Religious Reign

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Hialeah wakes up as the sunlight filters her room. She rises from her bed and gets ready for the day. Dressed in her robes she goes to the chapel and sets it up for the daily services. “Good morning Father,” She bows politely greeting the priest as he walks in. She is just setting up the candles.

“Good morning Lady Hialeah, I hope Sagia blessed your sleep.” The priest responds placing the book on the altar.

“I slept well, thank you Father, may Sagia bless you.” Hialeah replies as the finishes up. She bows in front of the altar and to the priest before leaving the chapel. Her next destination is the chapel gardens. What started off as a simple plot to keep Hialeah busy as a child, has grown to a full scale garden. The priests encouraged Hialeah’s green thumb and because of her the fruits and vegetables produced by the chapel are known throughout the city.

Hialeah sings as she tends her gardens. Her beautiful mezzo-soprano voice drifts through the gardens. The priests do not push for her to be in the church choir though. It is like they do not want her to perform in front of anyone. It is a beautiful sunny morning as the works on pulling the weeds and watering the gardens.

Maria is screaming at herself internally. She keeps her smile on though and kisses Jaer’s cheek. At least he smelled nice. Nothing like she thought he would. “I was lost in the woods and he was out hunting. He saved me from a wolf.” She said. She looked at Nisa and could see the amusement on both her and Eran’s face. She grinned at them but in her eyes she was warning them to keep quiet.

“We’ve not been engaged long. You will have to excuse my fiancé; he is a very shy man.” Maria said looking up at the cardinal. “He is very good to me.”

Hialeah's eyes brighten. "That is wonderful news Caroline. I think I shall get ready for my service. Do I need to get my robes from the temple? So much has happened lately that I totally forgot about that as well. The massage sounds a bit...odd. I am not sure if it is right to have another person's hands on me."

She walks over to Caroline. "I think I will prepare for tomorrow. I think I will have a day and night service so people have a choice to attend. You will be at the night service right Kisten?"

The Cardinal replies, "Ah! Well, that's wonderful. How about I show you to a room where you can take rest from your journey with beverage and comfort while I go to find the lovely Priestess?"

He already begins to turn to lead them and Nisa feels slightly relieved. The Cardinal seems like such a nice man, though his errand boy that they had first spoken to was so annoying...how does this guy deal with him?

They are led to a back room of the Church, where a few small tables can be found. After offerings of food and drinks are made, the Cardinal respectfully takes his leave of them and they are left alone for a short while.

"Wow." Eran says, shaking his head with a grin, "Jaer, you dog, you."

Nisa laughs and she sits herself down in the luxurious waiting chair that is nearest to her. This place is really fancy...she wonders if all of the Sagian public facilities are like this. Of course, from the way that Hialeah had spoken, the actual living style of the leaders of the Church weren't so rich.

Jaer begins to mumble an apology, his face still red as the door opens and a lovely, plump lady steps through. Dressed in the Sagian robes of a nun, she smiles at them sweetly as she introduces herself with a quick bow. She moves over to the table with a thick book in her hand and places it down, opening it up for the group to see.

"So joyous for a young couple to come here to be wed!" The Nun, Sheila, says, "Have you put any thought into the specifics of your ceremony? There are various styles and additions that we offer, of course, and we have a few extra special features we can add for a reasonable price--we can work around any budget!"

The book has a lot of different pictures of wedding gowns and flowers and other such decorative things and Nisa pales. This....this is going to get awkward. She looks up at her sister nervously and realizes that Jaer looks like he's going to puke.

Sheila takes no notice, as her eyes are already glued to the book's open pages. "Have you already selected a dress? Or a season? Do you both have large families? When is your moon flow--we need make sure that we schedule your consummation during your most fertile phase, of course. Is this your bride's maid and best man? What sort of dowry has your father received? We'll need to talk to him, that way we can--"

"Woah." Nisa says, holding up her hands to silence the woman. The nun looks up at her, completely confused. But, now, Nisa falls silent, uncertain of what to say.

