Amongst the thistle's and thorn's of time..." (Tatiana)

[Lord Soth]

A light, misty rain fell over the stone spire's that marked the final place of rest for those who slept in peace here. However, there was an air of melancholy and gloom that resided here as well. Wicked tendril's of blue lighting streaked across the darkening sky as the last fading light of day gave way to the night.

Bead's of water formed on the ancient ebony armor of the Death Knight as he stood over an unmarked grave. The once pristine headstone's had given way to the long year's of time and the cruel element's of Tazlamar, it's sharp beveled edge's were all but gone now, rounded and worn. The only visible feature on the mason stone was a simple insignia of a carved rose, now faded and ravaged as time took it's unmerciful toll on the once perfectly tooled flower.

Painful thought's of past fell on Soth's mind as he stood motionless in the courtyard of the dead. A city unto it's own with countless avenues of moss covered mausoleum's and head stone's, now choked by the brier patches that over took the ground's long ago. Majestic old oak's stood like silent guard's, bent in their posture as if paying homage to the many soul's the lay here on it's sacred ground's.

As Soth troubled eye's studied the symbol of his order, the Order of the Black Rose; the face of her youth became more clearer to him, crisp in his wandering mind that begged him to forget. Like an awakening dream that had haunted him since the last day he had laid mortal eye on her lovely form, Soth's curse lived on as well, forcing him to remember the sin's of his bloody past, the eternal loss of his beautiful lover and the high price he paid for his fall from grace.

Her ghostly white gown flowed effortlessly as a gentle breeze caught it's silken fabric with it's touch. The pale blue moon light that broke through the clouds at that moment outlined the woman's body, revealing her sensual curve's as she ran to greet her lover's tender embrace. Soft green emerald eye's that held a tenderness that spoke volume's of the love they once shared as they locked with his. Her full crimson lip's that graced her flawless face were as lush and vibrant as any peddled rose could ever color. The sweet scent of her countenance perfumed the night air, but it was the curse of remembrance that Soth took in...

A clap of thunder over head roared, it's sharp sound drew the Death Knight out of the near-trance into which he had lapsed. Closing his eye's tightly, Soth pushed back the memories that flooded through his mind. Slowly he bent to one knee as his long black cloak billowed behind him. With a steady hand the Dark Knight placed a single black rose atop the grave stone...His armored hand paused momentarily, then drew away as it had so many time's before.

"It will be the last one Laurana...Forgive me,...If I have not the word's to say why..." The Death Knight's voice was in low tone's as he watched the black rose weep stream's of crimson stain down the face of the stone, pooling briefly once it reached the nook's of the chiseled carving.


@}----}-------------

[Mistress Tatiana]

A light mist of rain began to gather on the folds of Tatiana's cloak. The occasional flash of thunder lit the night sky revealing her porcelain like face. Her dark eyes gazed forward at her lover. The Death Knight's form blended into the darkness, but it did not elude Tatiana's vampyre eyes.

She stood motionless some distance from him so as not to be noticed, but she knew better. He had been well aware of her presence for some time now, though he had made no effort to acknowledge her. She sensed this area held a significant link for him to his past... something he was reluctant to let go... something that marked a turning point for him in his thousands of years of experiences. He held many things inside himself and revealed little. Tatiana though wasn't just any vampyre. She held a special connection to the one who made her, a connection to her lover.

The rain began to fall harder on the ground kicking up dirt. The Dark Knight stood from where he had placed the black rose, his back still to her. She reached her hand out towards him and parted her blood red lips as if to speak, but no sound was heard. Pouring rain traced down her cheeks like tears. Her eyes blurred, not because of the rain, but from her own tears. Her throat became heavy as she tried to hold back the human emotion of sorrow that still lingered inside her. It was very much unlike a vampyre to cry, but it was another trait that her lover had passed on to her, and it was something she could not avoid.

[Lord Soth]

The rarest of all qualities that a Vampyre could ever possess was the ability to feel emotion. Tear's of despair amongst their kind, to weep, if it were possible, only fell perhaps once or twice in a Vampyre's entire existence. Empathy and compassion was usually a trait that a creature of the damned forfeited once turned to the dark-side; selfishness and arrogance often replaced the human attributes once the Dark Gift took hold of it's host. It was the fateful ancient curse of remorse and empathy that the Death Knight of old had passed to his lover...She too felt it as Soth did, an inescapable bondage that was magnified beyond any possible mortal endurance, known as "The Bleeding Heart of the Vampyre..."

Soth's raven black hair soon became heavily laden with the rain droplets that fell about him. The long lustrous mane had now matted it's self to his sharply chiseled face, falling in parted strand's as his head hung low in distant thought's of the past he fought desperately to rid himself of. His gloved hand balled into a tight fist, then relaxed once he felt his lover silent approach from the murky shadow's of the courtyard.

