"Holsten, did you try and eat that fucking thing?"

"Maybe, Captain," comes the sheepish answer.

"Gods you're an idiot," Rolle remarks. The sound of flesh hitting flesh comes a moment later.

"If you need to shit, do it over the hellfire," I tell him.

"Over the fire?" Holsten sounds astonished. I don't blame him, I wouldn't want my dick and balls dangling anywhere near the flames of hell.

I wait for a moment, then we all start laughing.

"You're all assholes," Holsten grumbles. He's lying on his blanket, clutching his belly. His face is green.

"We're the assholes?" Ililie asks, still chuckling.

"Your asshole is going to be very unhappy with you, my friend," I tell him.

"What the fuck does shitting out a demon feel like?" Grey muses thoughtfully.

"Shut up!" Holsten groans.

We all laugh quietly. Grinning, I let my eyes drift shut.

What have you done?!

I am on my feet, fangs bared in a snarl, scales rippling across my neck and back, sword in hand, before the lady in front of me can finish speaking.

"Love," I spit out. I know it's her, even if she is wearing the form of someone I don't recognize.

What have you done?"

She asks again.

I keep silent. I have no idea what she's asking about. And, quite frankly, I don't care about whatever has angered the shrew.

You have sworn yourself to her! You have betrayed your bonded wife, your House!

Oh, is that the problem? "I have righted a wrong I committed," I tell her. "I am paying my price."

The goddess is incandescent with fury. Her eyes are glowing, bright with madness. Without another word, she leaves, dissolves into nothing.

"Who was that pretty piece of ass, Captain?" Grey is sitting up, staring at the spot that the goddess was just occupying.

"The goddess, Love," Lier replies for me.

I slowly lower my sword. "I don't trust her."

"Wise of you," Lier replies.

He and I share a glance. We are the Basru, we belong to Death, so why is Love visiting me in the Underworld?

---

Oh gods, Nateos. My stomach is cramping from nervousness.

I am with you

Always, I hope. But, even the presence of my father, peering over my shoulder, isn't enough to quell the nerves in my stomach.

Especially because my gargoyles aren't here. They came with me as far as the gates to the Fifth District, then stopped. The beasties who braved the Forgotten tombs in the desert for a week won't step foot in this district.

The past haunts me in this place.

I stare into the mirror in the receiving chamber of the temple of Love. I am so used to seeing myself in the dark copper mirrors in the temple of Death that the clarity of the Love mirrors is startling.

I don't look like I belong here. My hair is no longer strawberry-blond, but a dark copper. My face is pale, the freckles small and light compared to the bursts of color in the other women. My lips have darkened to a deeper pink, almost red. I can't help but think that it is because of my very particular diet. The surface of me is changed forever just like my insides.

I look like a being of the dark. I don't belong here in this world of radiant joy and laughter. My place is the quiet murmurs, the deeper happiness and love found in the stillness of the soul that my temple brings.

"Are you shocked by your own beauty?" Thelios teases me.

I smile frailly at him. I'm so scared.

"I look different," is all I can say.

"Lady Mara, you wanted to see me?"

I can't move. Can't turn around and look at my mother. It's too hard. Her voice is the same. I clutch Poppy to me harder. My daughter looks at me, my own worry reflected in her soft brown eyes. I inhale her sweet, baby scent. It's comforting, she smells of home and her parents.

Thelios helps me spin around, his arm secure around my waist. I inhale Poppy deeply. I have to keep centered. My mama... she looks the same. Maybe a little thinner, a bit sadder, but her golden-red hair and warm green eyes are the same. My childhood is in her gaze, in the planes of her face, her arms, her smile.

"Pari," she whispers. Confusion mixed with hope flashed across her face. She looks at Poppy, then back to me.

"Madam," I straighten up. I feel Thelios eyeing my from the side. "I have come to wed this male." I don't know what else to say. Now that she's here, in front of me, suspecting but not knowing that this is her daughter.

"Of course," she whispers, shaking her head absently. "Ah, are you expecting guests?" she asks. Sorrow is flickering in her eyes. She's not sure why I resemble her long-lost daughter. Her eyes keep going back to Poppy in my arms. How can I be her daughter if I have a child? She knows that I never bore a baby up until my death.

"No, Lady Kalla, it's just us," Thelios answers for me. I am grateful that he is letting me decide how to tell my mother that I am... was... Parijan.

"Alright," she says slowly, still examining me. "If you follow me, we can go to the chapel and ask for Love's blessing." She looks confused. She is not a priestess, although it isn't uncommon for family members to marry their children. She must be wondering why we chose her.

