Le Jeune Guilavene

Chapter 13:

Merle crept about the labyrinth on silent feet. She was feeling extremely pleased with herself at the moment and despite the excruciatingly early hour she was practically humming with excitement. Allen’s guardsmen had been up all night anxiously waiting for Guilavene to show up and bring down a scourge of demons on them, so an hour before dawn they were just about ready to drop from exhaustion. So when Merle, wrapped in a gray cloak, slipped over the wall on the side Eastern side of the labyrinth, they did not notice.
While the young demi-demon could not boast that she knew her way around the entirety of the maze, she did have the unfair advantages of being an excellent climber and having an acute sense of smell. On this day, she had no desire to be seen so she kept off the walls and on the path, sniffing every so often to see if she could locate the fugitive. It was a slow and complicated process of determining if and where the dark boy had gone with the lingering scents of the soldiers and Lady’s vine blossoms.
It was a little before dawn, when she was finally certain she had found the path she was looking for. As she had hoped, he had not left during the night and was hiding some there in the maze. Guilavene’s scent hung in the air, along with another she did not recognize but paid no attention to. Grinning to herself, the hybrid crept along even quieter, hoping to catch the boy by surprise. Her mischievous streak would not allow her pass up the opportunity.
She came to more open area in the path and spotted a decrepit little picnic shelter grown over with vines. The scent was strongest here and she knew he must be somewhere in there. Merle moved cautiously to the structure and stopped, taking a moment to peek through the vegetative curtain, before entering.
She had been right. Guilavene lay asleep on the table, his stolen soldier’s cloak separating his body from the cold stone and his pack acting as his pillow. The over-sized armor he had been wearing before lay on the ground, allowing his true form to be seen. He slept on his back, a mysterious glowing sword held to his chest. The pale blue light illuminated the young man’s sleeping face, his expression soft and peaceful.
Her breath caught in her throat just looking at him. He was so beautiful lying there, and yet he frightened her by his stillness. It was almost as if he were dead, like the great kings Chid had told her about, who were lain out in such a fashion during before they were entombed. And then another thought occurred to her. It would almost be funny if she did not feel so moved then. At that moment, the boy reminded her of the Sleeping Princess, forever waiting for her prince to come kiss her awake. While he was by no means a princess or even a prince, perhaps he still needed that particular someone to awaken him?
Merle felt her cheeks warm at the mere thought, but did not dismiss the idea immediately. She stepped forward slowly, careful not to disturb him. As she leaned over him, so close she could feel his breath against her face, she shut her eyes and smiled.
Suddenly, strong arms wrapped around her waist and a hand clamped over her mouth to muffle her scream. The demi-demon flailed wildly, trying to scratch and bite at her assailant. He tightened his hold on her and let out a cry of pain as she felt him crush her ribs.
“Did Folken truly think you would be enough to take us out? Pathetic,” a sinister voice hissed into her ear.
Folken? Take who out? What was he talking about?
Merle let out a weak groan, unable to get enough air for an appropriate cry. Everything began to get fuzzy and darkness twinged the edge of her vision, steadily invading her sight completely. It was happening so fast, she could not even bring herself to feel fear only surprise.
“Dilandu! What are you doing?! Let go of!” s!” she heard a distant voice command.
Immediately, she was released. Her strength already depleted, she collapsed into another pair of arms, these ones warm and gentle. Gasping, she clutched at the boy’s shirt and buried her face into his chest when he pulled her close.
“Merle? Merle, are you alright? Say something!” Van cried, gently shaking the child in his arms in panic.
The demi-demon let out a few weak coughs and turned her face up to him. He looked so relieved and happy that she was alright, she almost thought the dreadful experience was worth it. The handsome boy quickly turned his attention to the one who had attacked her, his dark eyes narrowed dangerously.
“What did you think you were doing, you idiot?! You nearly killed her!” he snapped angrily.
Merle followed his line of vision and let out another gasp. Standing in the gloomy blue lighting of the room was a demon, pale and beautiful, with an extremely irritated expression on his face. The girl had never seen a full blooded demon before, not even her mother who abandoned her as an infant to her father. However, if this was what all demons were like she was thankful to have been left to the humans.
