Dreaming Of You

Dreaming Of You

Part 14 - Pale As Fear

Chapter 24

When it all began
We knew there'd be a price

Once upon a dream
I was lost in love's embrace
There I found a perfect place
Once upon a dream.

~*~

Not many people had the privilege of seeing Queen Desdemona utterly floored, but everyone in her council room, had they been paying attention to her rather than the wolves, would have had the honor.

"Your Majesty." Ferox smirked. "You might want to strengthen the walls here. Very flimsy, they are. Why, an attacker might be able to punch right through."

The queen pulled herself together. "Guards!"

"Your guards," the Alpha reminded her, "are on the other side of a locked door - which seems to be more of a problem for them than for us. Not to mention the attackers they are probably dealing with in your main corridor."

Miache narrowed her eyes. "Guards or no, we can still stop you from getting near her."

Ferox laughed. "In case you haven't noticed, we outnumber you. Threats from one silly little girl don't frighten us."

"Perhaps." Miache smiled dangerously, stepping forward. "But even if this 'silly little girl' only manages to take out one of you - would you like to volunteer to be that one?"

"I have no intention of doing so." Ferox's eyes shifted behind her, just for a moment.

Miache spun and flung herself forward before the wolves could even blink, but Sekihei had been closer to the queen. She had Desdemona shoved against the back of the ornate chair, a stake pricking the flesh above the queen's heart.

"Bitch!" the Phoenix snarled in uncharacteristic rage. "Traitor! How dare you? She's your own queen!"

"I serve a better Master than her," the Countess spat. "Why should I be loyal to a queen who hasn't even the power to defeat a single wolf clan? Why should I honor a monarch too weak to deserve my respect?"

"Do you honor and respect this Dark Lord of yours, then?" the queen asked. There was no fear in her voice... just a deep sadness.

"His power, yes," Sekihei replied. "And his willingness to use that power."

"And for that power," Miache ground out, "you would betray your tribe?"

"Why shouldn't I?" Sekihei shot back. "Maybe it means nothing to you, of course - you have everything you've ever wanted. Beauty, influence, charm, and of course more power than any three of the rest of us! And as if that weren't bad enough, you use it to stop any of the rest of us seeking out some reward of our own!"

"Because I remain loyal to my queen?"

"Because you don't have the courage to suck human blood!" Sekihei's hands trembled in the grip of her emotions, tearing the queen's bodice. "You don't have the courage to enslave them or devour them, and you know that we could be your equals if you only allowed us to do what you can't!"

"It was my decree, not Miache's, that forbade human blood," Desdemona said calmly when the Countess had to stop for breath. "And powerful though she is, she does not yet dictate my commands."

Sekihei sneered at the queen. "Would you know if she did?"

The vampire queen was silent.

"I thought not."

"Enough talking," Ferox snapped impatiently. "Kill her and be done with it!"

"You take orders from the wolf leader?" Xavier's voice was sharp with outrage.

"I take orders from my Master," the Countess contradicted. "You knew that, Prince Xavier. Don't pretend you didn't."

"Swearing to Voldemort is one thing," Xavier said, his usual smile conspicuously gone from his lips. "All vampires should strive for power, each to his or her own path. But do you tell me," and his voice chilled the very air in the room, "that you have made yourself subservient to this creature?"

"I am her better in our Master's ranks," Ferox said lazily. "Not, of course, that it was hard to become so."

Xavier looked from Sekihei to the wolves. "So be it, then. Betray your people."

"And what have you done?" she demanded. "You're my ally, you can't deny that."

"Not in this," the prince said steadily. "Vampire should not kill vampire."

"No?" Sekihei laughed unpleasantly. "What say you, your Majesty?"

"My opinion is likely to be somewhat biased at the moment," the queen replied, smiling ironically to show her fangs. "But yes, I would agree with my nephew. Possibly for the first time in a century."

"Then let this be the first weakening of your rule."

~*~

"What just happened?"

"She staked the queen." Severus glared at Lianne, who had slipped over to him in the confusion for some bizarre reason of her own. "Do you want to draw their attention?"

"It isn't my fault I can't understand them!" she hissed back. "I meant what are they saying? She's working with them?"

"The wolves are all working for Voldemort," Severus explained quickly, "she's a Death Eater, and she wants to suck human blood but Miache won't let her."

