Fair is foul, and foul is fair

In the dead of night he makes his way through the silent corridors of the castle. Shrouded beneath his voluminous cloak he is but little more than a shadow amoung shadows. No one stirs with in the halls to hear his soft footfalls yet they seem to echo like thunder in his own ears. Hidden beneath the folds of his robe lies a jeweled dagger, one of a set, both given to him by his father. He wonders again at the loss of it’s mate, but doth not dwell on the subject. It shall only take one of them to fulfill the evil deed.

His steps lead him to a little used corridor lined with oil painting of various sizes and subjects. He moves to stand before one of the largest and then ensuring that he is still unseen, he presses lightly against the frame. It slides free to reveal an opening beyond. He gazes both ways in the corridor once more, then gathering his robes tightly around him, dashes in to the passage. The portrait slides home plunging him into darkness. He has no candle, for he has no need of one. His vampire sight guides his way.

The journey takes not long, all too soon he finds himself outside the apartments he doth seek. He exits the passage into the room with great care though he knows there is little need. His quarry he well knows will be sound asleep and it wuldst take much to rouse him from his drunken stupor.

He ventures forward to the bedside and pushes back the draperies of the canopy. Drawing the dagger forth, there he doth pause. A brief moment of doubt doth seize his troubled heart. His mind wuldst have his memory thrust back to an innocent childhood to remember a brother loved and even worshiped though the emotions were seldom reciprocated. He forced himself to look at the man that his brother had become. The wretch that had taken his wife by force, the man who threatened everything he loved.

Raising his dagger high he doth rip the bed clothes free of his victim. But before he hath stricken a blow his eyes doth widen in horror and surprise at the visage before him. For there lays his brother , his throat savagely cut, his body drowning in a pool of his own blood.

Richard of Rhodes lies already dead by unknown hands,Nicholas’s missing dagger protruding from his back.

*Marie is nervous. She has asked the man she loves to kill for her in a macabre and highly ironic repitition of what she has already been accused of. She is dressed for stealth wearing a dark shawl, plain dress and flat shoes. She walks along the corridor and enters the room, not believing what she sees. She would never have thought her gentle Nicholas capable of such brutality when he could just as easily have broken his neck*.

Good God.

*Nicholas hearing the noise behind him whirls around, dragger drawn, ready to pounce.*

Marie ...

*he is both relieved and wracked with nerves. He could have easily slit her throat before he realized who she was*

*Nicholas sees the look in her eyes and whisks away the dagger beneth his cloak. He gazes at her intently*

Marie ... I did not do this, I swear it ...

My God. What have you done? You've butchered the man? What is the matter with you?

*Marie notices the look in Nicholas' eyes*.

Are you a monster? *Begins to scream hysterically*. Who will take out the body? You've gotten blood everywhere? Everyone will know! I told you to be discreet, and you slaughtered him?

Marie ... please calm down ... you wilst call the guards down upon us.


I am telling you , I did not do this! This is what I found when I arrived.

You must believe me!

WHAT? *Marie looks deranged, her fear of getting caught far out-weighing any love, even for herself*.

You are a creature from Hell, my God! If you didn't do this, who did? WHO DID?

*winces at being call the creature from hell but says nothing of it*

I doth not know ... all I know is that mine dagger was missing ... and that is it. *points to the bloodied body*


We must decide what we are to do and quickly

*Marie looks at him suddenly and clearly*.

You couldn't help yourself could you? You became hungry, and you saw a man lying there. You are nothing but an animal, and I forget that sometimes.

Animal? *Marie could not have hurt him more if she had physicaly struck him* I am no animal.


Marie you have to believe me, I did not do this.

Yes you are. You are nothing but a hell bidden spawn of the Devil. And you have ruined us both. I believe you not.

What a shame I had to realize which one of the Rhodes brothers was good after I couldn't choose.

*in a voice barely above a whisper*

Is that truly how you feel Marie? *even as he is filled with heartbreak at her words he looks at her with such love in his eyes*

So be it then *he frowns* Go ... rouse the guards, there is no reason you shuld be implicated in this, I shall take full blame. My life mean naught to me now.

But be warned there is a murderer here ... and when I am hanging from the gallows I know not who wilst protect thee from him.

*Looks at him strangely* Your life means naught? Why?

you think me a monster ... you wish it were me lying there, not him. I swear to you I did not do this but you refuse to believe me...

With out you, your love, my life means nothing

How can I believe you? It's like speaking to a talking Dog. I do not know where the animal starts and the human begins. Or even if there is any human in there ...

*Looks at Richard's corpse, lying there like a silent reminder of what could have been*.

Your dagger is in his back, you are standing over his body, you hate him. What would you expect me to believe, Nicholas?

*The use of your full name is both unfamiliar and strange. It lingers in the air like a broken promise*.

I can not bare to have thee look at me so *a tear falls from his eye, tracing a bloody track down his pale cheek*


I tell you again, rouse the guards ... do to me what you will ... It matters not now, nothing matters. With out you I am already dead

*Marie looks at Nicholas, seeing his broken heart throbbing in his crying face and cannot resist the urge to soothe him*

*I walk over to you and slowly lick the bloody tear with the tip of my tongue. From the bottom of your chin to your eyelashes. And then I kiss your eye*.

*Whispers* Do you swear you did not do this, do you truly swear?

*Puts your hand over my belly*.

Answer me truthfully, do you swear?

*Nicholas breathes deeply, relishing her touch. He allows himself to give in to hope, hope that he has not lost what matters most to him*


*He places his other hand on her belly as well* I swear it!

*The tension leaves my shoulders slightly. I slowly release myself from Nicholas' touch and walk over to Richard's corpse. I put my hand on his hair and caress it, as I give him a kiss on the lips. I close his eyes and walk over to the window, which I open wide, letting in the moonlight*.

Than you know what we must do. We must speak to Elizabeth and see if she knows who did this terrible dead. *This is said with the faint air of one ordering a death sentence*.

*Nicholas winces slightly at her show of affection towards Richard, but says nothing.*

Elizabeth? *Nicholas tries to hide his surprise.* You want to contact Elizabeth?

Elizabeth may indeed know something, or more than likely her spys *he says this with more than a little bitterness in his voice*

What do we do in the mean time?

*Marie looks at the body, stunned*. You are going to go into your rooms, I am going to "find" the body. The guards will come running when I cry, while I am doing this, go look for my cousin. I will come and get you when the coast is clear.


*Begins to manufacture some very convincing fake tears*.

What of my dagger?

*Grabs your dagger, yanks it from your brother's flesh and throws it out of the window*. What of it?

If it is found, it will implicate me .... *shakes his head sadly* it doesnt matter anyway.


I ... *he looks as though he wants desparetly to say something but is unsure*

I will ask Elizabeth ...

*he lowers his head and moves towards the secret passage he came through when entering*

*Grabs Nicholas' shoulder with a grasp that is remarkably strong*.

What my dearest, what?

*Nicholas turns around to face her. He pauses for a moment as if concidering something. Then he cradles her face with his hands and kisses her softly*


Now is not the time my love, we must act quickly lest you are caught here.