A/N:

Well, here it is, the bit that put the dreaded 'R' word into the story description! This chapter is rated for sexual content. There, don't say I didn't warn you!   ; )

10 Solace

"Are you awake?" Another familiar voice, just above a whisper, but for the moment, she cannot place who it is.

Jas opens her eyes to see Dumah standing over her. She looks at him coldly. How irritating, she thinks, that Kain should choose him, of all people, to attend her! He is holding a goblet of blood and he offers this to her, as she rises to a sitting position.

"Lord Dumah," she says in acknowledgement, "and bearing gifts too, a most unexpected pleasure. What's the wager this time, my Lord? Or is it considered impolite to ask?"

"You're angry with me," he replies. "After what Zephon said, I suppose that's understandable."

After what Zephon said? No, Dumah, after what you did. And if he's too dense to work that one out…

"Angry?" she says aloud, "not at all." She smooths an imaginary wrinkle from her clothing. "Why would I be? To be angry I'd have to be disappointed but you simply behaved as I'd expected. Even royalty needs to be entertained, after all, and the purpose of the court is to provide that entertainment. Unworldly though I am, I do understand that much."

She swings her legs off the sofa, and takes the goblet from his hand. She is pleased to discover that she feels almost fully recovered from last night's ordeal, physically at least.

"You're beginning to sound like a seasoned courtier," he says disapprovingly.

She smiles and takes a sip of the blood he has bought her.

"Why, thank you. I think you may take all the credit for that particular transformation. After all, you have been kind enough to treat me like one."

"You really think me to be that clever?"

She gives him a cynical glance over the edge of the goblet. "You mean to tell me you're not?"

"Zephon's little speech didn't give you a clue, then?" He asks, his voice almost bitter. "I'd have thought the answer to your question was obvious. I'm not exactly renowned for my ability to deceive."

She stares at him in amazement. That, sounded genuine.

"You have held court for the best part of a millennium and I have been here but a matter of days," she replies, "yet, I see nothing around me but intrigue. To be honest, I do find it hard to imagine one could rule here without becoming adept in those arts. But then, it doesn't matter what I think, does it?"

Jas sighs and passes a hand across her brow, wearily. "Dumah," she says, "I'm tired. Whatever childish game you are playing, I wish you'd go and play it somewhere else."

Dumah looks as though he is about to answer but then thinks better of it. Instead, he takes her hand, pressing something small and hard into her palm; the brooch he gave to her on the dome.

"I want you to keep it," he says.

"Why?" She counters. "So I might advertise your triumph more widely?"

He shakes his head.

"I didn't say you were to wear it. Just keep it. I gave it to you, and I don't want it back. That's all."

He turns to leave, his face taut, and Jas realizes suddenly, that she does not care about yesterday evening, whatever the truth is. Since her arrival at the Sanctuary, she has felt as though she has been plunged into some kind of hell, though there is nothing she can do; she is trapped here, until Kain chooses to release her. But one thing she does know, after all that has happened to her, she does not want to spend this night alone.

She rises to her feet at the very moment Dumah turns away, catching hold of his hand as she does so, gentle but insistent. He stops in surprise and she places a hand on his shoulder, turning him back to face her. He frowns slightly as he looks at her.

What does she want, now?

Tentatively, she raises a hand to his cheek, allowing the tips of her fingers to linger against his skin, as she looks deep into those golden eyes. Dumah waits patiently, for an explanation, but she doesn't say anything. Instead, she raises herself up on tip-toe, turns her face up to his and kisses him.

It is not a long kiss; almost as soon as their lips have met, she draws back, her hands still resting lightly on his shoulders. She is waiting to see how he will react but Dumah is too surprised to react at all.

Receiving no discouragement from the Clan Lord, Jas slips her arms around him once more and draws him closer, his bare flesh feeling pleasantly cool and firm against her skin. He lowers his head towards hers and she kisses him again, only this time, she takes it slowly, exploring his mouth with her lips and savouring the salt-sweet, taste of his skin. As her kiss builds in intensity, her embrace tightens; she raises a knee to his hip and slowly rubs her thigh against his, winding herself around him and pressing her body even closer.

Now, he reacts, his arms encircling her as he returns her kisses and his hands beginning to loosen her clothing. Jas starts back suddenly, as she remembers where they are.

"No!" She says. "Not here!"

Dumah pauses and looks down at her. He finds this sudden concern for propriety most amusing.

"Very well," he says with a smile.

He concentrates for a moment and their surroundings flicker and change. They are in a slightly smaller room now, his room. The bed is just behind them, draped in purple velvet and emblazoned with his clan emblem. Jas breaks free of his embrace just long enough to pull her bodice over her head and lets it drop to the floor, disregarded.

