped the tears out of her eyes, and then took her hand, guiding her towards the looming castle a bit of ways in front of them.

When they got to the castle, Verial lurked outside the castle archway keeping Calamaya at his side. Two angel statues sat facing each other on top of the archway, trumpets positioned at their lips in welcome. Eyes gazed at the ominous sight ahead of him getting the impression some one was watching him constantly here. No matter how welcoming everything else looked, he still couldn't help but feel entirely awkward. He was about to turn around when it seemed that the decision would be taken out of their hands. A well dressed gentleman of royalty proceeded through the gate.

"Welcome Lord Verial Akilara. His Majesty is not currently in residence, but I am to show you to your accommodations. The King will meet you at dinner tomorrow evening."

Verial stiffened momentarily hearing some one call him "lord" again. Even when he was king, he had never grown used to it. But now as a traitor to his own throne and lands, it bugged him even more. Nevertheless, Calamaya had ushered him along following the gentleman before he could even get a chance to protest. It seemed she was a step ahead of him literally pulling him along. The man was introduced as the Palace Chamberlain and led them inside the great doors of the palace to a winding staircase. Verial's eyes were traveling fast across everything, from the smallest details to the biggest, trying to take in everything about the palace. He barely had time to notice the man was leading the two of them into a room now which seemed to be slightly larger than the Villa he lived in even.

"You have been placed in the Winter Suite. It is the largest of our guest accommodations." He takes them through a door that leads into a large sitting room. "Lady Calamaya's room is here on your right. Lord Verial, you are the door here on the left. The rooms are also joined by a dressing room. A maid and a valet have been selected for the both of you and are putting away your things. Let me know if there is anything else you need."

An unearthly silence falls over him as the man is showing Calamaya around and telling her all sorts of things about the castle. For a moment, she steals her chance and practically flies over to the window, leaving the man open mouthed in mid-sentence as she leans over gazing at the sights before her. Verial shook his head and turned his attention to the window as well, going to join by her side. He knew somewhere in his mind they were both thinking about the night where they had last left each other at Oneiro, by a window in his bedroom chambers. Though she did not let it diminish her good mood, Verial couldn't help but see the ghostly white dragons floating outside the moon moments before Oneiro's destruction.

Shaking his head fast, the memories of his past seemed to flicker away and once again, the shining sun of Aleris was filtering through their window. "Did you just see that?" Verial questioned Calamaya in a slight whisper, wondering if he was just imagining things again.

With no idea what Verial meant, Calamaya simply grinned wider, thinking that he was speaking of a poor gardener who had lost his footing off to their right. "Yes, poor thing. But he seems to be laughing it off." The sun just seemed to shine brighter here. If Calamaya had pondered to settle upon Mystra's shore, it was a forgotten thought now. She would manage to make her home here somehow. Even if she had to start out as an upstairs maid as she had in Verial's Palace.

"That man could have gotten hurt Cally, and you're laughing," Verial said absently. It was meant to be him joking around with her for once, but it just came off as awkwardly placed, as if he was forcing himself to smile.

Calamaya seemed to know his weak spots very well, though they were at a distance with each other. If it was anyone else, he would have almost been offended by her next actions. She reached her hands up and grabbed his cheeks in her hands. With a shake of her head, Calamaya spoke to him a bit soothingly, "No, don't do this now. It'll be okay."

He merely nods to her, but smiles softly, one that is actually real. Behind them, the Palace Chamberlain who they had nearly forgotten coughs momentarily to get their attention. Verial steals this chance to put more space between him and Calamaya, turning away from the bright sun of the window as he does so. Once again, Calamaya can feel the coldness Verial has put between the two of them and wonders if the two were doomed to play out this same scene over and over again.

"Right then," he spoke up. "Do not forget, if you need anything, please do not hesitate to summon me at once."

The man was gone then, the doors shutting behind him with a nearly silent thud. Verial walked over towards his bedroom and lay down on his bed, though he left the conjoining door open so he could talk to her in the next room. Verial was not aware of the expression written on her face in the other room now, one of remorse and slight pity. If Verial was good at creating downward spirals, he was better at bringing people with him on the trip.

Trying to brush her thoughts aside, Calamaya called out to him, "Maybe next time we could bring Kyrian along?"

Verial blinked in surprise at what she had said. He had not mentioned Kyrian in a while and he wasn't sure she remembered his son. Truthfully though, Calamaya had always thought Kyrian was disdainful of her and shunned her, but she always made sure the young prince of Oneiro was safe. If not for her sanity, for Verial and his son.

"You remember him, but you haven't seen him again yet. Maybe I will bring him next time," he replied.

Verial didn't continue after this. For a while he was quiet as something caught his eye on the painted ceiling of his room. There was something strange mingled among the many murals on the domed roof. Calamaya would have no idea what he was staring at, but soon his voice called out asking for her to come over to his room. She would go to him, but with a sort of hesitation in her steps for worry of what she might see him obsessing over now. And just as she might expect, he was pointing at the ceiling for something for her to look at. When Calamaya would lie next to him on the bed, she would see Verial's finger directed at a circle of six or so white dragons swirling around a green patch of something that might have been land, surrounded by a small haze of blue ocean. Verial found it strange that the bed he just so happened to be sleeping on had this painted on the ceiling, as if those white dragons would never stop haunting him.

"What do you think this means?" Verial started.

"Well, you are here. Let's just wait and see what it's all about," Calamaya answered.

Verial's head turned on the mattress to look at her as his hand dropped to his side now, their faces less than a few inches apart. "Well, if anything happens, I will just have to fly us out of here," and by that he meant transforming into his dragon form and breaking through the roof if he had to. No matter how much she enjoyed this place right now, at the slightest hint of any danger, he would be gone. And he would not leave Calamaya behind this time, ever again.

Post originally by Character_Calamaya

The moonlight streamed in through the large window that she had taken such an interest in when they were first shown into their suite. She was not sure of the time, only knew that it had to be well past midnight. The door to Verial’s room remained firmly shut. She frowns at it, even gives in to a moment of childishness and sticks out her tongue at the forbidding slab of wood.

Sleep was remaining elusive on this night. The reason was mostly her recently abandoned crew of nomads. Dreyzn was trying to communicate with her. Somehow, over the months of traveling together, he had figured out that she possessed some unearthly abilities. Somewhere back in Mystra Amor, he sat underneath the same kind of moonlight sky and repeated her name like a chant.

It tugged at her mind and was beginning to tire her. Yet to actually answer him would completely drain her.

The boy had been her savior more than once, so she couldn’t exactly grow angry at him. She allows her head to fall back against the back of the chair that she is curled up in. Inky lashes slip downward to conceal her drowsy emerald gaze. She manages to slip into a light sleep for a little while before Dreyzn’s callings jerk her awake again. With a growl of frustration, she sits up in the chair and rubs her hands over her face. Fine… she finally decides to answer his persistent beckoning.

She remains curled up in the arm chair and folds her hands in front of her. Awareness of what is around her quickly dissolves away as Cally demonstrates abilities that she kept hidden from most everyone, even Verial. Her body remains statuesque in the chair as her spirit lifts gently from its fleshen temple and glides upward into the sky.

Dreyzn sits Indian style, his lips barely moving as he chants her name into the wind.

“Dreyzn.”

The young man nearly leaps at once to his feet, whirling around. His eyes widen at the figure of Calamaya in front of him. She almost appears normal… except its almost like she is a drawing, with the edges smudged. And the wind that stirs around him does not effect her.

“My Lady! You are well. We were all worried. He took you with him, and we had not seen or hear….”

He stops talking when she slaps her hand against her forehead and frowns. “I am fine, Dreyzn. And as I told you before, Verial would not hurt me. He did not even hurt me when his dragon was awakened all those years ago.”

“Physically.” Dreyzn states stubbornly, crossing his arms over his chest. “And where are you now? You told us nothing before you boarded the other ship.”