-------

"Oh, we have plenty of robes. Did you want me to do it, instead of his Lordship? I'm told I'm pretty good." Caroline replies happily.

Kisten smiles and nods his head as a response to her invitation to the night service. "Of course, my love. We shall get you nicely relaxed and then we can assist you with the preparations for your services."

Maria curses herself under her breath. What the hell did she get herself into? Her face pales at the thought of this woman talking about her moonflow. It was more like the bloody river of death. Why did that matter? Goddess Sagia…was she talking about children? For a moment she isn’t sure what to say. “Err…uhh…what I mean is that we are looking at least a year from now. We want to give ourselves time to make sure that this is indeed what we want in life. Not only that, my fiancé has a small family and I have a rather large one. It will take time for them to travel here. When we do get married we are thinking of the spring seeing as it is the time of love, and we will make sure that it’s not time for that… if you know what I mean.” She said.

She looked up at her sister, her face pale as she looked at her. She then looked at Eran and grinned her mischievous smile. “This is my sister and her fiancé. They too are looking to wed, though when I do marry, she will be my maid of honor.” She smiled at them with her most happiest smile.

Hialeah loves Caroline's enthusiasm. "You convinced me I guess, but my body is not stressed in the least. I don't know how this massage will be effective." She looks over at Kisten. "I hope your dreams are wonderful."

She walks with Caroline back to her room. Once there a thin robe is placed in her arms. "Go into the bathroom and change into this. I will get everything ready out here."

Hialeah takes the robe and goes into the bathroom. She takes her time to brush her hair and remove the light makeup she is wearing. Once she returns her room is transformed. Caroline has a padded table. The lights are dimmed and there are candles everywhere. She can smell an odd scent in the air as well. It is one she cannot place.

Caroline goes to her and takes her hands. "Go and lie on the table face down. Your face should rest in the hole on top."

Hialeah looks between her and the table slowly walking over. She touches it before climbing onto it. She lies on her stomach as instructed. She is nervous about what Caroline is going to do. Not that she does not trust her, but she doesn't know what is going on.

She jumps slightly when Caroline touches her. "Hialeah, you need to relax, I won't hurt you." She gently kneads the muscles in her shoulders.

Hialeah closes her eyes. "Caroline, may I ask you a question of a personal nature? Am I an attractive person? I have seen other wedded couples and they are very affectionate physically. However Kisten and I have not consummated our marriage yet. Is it because of me? May you tell me how to..." Hialeah lets the remainder trail off. Honestly she does not know how to continue her train of thought. She wants Kisten to find her attractive physically, but has no idea how to do it. She is thankful that her head is in the pillow for she knows her face is deep red at this point. Here she is a grown woman asking questions that people younger than her ask.

The Nun smiles fondly as Maria reveals their engagement and Eran nods his head in solemn agreement. Of course, Nisa just feels like dying on the inside--why did she have to be dragged into this mess?! Jaer looks apologetic from the other side of the woman as she is faced away from him, pity etched into his eyes.

"Well, we were thinking of maybe having a dual wedding--saves money for the families, don't you think?" Eran says as he places his arm around Nisa.

His arm startles her and she instinctively backs away from his touch. It isn't necessarily that it made her uncomfortable, she just isn't used to it. As she is backing up, after having risen from the chair, her side bumps into a pedestal's corner, the decoration revealing itself for the weapon that it can be.

As she doubles over with sharp pain, Eran instantly moves over to help her, picking her up and placing her on the table delicately as he checks her over for any severe wounds. He started speaking the moment after she had become hurt.

"Oh, my sweet!" Eran places his hands over her respectfully as he checks for wounds, careful not to be inappropriate. Nisa has no idea what he is doing as he asks if she is okay. Of course, she is about to try to respond when his face is suddenly a few mere inches from hers. His hand moves to chin, lifting her face up and forcing her eyes to gaze into his and she blushes.