Dumah renews his attentions almost immediately; he is kissing her neck now, the hollow of her shoulder, her breast. She unties his hair and lets it fall loose, soft as silk against her skin, while her lips caress the tips of his ears and her fingers unbuckle the straps that hold the armour across his shoulders. Once she has him free of this encumbrance, she slides onto the bed, kneeling at its edge and beckoning him closer.

She presses her lips against the hard wall of his stomach as she starts to unlace his trousers, her hands following the firm contours of his hip as she slowly peels back the leather and releases him from its confinement. Her object achieved, she leans back and looks up at him with a smile suggestive of the most delightful possibilities for the evening ahead.

Dumah looks down at her without speaking. His face is wearing that slightly bemused expression she had found so attractive on their first meeting.

"Why?" He asks, eventually.

Jas smiles. "Does it matter why?"

Apparently, it does not.

*

Beautiful distraction. Everything about him beguiles her. He is well versed in the arts of lovemaking, seeming to know instinctively what will please her and she is just as eager that she should please him. They spend the rest of the night together, exploring the amorous possibilities afforded by their bodies, but Jas knows that she has not yet had enough. The more he satisfies her desires, the more she finds herself wanting him.

Long after day has broken, her passion finally spent, Jas lies back in his arms and kisses him, gentle now and feeling more at peace than she has in a long time. Her hands continue to caress the cold perfection of his body, until tiredness finally overwhelms her and she drifts into a sleep that is both deep and mercifully, dreamless.

*

It is her hands that tell him when she awakens again, stroking his arms, his chest, the rippled muscles of his stomach, long before she raises her head to look at him.

"At last!" Dumah laughs, kissing her in greeting, "Do you always sleep so much?"

"Too much recently, I'm due to enter the state of change, I think." She realizes he still has his arm around her. "How long have we been here, like this?"

"Long enough for me to get impatient."

She smiles up at him and he realizes that never before, has he met a gaze quite so clear, under these particular circumstances. There are no hidden agendas lurking behind those grey eyes, no secret ambitions. No favours to be asked, for the favours rendered. Not one of the perfect little creatures he has bedded over the years, has ever simply wanted him for himself.

"Do you intend to lie here all night, as well as all day?" he asks.

Her lips have followed her fingers now and she is kissing his nipple, teasing it with her tongue.

"Why? Do you have something better to do?" She climbs on top of him and sits astride his hips, so that getting up will be just that little bit harder.

"Not at the moment," he says, "but I am due to meet the others later, to spar in the arena. Would you care to join me?"

"You took my sword away." she replies, pouting, "and you didn't give it back!"

"The point was broken, beyond repair I'm afraid. Didn't anyone tell you? Anyway," he adds ruefully, "you've proved yourself quite dangerous enough without it. You do have the ability to sheathe those claws on occasion!"

She looks down at him, her expression all innocence.

"I do?" She asks.

"Yes, you do!"

"Well," she reminds him. "You weren't complaining yesterday."

He pulls her back down onto the bed, rolling over and pinning her there beneath his body.

"And you're so disrespectful, as well!"

"You didn't complain about that, either."

He shakes his head, pretending shock at her impudence.

"Totally incorrigible! You've no idea how to behave nicely!"

"Would you like me better if I did? "

He leans down and kisses her. "Probably not," he admits. "Now, what do you say to the arena? Dare you test your combat skills against mine? Outside this chamber that is. You may have the choice of weapons."

She looks up at him, considering.

"I do hope you're not asking me because you think you'll have an easy victory."

He shrugs, "to the victor go the spoils. Be warned, I always demand a heavy forfeit, from those I vanquish."

"Indeed?" She says. "I expected nothing less. But tell me, what will happen, if I should defeat you?"

"Then you'll have me at your mercy." He smiles down at her wickedly. "It looks to me like you win, either way."

"That is so conceited of you!" She laughs, hitting him.

He grins smugly, "Perhaps, but you must agree, it's also true.

*

Her visit to the arena has to be postponed however, as a message comes saying that Kain has returned and will see her at her earliest convenience. The messenger waits while she dresses and then accompanies her to Kain's quarters.

When they reach the golden doors, the slave leaves her. She hesitates for a moment.

"Enter!"

The doors swing open just as before. She takes a deep breath, and steps over the threshold.

The reception room appears to be deserted, Jas looks around, puzzled, and then she sees him, standing by the open window. He is leaning against one of the pillars, one arm raised, his head resting against it, as he looks out into the night. He gives no indication that he has heard her enter.

She steps up him and looks out; there are no stars, a thick pall of smoke hangs in the sky, just as it did the night before. Only the lights of the sanctuary burn bright against the darkness. He turns towards her as she draws level with him and she bows politely.

"Thank you for seeing me."

"Ah! Jaslinde. You're recovered I see. I trust there are no lasting ill-effects from our meeting yestereve."

"None, thank you."

