How foolish it was that such a simple gesture might prove so entirely calming in that moment. The hand that nestled within his own dark locks seeing so much of that held tension ease from within the Fae as he remained so reclined upon that seat and with his lovers leg as a pillow of sorts. That Sebastian did not think him some kind of monster for his inability to act all those years ago was relieving even if Dorian so remained a victim of his own thoughts in this. The man unwilling to forgive himself even if others were, that notion that his lover was not so affronted by this as to look upon him with any less affection then he ever had, however, was perhaps the most soothing of all. How curious it was, that the actions of so many years ago might still bother him now when he had held but five hundred years to contemplate it! Some things, perhaps, were so destined to linger within his mind and too, stir up that emotion that he had believed he had long since moved beyond. His mind would not allow him to forget, it seemed, the very day that had been the cause of so much of his misery thereafter. This, perhaps, was but one of those lesser points of immortality. A veritable eternity to make mistakes that one might regret. Dorian having struggled to admit such things even now and to Sebastian and yet once such words had been spoken he was inclined to find them freeing in a fashion, content in the knowledge they had so at last been spoken all the same.

He had not anticipated perhaps, that the first of Sebastian's question had so been desired to distract his thoughts from those more dejecting concerns and internal worries that gnawed at him with relentless discord. He had expected, on some level, that the vampire he so rested against might hold any number of questions in regard to just that which had occurred over the years in which Dorian had spent the better part of his time so forced into a mere existence without any true life to speak off. The sudden influx of queries however, from one so rarely inclined to pry in any sense as Sebastian, was almost of amusement to him. Dorian unable to prevent that soft simper that teased at his features all the same at that clear wonderment and evident curiosity that so beset his lover then. Ah, but it was always Dorian himself whom was so given to hold that look of inquisitiveness! The Fae King so finding such an expression now upon his lovers features to be endearing in a fashion, the man hardly minding those questions he was peppered with but moments later. He was given to pause then, if only to consider how best to explain that which his lover asked after, Dorian omitting perhaps the occasional detail and yet it was hardly from any desire to hide any particular facet. More so, he simply strove to afford the vampire those more direct answers without the logistics behind them. This, evidently, proving unsatisfactory for his companion, at least on some level. His consorts features so shifting and changing in a manner Dorian was entirely assured was so the result of further consideration still and yet, the Monarch said nothing of it, leaving Sebastian to ask just what he desired when it so occurred to him to do so. Dorian hardly inclined, in this moment, to consider any of his lover's questions impolite. Besides, if there was any being whom might ask him anything at any time, then surely it was his boyfriend? Their relationship, surely, allowed the vampire alone such privilege without any fear of social decorum.

It is that final question in regards to those Dark Hunters that saw Dorians own features frown, if only slightly. There was, after all, much in regards to them that he himself did not understand and much too he had considered. It was likely, he supposed, that they themselves no longer knew where he was, their impending return to Italy sure to announce to the veritable world his exact location and yet, surely he would be safe within his own home? His thoughts then, so unknowingly aligning with those of his lover if only in his consideration that, surely, the presence of Sebastian at his side would be something of a deterrent to any would-be assailants. Yet too, he hardly enjoyed the idea that his lover might be placed in any sort of danger in turn. Dorian so given to consider for the first time that, Sebastian too, might so prove to be something of a target via that connection to himself, the very thought of his companion being injured at his expanse far more than he was willing to bear. In all the world, after all, there was but one individual he so desperately loved beyond all else. Such thoughts turning still within his mind at Sebastian's assurance they need be vigilant, the mans voice managing at last to puncture such thoughts and draw his mind from within those fearful considerations.

"I suspect the Hunters do not know where I am. That will change, I fear, in the coming days and yet too, I feel the attention we might well receive may act as a deterrent to them in turn."