He says, "My dearest flower, I have shamed myself by allowing any harm to even graze you. My heart aches and my lips tremble to kiss away your pain."

Eran's performance pulls all of the red that is possible into her face, as well as into Jaer's from afar. Jaer tells himself that Eran is going over the top. However, the Nun...the nun is all red with clasped hands before her chest with stars in her eyes. She's soaking it all in and he can't believe it. And although Jaer would never admit it, he's quite doing the same.

Nisa fails to respond in baffled and embarrassed state, so Eran caresses her cheek with the back of his fingers with a caring and passionate grace. "Please forgive me. I give you my word, as your man--as your conquest--that I shall do everything in power to keep this from happening ever again. I will still love you as fiercely as I have done the first day that we met, and it will grow stronger as each day passes. Even upon the day of our fiery consummation, I will--"

Nisa squeaks, pulling herself from the grasp and tug of his eyes and down off of the table as she moves towards the opposing wall. "I--I a-am not feeling so well. I need a drink! I need--"

"Of course, my darling!" Eran exclaims, straightening himself with a look of dedication and a look of concern. "I shall fetch a drink for you right away. I know they will have something somewhere!"

He leaves the room in all of his dedication, though there is water upon the other table in glasses, just a few feet from where he had been. Sheila, the Nun, is still just standing her, her hands over her lips and tears in her wide eyes. She looks like she's in love with the psychotic man as he leaves the room in his swift movement of passion.

----

Caroline blushes at her forwardness, most certainly. Of course, she's not used to someone of the lady's station opening up to her like this. However, she welcomes it as decides how to best respond. After a few moments hesitation:

"I would say that he is probably waiting for some sign that it is what you want...I mean, you're a Priestess--you are surely a virgin with having no prior interest in such things. I know that the Lord would never force himself on you."

She clears her throat, "Pardon my words, milady, but the man clearly does find you attractive. I-I don't mean to speak of things that aren't my business, but...well...the thing is, milady, he has shown little to no interest in women, at all. Of course, he is sweet and respectful to the maids and workers about the house, and he looks upon us with care and concern, but...well...with high class women, you know the type--it's as if they aren't even there. He barely notices their gender, let alone their presence. And yet, here you are and he fawns over you with his gaze, and it is like his entire living style has been altered and--"

Caroline blushes even more deeply. In any normal house hold, she would most certainly be stepping beyond her station. Although she does not think that Lord Aldain would really care, she also feels as though it is wrong to reveal such things about the man--or even talk about him for that matter.

Maria has to cover her mouth to keep from laughing. Nisa is so red and Maria cannot remember the last time that her sister was that red. She stifles a giggle as her sister shoots her a look. She buttons up however.

“Nisa, I wonder if Eran knew that there was water here on the table? It must have slipped his mind as he told you of his love.” Maria made some kissy noises at her sister. She looks over however and Jaer is looking at her. She too flushes as he looks at her. What has she gotten them into? She looks at the nun and smiles. “Can you tell us when the priestess will be here?” She asked. She wanted to get out of the awkward phase and get into the nitty gritty stuff. Besides when the church found out they were lying there would be questions.

Hialeah listens to Caroline's words intently. "I know that he loves me. I have seen all sorts of couple, from the arranged marriages to the ones that are in love, and yes some that are forced due to extenuating circumstances. There is a lot you can tell by the body language of people."

Hialeah closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "How does...a woman indicate...intimacy?" Hialeah instantly feels ashamed that she a full grown woman has to ask, but her whole she was taught to be celibate. She is a priestess, not a woman. Even her relationship with Keven was innocent. Now that she is married, she wants to be sure she is pleasing her husband.

It took a while for Nisa to get Sheila to calm down and to re-enter reality. With a bit of water and calm reassurances, the woman finally returned to her normal, albeit embarrassed state. She sheepishly returns to her book with an attempt to pretend as if nothing had happened.