"I approve," Lianne said fervently. "She isn't interested in us, is she?"

Severus just glared at her. She had to put the idea into his head, didn't she?

But the vampire prince drew Severus's attention away from the ghastly mental pictures.

"Murderer." Xavier was pale with rage. "You have killed one of your own, Sekihei."

"Of course." The Countess wiped the Queen's blood - vampires had blood? - from her fingers, onto the Queen's gown. "The weak must submit to the strong, Your Highness. You knew that when you joined with me."

"And even Desdemona learned the truth," Ferox added, inserting himself in the conversation. "Now your people will submit to mine."

"The wolves are not stronger than the vampires!" Miache snarled.

"No?" Ferox glanced about him, amused. "Have you evidence to the contrary?"

"I'll fight any one of you!" the Phoenix shot back instantly. "No wolf could triumph against a vampire!"

"But Lady," Ferox said with a cold smile, "you miss the point. Wolves do not fight vampires alone. We hunt in packs - a skill the vampires have never mastered. We do not rebel against our leaders."

"She," Miache threw a contemptuous glance at Sekihei, "is a flawed specimen. You can't judge by her." The Phoenix held herself steady, resolutely turning her back on the dead body. "The Queen is dead - long live Queen Priscilla."

Sekihei started laughing. "Oh, I don't think so, Lady Phoenix. My Master has promised that I will lead the vampires!"

"We'll never follow you!" a young man - a Viscount, wasn't he? - snapped, eyes flashing. "You staked Her Majesty. Vampires do not do that to other vampires." He sneered at the Countess. "Have your forgotten the honor of your blood?"

Ferox snorted. "Vampires have no honor. It's one of your few virtues."

"Oh, I assure you, we have honor," Miache said sweetly. "It is simply not a thing I would expect a wolf to understand." She looked back at Sekihei. "Wolf-lover or not, the Cruentes will follow Priscilla before you." Her lip curled in disgust, exposing one gleaming fang. "They'd follow anyone before you."

"Perhaps." Sekihei shrugged unconcernedly. "But they can't follow your princess if she's dead."

That caught Xavier's attention. "What?"

Sekihei smiled coldly. "You heard me, Your Highness."

Xavier didn't bother to say that she wouldn't dare. Everyone knew all too well that the Countess would.

"Bring her here," Ferox commanded Sekihei. With a nod, the vampire woman moved to leave.

Miache and Xavier both blocked her way. "You will have to pass us first," the Phoenix ground out.

"Ah, you would prefer the alternative, then?" Ferox smiled pleasantly. "Would you like to know what my wolves have orders to do if they find her before she's brought here?"

"Kill her, which would leave her no better off," Xavier snapped.

"Well, yes," Ferox said thoughtfully. "I suppose they would kill her, come to think of it. Eventually."

Xavier and Miache exchanged glances. "You're bluffing," Miache accused. "No wolf would lay a finger on the vampire princess."

"The vampire princess?" Ferox laughed. "Perhaps not. But on the vampire whore?"

"How dare you!" Xavier spun and threw himself at Ferox. The wolf stepped back and held up a thick bar of iron. Xavier recoiled sharply, wincing where it burned a strip of flesh from his hand.

"No!" At the cry of frustration, all eyes returned to Miache as she slammed into the closed door. Sekihei had gone.

~*~

"I'm afraid you took a little too long to make up your mind."

Remus looked over at Bella, standing in the doorway of his prison, with a start. "I beg your pardon?"

"About me, I mean." Her eyes were expressionless, and a slight smile twisted her lips. "Your decision has been made for you."

Remus frowned warily. "What are you talking about?"

"You've been summoned to the vampire tribe," Bella explained. "The Alpha has given orders that you and Delaney are to be brought there at once."

Remus froze, then looked down. That meant that the battle was over, or as good as was - and that the wolves had won. He was going to be used to capture his friends. To capture Erin. His heart rebelled against the thought... but what could he do?

"Suppose I refuse?" Remus suggested, not particularly hopefully.

Bella looked over to one side, at something blocked from Remus's view, then back at him. "I don't really think that's an option."

"Ah." Remus realized that the messenger must still be with her, presumably to make sure that he didn't give any of the trouble he'd been considering.

