Te'ijal went into the tavern first. She was desperate for some alcohol to clear the taste of goblin blood from her mouth. The path to Sedona had never been so hard to walk through. 'And if that damned Sun Druid would have just done what I told him and heal the others…' she wouldn't have to have done what she did, she thought. 'Humans, what are they good for?'

She sat at one of the bar stools, soon joined by Galahad and Mad Marge. The vampress ordered a drink and banged her head in the wooden bar.

"Wife, calm yourself." Said Galahad.

"Galahad, you weren't there. The next time we get ambushed by stupid goblins, you better be ready to suck their blood out."

"I'm sure Pirate John and Lars are thankful for what you did."

"They better be" she said, gulping down her drink. "Another"

"This ale ain't worth nuttin' "exclaimed Mad Marge after having a try of the Sedonian ale. "From where do 'ya import this stuff, eh?" she asked the bartender.

"Brumwich, m'lady."

"Ha! Brumwich. Those corn farmers dunno ale. Ask 'fer shippins' from Veniara next time, barkeep! I'm outta here, vamps, this bar ain't a good one. See 'ya at the manor." and Mad Marge left quickly, chuckling to herself 'Ale from Brumwich, whadda joke!'

Te'ijal smirked. 'Humans'.

"Wife?" the vampire asked, wondering if she had something to say.

"Husband." she simply replied, sipping more fire whiskey down her throat.

"I know this has troubled you-"

"Troubled? The taste of those bastards' blood is horrifying. And that stupid light magician couldn't heal properly. Two of our men almost died. And he just sat there… didn't even make that lightning trick to help me out."

"I am certain you will get through this, wife."

"Eh, it could've been worse. It could've been demons… they don't even have blood to begin with. But I'm still angry at that little light druid."

"As always, your famous grudge gets the best of you. You'll forgive him some day."

"How are you sure, husband?"

"I've forgiven you. I despise being a vampire, it is something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, but what is done, is done. There's no point in being mad anymore. And stop with the alcohol!" he pulled yet another shot of fire whiskey from Te'ijal's hands.

"Why are you so kind tonight, husband?"

"You may be the creature that I hate most, and you may have done unexplicable deeds to humans, but you are my wife. I respect my duties as a husband. Supporting you at your worst in your endless life is a duty I vowed to do."

"Even if we didn't have a proper wedding?" the vampress raised an eyebrow.

"Even if we didn't have a proper wedding." he confirmed. "Now, we must be going, we've been here long enough, you should not get drunk." and he tossed a few gold coins onto the bar.

"We are not humans, Galahad, we do not get drunk that easily."

"With your temper, I am not taking chances, wife." he said as he reached for her hand and escorted her out of the tavern. They walked to the manor which was only a few minutes away. As they approached, they could hear shouting. It was Rhen's voice, echoing in the halls of the estate.

"How could you do this, Dameon? Why didn't you heal them?"

"I couldn't! It wasn't working!"

"It always works! Lars and John could've died if it wasn't for Te'ijal! You are aware she hates goblin blood, why didn't YOU try to attack them?"

There was no answer.

"I'm going to go heal Lars. I don't want to talk to you."

"Lars is not a little boy, Rhen." their voices were clearer once the vampire couple entered the manor.

"You are such a hypocrite!" yelled Rhen, but when she saw her friends walking in on the fight, she stopped. "Te'ijal, I'm sorry for Dameon's foolish behaviour tonight." Dameon frowned. "Even if you don't want to admit it, Sun Druid, you still did a very stupid thing."

"Ahh, humans." Te'ijal chuckled. "Come, husband, let us go to bed. I've had enough fighting for one day." soon, the door to their room was shut with them behind it.

"Dameon, I've had enough. I am going to heal Lars. Like you should have." Said Rhen once the vampires were out of the room.

"Rhen, I-"

"I do not wish to speak to you, Sun Druid."

The door of Lars' room slammed and Dameon was left alone in the living room.

Rhen let out a deep sigh and walked over to Lars' bed. He was laying there with a badly hurt shoulder. The cut from one of the goblin's sabers had been very deep.

"Rhen, are you okay?" he asked once he noticed the girl sit on the floor next to his bed.

"You're asking me if I'm okay?" she laughed with a sad tone. "Who are you and what happened to the guy who was calling me a brat ten minutes ago when I was bringing him cold water?"

"You're still a brat." he smiled at her while she pouted, more for his amusement than her own. "But you're also the person with whom I began this quest."

"Hey, pretty boy, the task was originally for me. You were just my help."

"Dream on, village girl."

"Coming from a boy who grew up in Ghalarah" she couldn't surpress a grin.

"Ouch!"

"Did I hurt your feelings?"

"No, but the clensing potion did. It stings."

"Get over it, you brat." he laughed at her response.

"My leg is fine, Elini!" Pirate John shouted.

"Stay still."

"There is no escaping you, is there?"

"Not if I can help it. I have to heal you, since that druid didn't help."

"Is this how you treat your husbands, woman?"

"No, it is not. They don't bruise so easily." she replied. He frowned. "Besides, we have an Alchemist, she does most of the work with her get-well brews. Don't get offended, John."

"I wasn't." he lied.

