Kal's tower- Now Gypsy's Tower

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Gypsy began to wake up as the water hit her and simply leaned back when Al'gaan joined her, unable to tense up as he helped her wash up and added in a massage with it. She found that she missed moments like this. Simple intimate moments with a lover, simple touches and the trust that came only when one wasn't armed. Considering how she felt about her weapons, she was actually showing him trust without making it obvious.

She leaned back into him as the water moved over them both and listened to him, giving a nod at his solution, "That's good... He'll do good with Cynthia..." she said simply, not wanting to mention that she'd been able to practically smell his lack of 'experience' in bedroom matters. When she encountered Galen later, she was going to have a few words for him about sending a virgin to a succubus...

For now, she could feel the heat moving through her, actually raising her temperature a bit with it. She knew she was going to fade into the instinctive biology again. But she wanted to fight it off a bit longer...

"With another assassin on the loose, she's the logical target. I'm harder to kill. Too many years having to survive on my own, I guess... Lareth is over with the Drow and able to defend himself if needed... For all her power, Cynthia is still vulnerable..." she tried to continue with the conversation, knowing that she wasn't fooling him with her attempt to put things off.

In all honesty, Al'gaan was the first one to call her on her attempts to slowly kill herself. He was the first one to notice what she was doing to herself. He was the first one to see past her attempts to push everyone away. He was also the first one to come to her bed in five years...

He'd earned her trust.

She put her hands over his at her waist and closed her eyes as his other hands continued to move over her skin, pointing out just how sensitive she was becoming...  

[Wolfe Garm]

Red Gyspy

Al’gaan smiled when she leaned into him, her words showed a struggle in her as he listened, when she was done he finally spoke up “either case I don’t think we’ve got to much to worry about, I sent him to see Lady Zosne, she’ll know how to help him. And as for you, isn’t it about time you stopped fighting yourself, after all it wouldn’t do to have you reject yourself anymore than is necessary” he’d called her out on the futile attempt to resist her natural instincts and planted a kiss on her neckline his primary hands now wrapped under her arms and around her chest as he held her his secondary hands shifting slight to entwine his fingers with hers as he kept her close to him for a while.

Gauging her for a moment he eventually turned her around to face him and pushed her into the wall of the shower pinning her there as his lips touched hers leaving them there. After a couple hours being in the shower after her senses kicked in again Al’gaan was content to hold onto her when he finally pulled them out of the shower and dried them both off before he brought her back to the bed. After a few sessions with her Al’gaan was getting familiar with her limits and how to push her well beyond what she thought wasn’t possible, though for a war demon they were very good lovers, especially in this situation, and it showed just how much strength he had couped up inside, which when it came down to it was what was needed in order to assist her through this tough time, though one had to wonder if Al’gaan wasn’t getting attached to her since this whole thing started, being days into this ordeal and days left to go, one had to wonder if he would let go after the ordeal was over, though a better question would be if she would either considering that they both were displaying signs of being comfortable with each other, which went well beyond what was required for this situation.

Al’gaan being a nobleman his office did require him to assist when possible, but he’d gone above and beyond what was needed and while he didn’t openly say it he’d put her to a level of being more than just a one lover. But it just only showed just how comfortable he was about this whole situation, and the fact that he was composed as a nobleman should as well as calmness just showed a level of strength that might not have been seen otherwise.  

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Gypsy enjoyed every moment as he took her over and finally relaxed at his side as he held her. While they were getting more and more comfortable with each other, it was also getting easy to tell that she was still holding back.

She'd held back her entire life... Except with Kaljire... She'd given him everything, then he'd been sent back to her in small pieces... So she could be considered justified in holding back a piece of herself to stay sane. At least, that was what she told herself...

While Al'gaan had earned her trust, she still wasn't sure about giving up everything. He'd figured out so much about her already, but it wasn't in her anymore to give up everything. Not any more...

While Al'gaan had seen everything there was to see in the tower, Hal had been very good at his job. She'd wanted the unused nursery sealed up and hidden and Hal had done just that. Unless one knew what to look for it was nearly impossible to find the door, much less open it.

A very long time ago, she'd made a deal with a god. The payout had been the ability to have children with Kaljire. He'd been so excited about it... He'd carved the bassinet and numerous toys on his own, even decorated the room on his own. But when he'd died... That dream had died with him as far as she knew. And she'd made sure to avoid children as much as possible since then...

Losing Kal had hurt her in ways she still hadn't figured out yet and it had been years now... How long? Was it six? More? She couldn't remember...

After a few moments, she got up and pulled on a robe to ward off the cool air in the tower as she moved downstairs to start up some coffee again. She probably needed to eat again, but her stomach rebelled at the thought of actual food. That was always the twist when she fed on blood. Her stomach didn't want food even though she needed both.