“Of course! What was I suppose to do? Let her sneak up to you and kill you while you slept?! Cause if that’s what you want, then just say so a’ll ’ll let her!” the pale demon snarled back.
“K-kill me? Moron! She’s not one of Folken’s demons. She is prinhid’hid’s friend.”
“Well, how was I suppose to know that? And to be quite frank she looks very demon-like to me,” her attacker said in a bored tone.
“She’s a demi-demon! And why didn’t you wake me in the first place? What were you doing? Sleeping?!” the boy accused.
The demon turned up his nose arrogantly, and did not refute the accusation.
“Why you useless little bastard, I should throw you and your damn sword in the river!”
The demon smirked at him.
“Oh, yes. I am sure Folken would just love that, wouldn’t he?” he crooned, almost seductively.
Merle felt her rescuer tense against her, then move to stand, making sure she could sit up on her own first. He stood and stalked over the arrogant albino. The boy barely had time to even tense before the harsh strike of Van’s back hand struck his face. While he did lack a demon’s intense strength, it was enough to make him cringe.
“I have been lenient with you up to know, but I will not allow you take advantage of my kindness. If you ever disobey me or intentionally jeopardize my safety again, I will not hesitate to dispose of you,” Van said, in a tone the demon prince had never heard or even thought possible from him.
Dilandu touched his cheek, feeling it throb under his hand, and glared hatefully at his master. Emotionless brown eyes held his gaze easily, daring him to say a word. The albino could never forgive him for this humiliation. Never!
“Return, Dilandu,” his mastered ordered coldly, holding up Escaflowne.
Before he could even protest he was gone, returned to the endless white of his between world. His cry of rage went unheard, and blade’s blue glow faded.
Van turned back to his visitor, who was still sitting stunned on the ground. He stepped towards to hto help her stand, but she flinched away from him, her eyes wide with fear. He stepped back in surprise, confused by her reaction.
“What is it?” he asked.
“You- you really are the master of demons, aren’t you?” she asked fearfully.
He stared blankly at her for a moment and then looked down at his sword.
“Ah.. no, just one.”
He let out a nervous laugh and fidgeted with his hair. Merle sighed in relief. The frightening, unrecognizable man from before was once again reduced to the handsome and somewhat awkward youth of yesterday. He approached her again and she did not move away when he helper her up.
“I am sorry for what Dilandu did. Are you alright?”
“Mm, I think I’m going to have a few bruises, but I will be fine, ‘the girl assured him, ‘However…”
She hesitated, considering just forgetting the incident all together.
“Yes?” he encouraged.
“Would you really have ‘disposed’ of your demon?”
The young hunter gave her smile and shook his head.
“Of course not. But sometimes Dilandu needs to be reminded who is boss. It’s dangerous to let someone as powerful as him think he has control.”
“Oh.”
The demi-demon seemed very relieved to hear him say that, and he wondered just how realistic his little show had been. Certainly, Dilandu was not going to take him this seriously, was he? That was something to worry about later. Right now, he had another matter to attend to.
“Merle, what are you doing here?”
The girl paused for a moment, trying to remember exactly why she was there again. Then she smiled and let out a little laugh, pulling something from under her gray cloak. Van stared curiously at the paper box she present him with.
“I brought you breakfast!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Van and Merle sat next to each other as they talked through the morning. They were both leaning against one of the stone walls surrounding the shelter, the box of pastries the girl had brought now laying empty between them. She had told him about what everyone was saying about him. That he was a follower of some demon and that he had come to mislead Prince Chid. She said she did not believe a word of it, and the boy had affirmed her belief and thanked her for her trust. When she asked him what was really going on, however, he had told her it was better for everyone that she not know, though he promised he meant no harm to anyone. She was still curious, but knew better than to push the issue.
“Hey, Van. Where did you get a demon, anyway?”
“I won him in a tournament.”
Merle giggled.
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Allen was ranting about that for days. Is that when all this mess started?”
“No. It started before that. Hey! You’re not suppose to know anything, remember?”