Thelios takes Poppy from me, brushing his lips on mine as he settles her against him. I nod to my mother, my fingers wringing together without the weight of Poppy in my arms.

We step into a courtyard, bright and familiar. I breathe through the sheen of tears that coat my vision and make everything shine. To my left is the low one-story white-washed building that was my school for many years. I can hear the babble of young females, laughing and talking as they pour out of the doors for their afternoon exercise.

"Look like me," Poppy says from Thelios' arms. I smile, rubbing her back. They do. I feel out of place as my mother leads us through the herd of bright-haired little girls into the courtyard beyond.

I look back to see my mother staring at me. The tears in her eyes match mine. I offer her a small smile and she smiles back, her lips trembling.

In the chapel the voices of the little females fade. Light in color, the chapel my mother brought us to is simple and elegant, it has a soothing quiet that reminds me of home. My real home with my father, not here. This place feels foreign, uncomfortable. I feel... like a shadow, like my trapped Fourth House spirits.

Thelios... my male looks very out of place. Big, dark, handsome male that he is, nothing like the softness of Love's paradise. He looks like two Love males squashed together, my tattooed warrior.

"You can both bathe, and I will ask for one of the priestesses to come and perform the ceremony," mama says.

"We have no need to bathe," Thelios says quickly. I flash him a grateful smile. The only pool I need to bathe in is my own.

"Yes, well, then... ah, the priest," my mother's voice trails off. She hurries to the door and whispers something to a young female. Curious eyes are peering around the doors, I even see some at the thin window to the outside garden. Hushed giggles fill the air and I blush as I overhear some of the words they are whispering.

They look so dark.

Isn't it romantic?

Her hair is so pretty!

Silently, I thank the little female who thinks my hair is pretty.

He has ink on him everywhere!

Do you think it's everywhere?

I smother my laughter at Thelios' smirk and wink.

"Were you as curious when you were a little thing, Sprite?" he murmurs to me.

I nod my head, 'yes,' laughing softly as he shakes his head, wincing as the speculation continues.

His wings are huge!

How does he fit?

His eyes slowing travel down my body suggestively. His smirk grows when I fidget, feeling warm.

"Behave, Captain."

"Shoo! You have lessons! Off with you now!" My mother scatters the observers and hurries back to us.

"Now, ah, this is Brother Kahil. He will be helping you pledge yourselves to each other." My mother takes Poppy from my arms, cradling her naturally against her chest. My daughter makes not even one protest, just looks at her grandmother with solemn, curious eyes.

The priest is young, maybe younger than me, with a shock of bright red hair and pretty blue eyes. He stares at Thelios in something like awe. He doesn't seem to look at me, but is transfixed by my soon-to-be-husband.

Thelios glares at him and pulls me a little closer to his side. I blush, realizing that I am staring at the young male.

"Ah, so, you are here to wed, yes?" the priest fumbles in his pocket, searching for something. He pulls out a white ribbon.

"Ah, wrap this around your bride's wrist, please," he squeaks at Thelios.

Thelios takes it with a soft snarl and very gently wraps it around my left wrist, then his own.

"Love, grant this couple your blessing," the priest intones, "may they always love and cherish one another."

"Have you a gift for the bride?" the priest asks Thelios.

Thelios smiles at me proudly. "Here, my Sprite," he slips a thin leather strap over my head. Bemused, I glance down. Two small, thin knives dangle from the belt. I touch them, marveling over the craftsmanship of the copper scabbards. Thelios helps me pull one of the blades free. Holding the ebony hilt in my hand I look at the polished copper of the blades.

"They're beautiful, Thelios," I whisper.

"They are one of the only things I woke in the desert with. I want you to have them." He takes the blade from me and slides it back into the scabbard. "She reminds me of you," he smiles, pointing to the female figure on the scabbard.

I look at the figure and give Thelios a look. She does look like me, a shrouded female figure holding a skull.

Perfect are they not?

I purse my lips at my father's interjection.

"When I first saw her I thought she was too perfect to be real, but here you are," he smirks at me while I swoon on the inside.

Yes

My males. My heart warms.

The priest clears his throat, "and now if you may, share the wine with each other." He hands us each a small silver goblet.

We cross our hands over each other and bring the goblets up to each other's mouths.

Thelios sips the wine from my goblet and tips his towards my lips. A drop of liquid slides across my bottom lip. I part my lips, ready to catch it on my tongue.

No Mara!

I cry out, leaping backward, as the howls of the dead fill my ears, A shadow, one of my Fourth House spirits, knocks the goblet away from my lips. The other swarms over the young priest, sending the male careening backwards.