She continued to ask a lot of questions, of course, and Nisa took it in stride, this time. The Nun is clearly still mildly distracted, so she takes advantage of this and makes up a bunch of stuff for their "wedding" plans and their fake intentions for a dual wedding.

She's really getting restless after about half an hour, though, and she can tell that Maria is feeling the same way. Jaer has been sitting silently, on his own, just listening as the two girls do the majority of the questions. When Nisa tries to ask about Hialeah, the woman just shrugs and says that she's just here to help with the wedding plans.

It really gets frustrating after an additional ten minutes pass and Nisa is about to explode. Before she can protest, of course, the door opens up with a sudden burst of energy as Eran pours into the room wearing Church garb. He looks rather ridiculous in it, with his gypsy like hair hanging out and clashing with the religious attire with an outlandish fashion.

"Ladies!" Eran says, moving swiftly and taking Jaer's and Maria's hand before moving to leave the room hastily. Nisa stands and moves quickly to follow suit, confusion and amusement written all over her face. What is he doing? "Time to go! We'll just have to finish those pesky plans later--"

"Wha--what are you doing?!" Shelia says, flabbergasted, "You aren't a--"

"Milady, it was a pleasure." Eran says, releasing their hands and bowing deeply before her with over-dramtization. He kisses the back of her hand and winks, her face filling up with red once again as he flees the room with his party behind him.

"Found her!" Eran says with a smirk, "Let's get out of here!"

"What is with the--" Nisa begins.

Eran laughs jovially as he runs from the Church as they begin to stir up stares and protests. Their pace picks up as they make their escape, the religious robes flowing about him even more ridiculously as they flee.

"I had to get the info, somehow!"

-------

Caroline giggles, her hands moving across Hialeah's upper back. She's just amused, now, and a little less nervous about this topic. "Oh, dear, if you want to make love to him, then just do it. I have no doubt you could just make your way into the Lord's room and--well--you could wear something sexy...or nothing at all."

Karen is suddenly nearby, making herself visible in the light as she arrives with a smirk. "Or you could just boss him around. Tell him to give it to you. Isn't that what you want?"

Caroline cannot help but laugh.

Hialeah is truly flabbergasted by the suggestions by both ladies. She is silent for a few moments. "Isn't the...can the woman...I have never initiated that kind of action before. I would not know where to begin. It is not something taught in the temples. However if you think it might work..." She sits up and turns around making sure she is covered. Her face is still flushed. "So I should go in there and tell him to...consummate the marriage? I need to think like his wife, not a priestess." She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "Caroline, grab my robe. Karen take me to Kisten's room."

Caroline gets a smirk on her face as she hands over the robe. "You can do it Hialeah."

Karen leads Hialeah to the room. "I am so nervous. There is only one other man that I have been romantic with and we only kissed." Hialeah pauses for a moment. What is she doing? Is she really going to initiate this kind of action? Yes, Kisten is her husband, as a wife she has some obligations.

Karen only goes a few steps and looks back at Hialeah. "Sorry, I still have to get used to the fact that I am in fact married."

They continue until Karen pauses at the door. Hialeah goes next to her. "Thank you Karen, for assisting me." Her hand hovers on the door handle momentarily before she opens it.

She closes the door quietly behind her. The room is incredibly dark, even though it technically is daytime. She closes her eyes to help her eyes adjust faster. Her heart is pounding as she opens her eyes. It is a little better as she is able to make out shadows.

Maria busts out laughing. She cannot contain her merriment as they make haste to exit. “Eran, you sly dog! I cannot believe you did it! What did you find out?” She asked.

There was a priest heading their way. Maria stopped her running and walked up coyly up to him. “Oh sir…I wish to marry the man of my dreams, but I think he is just a little crazy. Then there is this man.” She said pointing to Eran. “He’s just a nut, don’t worry about him.” She said. She gave the priest a big kiss on his lips as he looked at her like she was a heathen.

“You foul heathen! How dare you and your friends come here!” The man said. Maria laughed and went to her sister. “Let’s get out of here before they lock us up! She said.