And here… here was where she hesitates. They would stay forever if she gave any indication that she would return to them. They needed to make up their own minds if they were finished with the gypsy lifestyle that they all had come accustomed to. The ethereal figure of Cally moves closer to Dreyzn so he can see her face closely.

“I am in another kingdom, the kingdom of Aleris. Dreyzn, I don’t think we will ever be returning either. This land is beautiful and the ruler kind. He has some plan for us to do something with Oneiro. I just can not walk away from that and neither can Verial. If he has a chance to fix the destruction he caused, I will be here to help him through it.”

She is surprised to find that even in this ethereal state, a tear can slip down her cheek. Dreyzn cleared his throat thickly. Perhaps he wanted to argue, but he had spent most of his adolescence and young adult years with Calamaya. He knew that nothing he said could sway her now. “Then we shall go.”

Cally nods. “You should if that is what you all want. I will let you know if Oneiro ever becomes safe again.” She lifts a phantom hand upward to his face, and Dreyzn tilts his head toward her touch. He merely feels feather light warmth against his cheek but it means everything. Then she disappears.

The young man stands there, saying nothing for a long while. He had guessed that once the Lady had left with their King, she would not be returning to him. His heart aches at the loss of her. A sound behind him has him whirling around, thinking perhaps... But it is not her. Instead he finds the younger Rod, his eyes filled with moisture. "She is gone forever?"

Dreyzn slowly nods. Rod takes in a shaky breath, but nods in return. Both of the young men make their way back towards the ship to let the others know they would be leaving at first light, without Lady Calamaya with them.


Back in Aleris, the frozen form in the chair gives a sudden high pitched gasp. Starved for oxygen, she drags in deep labored breaths as she slumps limply down into the chair. Her vision grows dim in front of her. The human shell she inhabits can only take so much abuse. She tries to get out of the chair to walk into her bedroom, but she cannot maintain consciousness. With a whimper, she falls limply to the floor in a faint.

Sleep, as far as both of them were concerned, did not come easy on the night before the big banquet with King Alerion. Verial, as typical as always, was running questions and doubts through his head searching for some excuse to nab Calamaya and fly out of this kingdom. Why some part of him was trying desperately to make things seem worse than they actually were, he could not figure out. Calamaya wanted to love this place and let it seep into her very soul; he wanted to reject it and go wherever "home" was, not that Mystra-Amor had ever become close to home. Nevertheless, it was strange the only place he had ever called home was directly linked to Aleris somehow and it had brought him here.

Verial even went so far as to let his thoughts scan the non-slumbering minds of the castle. This was a "gift" he had developed since childhood brought out by his mother, Sorvynia. It had something to do with him being part elven and fallen angel, Verial assumed. However, it could also be a curse at times, as people with similar mind reading abilities would often be intrusive. Learning to seal off his mind to others was a tricky task that took quite a few years, but in the end, it was worth the freedom. Verial had nothing to hide, but he shared a bond with his mother he did with no one else and would rather not have her reading all of his thoughts for various reasons.

He could only reach certain parts of the castle, as it was expansive, but those minds that he did hear bits and parts of were either thinking the incoherent thoughts of dreaming or nothing out of the ordinary, such as simple flirtatious talk from one maid to another. It was sometimes difficult to take in so many thoughts from numerous people at once; all you got was a buzzing-like sound mixed in with bits and pieces of words. Verial was staring at the ceiling at those haunting white dragons that had also kept him awake, about to give up his search for answers or secrets, when his mind grasped onto something like terrible feedback. Verial's temples felt like they were going to rip open for a moment, but the push away was short.

The alarmingness of it shot him straight up in bed, and he steadied himself from the wooziness of the quick movement. Placing his hands on either side of him, Verial looked around the otherwise dark room except for the flicker of a lone candle. Some one else was out there, doing the same thing he was doing, and neither of them knew obviously as a result of the "feedback". Bringing a hand to his forehead, Verial rubbed it for a moment trying to think, his thoughts soon brought to a halt by the soft thud in the next room.

"Cally?" Verial called from behind he closed door.

No answer.

Feet swinging over the side of the bed, Verial stood with feathered wings rustling at his sides for a moment. Standing out to his full height, he took a few strides towards the closed door and opened it, peering out in the living room chamber of their bedrooms. At first, his eyes didn't catch anyone standing around waiting to attack him, but as they traveled to the floor, he found a curled heap of what would be Calamaya by the large window they had been staring out earlier.

Immediately, he went to her thinking of nothing else and it was a shame Calamaya was not awake to witness how close Verial let himself be. Kneeling down next to her, Verial thought of no consequences that might arise of why she had fainted. Verial brought her limp body close to him, scooping her into his arms near his chest. Bringing a hand towards Calamaya's face, Verial brushed strands of blonde hair away from her furrowed brow even in unconsciousness and kept his hand resting against her cheek.

"Cally, what happened to you?" he asked, knowing she probably would not answer or wake from whatever tiredness it was that had consumed her.

The timing of the incidents suddenly registered in his mind, but it didn't seem possible. The feedback and then Calamaya fainting onto the floor. It was true they had been apart for quite a few years, but did Verial miss something she had been hiding from him for this long? Verial always assumed she was just... human - until now.

But why would she hide this from me? Verial asked himself.

Because she's not hiding anything.

Ever since Verial had stepped foot onto Aleris, he had let his mind play tricks with him. Shaking his head for a moment, he heaved out a sigh convincing himself there was nothing out of the ordinary with Calamaya, except that she had fainted. Perhaps she had just fallen asleep and fell off the window seat? This is what Verial told himself as he looked down, the back of his hand lightly caressing the side of her cheek in sleep.

There was no point in letting his mind run away with himself, trying to make up all these accusations and doubts. As Calamaya had told him they would have to just wait and see what was going to happen. If something happened the two didn't expect or want, they would just deal with it then, right?

Standing carefully and still holding Calamaya in his arms, he walked to her bedroom. There was no candle lit in her room, so after Verial placed her gently onto the bed, he went back to his own room to get his candle and replaced hers. The Verial who had entered the castle hours before, would have went straight back to his room after this. However, he was trying to be different for Calamaya so that she could enjoy her time here. He owed her that much.

Verial sat on her bed and back against the head board, he pulled Calamaya into a comfortable position halfway in his lap. Arms wrapped around her sides as she slept, holding Calamaya against himself. It was the most comfort he could offer her right now, which for some reason he could not seem to do when he was awake. Occasionally his hand would massage her shoulder as she slept, and though Verial had planned to slip back into his room sometime before she awoke, this did not happen.

Tilting his head back and looking at the ceiling among the painted murals and designs on it, Verial was comforted in the fact that there were no white dragons watching her. However, he didn't seem to feel content about this for himself, but more so for her. As Verial pulled one of the many blankets over the two of them, he spent the next few minutes searching the ceiling for ghosts. Finding nothing, he fell asleep.

Post originally by Character_Calamaya

It was the sunlight that finally drew her from the depths of sleep. Awareness was slow in its arrival, for the grogginess had a fast hold on her mind. Her eyes open to the blurry vision of the ceiling above her. It had been a very long time since she had fallen into such a deep sleep, not since… Her body tenses when she realizes that the pillow she is so comfortably curled up against, is breathing. She jerks her face upward. Finding Verial’s face, she exhales a slow breath of relief.

His warm body was so comfortable and soothing in the briskness of the morning air that filled her room. Just for a moment, she clings to the feeling of just having him close without his self imposed distance between them. She could hear the muffled sounds of horses and people outside of the window, and regrettably, realizes that it is time for them to arise.

Slowly, so as not to disturb Verial, she slides out of the bed. She watches him carefully for a moment to make sure he still sleeps. After not finding any evidence of him stirring, she turns and walks over to the armoire to pick something to wear.

