Blood Lust (Lady Bloody Ava & Erit of Eastcris)

Aerin had indeed fled home as soon as the sun had set, taking the rest of his forces with him through the night and back home to his loved one. Aeren and lept into his arms at his return, nuzzling and clinging to him with such fervor that even he could not prize himself free. So, instead, he had resigned himself to carrying her everywhere for the night, and at that moment was in the twins' sitting room, his sister in his lap and humming sweetly to him as she moulded her form to his, draped across her brother in adoration and a want to please. A smile adorned each of their faces as Aerin was petting his sister, both affectionately and sometimes lewdly. Neither spoke a word, simply wallowing in each other's sinful pleasures. After a time, they took to the bed with their regular chorus of lovemaking, and were found laying together beneath the sheets, breathless but not yet satisfied, when their "brother" found them.

Lyceus entered with a prominent scowl further marring his already unsalvageable visage, obviously dissatisfied with Aerin's determination to persist in his unending half-life. The pair of panthers, however, paid him little concern, Aeren smiling to him with a purred "Not now, Lyceus. I am presently engaged with Aerin." She giggled as one of her twin's arms snaked around her waist, the hand attached caressing her firm, full and shapely behind. "Why not find a servant to keep you occupied? Certainly that girl you keep leashed to your bedpost must be good for something." She sighed luxuriously, pushing herself against her favored brother and laying a long, full kiss against his cheek. Aerin spoke not a word, simply watching his brother with a smirk that seemed to say "I win" in a thousand different ways.

Lyceus, though, did not retort; certainly, his expression soured further, but he composed himself and shook his head. "Thif if not about me. Boy, Father callf for you."

Aerin cocked an eyebrow at the other man, stopping his petting and sitting upright; it would take stones greater than Lyceus possessed to lie about Emmanuel's summons. Their father did not take kindly to his time being wasted on false claims. Aerin spoke with the man frequently, of course, as the field commander of the Lacceta forces he needed to report the status of the conflict. But this was out ot time for such a meeting, and that was what conjured a sliver of discomforting dread in Aerin's mind. "Very well. I will prepare and go to him presently." He shooed the other man away with this words and a brief gesture, and as Lyceus left the young-seeming blood-drinker suddenly felt very old, lying back with a sigh. He felt, rather than saw, the worry in his sister's eyes and gave her long ebony locks a playful pull, eliciting a soft groan of enjoyment from her. He smiled down to her, gifting her with a slow, gentle kiss. "I will be fine, Aeren. Father has no reason to be anything but pleased with my work." And with that, he disentangled himself from his sister and dressed, going to meet his progenitor.

Emmanuel could, perhaps, best be described as an ancient. Older than Aerin could know, the true Lord Lacceta managed to look old, weathered, almost frail, yet bear an imposing weight of presence that left all but the bravest or the most foolish shaken and anxious. Their kind grew stronger in mind and body as they grew older, but less powerful with every generation from the original. There were others of their kind in the world, most dormant and aged beyond mortal comprehension, and as far as Aerin knew—which admittedly was not much on the subject—Emmanuel was the oldest of their kind not slumbering the centuries away.

The comparatively younger of the two near-immortals knelt once he entered his progenitor's chambers, easily the largest and most extravagantly severe in the manor, with confident motions belying the nervous anxiety tinging his thoughts. "I was told by Lyceus that you bade me here, my Lord." There was no need to ask affirmation; Lyceus did not enjoy being punished nearly enough to face the penalty for having Aerin intrude on his thoughts. The elder stirred in his chair, faced away from Aerin towards an unlit fireplace; the Lord of House Lacceta did not like light in any form.

His voice was resonant, less a sound than a feeling that reverberated through one's body, a rumbling of the ground that spread through the bones. "I received a most troubling... gift this morning. Beaumont soldiers escorted by my own. The slaves told me of a great battle waged by my prodigal son in which he defended the house of the neutral and, with his own blood, turned the arms of our enemy aside to make them our own. Is this true, Aerin?"

The nervousness receded, but did not vanish. "Yes, my Lord. I was the only one of the Lacceta at the beginning of the strike, but I had turned others to our cause by the end."

(Not done just yet. More multiposting!)

"Then your strength as a Lacceta is growing faster than I had expected. Not even Lyceus has manifested that talent yet. Perhaps it is because of your time in the battlefield? I shall need to have your brother assume your duties one day to be certain. But one thing is clear; we are now at an advantageous position. Tomorrow night you shall take what soldiers we have able to fight, and capture the neutral's stronghold. That will put us into a position to smite the House of Beaumont into the oblivion that those dishonest dogs deserve." Emmanuel gave off a hoarse, wheezing laugh at the thought before waving a hand to dismiss Aerin.

The Prince of Darkness was numb, even when he returned to his rooms and found his sister purring sleepily into his pillows. Tomorrow he would have to lead an attack on the Lady Beaumont's estate. He had given her a promise that he would let neither side claim her home as their base. But tomorrow he had to break that promise.

Best to do something about it today. With that thought in mind he started packing. Spare clothes, mostly, a pair of gloves, a cloak and his sword. He was ready quickly, but once he'd packed his bag he couldn't help but linger, watching his sister snooze in their bed and murring his name happily from time to time. Once he left, he couldn't return. She'd be alone and at the mercy of the others. But he couldn't just let things happen like this. Rosa had been right, he realized. It was a pointless war. A war he wanted to end.

He found a scrap of paper and quickly left a note for Aeren, praying to the god he'd turned away from so long ago that it was enough, before tucking it into her hand and leaving her with a last, gentle kiss.