They make a hasty exit from the church. She laughed as she walked over to Eran. "Eran, you are the craziest man I have ever met. Now, tell us what you know! I don't like secrets!"

Lord Aldain, having just gone to bed recently, is already passed out asleep. With the silence and darkness setting in and the quietness of her movements, he does not yet wake up. It is not until she comes closer that he can sense her, hear her heartbeat--it is beating so fast.

He is at first, alarmed, but he just lays there, pretending to be asleep. If the woman has a reason for being here, the best way to learn her intentions is through false unconsciousness. Of course, he has already come to trust the Priestess in a way that he has not trusted anyone in a long time--so he does not suspect anything harmful.

Perhaps the woman has already come to suspect what he is...

-------

Eran grins, placing his hands on his hips as he just how pleased he is with himself. Crossing her arms, Nisa rolls her eyes as Jaer shakes his head. They are already on their horses again and riding away, and Nisa has to fight the urge to look back behind them. She is afraid of what she might see. Still, they have found their sister and that is all that matters.

They ride away from the area, moving towards the edge of town where it is less populated and more quiet. After passing a few farms and listening to Maria badger the man for the information that he has yet to give, he waits until they are well out of earshot of anyone that could even remotely hear them before getting down from his horse.

Jaer gets down from his horse, as well, and then moves over to Maria to assist her off of hers. He looks tired and stressed, the poor fellow. Nisa can tell that he is not used to telling so many lies in one day--he must be a very honest man. After dropping down from her own horse, Nisa moves up to Eran as he begins to speak in a hushed tone.

Eran says, "Well, the good news is, I know where to find her and we can go whenever you like. The bad news is that she is already married and that's where she's at--she's in the dude's mansion estate."

Nisa groans. Man, it's probably the hot Lord Aldain and now he's officially taken. She doesn't care if he was a vampire or not--he is delicious. Still, she is also happy to hear that her sister is well...she just hopes she is happy, as well. But the Lord knew that they are sisters and seemed to have no intent to keep them apart. Showing up at his door would really help determine if he intends to continue to keep them apart or not.

Nisa looks to her sister to see what she has to say.

Hialeah slowly approaches the bed. She watches him sleeping for a few moments. He looks so peaceful and calm. So far he is asleep, this would be so much easier if he was awake. What will she do if he wakes up? She is starting to get cold feet about the situation. Her mind tells her to go back to bed. Her hand has a mind of it's own as it reaches out. Ever so lightly her fingers touch his temple. It slides down to his jaw. He is still cold even under the blankets.

Maria gets down off her horse with Jaer’s help. She can get down on her own but he is going out of his way for her. He is already going out of his way. Poor man has probably never pulled an all-nighter. For that matter, he has probably never done anything like they just did.

She makes her way over to Nisa and Eran. The four of them huddle into a group and Maria listens to Eran. She takes a deep breath. “And they call us heathens. How dare they?” She said. She looks at her sister and rolls her eyes. She can see the dreamy look in Nisa’s eyes about the pointy tooth man.

“I don’t see what you see in that…man…vampire…whatever he is. His teeth are pointy and he doesn’t even look all that hot. Now Eran here and Jaer here are a couple of hot guys. You should choose one of them.” She said playfully. Truth be told she was trying to be light hearted about the situation. She was not completely thrilled about it.

“If that is the truth, I do remember that the lord preferred to sleep during the day. That would mean Hialeah would be alone at the time. I don’t see a man such as he having more then what he needs in staff.” Maria said. “Nisa…do you think it would be safe to go now? If so I don’t see why not. It would get us out of the area and maybe indoors. The church is probably still out looking for us right now.”

With a slow movement, Kisten opens his eyes, sitting up in his bed and swinging his legs over the side. He pulls her close for a warm hug, or at least, as warm of a hug that he could ever possibly give. Unfortunately, his cold flesh will never really be able to offer her any warmth of that kind.