Her journey the night before comes to the fore front of her mind. It pleased her that her nomadic companions had decided to move on. She would miss them, but she did not regret not being with them. Yet that was not what occupied her thoughts at the moment. She had sensed something far more startling before she had passed out.

In those weak moments after her she had rejoined her essence to her physical form, there had been no protection for the senses of her mind. Her sanity was based in the fact that she knew how to control what she felt and sensed. Careful barriers had been put in place to render her mind practically human. This helped her appear normal in both actions and how she was perceived. A human mind was beautiful in its simplicity and any race with extra sensory abilities recognized that simplicity before all others.

Yet last night, before those barriers had been put back in place, she had been overwhelmed from the onslaught of perception. That had been what had brought Verial out of his room. And it had given Calamaya the knowledge of one here that was just like her. That could only be one other person, a relative she had not seen in years.

Roland was quite a bit older than she. Even so, she would never have been raised with him. It simply wasn’t their way in their family. She had always been meant to go with her grandmother. From the moment she was conceived, her grandmother knew that she would posses the same abilities as she. She could not be distracted by something as unimportant as family, so her grandparent had taken her away as soon as she was weaned. Her grandmother had been related by blood, but by all interactions, she had simply been Cally’s teacher.

Cally’s arrival in Oneiro had been a direct result of her rejection of this singular way of life. Something had always been wrong with her. She sought out affection and warmth from those around her and was eager to reply the same sentiment. After years of punishment for her naturally compassionate nature, Cally had finally been old enough to leave. That had brought her to Verial and her existence had been much brighter since that day.

A quick glance over her shoulder assures her that Verial does indeed sleep, so she allows her nightgown to fall to the floor. The silk whispers down across her bare skin, nothing left behind to conceal that porcelain skin. For a moment, chills race across her flesh. She gives another narrowed glance at Verial’s face. Finding him still sound asleep, she quickly begins to pull on her clothing.

A frown creases her brow as she gets ready. There was no denying what she had come to realize last night. Roland was here. She couldn’t help but wonder if that was the reason that Verial had been invited. They had known he would bring her. Yet she couldn’t be sure if Roland was actually aware of her presence. He would know of her, she was pretty certain. He had more than likely been told by their mother that he had a sister but he would never meet her, never should even try and seek her out for she was not meant for them. Was it possible that he had ignored those instructions and tried to bring her here?

She shakes her head, sitting down at the dressing table and begins to brush out the tangles sleep had left in her long blonde locks. There was a hope she could not ignore. Hope that Roland knew of her and of her hardships, a hope that this unknown brother had felt compassion for her enough to bring her to the land that he calls home.

But then, there was also the chance that this was not his home. It was possible he just happened to be here, completely oblivious that the sister had had only seen for a few months in his youth was actually here at the same time. Setting the brush down, she stares into the mirror, anxiety settling in her stomach. She could not help but wish the prior scenario was the one that she would find herself in.

Finally, she turns and moves to the bed, sitting on the side and reaching out to touch Verial’s cheek. “Darling, it’s morning.”

Somewhere in the middle of the night, Verial who had been leaning against the head board of the bed, slumped down during sleep and would be found circled comfortably against Calamaya. A dark feathered wing looped around her side like an extra arm and pulled her closer in sleep. If Verial had been awake, his normal attitude would be to quickly distance himself from her and gain some sort of composure, covering up his affection towards the woman he once knew quite well. Sleeping, however, was an entirely different thing and a subconscious part of his mind that he tried to bury away had replaced his normal, everyday characteristics of anxiety and doubt. Strangely, this had been one of the only times he had slept so well in years, lulled by the sound of Cally's breathing against his neck and the way another human body, hers, fit against his.

Verial, did not even notice she had moved away after waking up. Though he lost a significant portion of what kept him sleeping so well last evening, he continued to shut his eyes, unrelenting to the morning light and the sounds of the port outside the window. A cool wind blew through their window, lifting the curtains and settling across Verial's bare cheek. Reaching out with closed eyes for Calamaya trying to bring her back to him, he found nothing and grasped a hold of one of the many large pillows, bringing it to him. Wrapping his arms around it, he buried his head against it with a soft sigh, knowing somewhere in the back of his mind it wasn't Cally and could never replace the relaxation he felt moments before.

The loss of her body next to his finally started to rouse him. Apparently, and somewhat thankfully, a pillow could not replace Cally's form. Moments after she had finished dressing and had walked back to him placing a soft hand against his cheek, his eyelids started to flutter open. Those odd colored eyes were revealed to the world around him once more. When Verial turned his body slightly, his cheek nudging affectionately against her hand, he was staring right at her.

"Darling, it's morning."

The words had been bittersweet to him. This brought him back to the last morning they had spent together in Oneiro. Playfully pulling the blankets completely over their bodies, the pair had laughed at trying to get the sun to go away and let them stay in bed. This was with both sadness and love in their hearts that they clung to each other in the early morning knowing very well it was time to wake up. However, as far as Verial was aware, he would not be going off to war hours later here in Aleris, but to a banquet of the King's.

His mind, still reluctant to wake up fully, tried to gather thoughts about the previous night. For a while, he wasn't sure what had happened or how he had ended up sleeping beside her. Nevertheless, something was different for sure. Verial had not moved away yet, nor did he seem alarmed. In fact, he kept watching her as she sat in bed with him and lifting an arm out from underneath the blanket, he placed his hand on her lap next to her stomach.

Today, Verial thought, was probably going to change things for both of them. They would find out what King Alerion had in store for the two and Oneiro. If King Alerion knew about the destruction of Oneiro and had invited Verial here, he could only assume it was directly linked to such. However, Verial didn't dare want to step foot back into the realm. Verial did not think it was possible to make amends with the land and people he already lost. It was difficult enough to try and make amends with Cally, while keeping his feelings at bay.

As Verial's mind circled with questions in the early morning, the most important one he had been meaning to ask finally came back to him. Verial never had much trouble reading thoughts if he had wanted to, but come last night, something prevented him from his search for answers. A terrible pain raced through his mind as it encountered the same type of skill he was using. Some one pushed him back and he was forced to withdraw his advancements on the slumbering minds of the castle. When he left his room, he found Cally had fainted on the floor, but that couldn't have been her. Verial was reassuring himself for no reason, though he supposed even if Cally could do this, it wouldn't have been that big of a deal.

The thing that worried him, however, was that he somehow did notice something hidden inside her. It could have been either that she hid it well from him for fear of anyone finding out, he had been oblivious to notice anything, or that neither of them knew. In any case, Verial also noticed some deeper questioning in Cally's own being by herself. Her brow was slightly furrowed as she looked down at him. Tilting his head, Verial spoke his first words of the morning, wishing for some reason he could have found something better to say to her in light of the wonderful sleep her had with her prior.

"What happened to you last night?" Verial asked his hand moving a little bit away from her stomach to her hip and resting there. "I left my room and found that you had fainted, I think. Are you alright?" Verial paused here and shook his head a little, the pillow reshaping around his form and began quite slowly, "I know... I have been distant, but... I want you to be aware, you can still tell me anything you need to, because I won't ever forget."

Post originally by Character_Calamaya


She threads her fingers through his when his hand lands in her lap, beginning to smile and tug him out from under the covers. His questions stop her playfulness though. They render her quite speechless in fact. It was almost as if he had some sort of clue, as if he knew that there was something that she had always hid from him.

It wasn’t because she didn’t want him to know. There had been plenty of times that she had wanted to share herself completely with him, for him to know each and every secret about her existence. What he knew was a fabrication. She couldn’t bring herself to use the term ‘a lie’ because she would never be able to keep it from Verial then.

The secrets had been necessary. If even the smallest whisper of rumor that Calamaya was more than she seemed had been released into the public, she would’ve been found and ripped away from the life that she loved. From almost the very beginning, her name had been linked with Verial’s. She had quickly become a public figure and discussed among the members of the kingdom. Her only protection against her grandmother was her belief that Calamaya had rejected all her gifts.