Then he made himself vanish, moving as quickly as he could through the daylight under the cover of his clothing, feeling weakened even with the insulation. The city was alive during the day, thankfully, so he could pass without notice; in spite of their numbers, the Lacceta family only held a minor fraction of the city in population and space. He left the gates and made his slow way through the daylight to the neutral stronghold; it took him longer than he'd hoped, both because he was robbed of his usual swiftness and because the terrain was simply so alien to him under the sun. By the time he arrived, the sun was beginning to descend from it's zenith. He simply hoped there would be time enough, and that he would be allowed in.

So, he raised a gloved hand and knocked at the door of the Lady Beaumont.

Rose had a bad feeling welling up in the pit of her stomach. A feeling that she wished would go away. "Bring my armor to my bed chambers! Someone fetch Alistair and tell him to put together two scouting parties. We're going out." Rosalyn marched her way up the stairs, two at a time until she reached the second floor that harbored her bed chambers. It was early enough in the day. She had enough time. A knock sounded upon the thick wood of her bed chamber doors. "Come in." She curtly replied with two chamber maids entering. Both began unlacing their lady's gown. As the fabric fell down into a pool of fabric at her feet she stepped out of it and her doublet was slipped on. A cuirass, knee high chausses, and gauntlets made up the set. Another knock sounded upon the door just as the last piece was put on. "Enter."

Alistair walked in with a salute to his lady. "The party is ready Lady Beaumont. Your horse is ready. Where will we be going?" Rose adjust the strap of her gauntlet before turning and facing the man addressing her. "Just a patrol. We must be aware of our surrounds and I want to see with my own eyes." Alistair led the way and helped his Lady atop her horse before the party left. A scouting party ahead of her and the other half in the back. Green eyes scouted the blood soaked lands as far as she could go.Leaving them enough time to get back before sunset. As far as she saw, nothing was wrong. Nothing was a miss. Every now and then she would see a body upon the ground. The smell of death wafted in the air, making her stomach churn slightly.

They made it back to her home well before sunset. She was up in her bed chambers having her armor removed when Aerin knocked upon her chamber doors. A new shift of guards opened up the door and upon seeing him they took up arms. Alistair happened to see the commotion and placed a gloved hand upon the shoulder of one of his men. "Let him in." A deep booming voice sounded, "Come." The Lacceta had come over enough times that the man recognized him with ease. His mistress had shown no fear with him, so why should he? He led the way to his Lady's chamber and knocked upon the door. "Enter." Rose had dismissed the women and was now working on getting off her own gauntlets. She looked up from the gauntlet and tossed it aside and was surprised, for some reason or another, to find Aerin. "Back so soon?"Her tone was a little more mellow than earlier in the day. "Wait.... did you venture through sun light to get here?" Brows furrowed out of curiosity as the other gauntlet was tossed aside.

It was fortunate that Rosa's second was familiar with Aerin's presence by this point, both for him and the guardsmen. While he could have capably handled the fight, that did not change the fact that it was daylight and he was impatient; it likely would have taken his life one way or another. As he was escorted through the house, he lowered his hood and eased off his gloves, grateful to be out of the direct light. Being awake this long was beginning to wear on him, as evidenced by the quiet but persistent headache that was slowly working it's way through his skull. The heat and pressure of the light only exacerbated the effect, leaving Aerin in a rather sour disposition that left him only just able to stop himself from snapping at people in normal circumstances. Of course, these weren't normal circumstances; being snappy here would only work against him, so the Lacceta bit back his snideness for the time being.

Arriving at the Lady's chambers, Aerin divested himself of the cloak entirely, leaving it and his other light luggage by the door. "Yes," he said, his normally smooth and relaxed speech instead being a quick, clipped, I'm-saying-something-of-dire-importance rush of words, "and you would do well to note I risk death from that and many other sources in coming here, so it woild be wise to accept that I do not jest in this." He had to deliberately stop himself from speeding up, measuring the precious time vanishing between each syllable. "And it would also be wise to leave that armor on and alert your guardians. My father wishes to make this place his own, and will be sending everything w-" he paused for the briefest second, realizing something important; that he was abandoning his old life in doing this. The luxury of his home, his sister, the overall security; everything would be gone if he saw this course of events play through. But for some reason, he couldn't care less if it meant not breaking his word. "That he can. Likely under the leadership of my brother. And believe you me when I say that this attack will crush you if you are not prepared shortly after dusk, in spite of Lyceus' inexperience."

He waited for the space of a breath. "But you'll have a powerful ally in this. I made a promise to you that I intend to keep." He chuckled softly, "Besides, I've been wanting to kill my brother dearest for a very long time."

Her attention was fully invested in him as his tone of voice was unlike anything that she had ever heard from him. She no longer tended to her gauntlets as it slowly sunk in. She knew that his day would eventually come. "Alistair!" From the open door he emerged. "Get every maid and child out of here as fast as possible. Have your soldiers suited up and ready for battle. Crack open the armory and reinforce the barricades at the back of the estate." Her thought were running faster than her lips could spew out the commands. "Take them in the direction of my brothers. Send me a messenger now." She secured her gauntlets once more waved the girls standing on either side of her door to put her armor back on as she spoke. "While you are a strong being, Aerin, you are but one person. One verses your brother and his army? Pardon my skepticism, but.... how do you intend to make a dent in this on coming invasion?"

His interest in killing his brother was noted, "And what reason have you for wanting to kill your brother?" As the maids worked on piecing together her armor, she tied her hair back with a ribbon into a ponytail. "I was told what you did last night. Thank you." She replied with a brief smile and a heavy sigh before focusing back onto the task at hand. Voices chimed through the whole household as people were rushed to gather the necessities and the wagons and what horses they had, were brought forth to get those who were not soldiers out of the estate. "You know....you don't have to do this." She reassured him. Once each piece was secured and meticulously put on, the women were dismissed. Before the flames of the crackling fire, she stood trying to understand where things were going to go from here.