“What ever you say,” she said cheekily.
He chuckled softly.
“Mm.. I better go now. People are going to start wondering where I am soon,” Merle said finally, and slowly got to her feet.
She was reluctant to leave, but Chid would be missing her and then he would have someone looking for her when he could not finder her and that was more trouble than it was worth. Van rose as well and took her hand before could go. She turned back to him, hoping her blushing was not visible from her dark skin. His hands were so warm.
“Merle, I want you to know that I appreciate you coming here to see me. You have shown more trust in me than anyone else I have ever known. That means a lot to me.”
The young demi-demon felt her stomach flutter and her blushing felt as if it had spread to her entire body.
“However, I must ask that you not come to me again.”
Her hurt must have shown through, because he was quick with an explanation.
“It’s not like that! But Merle, I am a wanted man and I don’t just mean by Austoria or the Royal Guard. There are those who would use you against me if given the chance, and I would not want to repay your kindness with personal danger. Do you understand?”
She did not say anything for a moment nor meet his eyes, but stared at the ground and frowned.
“I understand,” she said finally.
Van breathed a sigh of relief.
“But I do not care,’ she added cheerfully and bounded off, ‘I’ll see you tonight Lord Van!”
The young hunter stared in shock for a moment and then ran after her. It was too late. He had barely gotten into the maze when he realized he had no chance of finding her before she found her way out. He made an exasperated sigh, but he could not help but smile as well. The girl had a certain tenacity that he found both amusing and admirable. She was the kind of friend he wish he had had in Fanelia.
But that seemed like such a long time ago, and childhood had slipped from his fingers too quickly. Whatever she was looking for in him, he did not know if he could give it to her. His survival and avenging his family were the center of his existence now, and there was no place for her in that kind of life.
He sighed and then frowned.
“Lord Van?” he muttered to himself and shook his head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Captain of the Royal Guard yawned.
“Will you stop doing that? You’re going to get me started soon,” Dryden complained.
“I can’t help it. I was up all last night waiting for Guilavene to try to something or for the Strategos to reappear. I’m tired and this gloomy weather is not helping matters.” Allen grumbled and let out another yawn.
That was true. The handsome merchant was feeling a bit drowsy himself and he had actually slept soundly last night in Allen’s bed (Allen clearly was not going to use it). The morning had started out bright enough, but steadily encroaching rain clouds had resulted in a dreary afternoon.
The blonde prince had not had the opportunity to receive his much needed sleep, since there were still other duties that he had to attend to besides just thwarting demon conspiracies. So with the charming rogue for company (he had let Gaddes go catch up on sleep), they had been walking to and from meetings with his staff and the Queen’s staff. Currently, they were walking down a long corridor with large stain glass windows of gods and goddesses along one side. Every so often they would pass by one, and sunlight would pass over them, tinted by glass into a magnificent cacophony of colors.
Dryden let out a yawn and then quickly stopped, when he noticed the prince had caught him at it and was smiling cockily.
“Do you think Van is still in there?” the merchant asked, quickly distracting him.
The choice of topic seemed to depress the prince, or perhaps just remind him of how tired he was.
“My men and I saw no one leaving or entering the labyrinth last night, and I doubt even Van could have sneaked by us then. However, if the Strategos found him then they could have both easily disappeared without our knowing. You have seen that demon’s magic yourself.”
Dryden nodded his head solemnly.
“And your demon hunter? Lord Balgus? Where is he?”
“Lord Balgus should arrive sometime this evening with his summoner. I am sure that things will resolve themselves more quickly once he arrives,” Allen stated.
“No doubt.”
“You sound skeptical, Dryden.”
“Mm.. it just seems nothing about this incident is simple. And I wonder how much of this is fate.”
Allen stopped and turned to look at Dryden, looking surprised.
“Fate?”
“Yes, fate. Doesn’t this all strike you as rather surreal? Almost fairy tale like?”
“It does, but I am not counting on the happy ending,” the prince stated.
Dryden was about to point out that most fairy tales did not in fact end happily, when Merle came running by. The second she saw them, however, she slowed and walked in a more dignified fashion.