With great reluctancy, Soth slowly turned his wearisome head towards Tatiana. The connection of pain that had been long lived in the Death Knight became more prevalent and profound once his deep blue eye's locked with hers...The lighting crackled then flashed once more, illuminating the beauty of Tatiana's form momentarily. Shadow's danced as they were set free from the very object's that cast them; living out their short life span's within that split moment of brilliant light, then fading back to recess's of the night. The pale slender hand that Tatiana held out to Soth in a gesture of sympathy touched his dark and dismal soul. She understood him completely...

"My beloved,...My dark angel...You have come to me in my darkest hour...I beckon you,...Come hither." Soth whispered above the clamor of rain as it fell in sheet's about them, holding out his own hand to her.

"I have always fought this battle of self...One that has never quite relinquished it's terrible grip upon me." A look of longing that was mingled with despair crept across Soth's marble like face as Tatiana heart wept for him.

"Can you not banish it from me once and for all my sweetest love?...To set me free from it's heavy hand that threatens to crush me now?" Soth eye's pleaded with hers.

The rose continued to weep it's song upon the cold and unfeeling stone...

[Mistress Tatiana]

Tatiana grasped his outreached hand and took his other one as well. She held tightly onto him and pulled herself closer into his body. Looking up into his eyes, she saw the pain they held within. "Soth, there are many things about you that remain a mystery to me. You withhold your past away from my thoughts and refuse to let me understand who you truly are." Her words were spoken with a deep sincerity for her lover. He held a pain within him she did not understand, a pain he kept unto himself, a pain that drove him to this place from time to time. She would always follow him and watch from afar, never disturbing him until tonight. This particular night was different somehow from the other times Soth had ventured here.

His blue eyes pleaded with hers, reaching into her heart and pulling at the thread of humanity she had left. She reached her hand up and touched his porcelain like face caressing it gently. She continued to speak softly to him. "My love, I will always be here when you need me. I love you." She pressed her lips against his in a loving kiss. Pulling back she spoke once more, the rain continuing to fall about them. "How though, can I banish this pain from your heart, when you tell me not what it is?"

[Lord Soth]

From a distance the two entwined forms appeared as marble statue's in a lover's embrace as if for the last time. The Death Knight let his pale hand's slip to the small of her back as he drew her in. She paused momentarily, reviling the tortured heart she felt for him within that moment.

"How though, can I banish this pain from your heart, when you tell me not what it is?"

Her heart felt word's fell like soft whisper's of silk upon his troubled mind...His gaze left hers briefly as he trailed his eye's over to the saturated grave. Tatiana's word's griped him, then subsided...He knew his fate, an inescapable fate that would never yield or forget the sin's of his past.

"There is nothing in this world, nor in this time that can save me from that now my dearest love..." Soth word's were low and hallow as his eye's returned back to hers.

"Even a love such as ours could never break or dismantle the chain's that hold me prisoner to this retched curse...It is simply my fate." Soth could see in Tatiana's countenance the effect of his stinging word's and how it tore at her spirit. A refection of her own pain was also evident within his as their eye's locked. He cursed the thought of hurting her so...Nevertheless, she was entitled to know, even if it meant suffocating the last remaining hope she still held on to.

Soth cupped her delicate face with his ashen hand's, kissing her gently then leaning his forehead to her. There were thing's she knew not of him. Yet, he lacked and could not find the courage in that moment to tell her. A past littered with death and decay...Bonds of evil that corrupted him long ago...A loathsome and vile evil that Tatiana would never understand.

"My love,...On my honor as a Knight of the Rose...I will promise you this." His eye's peered deep into hers as he spoke an unbreakable vow to her breaking heart. Her soft eye's desperately trying to quench and mask the growing pain that welled in her being.

"I will never return to theses accursed grounds that haunt us so, nor will the trod of my boot touch its stained soil as long as you grace my life throughout all time." His word's spilled out like sweet honey from his ruby lip's, pressing them to hers once again as he finished. Soth took Tatiana's hand in his own, never looking back to that place as their form's dissipated into the cool inviting darkness beyond them.

The life giving rain subsided soon after and the thirsty plain's of Roon were now well fed. The rose wept no longer, yet strangely it transformed into what was seemingly impossible as the inky black hue's returned to its torpid peddles. Lifeless, dead as the cold stone it rested upon, but still living nonetheless...

A single, lively green sprout broke it's way through the roses long tough stem, snaking its way slowly around the stone spire until it reached the moist soil below. In the years to fallow, this miraculous, solitary black rose would spawn an enormous vibrant garden of its own unique make and kind; perfuming the air with the familiar bitter, sweet fragrance it was known for. However, the accused rose garden only grew around one particular grave as if framing it in a loving decree of remembrance unto its self. It's deadly, ravenous tendrils would eventually cover the haunted woodland's of Roon while at the same time choking out the thistle's and wild thorn's that stood in its rapidly growing path...

...A time and a place never to be forgotten,...One that would always be remembered.



In loving memory
George Key
1949-2002