Nightmares

        Vaesha awoke with a start. Her eyes flying open as she shot upwards as a scream escaped her throat. As she looked around, she gasped for breath, her undead heart racing in her chest with enough force that it could have jumped out. Once she had calmed her self down enough to get a good bearing of her surroundings, she took notice that her candle had been extinguished. She reached out for it, her hand shaking as she attempted to re light it using her magic, but not even a spark came. She jumped when she heard the sound of thundering footsteps reached her ears. The doors to her room flew open and a flood of amber light from the sconces in the corridor came into he room as Sedric stood there with a spell readied in his hands, an alert look on his face.

        "Are you alright?" Sedric asked as he lowered his hands, his Vampire eyes picking up no threat hidden in the shadows.

        Vaesha nodded, her lip quivering as she finally broke down, "I-It...was j-just...a nightmare..." she sniffled "nothing to w-worry... about..." she added.

        Sedric sighed and stepped into the room, flicking his wrist to light the sconces to provide some light. Vaesha wasn't covered in blood as she usually was when she suffered from nightmares. Whatever this one was, it was bad, sure she always awoke in fright from her nightmares, but not quite like this. He sat on the bed and took hold of her hand,

        "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked in a soft tone.

        Vaesha shook her head, "Vaermina would only send me a worse one next time I sleep..." she replied "I don't understand why she has been tormenting me so much..." she added as she pulled her knees to her chest, resting her head on them. Sedric sighed and moved to comfort Vaesha, who in turn, leaned into him.

        "She better not torment you more," Sedric said with a strict tone "She torments you enough as it is," he added as he shifted his gaze down to the miserable Vampire. Vaesha sniffled a little and looked up at Sedric, wiping away a tear, "I'm famished..." she murmured "I'll tell you about it after I had some blood..." she added.

        Sedric nodded and moved to pull Vaesha to her feet, guiding her out of the room, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders and held in place with one hand as she followed after the Vampire Lord, trying to intertwine her fingers with his.

******

        Vaesha held out her goblet for the fifth time that night. Sedric, who sat across from her sighed a little and picked up the decanter which held the supply of blood he used whenever Vaesha would awake from her nightmares, famished. He poured a good amount into her goblet and sealed it before placing it aside,

        "Are you ready to discuss your nightmare?" he asked as he watched Vaesha hold her goblet like a little child and slowly drink from it. She looked awful in the far superior light. She looked paler, and she had dark circles under her eyes. Sure, they may be Vampires, but she looked like death. Vaesha placed her goblet down in front of her, it surprisingly half-full. She looked to him with big eyes, a tiny droplet of blood trickling from the side of her mouth. Sedric chuckled slightly and reached out to wipe it away with a handkerchief. She was like a child. He almost missed her obnoxious insane self that she usually is, but Nightmares seemed to have trapped that Vaesha deep inside her.

        "I-I don't know where to start..." she said in a soft tone.

        "Try the beginning," Sedric said "how did your nightmare start out?" he asked. Vaesha sighed in response.

        "We were travelling through Falkreath Hold, I was on the back of Shadowmere and you were walking along side her..." Vaesha paused to take a deep breath.

        "and, where were we going?" he asked.

        "I'm not sure, I assume, in my nightmare that we were heading to the Castle... It was really bright outside, so we must have been well fed if we weren't weak or burning..." Vaesha answered before taking another sip from her goblet.

        "What happened next?" Sedric inquired.

        "We were ambushed by Dawnguard agents," Vaesha explained "They had the special crossbow bolts that they used during the Old Volkihar clan massacre..." Vaesha seemed to shudder "Serana were with them, but she wasn't a Vampire... S-She was mortal..." Vaesha met Sedric's eyes with worry in her eyes.

        "Alright," Sedric said "what happened after that?" he asked.

        "I-..." Vaesha started before twisting her face into a confused expression "I don't remember... E-Everything is blank..." Vaesha added "all I remember now is waking up screaming and feeling pain in my abdomen..." she looked down to the table, a hand going to her abdomen where she had been struck by a crossbow bolt many months ago.

        Sedric set his jaw and stood, his chair scraping across the stone floor,

        "Vaermina must have hidden or stolen the fear of whatever had happened in that nightmare..." Sedric said as he placed a hand to his chin in thought. Vaesha sighed and stood, pulling the blanket she had stolen from bed tighter around her,

        "I'm just going to try and go back to sleep..." she said as she began to walk towards the stairs, her bare feet slapping against the floor. Sedric looked to her and sighed,

        "I'll come along and make sure Vaermina doesn't torment you anymore..." Sedric said as he joined her side "I'll make sure your candle stays lit and that any sign of you under the influence of a nightmare, I'll wake you, or at least try..." Sedric added as they began to climb the stairs. Vaesha smiled and leaned her head on Sedric's shoulder for a short moment,

        "Thank you princess," she whispered "you are too kind..." she added.

        Sedric smiled slightly and took up Vaesha's free hand,

        "You don't deserve to be tormented by Vaermina," Sedric said "that is Nikolai's job..." he added.

        Vaesha smiled and chuckled a little at Sedric's reply. She took a deep breath as they entered her room. the sconces were still lit, but her candle wasn't. As she sat on her bed, she reached out and touched the wick and it lit, the flame flickering ever slowly to life. As she leaned back and made herself comfortable, Sedric pulled up a chair and settled it close to he would be able to wake her easily if a nightmare attempted to torment her. Vaesha smiled at him and reached out to hold his hand, Sedric actually allowing the affectionate gesture of twisting their fingers together. Soon Vaesha was in a blissful sleep, hopefully for the rest of the night.