She ignored it and concentrated on the coffee as she pushed a hand through her hair to push it back from her face. She liked Al'gaan, but she wasn't sure about getting attached to anyone. Last time had nearly killed her...  

[Wolfe Garm]

Red Gypsy

Al’gaan watched from the bed as Gypsy went downstairs, he couldn’t help but get the impression she was hesitant, perhaps something he wasn’t aware of, granted he was aware of the death which widowed her, but surely that wasn’t the reason she starved herself as badly as she had. The more he thought about it the more it started to make more sense and casually got up and started to make his way down the stairs pausing instantly as a wave of pain hit his entire body causing him to collapse and fall down the stairs.

The pain was severe that he knew what it meant, the king was dead, he tried to move but found himself drained of his strength and slightly injured from his fall down the stairs, blood ran down his face in a few places from open cuts, and his arm had a sizeable gash that was bleeding as well, which caused him to shift forms immediately, even so it didn’t improve things much since his dark red blood still poured down his face in more visible injuries and still he struggled to get himself up as he looked for Gypsy to make sure she was alright.  

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Gypsy felt it too, only she fell in the kitchen while holding the pot of coffee as she was pouring herself a cup. So it spilled over her hip and legs as she dropped then shattered on the floor next to her, a few slivers of glass impacting her skin through her robe. She also hit her head on the cabinet and was going to wind up with a sizable lump when she did come to.

On her left shoulder blade appeared a specialized tattoo. It was a flaming skull in full color and a mark that hadn't been seen in a very long time. It was a Mark of Vengeance. It basically appointed Gypsy as the one that would kill those responsible for Lareth's death. Of course, it also marked her as Cynthia's Champion if a fight was needed, so it was even more unusual...

For it to suddenly burn itself into her skin like it did meant that Lareth had set it up before his death and chose Gypsy as the best fighter for the job.

The fact that it was going to hurt like hell probably never occurred to Lareth...

But that left them both bloody and her unconscious and burned...  

[Wolfe Garm]

Red Gypsy

Al’gaan struggled to get to his feet and crawled over to Gypsy to check her and was relieved that she was alright. Once he could stand, he picked up Gypsy and moved her over to the couch and laid her down on it kneeling next to her to check on her condition a bit more, the mark of vengeance noticed immediately which was something he wasn’t aware had been established, but if the mark had appeared it was safe to say things needed to be dealt with quickly.

After a moment he got up and went over grabbing a few things to treat her burns and their injuries before Al’gaan came back and started working on treating their injures, starting with Gypsy’s burns and injuries, very aware of her condition as he worked his hands moving quickly to take care of her injuries and the burns. It was only after he was done that he stood up and sat down in a chair next to her that he started taking care of the injuries he had as best he could.  

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

The smell of blood was what pulled her to, blinking her eyes open with a soft groan then sitting up with a hand to her head. Then she looked up at him with a frown and motioned him over, "Come here. I may have gotten my bell rung, but I can take care of your head," she insisted until he knelt in front of her and passed up bandages and other items as she requested them. She got him cleaned up and bandaged easily and quickly, only wincing when she lifted her left arm particularly high.

In the end, she twisted her head back to try to see what she'd done to it, only to see part of the mark there.

She put a hand on her shoulder above it and closed her eyes for a moment then shook her head as she forced herself to her feet, ignoring the pain of her burns as she moved towards the stairs, "The b*****d actually did it... Damnit..." she cussed a bit more over that then looked at Al'gaan's confused expression and moved to explain, "Lareth wouldn't let me go after Goh when Kaljire was killed. To make up for it, he said he'd make me the Mark of Vengeance if he was killed. I don't know how it's set up, but apparently Lareth did it. I'd better get dressed and go see Cynthia," she said, hoping that she'd be able to suppress the rest of her heat long enough to make the visit.

She shook her head a bit and moved on up the stairs to the bedroom, pulling out a set of leathers from the dresser and tossing them on the bed before heading for the shower. She checked her burns and noted that they'd heal up fast, one of the perks of her vampire side. She started up the shower and moved under the water, wincing when the water hit the lump on the back of her head.

With that mark on her shoulder, she truly had no more time for herself until she took care of securing Merrick's position on the throne as well as championing Cynthia and Brianna. While Zosne, Al'gaan, and Gaelan were the official bodyguards, Gypsy had more freedom of movement even as she was required to be present at every official function that Cynthia was at, from formal balls to meetings with the Council and anything in the throne room. If there was any challenge to Cynthia or Merrick's authority, Gypsy would defend it.