But she mustn’t let this thoughts be read on her face. Her greatest flaw was that she was an open book. Every emotion she is feeling is written clearly on her features. She smiles warmly, easing down beside Verial and taking the hand that he had placed in her lap, using it to pull his arm around her body. The best way to distract him was to force physical contact when he was awake and aware of what he was doing. “I remember sipping on a little brandy because I could not sleep,” she says softly as she nuzzles back up against his side, turning so that her face is hidden in his neck. “I think I stood up a little to fast and ended up falling out on the floor. So sorry about that, I know it must have worried you to find me passed out.”

A little part of her dies every time she is forced to make a fabrication for him. Should he find it out, would he ever understand that she did not have a choice? That she trusts him with all her heart, but not the fact that it’s possible someone else could over hear? That someone would also pick up on her confessions? Her fingers slide up and down his side as she squeezes her eyes shut. Her greatest fear was discovery these days, and Verial’s inability to forgive these sins.

It is even magnified now because she finds herself keeping yet another secret from him; Roland. The need to reveal her brother’s presence was killing her, but she could not. There was no way to explain her knowledge of Roland’s presence, especially since she did not even know exactly where he was or what he was doing in Aleris. The possibility of seeing him during this day almost had her jerking her dress back off and convincing Verial to never leave this bedroom by any means necessary.

She swallows back a sigh, then pops up with another bright grin written across her features. “We get to go to that banquet today! Does it feel like something big is going to happen?” Leaning in, she places a quick peck on his cheek. “It’s like something is just brewing in the air.”

Logs from 08.19.08 - Verial, Calamaya

A wary eye was cast on Calamaya as she nuzzled up against his side. There was something different about her reasoning this time, they way she used the excuse of drinking brandy and the way her face stayed partially hidden to the side as she leaned against him. Verial had never been one to know Cally to drink, let alone pass out from drinking. "Brandy, huh...?" he said in mid-yawn suddenly. Verial turns his head slightly to see if he can read the hidden expressions on her face more clearly, but certain things seemed to suddenly dawn on him so to speak. That reclusive side of him he reserved for her in most situations was already creeping out again, and after she landed a small kiss on his cheek, he was immediately sitting up feathered wings stretching out behind him. Verial couldn't tell if her comment was ominous or not, but he was hoping everything would just run smoothly for once. "Something in the air... Let's hope not," he started beginning to slip out from under the blankets of her bed.

As he pulled away Calamaya frowns, lying on her stomach for a moment longer. A night in his arms had left her thinking that maybe it had changed. But with one touch of her lips he is running with his tail tucked between his legs. Her eyes close for a moment, just a heartbeat to compose herself, then she too is springing up from the bed and moving to her vanity table to pick up a brush. She lifts it to her hair as she turns and looks at him. He was in his pajamas, giving her a moment of pause. The last time she had seen him so relaxed had been... No, those memories would not plague her right now. There was too much uncertainty in the air, too much that give evidence of worry on her face. "Yes, brandy. I acquired a taste for it when I was on the ship." She says as she turns to face the mirror and fix her hair.

Leaving the blankets behind him on the bed, Verial keeps his back to Cally for a moment and rounding his shoulders slightly, his wings stretch out just a bit. Verial hears her drop down onto the bed for only a moment, a semi-frustrated moment where Cally gathers some memories of the past. There's some coldness in the room that Verial did not notice between them before when he was lying beneath her blankets. Now though, Verial crosses his arms over his bare chest after he stretches listening to her talk about her newfound brandy addiction she acquired. He didn't mind if she drank, but it made his brow furrow to think just how little he noticed. "The ship on the way to Aleris?" Verial asked turning to face her backside as she brushes her hair at the vanity. "Or the one that... left Oneiro?" Cally had no idea Verial saw the ship sneaking away from port or that he was watching and hearing her voice from faraway on that deadly night some years ago.

The truth was that Calamaya, of course, had never even tasted any alcoholic beverage. It wasn't as if she had any kind belief against those who imbibed, she just wasn't the type. She winces in the mirror. God how she hated to lie. She expected him to realize it at any moment, all these fabrications. But their separation had worked in her favor she supposed, perhaps it had been so long that he had forgotten how to read her as well as he once did, leaving him unsure. She quickly twists her hair and pulls it up to the crown of her head, beginning to push pins in to leave it in a graceful twist with tendrils lingering around her face. "The one that left Oneiro." The words are quiet, her mind reflecting that time again.

Arms drop to Verial's side as he watches her pushing pins into her hair slowly, as if stalling time, or extra moments that she will not have to look him truly in the eyes when she answers him. Her words would have been barely audible to the human ear, but because he was part elven, Verial heard her well enough. Suddenly, his feet move across the room to her, closes the distance a bit and behind her, Verial gets a better look into the mirror she is staring at. Though Verial sees there is something there, something contemplative, he does not pry too much further and only replies watching her reflection, "You just don't seem the type to have to resort to taking up to drinking for things like that." Verial shakes his head and a few strands of raven hair falls away from his pointed ears. "But... I guess things just happen. I'm going to dress now."

Verial turns away from the vanity and Cally and heads out of her room. Crossing the chamber that connects their bedrooms, he walks into his own room and proceeds to find clothing suitable enough for a banquet. Before they both knew it, it would be time to meet with the king and figure out what all of this being here in Aleris meant.

Pins cascade from her hands onto the floor as soon as he leaves the room. She leans her hands on the vanity top, leaning heavily on them. A breath hisses out from between her teeth, knowing that she was not fooling him as much as she had hoped. Looking up, she finds the mirror mere inches from her face. What she saw was complete misery. How could she do this to him anymore? To herself? She slaps the vanity table with both hands in frustration. Then, she slowly straightens her posture, yet again regaining the façade that is expected of a lady. Leaving her hair halfway up and halfway down, she strides out of her room and bursts into Verial's. "You're right. I've never drank a drop in my life." She practically yells out the confession.

Verial had just started to get dressed when suddenly the doors to his room were open once again. Verial's pants he had worn to sleep were unbuttoned, and he had both hands hooked around the hem which was hanging a bit lower than normal at his hips. Arching a brow as he stopped, he looked at her as the words came spilling from her lips, like some long kept-in secret confession. "What?" Verial asked raising an eyebrow. "Cally, to be honest, it doesn't much matter if you took up drinking or not, but why would you make up such a thing anyway?"

Sitting down on his bed, Verial released his hands from the sides of his pants and rubbed his temples for a moment with a light groan coming from behind parted lips. It seemed as if she was trying to hide something, but he was just as guilty perhaps, in the way he pushed himself away from her without just reason. Verial looked back up to her enchanting figure in the doorway and sighed softly, "You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, but you don't have to be afraid to either."

Calamaya swallows deeply when she walks in on him in that situation. In fact, she finds herself clenching her hands and leaning against the doorframe. There was something undeniably sensual about that little crease right at a man's hips... She shakes her head and looks at Verial's face. "I want you to understand." Pushing from the frame, she quickly moves to him and drops her knees in front of him, placing her hands on his lap. "It isn't because I'm afraid of you knowing, I'm just afraid to tell you." It wasn't making any sense. She lets her head fall forward, her forehead resting on his knee. The only way she was going to fix him was to finally tell him, or at least some of it. Already, the walls begin to fall. The minds of others brush along the edge of hers. Her body begins to tremble as she tries to adjust once more.

Part of him tenses, but less so than he usually does when she lays her head down on his knee. He thought for sure, he had pushed her mostly away to point where she would have not just come falling into his lap like this. Verial gazed at the back of her neck and placed a comforting hand around the side of it as she rested her head against his knee. Verial felt her body began to shake lightly as she leaned against him and took this as an excuse to pull her up facing him. There was no denying he didn't feel a sort of burning desire inside of him when she laid on him like this, but still conscious of his other feelings at bay, he held her slumped body up against his chest now. Verial pulled her form into his lap and wrapped strong arms around her. Dropping his head close to hers, their foreheads touching for a moment he replied, "You can tell me what you need to. Just don't hurt yourself again trying to hide it." Even if it was just her fainting to the floor, still he worried.