With a smile on his face, he decides that she must have been lonely. He speaks softly to her, still waking up more fully from his rest. Her heart is still pounding so quickly, so he is rather concerned.

"Did you get lonely?" Lord Aldain asks her.

------

Nisa nods her agreement and decides that having a place to go would be better. Besides, the Lord may be taken, but he's still a good thing to look at, so where's the down side to that? She is sure he'll be as friendly as always and they'll get to have a bed to sleep in! They stayed up all night and could use a real rest without having to worry about the weather or strangers interrupting their rest.

She ponders all of this as she completely ignores her sister's recommendation to hook her up with the two men that are hitting on her. Of course, Jaer instantly goes red at the compliment and Eran does his playful, usual smirk, but Nisa has had quite enough of his kind of play. She almost shudders at the memory. Damn her sister for putting her through that...

At any rate, the way that Jaer looks at Maria whenever she's not looking is tell enough that she wouldn't even have a chance at the fellow, had she been interested. And of course, there's Eran--all he does is hurt her brain. Waaayy far from her alley.

Eran begins to chatter. "Okay, I already went in the general direction of the mansion, anyway. So, we just have to back track a ways and then head up this really long dirt road. The man is clever to have his home so far out from the super crowded areas--you know they just built a new Sagian church out here, too? Just when you think the disease has slowed down on it's spreading..."

"Okay, wait. I need to know what we are allowed to tell this man--this vampire. Just what information are we allowed to divulge, exactly? We're all gypsies, right? Do they know that?" Jaer asks.

Maria shakes her head at Jaer. “Lord Aldain might know, seeing as he knows more than I expected him too, but the church didn’t…at least until maybe today. If we go back to town, we may need to wear disguises. Oh I am so glad that our uncles know how to handle theirselves.” She said with a smirk.

Maria follows Eran as they head out. “I still cannot believe she is married to him. It infuriates me. Jaer; just leave the talking to us. The lord already knows we are sisters. I don’t know how much he knows.”

Hialeah finds herself pulled into Kisten's arms. She lays her head on his chest. "Not so much lonely, I am used to sleeping alone. More like wanting more. We are a married couple now...and...well." Hialeah's mind is all jumbled.

She props herself up and looks into Kisten's eyes. "All my life, I was raised to be a priestess, but to you I am not only a priestess. I am a wife, and a woman..." She touches him again. "And that is how I want you to see me." She sits up and unties the robe, exposing her body underneath. Please don't have him turn her away her mind screams.

Eran nods his head, smiling pleasantly. "Okay, you got it. We shall head that way and see how it goes. I'll keep in mind that you two will do the talking when we get there."

With that, Eran gets back onto his horse, as does Nisa. Jaer quickly moves over to Maria's horse to assist her with getting back on, as well. Before long, they are headed back into the town just a ways and eventually up a long, dirt road.

Nisa becomes more nervous as she sees the house in the distance. It's huge. Is her sister rich, now? She's probably now a member of the court in the city...and she must be so happy. If learning all of these things in her past upset her and uproot her world, will the truth only lead her to unhappiness?

Nisa pushes the thoughts away and smiles as Jaer speaks up with a soft and hopeful tone. "I sure do hope we can at least spend the night. I don't know about any of you, but sleeping in a bed would be great."

------

Kisten's eyes cannot help but to roam as they widen, her robe falling to reveal her bared vulnerability. He is mildly surprised, especially that the Priestess would be so ready to do this so soon...he is happy not to have pressured her and that he can be sure to begin with this when she is ready.

He only looks at her for a few seconds before sliding down from the bed and moving forward against her and picking her up just lightly by the hips as he moves her backwards, pinning her up against the wall behind her with a flash of a movement. It takes only a breath for his lips to reach hers as he hungrily accepts her invitation, wishing only that he were already as naked as she.

Hialeah watches Kisten carefully as he looks at her. Before she can react he has her against the wall, their mouths fused. Her mind completely shuts down as her instincts take over.

