Title: The More She Stays the Same
Day/Theme: 17th September/"Scenes from the life of a double monster"
Series: Vampire Game
Character/Pairing: Rishas/Duzell, Lailis/Lassen
Rating: R
"Today is the day that it ends," murmured his king and Rishas stared up at him from his position curled at Duzell's feet. He was gazing off into the distance, out of the great stained-glass window at the far end of the banquet hall. Beyond it, dawn was breaking and the coloured beams shifted over the vampire's face. For a moment the light played a trick and he appeared to smile. Rishas held his breath, but it was gone.
"Your Majesty," he whispered, and snatched the hand that was lying idly on the arm of the throne, pressing it to his cheek in a kind of desperation, searching for words that his tongue became thick and stumbled over. "I – " Duzell looked at him and his voice died away into the dusty corners, leaving him with only his eyes, which contained mute pleading for something, anything. The edges of Duzell's mouth quirked and he rose gracefully.
"Rishas," he said, leaning down, "take this token." Rishas lifted his face and Duzell caught his chin between his fingers. The grip hurt, but then Duzell kissed him with an intensity that made him ache.
"My King," he gasped against Duzell's lips as the vampire pulled back, "Your Majesty – " I love you, he didn't say. Duzell would only have raised an eyebrow and run his fingers through Rishas's hair. As it was, Duzell gazed into him, through him, and Rishas's body thrilled to it.
"Today, one way or another, it ends, Phelios," the Vampire King muttered and turned on his heel, stalking out of the hall.
Rishas never saw him again. When word came of the epic battle, he looked up at the stained-glass window; it depicted the final stages of a struggle between a vampire and a knight. They were wrapped in a deadly embrace; the knight's sword buried to the hilt in the vampire's chest and his throat bared to the vampire's mouth. It had been widely condemned by humans as an obscenity, blasphemy almost. The artist had died in poverty. Rishas had always believed that that was why Duzell had chosen to seat his throne opposite it.
Before he left the banquet hall, he had smashed every single pane of glass.
They say he killed his father.
Her maid's words resounded in her head as Lassen undid the hooks and eyes holding her dress together. The silk slid down over her breasts and Lassen stroked her collarbone with a long finger, making her shiver.
They say he killed his father.
It wasn't the murder itself that bothered her so much. Blood excited her; when she was Rishas, the smell and sight and taste of it had made her heartbeat race, her body sing and caused her lord to look at her hungrily. Greeting her soldiers on their return from battle had made her shake and they had loved her for her sympathy with them.
They say he killed his father.
It was a bad omen; one who couldn't even keep faith with his own family would never stay true to any ally. If he decided that her finding her lord no longer coincided with his own aims – she shuddered as Lassen bore her down to the bed, but paid no attention to the low tone soothing her, hearing only her maid's voice.
They say he killed his father.
She opened trembling legs and tried not to gasp as long fingers entered her. Lassen was chuckling against her belly and she bit back a moan as he stroked once, twice, three times.
"Lailis," Lassen murmured against her neck. Her breathing was torn; sobbing, she clung to his shoulders with a bruising grip. Blood was trickling down her chin from her lower lip and her tongue slipped out to lick it away; the scent almost drove her mad. "Lailis. Scream for me."
Her whole body clenched around him and she jerked violently in response to his words. She fought the shriek, but it ripped from her throat, ringing in her ears; a long, ragged note that filled the room as the world went white behind her eyes.
When they calmed, Lassen pressed his lips to the crook of her elbow, working his way up. "Lailis," he whispered in her ear, "we will rule the world." He caught her sharply by the hair, twisting his hand into it and stifling her cry of pain by forcing their mouths together, kissing her roughly.
They say he killed his father.
The kiss tasted like ashes in her mouth.