The trembling continued, but the carefully placed barriers were still slowly being dismantled. She would have no idea if anyone could hear unless she could sense them. She is only halfway aware of the tender way that he cradled her in his lap. As far as she could tell, there was no one that would over hear. Still, the only safe way to speak the words would be a telepathic communication. Leaving her forehead resting on his, she opens her eyes and stares into his as her thoughts begin to impose themselves on his. "I... am not... that which I strive to be perceived as."

Verial instinctively bit his lower lip, not out of hesitation to hear what she has to say, but more in thinking about what words she had just said. There was something he had indeed not noticed, maybe even failed to ask about her. Was it his fault, or hers? Perhaps it was both. Looking her over with a quick glance as he tried to hold her body somewhat steady against his own, he titled his head and asked, "Then what are you?" Verial looked back into those emerald eyes and tried to look past them for a moment, trying to make himself believe there was more in her than he had ever perceived and with a heavy feeling in his stomach, waited for her to answer him what it was.

Calamaya had stopped trembling at this point, mainly because someone had noticed their conversation. Maybe it was a maid in the outer room, or maybe it was Roland. She had gone for years without being caught and she would not give that up now. Her mind instantly shuts down. The quick change leaves her disoriented. She covers her face in her hands and moans, the room tilting in front of her. She has to sag against him. "I cannot talk about it." Then her hands move away from her own face to grab his, desperation coloring her features. "But not because I don't trust you, and not because I don't love you. If they know..." she falls off, her words being as much of a give away as her silent communication. Her face pales as she just shakes her head.

Verial tries to hold her up as she sags against him. There was not just something suddenly different about the way her words were, but something physical as well. Cally was falling against him more now though some part of her was trying to resist telling him anything. Verial held an arm higher around her back and another lifted up her chin to keep her sagging head from falling. The noise, the sudden realization of some one else in the other room, had weakened her defenses she put up around her. "If who knows?" he dares to ask her, but soon after notices the paling on her face and shakes his head. Verial's hand falls from her cheek and pulls her close to him again so she may rest against him. "Don't say anything," he adds then and with a bitter taste in his mouth, he wishes the maid or whoever it was in the next room, was gone...

Logs from 08.21.08 - Verial, Calamaya, Tehran

And she didn't say anything. Moments after holding her quivering body in his arms, Cally had fallen asleep from the extra exhaustion she caused herself. There was still some strange shuffling and noises going about in the other room that conjoined their two bedrooms. Carefully, Verial moved the sleeping Cally onto the bed from his lap and brushed her now disarrayed hair away from her forehead. A few pins were left tangled in the blonde locks and Verial pulled them out gently before moving away. Watching her for a minute, he decides to inspect the noise in the other room now. Verial finished dressing, as he was in the middle of doing when Cally came rushing in, and headed into the other room. Closing the door behind him, so as the noise wouldn't disturb her, Verial looked about for the source of commotion.

Stifling a yawn, Tehran cast his golden gaze about the room to take in his surroundings. Like the clumsy vampire he had become to be since his awakening, he had haphazardly knocked over a vase - it consequently splintering into many pieces. A sigh escaped his lips as he picked up the pieces, but paused as he heard someone enter the room. Slowly his head craned to the source, and the sight he saw only made Tehran's eyes widen in surprise.

There was no denying that for a few seconds the world stopped when Verial caught glimpse of the wandering figure outside the door. Then, when he came back to, Verial had pretty much assumed he'd run into that familiar, yet unwanted face. Verial's expression was rather blank as he looked at the weakened, clumsy state his vampire cousin, Tehran, was in. Verial remembered that when Necia had been brought back from the dead, she wasn't in her right states. Clearly, the same was for Tehran. Verial's brow furrowed together but he took a step forward, as to not draw attention that there may be some one else in the next room - Calamaya. "Well, well, well," Verial began. "I should have guessed this would happen..."


Tehran's placid lips parted open to speak, but no words came out at first. With a swift shake of his head to get over the initial shock, Tehran finally spoke to the one person he had travelled all this way for. "Ah, yes. It took much longer than expected, but I am finally here. Did you actually think I would never cross words with you again? Just because I was rendered dead for some time, does not mean that it was permanent and final. Our grandmother was right; people should have been quiet to not wake the dead." Tehran's eyes glinted with an insane light to them as he gazed upon Verial, an almost hungry look in his eyes.

Verial's face does not change, and for a moment in the back of his thoughts, he hopes Cally stays sleeping and does not wander out. To risk Tehran seeing some girl Verial had accompanied would be bad enough. He knew his cousin that well, despite not wanting to actually know him. "No, of course not. I except you are that obsessed with hunting me down even in death that you would never let your spirit rest," Verial answered watching that all too familiar gleam in Tehran's eyes. It was like the snake had just found a little mouse. "I think coming here right away was a bad move on your part. When was the last time you even fed, and that doesn't count rats."

Tehran lofts a brow towards Verial and responds sarcastically, "Oh Verial, when have you ever cared about my well-being?" Tehran lifts his head up in the air and takes a long sniff, allowing his heightened senses to do his bidding. "I am rather hungry," Tehran speaks slowly, "and I smell fresh blood coming from a nearby room." Tehran starts to move towards the direction of the scent, his eyes never leaving his cousin's.

Just the same, Verial kept a close watch on Tehran. He didn't doubt what his cousin was capable of, but he knew that he was weakened well beyond the point of defending himself. Why on earth Tehran would drag himself over here to find Verial already, was beyond his thinking. However, his brows narrowed dangerously when Tehran took a few steps closer to the room. Verial did not move from the room, but he listened not hearing Cally stirring from her sleep. This was good, but it looked like his cousin's sense of smell had not faltered at all. "You're right. I am not concerned about your well being, but wondering how easy it would be to rip those fangs out of your mouth."

Calamaya wakes for the second time that day and sits up, rubbing her face. This wasn't turning out to be a very relaxing vacation as she had hoped it would be. Turning on her back, her gaze focuses on the dragons circling on the ceiling above her, then shakes her head. No, not going to dive into those memories at the moment. She can hear Verial's low spoken voice and quickly slides off of the bed. Bursting out of the doorway in much the same fashion as she had arrived, her lips are opened to say something... But Tehran's presence stops her cold. So this is the mind that had stopped her confession but a moment ago. She had not exactly heard their conversation before hand, so she simply walks up to Verial and stands at his side, tilting her gaze up to his face with a questioning expression.

With his head cocked to one side, Tehran flickers his gaze to the woman and responds hastily, "I strongly suggest you take your leave." Having approached the two by now, he decides against making this attractive woman depart and decides to toy with her instead. As he brushes a hand against the side of her cheek, he leans in and whispers in her ear letting his lips graze against it, "Or maybe you'd like to be a snack of mine." Tehran's lips widen into a smile as he moves his gaze momentarily to Verial's, hoping that he had angered his cousin.

Well so much for making it to the banquet on time tonight. Verial was pretty damn sure this was going to turn ugly any minute now, especially since the Cally's form had slid up behind him, standing at his side. For a moment he stiffens, wishing she had stayed the hell sleeping. Even better, Tehran seemed to completely disregard Verial's warning tone and had gone so far to run a hand across Cally's cheek, which would move Tehran close to Verial as well, since Cally had moved next to Verial. For years, Verial had known that his cousin took pleasure in angering him, but he would also do whatever he wanted to see Verial suffer. Nevertheless, it was all in Tehran's jealous rage - it was always jealousy. Verial did not answer Cally's questioning stare because he really did not want to introduce the two at all. So he stood silent for a moment longer, although he did move in between the two more.