Eventually he brings her to the bed where they consummate their marriage. It was better than Hialeah can even imagine. Even now as she lies in his arms, she is very happy. She says a quick prayer to Sagia for making this all possible.

Maria can see the house in the distance. She shivers slightly even though she is warm. "I just don't know what to expect." She said. She looked at her sister. "Nisa, I wonder if he has even told her about us being siblings. I am nervous at how this could end, especially since they are now married."

She can see jaer looking at her. What does he even see in her? For that matter Eran. Did they see something in her that maybe Aldain saw in Hialeah? She felt stupid for thinking it. Vampires were supposed to be heartless creatures so why should she even compare the situations.

They complete their journey up the road that leads to the mansion--and of course, Nisa feels that the road is far too long just to reach a single location that is practically in the middle of nowhere, since it is separated from the city with trees and land. As they reach the large building, however, her annoyance is set aside as she marvels in the fanciful architecture. It's beautiful.

When they are met with servants that immediately promise to take care of their horses and then lead them away to personal stables, she knows that Lord Aldain must be among the richest of the high-class. They don't even have to knock on the door and are greeted almost immediately.

After being escorted to a small lobby, a couple of maids offer beverages and food after Nisa and Maria let them know that they are here to see Hialeah. They swift away with duties upon duties, talking amongst themselves from a good distance away from another woman that is wearing black and obviously not a maid by the way she carries herself.

She eventually approaches with a polite, brief smile before bowing and introducing herself. "Please, call me Karen. I have been informed of our purpose for your arrival, but I am afraid that the Priestess was out all night, literally, last night with the good Lord. I do not wish to disturb her sleep, so I had hoped you'd be willing to wait until evening--you'll be free to rest here while you wait, of course."

Nisa instantly becomes curious. Out all night with her new husband? What's there to do at such late hours? Everything always closes in the early midnight hours, so there's no way he could have done anything all that fun. It seems out of character for Hialeah, too--or at least, from what she has known of her thus far. This only makes it more obvious that she has much more to learn about her dear sister.

Eran smiles big, "Yeah, actually--we were traveling all night, ourselves. We could definitely use a rest, do you have extra beds?"

"Of course." Karen says, "I'll have Caroline escort each of you to a room. When Lady Hialeah is awake, we shall be quick to inform her of your visit so that she can greet you...and how is it that you know her, again?"

Nisa rolls her eyes. "We danced for her--and at Lord Aldain's theater! No body believes we are friends, geez..."

"That's not it, at all." Karen says with a shake of her head, "I simply have poor memory and trust little from the words I hear indirectly. I always prefer to learn straight from the source."

Nisa nods, now feeling sheepish at her outburst. However, when she is led to a rich room with it's own bathing room and fancy decorations, she cannot help but be pleased. It doesn't take her long to fall fast asleep.

-----

It is but a few hours later when Karen is speaking in a hushed tone, talking to Lord Aldain as quietly as she can. The day is nowhere near completed, the Lord has been woken up for the second time and has had little sleep, and Lady Hialeah still appears to be slumbering peacefully in his arms.

"My Lord, the gypsy dancers arrived hours ago and are resting..." Karen says with her hushed tone, "We did request that the let the lady sleep before visiting with her and they have agreed."

"Thank you." Kisten says back, brushing her hair with his hand. He sounds approving. Karen is relieved.

"My Lord, but that is not why I am here--Serga is here." Karen says, sounding somewhat uncertain. "The Cardinal sent him to ask about whether or not we have had visitors--and if they were dressed like gypsies..."

Kisten looks up from his bride and his expression shifts from fondness to that of narrowed suspicion. It would be his sister in laws, and they probably stopped by the lady's old church in search of her. And if they were dressed like gypsies, still...he is sure to be suspicious.

Knowing the Cardinal as well as he does, he know the man will do all in his power to keep the two girls from Hialeah. So long as he even slightly suspects that they are there to tell her of the truth of her past, the two girls we be watched heavily as soon as they are found--probably followed.