“Merle,’ Allen greeted, ‘Where have you been? Chid has been looking all over for you.”
She did not return his greeting, but merely looked at him with a coldness that he had never seen from her.
“I was out playing,” she stated and walked by without elaboration.
Both men watched her go with perplexed expressions on there faces. Then the blonde man frowned.
“She had a leaf in her hair,” he noted.
“She could have gotten that anywhere playing outside.”
“Mm.”
“But what was all that about?” Dryden asked.
“I think she is still convinced that Guilavene is an innocent.”
“Maybe he is.”
Allen looked sharply at the darker man, his eyes angry.
“Why do you keep insisting on his innocence? Haven’t you seen enough with your own two eyes to know that he is up to no good?”
“What has he actually done, Your Majesty? Everything that I have seen him do was out of a fear for his own safety,” Dryden countered.
“Only because we have not given him a chance to fulfill his plans! Who knows what he might have accomplished by now if we not not continually intercepting him? Do you honestly think his meeting Chid was pure chance?!”
“Of course not... however, fate might be another explanation,” the merchant offered, smiling to himself.
“Again with fate. You are being ridiculous,” Allen admonished and continued walking.
A sly grin crossed the dark-haired rogue’s face as he watched the beautiful man stride away in slow graceful steps.
“We shall see, Allen. We shall see.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Van lay on his stone bed staring up at the ceiling. In the corner, Dilandu sat hunched in the corner, still sulky from this morning. The young hunter had let him out shortly after Merle had gone, but had known from the beginning that the demon was currently in a very foul mood. They had spent some time outside, avoiding each other in separate passage ways, but a light rain had been enough to send them both back to their little shelter.
That light rain had gradually increased in intensity through out the day. A storm that had formed somewhere over the ocean had decided to visit the coastal city of Palas. The temperature had dropped considerably, and Van was now glad that he now had two cloaks to wrap himself in. If Dilandu had noticed the temperature drop, he had given no indication. Wind and rain seeped into their shelter, but it could have been much worse.
And it would get worse, though Van was not aware of it. Being from an inland village, he had not yet experienced the true intensity of a coastal storm or hurricane. He was therefore unaware that he was experiencing only the very edge of a great maelstrom heading his way. Only the distant sound of crashing waves against the sides of the cliffs hinted at what was to come, and he was too distracted to pay them any mind.
Folken had not appeared in his dreams last night. This should have been a relief, but he could not help but feel a little anxious. At least when he dreamed, he knew where Folken was or at least that he was not hunting him at the time. Where had he been last night? What had he been up to? Was he simply scouring the city for him? That was a possibility, but not a certainty.
Stranger still, he had heard voices in the dream castle. As he had been exploring again, when he had heard them. All sorts of voices. Some were female, some male, others indistinguishable, and still others that of children. He could not make out what they were saying, as they all spoke in a strange foreign language, likely a demon dialect. They were coming from behind doors scattered throughout the castle, but when he tried to open them he found them locked tight. He had spent the entire night hunting for a door that would open, only to be left frustrated time and again.
Until that last door.
He had been in a smaller corridor, near a balcony overlooking the ocean. It appeared to be for guests, though what kind of guests visited a place like this he had no idea. All of the doors had been unlocked, but also empty, until he came to that last door. Here he thought he could hear a woman crying. Loud and painful wailing, and he now found himself afraid to even attempt to enter. He had stood there for a long time, dread seeping into him the longer he listened to this mysterious person’s weeping. Finally, with trembling hands, he had seized the door handle and turned it slowly.
It was unlocked.
Suddenly more afraid than ever, but unable to stop, he had begun to pull the door open. A women, he was certain, with long dark hair. He could recall nothing else about her. Whether she had fair or dark skin, how old or young she was, or whether she had any demonic features. He could not be certain of any of it. He had been awakened instinctively by Dilandu and Merle’s struggling, before he could get a clear picture of her.