Would it be worth it to fight anyway? he wondered. He knew he had very little chance of escaping, if any chance at all. He was strong compared to humans, certainly, but his strength and endurance, in wolven terms, were average at best. Bella and whoever was with her could hold him easily, even if he struggled. All that was likely to happen was that they would knock him unconscious.

Of course, that might not necessarily be a bad thing. He wouldn't have to watch as Ferox and the others used him against Lianne and Erin. He would just wake up after it was all over, and -

No. That was a coward's way out. Remus straightened, trying to look as dignified as was possible, considering his clothes - or rather, his lack thereof. "Then I will go quietly, I suppose."

Bella raised an eyebrow. "Willingly?"

He shook his head. "Not that, no. But quietly."

He wondered if Lane would have the sense to do the same.

~*~

"Oh, Delaney, dear!"

Lane looked up as Ianfu opened the door with a saccharine smile. "What?"

"I was - " She stopped, noticing Alacra's body. "Oh. You made your sister pretty. Isn't that sweet?"

Lane's eyes narrowed. "Say what you came to and leave me alone."

"Of course. It's just so pleasant to see such a devoted brother." Ianfu laughed. Lane debated trying to tear her heart out, but dismissed it as wasted effort. She clearly didn't have one. "Your father asked me to give you a message."

"Whose body is it this time?"

Ianfu rolled her eyes. "I suppose you think you're amusing," she said to the ceiling.

"Well, you certainly aren't."

She glared at him. "Your father says you're to come to the vampire tribe at once."

"Really?" Lane sneered. "Tell him that I said he could go to hell."

"Tell him yourself." Ianfu tossed her head. "You will go, you know."

"I won't."

"You will. That is," the woman smiled, just as she had when she told him about the Alpha's threats to Alacra, "you will if you want to see your vampire slut again."

"Don't call her that!" Lane was on his feet in an instant, furious indignation blazing from his eyes.

"I'll call her anything I like," Ianfu shot back. "She's a prisoner of war now."

"Then why do you need me?" Lane demanded.

"That is none of your concern," Ianfu said loftily. She clearly had no idea. "You need only come with me."

"No."

"You'll come or your father's messengers will drag you!"

"Then bring them on," Lane snarled. "I will not go with you, to see that wolf gloat over Prissy and her people."

Ianfu just looked off to one side. "Isn't he impossible?"

"Quite," the deeper voice of a male replied. He nudged Ianfu out of the way, and Lane recognized one of the Alpha's personal guards, rather than a messenger. A guard who'd always had a particular hatred for Lane. This resistance had clearly been expected.

Well, Lane had never been one to go with convention.

"Never mind," he said, sneering proudly at the man. "I'll go quietly."

"I'm sure." The guard grinned maliciously - and punched Lane in the gut.

~*~

"Oh, I wish we knew what was going on!" Prissy glared ineffectually at the doorway. "Something is happening out there - I'm sure of it!"

"The wolves are probably here." Erin listened to the vague sounds that floated to them through the walls, trying for the other girl's sake not to look too worried. "Look, I'm sure it will be all right. The vampires will fight the wolves off. It will be fine."

"It will not!" Prissy insisted. "Don't you see? If either side wins, Lane will be killed! Should the vampires win, they will murder him to break me. And should the wolves win, they will kill him." She looked down. "But I will not have to watch, in that case."

Erin frowned. "Why not?"

"They will kill me first, in front of him." Prissy made a visible effort to hold back her tears. "Lane and I have no hope, now that the battle has begun. Once one side wins, they must kill the both of us." A tear escaped her eye, and she wiped it hastily away. "At least then, we will be together."

"Prissy - Prissy, please, don't say that!" Erin hurried to the vampire girl's side, dismayed. "Remus and Lianne are here, one of them on each side. They won't let either group just kill you or Lane out of hand. They'll stop it somehow. It will be ok."

Prissy just shook her head sadly, eyes cast down. "You do not know my people, Erin. And you do not know Lane's."

The door opened suddenly, cutting off Erin's reply. "You two," Sekihei commanded peremptorily. "You vill come wiz me."

"We won't," Erin said immediately, on general principles that anything a Death Eater wanted was probably bad.

"We can't leave this room," Prissy pointed out, shrinking against the older girl for protection. "We can't go anywhere."

"I 'ave removed ze spell binding you 'ere," the Countess said impatiently. "And you vill come or I vill make you."