Kisten's thoughts are pushed aside as he finally whispers, "Tell him that we have had no visitors."

Karen nods her head, "Very well, my Lord."

Maria is surprised at Nisa's outburst, however at the same time she can understand. They have not slept in so long and it would feel good to do so. "Thank you for the offer. We are thankful for it." She said.

They are each taken to a room and Maria looks around the room. It is beautifully decorated and has it's own bathroom. That was the most surprising part. She thought most houses only had one bathroom. This was definitely a nice mansion. At least she knew her sister lived in a wonderful house.

She goes and takes a nice soak in some hot water. After soaking she is so tired that she puts on a gown that was in the room and lies down on the bed. She is soon asleep.

Hours pass, Hialeah wakes still in Kisten's arms. It was odd, but comforting at the same time. She knows she needs to get up to practice for her opening service. She looks around the dim room. Her eyes are adjusted to the darkness. Someone must have been here for there is a pile of clothes on the dresser for her. The robe she was wearing is hanging from one of the bed posts as well. She wonders if Kisten would be against her having items in the room.

She looks down at Kisten. She does not want to disturb him. She slowly slides herself from under his arm and walks over to the robe. She puts it on and takes the bundle under her arms. She will get dressed in her room since her toiletries are there. She peeks out of the door into the empty hall and walks slowly to her room. She is still a little sore from the activities.

She makes it to her room undisturbed and goes to her bathroom. There she takes a bath and gets ready for night. She is excited about leading services in her own church. She hopes there are some people there. She cannot wait to get a look at the property as well. Hopefully there will be room for a new garden.

As Hialeah steps out of the shower and dresses herself, Karen and Caroline are both waiting for her in her room. When she finds them, Caroline is mildly blushing and looking at the floor while Karen is smirking openly.

"Sooo...how was--" Karen begins.

Caroline elbows her immediately and then says, "You have visitors!"

------

When Nisa finally wakes up, she groggily yawns and stretches out. She sits up to find a tray next to her bed, filled with some snacks and more beverages. With a smile, she is quick to indulge herself. They are all some of the richer foods.

When exiting the room, she is immediately escorted to another room. This one is filled with couches and chairs and other rich furniture. Jaer is already here, but Eran cannot be seen. Nisa looks at him and asks if he still rests. His response is a shrug.

She sits down on the couch and fiddles with her fingers. She hopes to see Hialeah, soon. One of the servants had offered her fresh clothing, and as she looks down at the odd looking dress, she feels...entrapped. The clothing of these people is extremely uncomfortable and itchy with all of the lace that they like to have. Still, it's clean and that's something.

Looking over at Jaer once more, she smiles mischievously. "Soooo...do you like my sister?"

As expected, the man blushes instantly and looks down at his lap. "Yes, miss Nisa, I do."

"Awwwww," Nisa giggles, "How sweet!"

Jaer says, "Not that it matters. She has Eran, now."

"Can't have what you don't fight for, dummy." Nisa pokes him in the arm.

"Eran is brave, funny, a gypsy like you, handsome--"

Nisa interrupts him with an over-dramatized gasp, bringing her hands up to her lips with a look of horror. "And here I thought you had feelings for my sister! I had no idea you were after Eran...goodness, I--"

Jaer shakes his head and rolls his eyes. "--You know just what I mean."

Nisa giggles again, "Silly man. Don't focus on Eran, focus on my sister. If you want her, show her. That's all Eran is doing, I'm sure. You two came to help us with our cause and that's great, so...just keep being you, 'kay?"

"First of all, it was wonderful. That is all you need to know." Hialeah's cheeks turn a little pink. She looks over to Caroline. She wonders about the guests. Not a lot of people know that she is here. "Are these guests for me specifically?"

She cannot help but be nervous. This is her first time accepting guests as Lady Aldain. She is and always will be Hialeah first. "Please take me to the guests."