Merle had been a good distraction through the morning, but now he found himself pondering over it all. Had it merely been a trick played by a frustrated Strategos? Was it really just his own subconscious effecting the dream world? He did not know, and was not sure if he wanted to know either.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

By midnight the storm was in full swing, and all the servants were staying up late to seal and bar all the windows and doors from the powerful winds. Thunder and lightening crashed and flashed simultaneously just above them, spreading frightening shadows across the floor and walls and the making pictures and mirrors rattle against the wall. The palace creaked and moaned against the torrents of water and wind, but all knew it would hold, it always had after all.
Merle had soon found it impossible to sneak out to Van again. Few had found themselves able to sleep through the raging storm and were mostly wandering the halls and the normally rather lax guards found it very difficult to take a snooze. On top of this, Chid had forbade her fromturituring out side and had been watching her like a hawk. They were currently sitting in one of the parlors playing a game of Chigomura, with the demi-demon losing more miserably than usual.
“Really, Merle, even an amateur could have spotted that,” Chid chided as he took another of her red pyramidal pieces from the board.
The young girl merely gave a dispassionate grunt and looked back out the window at the raging storm.
“Do you think he’ll be alright?” she asked.
“He’ll be fine. He’s tougher than he looks, remember?” he reminded her, smiling reassuringly.
“I guess your right. I still worry though.”
Chid gave her shoulder a sympathetic squeeze.
“Tomorrow, we’ll go and see him together and bring him more supplies, okay?”
“Okay,” she agreed meekly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Outside the palace, sitting huddled around a tiny fire inside their shelter, both Dilandu and Van tried to keep warm and dry under seemingly impossible conditions. The nature wise boy had managed to gather enough dry leaves from the floor to create and maintain a small fire. He had been forced to make it on top of the stone table and off the increasingly damp floor. I t had not been until after all the work was done that Dilandu had decided to join him on the other side of the fire to keep warm.
Van had felt more than a little irritated, but had said nothing. This was the first time all day that the demon prince had shown any tolerance of his presence, and he did not want the albino angry with him forever. He was after all, his only constant companion now.
When the thunder and lightening had finally ceased, or at least moved far enough away not to be deafening and blinding, the mortal felt himself compelled to go to sleep again. It was a very strong urge. One he had not experienced since his time on the road before the gypsies, when he had been too frightened to fall asleep. Everything had been so intense and stressful lately, he supposed his body was trying to catch up on his own mental exhaustion.
So it was with great reluctance, that Van wrapped himself in his cloaks and tried to make himself comfortable on the wide stone bench by the table. He murmured a few orders to Dilandu to keep feeding the flames every so often and to wake him if anyone approached, and closed his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first thing the dark child noticed was that Folken’s bed, while not warm, was definitely not cold and that that was a great improvement. The second thing he noticed was that the demon was actually there tonight. He was sitting naked on the edge of the bed and looking down on the dark child, his hair and wings still wet from being outside in the rain.
“Where have you been?” Van asked softly, catching a drop of water as it fell from a strand of the demon’s white hair.
“I had business to attend to and it is raining outside,” Folken replied, taking the boy’s hand and licking the stray droplet from his dark skin.
“I noticed.”
The pale demon smirked at him and leaned down to steal a kiss. Van did not resist as a clever tongue pushed its way through his lips, exploring his mouth thoroughly and provoking his own tongue to take action. Folken pulled back first, watching his young lover pant breathlessly with some amusement. o who where have you been, Van?”
A sly smile that could have only been learned from Folken himself, crossed the boy’s face.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Imp.”
The Strategos climbed on top of him fully, his legs straddling the hunter’s narrow hips and his arms on either side of his head. Van merely smiled lazily up at him and touched the side of his face, running his thumb over the purple teardrop affectionately. Folken leaned his cheek into his touch and kissed his fingertips.
“Folken?”
“Yes, Van?”
“Isn’t all this a little much just for a concubine?” the youth asked.
The demon gave a short laugh and shook his head.
“Idiot, I am not doing this for sex,” he berated.
Folken grabbed his stray arm and pulled Van into his lap, pressing their naked bodies firmly against each other. The mortal gasped as he felt his sex trapped between their stomachs, with the demon’s large erection just beside it.