He gives her a searching look.

"But?"

"The experience has raised certain questions, and something has happened that I must discuss with you."

He gives her an intensely curious look and indicates that she should take a seat.

"Questions first, I think. How is it that you have questions?"

She walks back into the room and sits down on one of the scarlet couches. She waits for him to do the same, but he remains standing, his arms folded across his chest, looking down on her. Jas bites her lower lip, nervously. She's committed to speaking now, but she is aware that doing so could put her life in peril. It is quite possible that she already knows far more than he would wish her to. She makes a pretence of settling back more comfortably and looks into his eyes. Inscrutable as ever. He's not going to make this easy.

"I saw what the orb showed you, last night," she tells him, deciding that there is not point in being anything other than direct. "I couldn't hear your thoughts, but I saw…everything."

"And now you feel you have the right to question me on the matter?"

She bows her head deferentially.

"No, not the right. The knowledge I have gained was acquired by…accident, I suppose, and I make no presumption." She looks up at him again, searching his face for any indication of his feelings at this moment, or his intentions, but of course, she finds none. "It appears that you have chosen an elaborate way to die," she says, "and the orb tells me, you are still determined on your original course of action, despite what you have learned of the consequences." He raises a brow at this revelation but he does not answer. "To put it simply," she continues, "I find myself somewhat troubled by the part I am expected to play."

Kain frowns, "I'm asking you to do nothing."

"Doing nothing, in these particular circumstances, is a very questionable course of action."

On receiving this answer, his look becomes decidedly contemptuous.

"Ah!" He says. " Your sudden concern for me is quite touching, if that is what it is. Or is it perhaps, that your concern is for someone else?" She frowns at him, puzzled. "Could it be," he asks, "that having found your way into Dumah's bed last night, you suddenly wish to have everything rearranged to indulge your infatuation? How very disappointing!"

Jas draws her brows down sharply.

"What do you take me for?" She hisses, her voice low and dangerous. "Some human female? All emotions and inconsistency! Don't insult me!"

"In my experience," Kain replies, "inconsistency is not a fault peculiar to humans. Females of our kind have also been known to share it."

"And the males too, I believe; I have studied your history. Perhaps, you should have taken more care when choosing your companions."

He makes a little bow to her, in acknowledgement of this point, before he continues.

"Trust me," he says. "Relationships are somewhat ill-advised, if you're unable to prevent sentiment from clouding your judgement. How long, exactly, do you expect Dumah's interest to last?"

Frost blooms on the windowpane, the glass crackling as a thousand icy petals suddenly flare across its surface. Their breath becomes visible as the temperature of the air drops sharply, in spite of the fire burning brightly in the hearth. Jas is incensed.

"I did not come here for advice on how to choose my friends! And I didn't come here to speak about Dumah."

He is looking at her curiously now, one brow raised; intrigued perhaps by the change in her demeanour, or perhaps by her unexpected show of power.

"So why did you come?" He asks. "To challenge me?"    

Jas laughs mirthlessly, shaking her head. "I'm not that much of a fool. I came seeking counsel, if it would please you to grant it."

Kain snorts. "Well, I must say, you have a most novel way of asking for favour!"

They look at each other for a moment, each trying to gauge the threat the other represents. Jas had not expected this conversation to be so difficult. Another miscalculation she realizes. Yet surely, Kain can't believe she has any intention of interfering in his plans. If she was going to take action, she would have done it last night, while he was safely out of the way, and she certainly wouldn't come to talk to him about it first!  She takes a moment to bring her temper under control; speaking rashly will gain her nothing, except perhaps, a premature death. Strange, that he should think her ruled by her emotions.

"Well," Kain says finally, "ask your questions, but I give you no guarantee that I going to answer them."

"Thank you," she says. "That is more than generous of you. There is but one question I would have you answer, and that is, why? Why, must you execute Raziel?"

"Is that what troubles you?" He appears to be surprised.

"It's the event on which all others turn. From that point, everything begins to unravel, your empire, the clans, everything you have built since your defeat of the Sarafan Lord, all brought to ruin. Raziel is the most important part of this puzzle, as far as I can see. Compared to him, Dumah's fate is an irrelevance."

He gives her another piercing look.

"How did you see all of this last night?" He asks her. "I asked the orb nothing about Raziel's 'execution,' as you term it."

"I didn't see it all last night," she tells him. "For as long as I can remember, I have seen visions of these events. Though I didn't understand their significance until recently, nor could I place them in order. I saw your empire fall, when you had but started to build it. I saw Raziel die, and I saw him resurrected, though I knew not who that creature was, until last night. The only thing I hadn't seen before, was the manner of your death."

