Part 64 - Serana at Honeyside

Clark's excuse for bringing Serana to Honeyside was that he wanted to show her how to enchant a dagger. He'd had Iona make a nice ebony one that he knew would appeal to her, and he'd already planted the idea that enchanting one with Fiery Soul Trap would suit her needs well.

Since Fiery Soul Trap was a rare enchantment - it seemed that only Clark knew it - she didn't need much persuading. She'd seen what it did when Clark and Lydia had used their swords in Ilinalta's Deep. The frost on Chillrend was impressive, but vampires appreciate the fear that being set on fire brings more than most. And trapping a necromancer's soul was true justice. She wasn't sure why she hated necromancers so much. She just did.

And she liked being with Clark. All the women seemed to, even Sapphire liked him. It didn't hurt that he had excellent taste in wine, and Honeyside was always well-stocked. There was something about the Tamika's, maybe the deep blood-red colour, but more likely the incomparable flavour.

The sun was coming up already. Clark pulled the shades, and gestured towards the bed. "Sleep here," he told her. "It's getting bright out there."

And he joined her on the bed, and helped her undress, and she fell asleep in his arms.

Carefully!

Clark looked over to the basement stairs, where Gilda's head had appeared. He checked to see if Serana had started to dream, and gave a silent nod. A few gentle touches, not enough to awaken her, persuded Serana to turn the way he needed.

Gilda signed that she needed a bit more room to work. Serana responded the way Clark had hoped.

"Don't stand there," Clark whispered. "If she does react and it comes back out, it might be faster than an arrow. You don't want to get hit in the knee!"

Gilda almost burst out laughing, but that could have woken Serana up at the wrong time. She needed to get back downstairs before that happened.

"Clark, wake up!" Serana exclaimed. "There's something inside me!"

Clark wanted her to think he was still asleep. He murmered groggily "What do you mean by inside you?"

"I can feel something, down there"

"Down where?"

"Just take a look, and tell me if I'm imagining it."

"No, you do seem to have found one of my dildos," he answered. "Probably one from the side table by the bed. When did you pick that up?"

"Is it really where I think it is? How did it get there? Did you do it?"

"It's really there, and No, it wasn't me. Why would I use that when I'd prefer to use something else?"

Serana seemed to accept that, and reached one hand down to check for herself. "I'm still not sure I believe it," she told him.

"Did you dream about doing that? Sometime you do things in your dreams, and you wake up and find they really happened."

"Well yes, I dream about that all the time. But it's never happened before."

"First real opportunity?" he asked. "Or was last night's dream a bit more vivid than usual?"

Of course, he'd helped that as much as he could, and suspected that he'd had Azura's help. If she could guide Aranea's dreams, then why not Serana's too?

"But I can't do that," she protested. "I've tried before, and failed."

"Well, somebody did, and if it wasn't me, who else could it be? Besides, you wouldn't let me, remember? At least I'm not picking myself off the floor today."

"But if I did that, am I cured? Could I do it again while I 'm awake?"

"Why are you asking me?" Clark asked. "You're the only one who has the answers."

"I think I can pronounce you thoroughly cured." Clark finally conceeded half an hour later. "There doesn't appear to be anything holding you back. Now can I get some rest, or are you determined to catch up for centuries of abstinence? You know, if we keep doing it, it might end up curing your vampirism as well."

Serana laughed. "I don't want to go quite that far. Just to the brink, maybe. I need my vampirism for the extra stamina, anyway."

When they woke up again, Clark had no idea what time it was. Serana was a night person, and he wasn't, but they'd both slept from exhaustion, rather than because it was the right time. He peeked out of the window, and it looked dark.

As Serana left, Gilda re-appeared. "I have another of those Stones of Barenziah," she announced. "So I'd like to celebrate, and you owe me, anyway."

"Where did you get this one?" he asked.

"Windhelm," she told him. "In the Shatter-Shield home. I came across it while retrieving the Golden Ship again. That's the same piece I was looking for when I found you and Jordis in Proudspire. Which got me thinking about you know what."

"So do we need to wait until Iona gets back? It wouldn't be the same without a housecarl, would it?"

"Exactly. I want your complete and undivided attention, for once. Or maybe twice."

"Where did Iona go?" Gilda asked. "I know you needed the place to yourself for Serana, but did you send her anywhere in particular?"

"I just suggested she go off with Mjoll and clean out a few local tombs and caves. They're both a bit restless, waiting for something to happen between the Guild and the Black-Briars, but not being able to do anything yet."

"Karliah still doesn't have all the pieces for that," Gilda admitted. "We can deal with her brood, but Maven's been really careful that nothing sticks to her. It all has to wait until we have something we can use against her." She mused for a moment or two. "So Iona and Mjoll could come back at any time?"

"I only told them I needed a day or so. And Serana's a night person, so they'd assume I meant at least two."