It wasn't going to be easy on her, but she would do it. Just as she'd been training the soldiers at the fort. And when they were old enough, her duties would include training Merrick and Brianna. Not easy jobs by any definition, but it was the way Gypsy lived her life now. She'd stopped living for herself a while back. Now she lived for her duties, moving from one task to another so that she didn't think...

She especially didn't want to think about Al'gaan noticing that there was one more room hidden in the tower...  

[Wolfe Garm]

Red Gypsy

Al’gaan knew where she was going and was quick to follow her upstairs, she was in the shower with leathers on the bed when he got up there and noticeably the scent was considerably reduced, well enough that while he would prefer that it was gone entirely was enough that everyone, she met wouldn’t immediately be looking for a good time. Al’gaan didn’t say anything as he got dressed as well if she was going, he was too especially since this required his presence more than ever and Zosne would likely require his assistance anyway.

As he got dressed, he couldn’t help but glance over his shoulder in the direction of the shower and watched her with interest his hands still moving to finish getting dressed, his carapace was already returned to their positions before he had changed forms to get dressed and wasn’t long before he had everything he needed on. He’d spend a moment back in demon form making sure his gear was set his helmet was hanging off his belt while he adjusted the gauntlets on his secondary hands, and only once they were set did he change back and stood there waiting.  

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Gypsy finally finished her shower and dried off then set her hair into numerous small braids with other small attachments at the ends of each braid that were weapons in and of themselves. That done, she moved into the bedroom to start getting dressed. The leather wasn't exactly easy to put on, but she was used to it so she pushed through it and managed it.

She finally looked at the wall where her weapons were and selected several daggers then considered her sword for a moment. She stayed silent as she considered the piece, knowing that it was the wrong sword for her to carry right now. But she'd carried this one for so long... It was a dear old friend...

She finally put it in its place on the wall and collected a key from the top drawer of her dresser, "I have to get the right sword. I'll be right back," she told Al'gaan then headed upstairs. She didn't need to know where the hidden door was, she'd helped to design it. She slid the key into the cleverly hidden lock, unlocked the door, then let it swing open.

She stepped inside and looked it over briefly then swallowed everything down and moved to collect the sword she'd hidden for years, then left the room and locked it up again. She set the sword at her back for a downward draw then put the key back in her dresser.

The sword at her back now had a dark ruby in the pommel and a sheath engraved with warding runes. Unsheathed, she knew it would practically hum with power. That power had been hard-won, earned through things she didn't want to remember. But it was what she needed now...

She finally joined Al'gaan downstairs at the door, waiting for him to take down his protections so that they could leave.  

[Wolfe Garm]

Red Gypsy

Al’gaan watched Gypsy a moment before he simply reached for the door the serpent keeping it locked faded away immediately allowing Al’gaan to open the door without issue but most of all, allow Gypsy to leave unhindered. Once outside he looked at her again and couldn’t help but stair at the champions mark denoting her as the strongest of them all and rightfully so he’d likely pale in comparison at this point with the seals in place. After a moment he changed his form to his demonic form and simply placed his helmet on his head as he started walking towards the entrance to head into the castle without delay, with things going on as they are he knew Gypsy would want to get there immediately and not waste any time if they could help it and kept quiet as he did so vaguely aware that the castle was somewhat abuzz with activity even as he moved to the nearest portcullis he was aware of to gain entrance into the inner wall.

As they moved he paused briefly when he caught the eye of the guards at the gate who immediately saluted and giving them a brief nod in passing as he head inside with a sense of urgency “we’ll report to Lady Zosne, if anyone’ll know what’s going on at the moment she will” he kept his pace as they moved.  

[Red Gypsy]

Wolfe Garm

Gypsy moved into the tower and slammed the door behind her then headed for the stairs. She didn't pause as she headed up to her room, dropping her swords on the bed and stripping on the way to the shower. She started the water and moved under it, letting the water pour over her head and down her body, hoping that it could clean the inside of her as well as it cleaned her skin.

But she knew better. She knew what she was. She accepted it.

She knew what Al'gaan thought he was but she knew that he'd evolved into something else by now.

She'd evolved as well, but she'd evolved in a different way.

He was created to be a weapon but was now so much more than that. He could have a life, even a family.

She had tried to have a life. She'd tried to have a family. But she'd turned herself into a weapon. She knew it. She felt it. And she knew that there was no way back from it.

She still had her heat to deal with. They'd only put down one day of it. She still had two days of it left. Lareth's death had put it off but it was going to come back at some point. It was only a matter of time.

She turned her head as she heard a hint of a footstep.

She didn't bother turning off the water or trying to get dressed. She simply moved with a dagger in her hand, ready to throw the instant she caught sight of whoever was sneaking around her home.....