Calamaya had realized what Tehran was almost instantly. Though her experience had been limited to creatures of the night, she did recognize one when she saw one and did not fear them overly much. She had no clue who he might be or why he even knew Verial's name. But the moment that his hand skims across her cheek he earns her everlasting ire. Her face doesn't reveal this though as she allows the touch, even swaying towards him as if his nearness was causing her to grow weak in the knees. Two slender hands come up to Tehran's shoulders, gently squeezing into them in a somewhat sensual manner... that is until the grasp becomes vice-like and the very proper Calamaya sends a knee to Tehran's groin in a move too fast to be achieved by a human.

Tehran's gaze shifted back to Calamaya as he reached his hand out to cup her chin, but moved it suddenly back as he received a swift kick in his genital area. Letting out a sharp pain of distress, Tehran made no hesitation in backhanding the woman out of anger. He stumbled back as he looked upon the two with an almost feral glint in his eyes as he spoke, "Keep... your woman on a tighter leash, Verial. I'd hate... for something to happen... to her."

Verial could tolerate most things to a certain degree, especially when it came to the taunting of his cousin. However, Verial was bitterly surprised when Tehran went so far as to slap Cally hard across the face already in retaliation to her actions. Though Verial tried to control his anger, keep it at bay, Tehran had pushed him too far by laying a violent hand on Cally. There was also something else inside Verial that reacted to this - his dragon soul, buried inside him growled out at Tehran's actions - and Verial was somewhat surprised it felt a certain way when some one had hit Cally. After Tehran had slapped Cally, Verial reached out and grabbed tightly around Tehran's wrist. With one swift movement, he twisted his cousin's arm and brought him crashing to the floor. Verial kept a hold on Tehran's boney wrist and spoke glaring down into his eyes, "I think you ought to worry about yourself first."

The slap had Calamaya falling backwards, and she makes no effort to right herself once Verial begins to grapple with the man. She reaches up, touching the corner of her mouth which still stings from the force of the impact. She had surprised herself with her reaction to Tehran, but perhaps the clean air here had her feeling a little spirited. Pulling her hand away from her mouth, she sees the faintest smear of blood there. Letting out a little whine, she uses the hem of her dress to press tightly against it. The last thing she needed to do in front of an almost rabid vampire was bleed.

Before his mind could register, Verial was on top of him. A smirk crept up onto Tehran's lips as he knows his strength is no match to Verial's at the moment, but his was even with his cousin's. Almost immediately, ideas begin to race through Tehran's mind in order to gain the upper hand. "Oh Verial, there is no need to worry about me because I have missed you so much... dearest cousin of mine." After uttering those words, the vampire leaned up and began to give Verial a passionate kiss upon the lips. Tehran was by no means homosexual or incestuous; he was just going to use whatever was at his disposal in hopes to make Verial falter.

Calamaya grows absolutely frozen, emerald eyes bulging wide when Tehran places his lips against Verial's.

It wasn't the first time Tehran had shown some sort of "odd" affection for Verial. Verial recalled after a vicious fight the two cousins had, Tehran had admitted his reason for being so angry was because Tehran was in love with Verial. Had Verial known Cally was bleeding, he would have been ushering her into the next room, but now Tehran was surprised him by a foul mouthed kiss that tasted like decayed flesh and death for lack of better words. Verial didn't have his daggers or sword with him at the moment, or else he would have moved back and ran one straight through Tehran's perverse head. Instead Verial whipped his head back from Tehran, clenched his fist hard together, and punched his cousin so hard across the jaw it would have sent him sailing across the floor of the room. Verial stood up fast, releasing Tehran's wrist, and moved a step back to where Cally sat, never taking his eyes off his demented cousin.

Tehran's head snaps to one side as his jaw makes a sickening crack. A hand reaches up instinctively to check if it is broken and with a sigh, Tehran turns his gaze onto his cousin as he realizes that instigating his cousin was far too soon. "...I guess I deserved that," Tehran mumbles as he looks away, hoping Verial would actually believe him or at least feel pity as he continues, "I don't know Verial, I'm not in my right mind. Perhaps you can just let this one go."

Standing above Tehran and looking down at him with a malicious glare, Verial raised an arm very slowly and then pointed towards the door. He could very well kill his cousin right now. Verial could rip off his head with his bare hands if he wanted to, but instead he pointed towards the door. "Get out," was all he managed to utter from between clenched lips.

Tehran's lips thinned as he heard that, loathing the idea of having to take orders from his cousin. "...Very well." He rose to his feet, a soft grunt issuing from his lips as the vampire begin to move towards the door. "I'll be seeing you cousin. After all, we're family." With a quick turn of his head, a smile flickered onto his lips as he departed the room being secretly glad he was able to see his cousin after all these long years.

Logs from 09.04.08 - Verial, Calamaya, Maxim, Dahlia

Verial watched Tehran go sulking out of the door, glad the bastard vampire was gone, but Verial knew well enough it was only temporary. He had not hit some one so hard in a long time and though part of him was glad he had almost broken Tehran's jaw, he regretted Cally having to see him so angered. Verial's brow furrowed at the situation, mostly in disappointment - he wished she had stayed in the other room, but things were never so simple. And now he'd have to explain this to Cally, about his insane cousin. Verial moved across the floor towards her and put two hands on her face, where she was previously fussing, spotting the blood on her lip with the hem of her dress. The last thing Verial needed was Tehran smelling her blood; he assumed that was how Tehran could track Verial down anywhere, even in death.

"Let me see," Verial said a bit too softly as he looked at where Tehran had back handed Cally. There was no mark of bruising, but her lip was a little bit cracked open on one side.

Cally's gaze shimmers with unreleased anger as she tilts her head back to allow him to examine her. "I can tell you now," she mutters, still dabbing at her lip. "That is one member of your family I do NOT like." It had been a rather eventful 24 hours. She really couldn't help that her green gaze suddenly fills with moisture. But she doesn't dissolve into tears as most women would've at that point. She was simply female and believed in her right to be emotional. After giving a dainty sniff, she wipes her eyes and gingerly touches her lip. "Now I am going to look bad at the banquet. We're supposed to meet the king, and I'm going to have a fat lip!"

His hands were on her lip, rubbing the blood away gently with his thumb as she cursed about having a fat lip at the banquet. It, thankfully for her concern, didn't look like it was swelling up or anything. Verial shook his head and let out a rather forced sigh. "It's fine. No one's even going to notice. It's not as bad as you might think. A servant can probably find you a new dress. If this palace is anything like Oneiro's, they'll have an extra," Verial began. Suddenly, his tone was different and rather forceful with her but in a manner that was all too serious, "Damn it, Cally... Why did you just rush out like that? You should have listened... I think it may just be safer for you to go back to the Villa, in Mystra."

Since she is in the frame of mind to allow her feminine side rule her mind, his words bring her perilously close to anger. She swats at his hands and gives him a rather thorough glare. "Safer for me?" Shoving to her feet, she points her finger at him. "Verial, I could have sooner just left with Drezyn and Rod. I wouldn't be with you at all! You're not sticking me anywhere with the pretense that it will be safer for me." She begins and irritated pace back and forth, muttering unintelligible in between outbursts. "How was I to know one of your lovely family members would stumble on us here? It was a palace servant for all I knew and I wanted to hear what was going on!" Borrowing a dress would not be necessary since she had brought her own. In fact, she begins to undo this one in irritated jerks with Verial standing right there beside her.