"If you agreed to be my husband, though, I could make an exception when it comes to healing." she tried to cheer him up.

"But then I would have to stay in a house all day, in the heat, and do nothing! I would just wait for you to get another husband… and not to mention, share you with your other husbands!"

"I am not an object, you don't share me with anyone, pirate. I rule you."

"Women, they think they can boss men around and- OUCH!"

"Pardon me, but I had to sterilize your wound, what were you saying?" Elini's voice, just like her expression, was completely emotionless, but he could tell she was surpressing a laugh.

"Nothin'… You're a good woman, Elini."

"And you are a good man, John. And you would make a fine husband."

"You will never let that go, will you?"

"It is a compliment, you might as well accept the fact." she said as she continued to wrap bandage around his leg wound. "Now, let's heal that bruise on your face."

"If you must." he gave up. Elini would always win and he knew it.

"Well, you're taken care of, Lars." said Rhen.

"Thank you." he replied and got into a sitting position on his bed. Rhen got up from and walked over to the door, Lars tracing her with his eyes.

"I don't know if I should, but I will ask anyway. Are you hungry?" Rhen looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Very much so." He grinned. Quickly, he got up from his bed and followed Rhen to the kitchen, his left arm completely covered in bandages.

While passing the living room, Rhen noticed that Dameon wasn't there. The fact that she didn't have to deal with him at the moment comforted her.

"Okay, pretty boy, sit down." She said to Lars, who was amused by her sudden command, but obeyed and settled himself into one of the chairs. "What do you want to eat, sandwich? Omelette? A roasted haunch, even? Cheese?"

"Surprise me." He grinned.

"Alright." Rhen got some vegetables, venison and butter and got to cooking. The whole time, Lars was not letting her out of sight. He was entertained by the sight of this purple haired girl in her night gown making food for him. She'd changed since they first met. A lot, in his opinion. They barely fought, and even when they did, it was about something like who will get the last piece of food from the platter or whose hair colour was more ridiculous.

After a while, Rhen reached for a frying pan from one of the floor cupboards. From where he was standing, Lars caught a glimpse of her underwear. It was dark green. He smirked, but didn't turn away.

"You like tomatoes, right?" she asked, breaking his eye contact with her body.

"Erm, yes. Yes, I do." He replied.

"And I know I'm making food for you, but I wouldn't mind if you could just heat the frying pan. I promise, it's the only thing I will ask of you… for now." She laughed. He smiled at the sound. For some reason, he felt like that was his favourite sound in the world. With his right hand, he conjured a small fireball towards the stove, where the pan was. "Thank you" she said.

"You're welcome."

She continued cooking in silence. Lars kept on studying her movement. Soon, the smell of fried venison was in the air. The sizzling sound of the meat went on for a while, then Rhen grabbed a fork and took it out of the pan. She placed the venison strips in the sandwich she was preparing. She added some mozzarella, because she knew that was Lars' favourite cheese (he could eat it with everything) and tomatoes. On the side, she put a few strips of lettuce. But those weren't for him. She wasn't that hungry, but she could use some greens and there was no point in an extra plate.

A sudden urge overtook Lars. While Rhen was still preparing his sandwich, he got out of his chair and walked over to her. She was so focused on preparing a nice surprise that she didn't even notice his presense behind her. When she was done, she called out:

"Hey, pretty boy, your food's ready" and turned around, to find herself face-to-face with Lars. She tried to step back but she couldn't. His eyes were gazing in hers.

And before he could do anything, she threw her hands around his neck and kissed him hard. He was so surprised that for a second, he didn't know how to react, even though he was planning on doing the same just a moment ago. He had no idea that kissing Rhen would feel like this. After a short while, he managed to take her in his left arm as far as his shoulder would allow him to. With his uninjured hand, he cupped one side of her face. She pulled away from the kiss to take a breath.

"I've wanted to do that for a really long time." She said.

"Me too." And he kissed her harder, pushing her against the cupboard, her body bending over the marble broad board. She pulled away again, even though she didn't desire to.

"Are you still hungry?" she was hoping he'd say no.

"It would be a shame to let your cooking go to waste." Lars said. He released her and grabbed the plate from the counter. Then, he sat at the table and took the sandwich in his right hand. Rhen was still pressing her body to the broad board. When she accepted the fact that there will be no more kissing tonight, she sighed and sat in the chair closest to Lars. She reached for one of the lettuce strips and unhappily started chewing on it. The sight of this beautiful girl eating lettuce with a bored look on her face made Lars grin.

She gave him a look and smirked.

"Well? Is the sandwich any good?" the girl asked.

"Not as good as your kisses." He answered happily.

"Careful, village boy, don't insult my cooking." After those words he stared at her, puzzled. She laughed. "I'm kidding, Lars."

"You're so beautiful, you know that?" she blushed at this response.

"You're not so bad yourself, pretty boy. Your hair colour is ridiculous, though."

"If that's what you really think, why is your underwear the same colour?" he had put the sandwich, almost untouched, back in the plate. Rhen's face grew more crimson. They looked at each other for a few moments.

"To hell with the food" said Lars as he reached to grab Rhen and kiss her. They quickly got up and she buried her hands in his green hair. Still kissing, they proceeded to Lars' room, where they slammed the door and continued to the bed.