She wonders if he realizes just how disturbing that was for her, watching Raziel, or rather the thing that Raziel will become, striking him down with his own sword, in the Sarafan stronghold. A world without the clans, she can imagine, but a world without Kain? If he should die by Raziel's hand as the orb had shown, then there is no hope for any of their race. The answer the orb had given her was clear and unequivocal; the vampires will perish.

Kain doesn't say anything; he walks back over to the window and stands for a minute, looking out, his face turned away from her. Jas gets up and goes to stand beside him. Curiously, she is not afraid; there is a sense of inevitability about this evening, and she surrenders to it consciously. No point in fighting destiny. He turns to her as she reaches his side,

"What you should understand," he says, his arm sweeping round to indicate the lands beyond the sanctuary, "is that none of this, was meant to happen. My reign, everything you see before you now, was only made possible by the paradox formed when I killed William the Just. Moebius had armed both of us with the Soul Reaver. When the two blades met at the same point in time, the entire course of history was altered, just as the Time-Streamer planned it would be." He looks out of the window once more, and when he speaks again, his voice is weary. "And look where Moebius has led us. It's a dead end. Nosgoth is dying. My Empire is dying, even now, and the clans with it. The very life is being sucked from the land. The time-stream cannot be allowed to continue on this course, and for it to change, Raziel has to die, and he has to die first, before any of his brethren."

"And your own death, what does that gain?"

He looks at her with a wry smile, "Not everything that is foretold, is destined to happen."

She is amazed. How could he possibly hope to defy fate, to change his destiny? But she realizes almost immediately, Moebius has already done just that, so it has to be possible.

"You're taking an enormous risk." She says, eventually.

"It is my choice to make."

For a moment, the overwhelming arrogance of this statement leaves her speechless.

"You speak as though the entire world were but your plaything!"

Kain shrugs. "Who else would you give it to?" He asks. "Moebius and the dark entity that he serves? The six clans? Until my children begin to devolve that is, leave it to them, and eventually, it will belong to the humans. Maybe you think we should leave Nosgoth to them? You'll notice, I don't suggest you have any role to play. I doubt you'd be willing to take on the responsibility. A millennium spent in solitude and avoiding history, speaks volumes of your character."

That last comment hurts, because, Jas acknowledges, there is truth in his words. That is exactly what she had been doing.

"I may have been remiss in the past," she says quietly, "but believe me, I would not hesitate to take responsibility now, not if I could see a way to mend things through my actions. But while I have seen many things, so far, I have seen nothing that I can change for the better."

They stand together by the window, looking down over the Sanctuary. After a moment, Kain turns and takes her arm, leading her back into the room. When he speaks again, his tone is more gentle.

"Now that I have satisfied your curiosity," he says. "It is your turn to satisfy mine. What was it that that sent you seeking for me so urgently yesterday?"

Jas starts, she had almost forgotten the events of yesterday evening.

"Moebius returned." She says. "He came to see me."

Kain spins around, he looks as if he is ready to strike, Jas steps back quickly.

"What? Here?" He asks. "Impossible!" His eyes blaze, scarlet with fury.

"I wish that it was," she says. "I take no pleasure in his company."

She looks at Kain, her concern growing by the moment. The very thought that his own halls should be violated by his enemy has enraged him and she has never seen him truly angry before. "I think he saw a chance to foil your plans," she continues, "No doubt, he knew of your absence that day."

"No doubt!" His brows draw together as he considers what she has told him. "I have only your word to take for this," he says, giving her a piercing look.

Now she really is afraid.

"That is true," she replies, "but consider, I know only too well the ways you have of ascertaining the truth. Only a fool would try to deceive you, and whatever else I am, I'm not a fool. Moebius had but one purpose in his visit. He wanted me to show your children their future, to show them what is to become of them and their clans. He believed they might turn against you if they knew."

Kain draws in his breath sharply.

"And what, did you do?" He asks.

"I went looking for you," she replies. "As Rahab has no doubt, told you. To do as Moebius asked, would gain nothing, not for me, not for Nosgoth and I see no hope for any of your children in insurrection. Sooner or later, one of them will fall, and then it all unravels anyway. Either way, their fate is sealed. But you tell me it is important that Raziel should be the first to die, and for the moment, I am prepared to trust your judgement."

Kain looks at her long and hard before he replies.

"Then I suppose I should thank you for your allegiance," he says.

Allegiance? That's going too far, surely? How did she manage to commit herself to that? She steps back from him, her brows raised

"Am I your ally, then?" She asks. He looks at her sharply. "I'm not so sure, I don't stand in your way, this time, but you should not presume."

Kain looks at her speculatively.

"It will be interesting to see what part you do have to play in our history." He says, eventually. "However, you would be wise to bear one thing in mind; I will tolerate no interference in my affairs, not now, not ever. You do understand that?"

Jas bows her head in acknowledgement, hoping, as she does so, that it will be a long time before she has to put that particular statement to the test.