Possibilities of the Imperius Curse warred with vampire mind control in Erin's head. She swallowed hard. "Where? Not that I'm agreeing," she clarified hastily, "but I want to know where you think you're taking us."

Sekihei smirked. "Ze volves 'ave von ze battle," she told Prissy. "Ze Alpha vants you to join 'im in 'is hour of triumph."

"Like hell we will!" Erin cried angrily. "You aren't killing her!"

"Erin - please." Prissy touched her friend's arm softly. "They've won. There's nothing we can do."

"I will not accept that." Erin glared at the Countess. "You're not taking her anywhere."

"She vill come villingly," Sekihei retorted. "And so vill you. Unless, of course, you vish to be responsible for ze deaths of your friends?"

Erin caught her breath. Remus... Lianne... oh, God, no. She couldn't let them be killed. Even if she survived this, where could she go, if Remus and Li died?

But it wouldn't do any good to go, Erin realized. The wolves were the ones with the power, and she had no guarantees that, even if she surrendered, her friends would be safe.

Prissy saw the resolution in Erin's eyes, and spoke before it could be voiced. "No - no, don't. It is all right." She stood and presented herself to the Countess. "I will go. Lane will be there?" Sekihei nodded. "Then that is where I must be."

"Prissy, you can't just give in!" Erin protested. "You have to fight!"

"Even when I know I can't win?" Prissy shook her head. "No. I knew I would die for Lane as soon as we were found out. And besides," she looked down, "I can't leave him there alone. Not if he needs me."

"He wouldn't want you to come, just so you could die with him!"

Prissy's eyes flashed. "If he needs me, I have to go to him! I can't not be with him. Please, understand that, Erin." Her eyes became quiet and sad once more. "Don't you want to die for Remus?"

"Well... I'd rather live for him." Erin avoided the question. It wasn't something she really wanted to think about.

"Remus? Ah, your volf contact." A slow smile spread across the Countess's face. "You are in love wiz 'im."

Erin blanched. "No!"

"Yes. Yes, you are." Sekihei laughed. "Vell, zhat makes zhings much easier. You vill come, or he vill be killed in zhis doorway."

"You..." Erin shook her head. "You would, wouldn't you? People are ruthless, in war." She bit her lip. Remus would want her to resist, she knew he would. He'd never want her to give in, no matter what happened to him.

But she couldn't bear to watch him die. She knew that, too. While losing her American roots had been horrible, she hadn't broken. But this... having to see the man she loved killed before her eyes... this would destroy her.

"I'll come," she said at last. She smiled a little at Prissy. "I guess I can't let you face this alone."

Erin saw the desperate relief that Prissy tried to suppress, and hoped she'd made the right decision. "Thank you," the princess said softly.

"Come on, zhen." Sekihei was unaffected by the feelings the girls were sharing. "You 'ave kept ze Alpha vaiting long enough."

"Erin," Prissy whispered as they followed the Countess out of the rooms into the hallway. "Erin, would you like to be able to speak French?"

Erin blinked. "What? I don't think we've got time - "

"No, no, there's a spell," Prissy explained quickly. "You won't be able to speak English until someone lifts the spell, but you'll be able to speak and understand French."

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" Erin asked.

"Well, you didn't need to know French, earlier," Prissy said reasonably. "And these people will probably be speaking in French."

Erin nodded. "That's true. Can you cast it?"

"Oh, yes. It helps me read books in languages I haven't learned yet." Prissy raised a hand to Erin's throat and murmured, "Loqueris futsugo ryuuchou."

"That was it?" Erin touched her throat, where Prissy's fingers had been. "Um... I don't think it worked."

Prissy just smiled. "Yes, it did. You're speaking French right now."

"I am?" Erin listened to the sound of her words. "I - I am! Ma foi! Je parle francais!"

Prissy nodded, then widened her eyes innocently when Sekihei looked back at them suspiciously.

"But I can't speak English anymore?" Erin asked, suddenly worried. What if she needed to talk to Lianne? She knew Li couldn't speak French for love nor money. That could cause some serious problems.

"Not until someone removes the spell," Prissy admitted, speaking in her native language. Even knowing it was a spell, Erin still had to marvel at the way the words knit themselves together into something she could understand. "But I think it will make things easier for you if you understand French for now."

Considering the situation she was in, Erin rather had to agree.