After Cally stood away, irritated with advice he suggested her, Verial looked at the floor for a moment raven hair framing his face. His hands were in his lap at the moment and Verial was dimly aware of her pointing him. But at her obvious blatant rejection, he grew just as annoyed. Standing, Verial held his hands at his sides and with a firm voice, "Calamaya, that is why I am saying you should have listened, because you would have realized I was arguing with something much dangerous than a servant." A hand rested on his hip for a moment as he shook his head. "And furthermore, he was SUPPOSED to be dead in a tomb some where in the ruins of Oneiro. Which means, the fact that he drug himself out of his grave to hunt me down, means he's going to come after you!" Verial is not aware she's angrily tugging at her dress the entire time, or else he would have shut up and ushered her into the other room.

Cally practically hisses through her teeth at him. "Don't you dare say 'Calamaya' in that tone of voice." Mimicking his stern tone perfectly even as she fusses at him. "Why are we even having this argument? It's already happened, already done. He's already kissed you and back handed me. And yeah, I saw that kiss! NASTY." With that, the dress falls to her feet in a rustle of fabric. They technically do still stand in the common room that joins their two rooms, but the only people that would have any reason to enter would be the same servants that help her get dressed in the mornings anyway. Except for any man servants that would come to wait on Verial. She didn't care at the moment anyway. "I will not be lectured, Verial. I don't care if you are the flippin' King!"

She just had to bring back up that horrible kiss Tehran used to try and surprise Verial. He could understand if she was angry at him for arguing with her, but that didn't help him put his temper at bay either. "I'll say your name however I like, thank you. And furthermore, I'm not a king anymore!" Verial roared, but his words were practically bitter about this. "We're having this argument because I care about you!" Verial said this like it was obvious, but he hadn't actually shown any sign of it lately, save for when she was asleep, or mentioned anything. Likewise, Verial still did not take notice that she was completely nude in front of him now, mainly because he was staring at her face and trying to get some useless point across.

Cally crosses her arms underneath her breasts, which will bring them more into his line of sight, even if she does it without thinking. "You care about me? Really? This is how you choose to tell me that you care about me?" Emerald eyes narrow to a point that signify danger to the male race. "I watched you destroy our home, hit my knees on the ground and pleaded with you to stop, then left everything I had become comfortable with to pick up and follow you again. You have held me at an arm's distance all this time and THIS is when you decide to tell me that you actually do still care about me?" She was practically shrieking, but her shivering catches her attention. Suddenly she realizes that she had not put on any undergarments before slipping that dress over her head and now she hasn't a stitch on. She leans down and jerks the gown back up before fleeing into her bedroom.

Though he wanted to argue with her, he knew there was nothing else he could say really, especially regarding his sudden confession. What a horrible time Verial had chose to reveal it when he had shown no further proof that those feelings of adoration actually existed. As far as Cally was concerned, they just seemed slightly like friends - until now. Verial looked to the floor for a moment, and it was then he realized she had been naked this entire time. However, saying anything to her right now about that didn't matter; she was already pulling up her dress and escaping back into the other room. In those moments she jerked back up her dress, Verial watched and realized despite the current situation, that she was beautiful beyond words in all the passion she showed to him just now, not even in the fact that she was naked. Verial had the door slammed in his face, and was not sure if she'd come back out for the banquet or what, so he stood idly in the room, listening for some sounds behind her bedroom door.

There would be no sounds from the door. In fact, Cally would not open the door again until it was already getting nearly time for them to go down for the banquet. During the evening, smells of various foods being cooked had drifted through their room. She had been able to hear the musicians practicing together for a little while. With her window now cracked, she can hear people chatting outside as they mingle with each other. She had allowed her maid inside, and they had spent the better part of an hour getting Cally ready. Her hair was fixed into a mass of ringlets, two diamond studded combs pulling it up on either side in a flattering frame around her face. Her dress was green, the color that suited her best. It dipped low at the neck and skimmed the floor with every step she took, silk whispering all the while. She steps out of the room and simply raises her eyebrows at wherever Verial might be standing at that moment.

Verial had given up on watching the door, thinking after the maid had been ushered inside Cally's room, she wasn't coming out to speak with him for a while. Verial retreated back into his own room and started getting ready for the banquet as well. Likewise, the Palace Chamberlain had headed into Verial's room and helped him get ready for the banquet also - it had been in a long time before Verial needed to dress up for anything. Verial had been dressed in a completely black suit and jacket of sorts. He was not sure what the man gave him to wear; his mind was elsewhere wondering what Cally was thinking and his eyes kept drifting over to his own door. After the chamberlain left his room, Verial stood on his own for a moment, and with a soft shake of his head, raven hair fell from pointed ears. He was not entirely sure what he would say to Cally anyway, but he left the room and entered into the one that conjoined theirs where she was waiting for him.

Booted feet thudded lightly against the floor as the murderous Redmont moved towards his destination -- behind him, another figure swiftly kept pace as well. Behind him, a pair of guards were slumped against the floor -- likely, they were the ones who had given away the position of one Verial Akilara, and his companion. "Ensure that the woman doesn't interfere, Dahlia" Maxim spoke quietly, without glancing back at the afore-mentioned Princess Redmont. One gloved fist lightly knocked at the door of Calamaya's room when he finally arrived, and his tone of voice softened just enough to pass him off as somebody less malevolent, "Lord Akilara, Lady Everness -- I come on behalf of the royalty..."

As far as Cally was concerned, she still had the right to be angry with him even if hours had passed. Her maid steps out behind her and lays her wrap over her shoulders right as there is a knock on the door. Cally nods at the maid for her to open the door as she walks over to Verial. Irritation aside, she never could stand them fighting for long. Her mask of anger dissolves as she gets closer. She shakes her head, "Ahh Verial, you look way too handsome in that." The words are stated quietly, a hint of amusement lingering underneath them to reveal that she was ready to bury the hatchet. It would be up to him and his response whether or not they would remain civil the rest of the evening. The sweet little maid opens the door and bobs a curtsey, but her eyes quickly widen in question when she doesn't recognize the man on the other side. She quickly shuts the door back.

The Redmont Princess offered no words, in fact she offered nothing but a rather curt nod from the shadow cast by Maxim. She needed no real coaxing, nor did she need to be told to keep silent. The vicious, and forever young, girl wiped the last remnants of blood from her weapons. Couldn't have the blood of one contaminating the blood of another. It was most certainly bad form. She slipped the weapons away just before the maid opened the door, stuffing both hands in her pockets. The charade must be kept up, at least for now.

Verial was trying to find exactly the right response to say to her, to make things better. What about the truth, some feeling for once, despite anger and regret? Verial casts his eyes on her form as she slides up alongside of him and manages to say, "You look stunning," though he wasn't sure if she'd believe him, he was telling the truth. Verial moves his hand over and weaves his fingers into hers holding onto her hand. At this moment, the maid opens the door and Verial hears the unknown man's words, but then the maid quickly shuts it and Verial barely has a chance to get a look at the cloaked figure behind it. "Huh...?" Verial whispers as the door is closed and looks to the maid.

Both fists slammed into the door and smashed it free of the hinges, the heavy piece of wood crashing down upon the maid -- with little regard to her, those fiery eyes of brilliant scarlet were leveled upon Verial Akilara, and his lips curved into a malevolent smile. "Verial Akilara -- I am Maxim Redmont." No other words were offered, and the man wasn't given a chance to respond -- Maxim stepped into the room, fists raising as he sent one straight punch for his foe's face, and another for his stomach. Behind him, Dahlia was likely close and ready to perform her own task...

And still she kept silent, still for the moment, until Maxim had made for them an opening. Both hands dropped back to the belt about her waist, pulling both of her weapons from their nest just below her lower back. One hand struck out with the hilt of a sai, to interject itself in between Verial and the woman. She sought to separate the two, leaving the other Redmont to do what he would with Verial. "Move, Consort." The words curled from her lips in something of a snarl. Young though she may have appeared, and small though she might seem, she was not kidding, nor had she left any room for arguing.