“Oh-oh, yes. You’ve con- convinced me now…”
Stronger, powerful hands against his back and buttocks held him close to Folken’s larger frame as the demon kissed his face, neck, and shoulders. Van’s own hands explored his lover’s back, feeling the extra muscles and bone that the man’s wings required with dizzied fascination and admiration. Despite what Van might have thought about Folken while he was awake, he always had to admit to himself that he had a well designed body.
“Foolish boy, you mean more to me than lust. More to me than love,” the demon whispered in his seductive accent and nipped playfully at his ear.
The dark youth gasped and buried his face into the curve of his lover’s neck.
“More than love?” he asked, feeling too dazed and wonderful to try and figure it out for himself.
“Yes, more than love.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dilandu watched in wide-eyes fascination as his master’s breath hitched once again, followed by a definite arching of his hips. The boy’s cloak had been discarded suddenly only moments before when he had begun withering precariously on the stone bench. The demon could smell Van’s arousal, hell, he could actually see it straining against the blue fabric of his uniform.
A gasp of pleasure made Dilandu shiver with his own excitement. A steady ache had been growing sinhe bhe beginning of the mortal’s erotic dream and all the enticing sounds and motions Van had been making since.
This boy was nothing like the one he had been forced to serve, the one who he had thought occasionally pretty and usually extremely infuriating. Now his features were all softened by pleasure and his slender form twisted in graceful and enticing positi Th This boy was erotic, helpless, and perhaps even beautiful in his throes of passion. But most of all, he was tempting. Undeniably and extremely tempting.
And Dilandu had never been known for his will power.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Van let out another cry of pleasure as Folken cupped his erection. By the gods, that had almost felt real! Now underneath his lover, who was currently exploring and manipulating every part of his body imaginable, could only wither helpless and try his hardest to give a damn about what the demon was saying.
“Wha- what could mean more than... ah... more than love?”
Lips and teeth teased his nipple, and he arched up into the feeling.
“Destiny,” came the soft murmur against the little nub.
Van could say nothing to that, now lost so completely in his passion. But his mind still raced around that word. Destiny. Could that be true? Could they be each other’s destiny? He suddenly wished he had asked Hitomi that fateful day to turn his destiny card for him. If she had, would the card have shown him Folken? He did not know. He would never know.
The last of his chaotic thoughts were driven from his mind, as his lover’s organ penetrated his body. There had been no need for preparation. This was a dream after all, and there was no real pain, only the shadow feeling of their love making that forced his mind to accept as pleasure. But oh, that shadow feeling was especially powerful tonight.
“Folken!” he gasped, withering as his lover continued to pound into him.
The demon nearly purred as he heard his name fall from the mortal’s lips, desperate and pleading. In this moment, Van could not stand to be parted from and and needed all that he had to offer. And he, he could deny him nothing.
Folken increased his fondling of the boy’s proud erection, even as he quickened his pace inside his body. Van’s hands cled oed on his shoulders and threw his head back, crying out in his completion. The pure force of it startling him from his dream.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dilandu froze, too surprised to move, as a somewhat bleary eyed Van started blankly at him. The force of his orgasm had not only waken him up, but had made him sit up and scare all sense from demon prince’s head. The boy blinked at the albino for a moment, suddenly realizing something was wrong.
Slowly, almost reluctantly, Van followed the length of Dilandu’s extended arm all the way down to his hand which was currently buried inside Van’s pants. Much to his horror, he could still feel the demon’s warm hand wrapped around his now limp member. His angry dark eyes snapped up to blank red ones.
Before Dilandu even knew what was happening he found himself literally
tossed out into the cold. He rolled less than gracefully, until finally gaining his balance. He was already drenched by the time he heard Van shouting at him over the pouring rain and distant thunder.
“And stay out there, you pervert!”
The mortal than disappeared into the relatively warm shelter, leaving the demon prince to freeze out in the rain. Dilandu frowned for a moment, more than a little annoyed, until he remembered something. Grinning, he lifted his hand to his mouth to lapped up the last of Van’s seed, before the rain washed it away.