They had, after all, attempted to abduct him but once before and in the quietest way possible. Dorian inclined in that moment to at least consider the possibility that, after his return to his throne, any such attempts may prove distinctly more difficult than they had been before. Sebastian query then, upon the very signing of that age-old agreement so prompted the return of his attention to the vampire, a soft 'hmmm?' of inquiry pressed from his lips before that simper so returned to them as the man inquired as to just exactly how such a thing had been signed at all. Dorian so moving to answer before finding himself beset with a veritable plethora of questions so spilling from his lovers lips in a steady stream the sort of which he was utterly unused to hearing from his consort and yet too- that he hardly found himself uninclined to offer. So considering those schematics, after all, was vastly superior to considering the utter desolation and loneliness he had felt all those years, emotions so inclined to sneak back upon him lest he keep them at bay. Sebastian's questions an entirely suitable distraction. One hand reaching for the vampires own in that moment, entwining his fingers with his companions, the smallest of chuckles upon his lips once more.

"Bastian, love, that is a lot of questions all at once, you need give me a chance to answer them. I think we best go through them one at a time and if I am given to forget one merely remind me of it."

He spoke softly then, amusement lacing his words all the same before he so sought to go about providing a response to that first question, an answer that would, in turn, surely provide understanding to several other of the man's queries in some respect.

"I said to you I could not leave the palace, Mon Cher. I did not say none could, though for the most part this was true. We all remained entombed within it save for Matteo. He was Fae, as myself, though far, far older and of all the Fae I have ever known I have never met one so powerful as he. He was a Frenchman, a Bannerman for my mother's family and yet he visited her often. They were very good friends and I had known him all my life. He possessed an ability to move within space, to appear in one place and then another at will. He could move in and out of the Palace and yet he could not move other living beings with him nor overly large objects. Yet letters from myself to others were well within his grasp. He was an entirely fickle creature and yet, over many of those years he assured I had some method of speaking with those I needed."

It had been some time, truly, since he had considered Matteo. The other Fae now, surely closer to a thousand years in age, the man inclined to appear and disappear at will, Dorian so unable to find the word for 'teleportation' and as such he so struggled to explain that 'movement in space' as best he could in some hope the vampire might understand it before so moving to continue with those answers.

"My servants were largely mortal with a small scattering of Fae amongst them and yet when it became apparent we could not leave, my Advisor, Benito, so suggested that they each be afforded that choice to remain human or be made into Fae. Very few so chose to remain human. Fae, as you know, need neither food nor water to survive and too, for each human who was changed they so gained those affinities. My court now held amongst it over one hundred Fae each with a different talent, several of them possessing skills for regeneration, the manipulation of liquids or natural matter. We could not grow food, but we could create it if need be, my palace too, is situated atop several aquifers, water that does not run dry. I may have been trapped within that palace, Bastian, but I did not struggle. As for death, the crypts beneath my home were for royalty alone. If another died they were taken to the fireplace."

He so paused then, allowing Sebastian to take in those further things and consider them as they were offered. Dorian so looking upon that conversion of human to Fae with some disdain, the man choosing that alone to elaborate further upon.

"I converted none of those humans myself and when I learned of the process I forbade it after that. I would have no more mortals turned unless deemed utterly necessary or by their own choosing."

There had been children after all, born to his court by Fae parents, yet mortal still. That Fae gene so often failing to pass and yet in those cases alone, when of age, he was hardly hard enough of heart to refuse those parents the right to have their child join them in immortality rather than watch them grow and die. His head shaking those thoughts softly away.

"As for my safety it was feared that if Matteo could so come and go, could another? Would witches so related to that first find a way to bypass that curse? Could a crossbow fired from a distance enter a window? If the palace was, somehow, to catch alight what would we do if we could not leave? There were so many unknowns my guards hardly knew what to do and too there came the day a cannon fired through my roof and ruined part of my church."

That the 'cannon' he so referred to had been nothing less than a bomb during that world war remained to be seen, Dorian oblivious to such things as his features frowned but slightly once more, so regarding his lover a moment longer before a look near impish so touched his features.

"Bastian. You seem terribly worried about the state of my palace. Do you truly believe that I would so implore of you to return to it were it anything less than luxuriant? I shan't have you lying on a dirt floor, Mon Cher. Caserta is as glorious as it ever was so thanks to that which my court was capable off. I suspect they may have so taken to modernizing it further in my absence."

And, despite it all, Dorian so found himself struggling not to smile at but that look that lingered upon his lovers face at whatever concerns it was that turned still within his mind. Sebastian surely unaware of it all the same as Dorian so lifted the man's hand to brush his lips across it, returning those words the vampire had offered him once before.

"It will be ok."

Dorian Aragona