A scream rips from her lips before she is able to stop it. She springs backward for an instant, though quickly regains her composure and takes one big 'ol swing at Maxim's nose. Dahlia prevents her from connecting with the elder Redmont. She quickly turns on the younger looking girl and begins to girl fight like a champ, finger nails and slaps against the girl's face. "Verial!" the cry is automatic; he would always be the one that she turns to in a moment of crisis. But there really was nothing that Cally could do against to vampires, her physical strength in no way compared.

This was definitely no ordinary guard coming to escort them to the banquet and Verial was sure of it when the door was literally broken off its hinges by the man behind it. The door was heavy and as it landed on the elderly maid, Verial doubted the woman would make it out alive. Her scream was muffled shortly afterwards and Verial had not much time to think of it as the man came charging towards him. The introduction was short and bitter; Verial didn't have time to react to the two fits that were flying at him. He was not totally sure how he dodged the second fist to his stomach; after Maxim laid a punch to his face, Verial swore he felt his jaw crack in the same manner Verial had punched Tehran earlier. Faltering back for a moment, there were mere seconds given as Verial caught the second fist with his own hand and pushed Maxim's fist away. Though the distance between the two was not great at all and he was clearly at a disadvantage, especially with some girl attacking Cally and Cally calling out to him. Verial did not know who these people were, and then the name Maxim Redmont dawned on him as the man who nearly killed Bansca Deepsinger. But why was Maxim here in Aleris, fighting Verial, and creating some sort of distraction to go after Cally?

As Verial staggered back, blocking the second punch for his stomach, Maxim bared his fangs in a venomous hiss -- that tattered cloak of faded crimson hues fluttering around a muscled frame, clad in black armor. "You've but one choice, Akilara -- I came seeking a worthy opponent. Unless you revert to your true form, you won't be able to stop me in time to defend the woman -- live or die. Make your choice." It was a challenge, to be certain -- and it likely fit with the reputation that Verial had learned of Maxim, if any. Dark tendrils of hair contrasted with pale, youthful features -- fingers clenched into fists, and the Kinslayer stood in between Verial, and Calamaya, with Dahlia to give the man incentive...

Fingernails dug their way into the exposed flesh on the younger girl's face, though she managed to pull away just in time to avoid the slapping palms. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was being slapped. Her left hand raised, still bearing the sai, and came crashing down, still hilt first, in the direction of Calamaya's jaw. "Must you squeal like a spoiled little pig?" Talking, so much talking. "I could kill you where you stand..." The blade of the second sai twirled in her right hand, ending with the tip pointed directly at the woman's Solar Plexus, and fanged teeth bared in something of a hiss. "..Give me a reason, a good reason, why I shouldn't..."

There was little Verial could do or say, but at least he had time to think instead of defend himself in some battle. Only a few hours before, he had just got done fighting his cousin Tehran; though his cousin was almost close enough to be called dead, Maxim was definitely much more of a fight. Verial was outcasted from Cally who now stood behind Maxim and the girl. "This is my true form," Verial said simply, but that didn't matter right now. The girl with Cally had persisted her brutal attack and was near close to killing Cally. "STOP!" Verial shouted but it was more of a command than a request. Two different colored eyes turned to Maxim, "If you're wanting me to turn into a dragon, tell that girl to get off of her now. And I will not transform into anything here; it would bring the roof down on all of us. Outside," Verial muttered suggesting through gritted teeth. Verial cast an eye towards Cally who would have been on the floor most likely. He could not even make an attempt at going to her.

The blade at his side was drawn, a rather sleek, elegant weapon that drew something of a contrast with the Kinslayer's inherently ruthless nature -- and with a light smile, he gestured to the window that led towards the balcony. "Dahlia -- if she attempts to flee, finish the job." He glanced at Verial once more, and the faintest hint of a smile threatened to form as he stood there -- the situation was going as he had planned. "Prove your worth, Akilara, and both of you will survive the night." His voice was cold, and yet those words rang true -- if Verial knew anything about the Redmont, then he no doubt knew what Maxim's unique code of honor was like.

Cally really wasn't sure what happened. Her attention had been turned to Verial. She registered the fact that there was a voice emitting from Dahlia but the words did not make sense. Then she saw stars, and is sagging against the girl. She already knew that the dragon was rising up in Verial. Already, it was like she could hear the song... that sickening song that the white dragons echoed above her. It had haunted her dreams. Tears spring into her eyes. "No Verial..." She shakes her head, trying to gather her senses again and glares at Dahlia. "Then Verial would have no reason to shift, which seems to be what big guy over there wants."

Verial heard Cally's protests of him not changing into his dragon form, though they would be ignored. Verial didn't seem to have much choice, and though he had never revealed to Cally, he had more control over his dragon form than he had in the past - they had sort of "come to terms" so to speak. Casting a wary eye to Cally he managed to tell her everything would be okay. If that vicious girl so much as laid another hand on Cally however, Verial would not be in the slightest pleased. There was no sure way Verial had to tell if this Maxim was trusting enough to go through with the deal - that both he and Cally would make it out alive. However, with heavy feet not wanting to leave the room, he did turning his back on the girl who was with Cally. "Come on," Verial said to Maxim. "I don't know what you want so badly, but let's get it over with."

A quick step back brought her just out of range of the collapsing woman, leaving Calamaya to slump all the way to the floor. She brought both sais back into their defensive posture, and stopped her snarling attack. It was not the convincing words of the woman that halted her advances, but the curt order from Maxim. "Should have killed you when I had the chance." She spat on the floor just in front of the woman. "Just stay down there, and I don't kill you... For now." The girl was every bit as ruthless as the elder Redmont, but with an eternity to hone her skills.

A lesser foe would've attacked Verial the minute that the man had turned his back -- the marauding Redmont instead simply shoved past him as that purposeful, smooth stride carried him towards the balcony. Stepping upon the railing, he simply dropped over the edge -- military-grade boots slammed into the ground below, and his knees barely buckled to absorb the impact. In effect, he hit the ground moving -- those fiery eyes lifted, to ensure that the Akilara dragon was following. If he didn't, Dahlia was quick enough that Calamaya would like die before Verial could reach her.

To the balcony the two went, although Maxim had took the leading position so suddenly by rushing past Verial. This gave him, for a very brief moment, one more change to look back at Cally before he was jumping off the balcony following suit with Maxim. Feathered wings lifted enough to make him land safely on the ground, boots dusting up some dirt around him. It was night out now and Verial could hear the sounds of the banquet inside. Thankfully, there were not so many people outside - Verial did not want to cause commotion to a dragon being suddenly in Aleris. Walking past Maxim, Verial headed out to an open area around the palace, one that was mostly used for training of the guards.

Remains in her prone position on the floor, though her face is tilted to where she can watch Verial walk out onto the balcony. She quickly comes to the conclusion that she hates to watch him walk to battle, whether he is armor clad or with the beast simmering underneath him. She sits up and draws her knees to her chest, glancing at Dahlia so the girl knows she is not trying to flee. Then she rises and points to the door, "I have to watch what's happening." And she really doesn't wait for a response. She moves at a slow pace to show that she's not trying to get away and heads to the balcony as well.

"Don't try anything funny. I'm not here to play party games with your frilly ass." She crossed both arms, and exhaled, keeping less than a pace between the two of them. She would not fail, could not fail Maxim, it simply was not an option. Upon reaching the balcony, she set one hand on the rail on either side of Calamaya, effectively boxing the older woman in. She could probably feel the warm breath on her neck, but very little would distract Dahlia from her task.

Ever silent, the Kinslayer began to circle Verial, exhibiting the classic signs of a predator stalking his intended quarry -- the blade in his right hand was spun in a lazy semi-circle, and his vibrant glare remained locked upon the man. Each step taken was a calculated motion -- there was virtually no wasted movement from Maxim, and he kept just enough distance between them that Verial would have to lunge to close it. Other weaponry was briefly visible -- onyx-tipped stakes, a mockery of his former profession, and something else gleamed beneath the folds of that tattered, war-torn cloak, something unfamiliar...