"Thelios!" I cry out as the room darkens to pitch black.

I hear another scream and my heart begins to race. It is the scream of a male in utter torment. Thelios.

Run daughter

---

I leap forward to catch my Sprite in my arms.

And she's gone.

No, no, I think I may be gone. I am no longer standing in the room I wed my Sprite in.

"The oracle wishes to speak with you," the young priest says to me.

I whirl around, catching the male by the throat. "Where are my females?" I ask him in a soft, dangerous voice. The prick of my claws sends small droplets of blood running down his throat to disappear into his robes.

Nervous beads of sweat roll down his face. He swallows, his throat bobbing under my hand. "Y-your bride is merely sleeping. The draught given to her puts her to rest."

"You fucking drugged us?" I tighten my grip on his neck.

"The prophecy," he rasps out, "it is the way it must be. You must prove that you belong to her. A test."

I throw him across the room before I shove my hand down his gullet and rip his guts out through his throat. "She is mine and I am hers, runt. Where is this oracle of yours?"

This temple is the one that gave the First House the prophecy of the "Lord's Fated." The prophecy that the First House used to justify destroying Parijan of the Fifth House for not being good enough.

"You must understand, Captain. Love has been given nothing for the grave insult of the First House rejecting her choice for Thane of the First. Death took his life... or, at least... his memories," He eyes me with suspicion, rubbing his throat. "But, Love was given nothing and it was a female from her own House that died."

I just nod. "There is more here, Priest. You had better pray that your oracle is not wasting my time." The vision I had of Love and... well, it may have been me... I just don't understand it and I need to. I wonder what Love's revenge was for my Sprite's murder. Whatever it was, it was overshadowed by Death's curse.

"Come inside, Captain Thelios. She is waiting."

I walk in from the bright sunlight into dim light. My teeth are bared, fangs dripping with toxin as my demon flexes his muscles. We are in danger, here. Our family is in danger.

It's not what I expected the temple of Love to look like. My mind flashes back to the vision from Death's pool. A confectionary, with lace and soft pillows, that is what I expected.

Instead I am inside a barren rock cave, lit from candles and a blue light shining from a small pool.

The candles flicker before going out. Darkness falls on the cave. I barely keep myself from jumping out of my skin when I see the oracle's eyes gleaming in the dim starlight from the dome above.

"Hello, Thelios. How sweet of you to join me."

Ice fills my blood. My demon snarls. I know that voice. She says my name as if it's familiar, a friend... a lover.

"Love," I respond in a low growl.

The oracle's eyes flicker. "Yes," she says. "You stink, Thelios. Come, bathe in the pool."

I have to stop myself from stepping backward. I smell of Death's sacred waters and Mara.

"No," I snarl. "Why-"

"Why were you forced to be Fated to that female?" she interrupts with a sigh. "Yes, it was terrible, my darling. That little whore took two bonds for herself. Two! Death's little bitch is greedy, isn't she?"

I stifle my rage, barely. I have to tread softly. My memories are still empty, I have one vision, the memories of battling demons and every memory of my Sprite. That's all I am, and it may not be enough to save her. "So Mara is the female in the prophecy?"

The oracle laughs. "Who cares? She won't have anyone, soon."

I bite back the snarl, "what do you mean?"

"Thane is facing his eternal punishment in the Underworld, locked away and defeated. He is nothing, not anymore. Nateos is not forgiving. And you," she sighs, "you will take your brother's place, here, so that you can be with me."

I leap for her, to put my claws in the throat of this crazy bitch, but my body fights me. My demon is frozen, shaking. I feel sluggish, slow, fevered. The cold is seeping into my body, my blood. My heart.

"Why?" I choke out, my rage overcoming all other senses.

"Because, Nateos," she spits, "spurned love for millennia. He refused to give me any respect, then has the audacity to fall in love with a piddling, nothing, Acera female of my own damn House!" the oracle screeches.

I gasp for air. Not understanding... who... not my Mara. He doesn't love his own daughter.

I almost laugh at my own stupidity. His own daughter. His daughter. Mara's mother is the female Nateos fell in love with. My Sprite has two bonds because she is truly a goddess born.

Love is a jealous bitch after all.

"You won't win. I love her, more than my own soul," I murmur, or try to, through frozen lips.

A cold laugh is my answer, "you won't remember her, Thelios. Or should I call you Thane, now?"

Agony. Slicing through my back. I thrash, screaming, as invisible blades cut my wings from my body.

My eyes spring open. I am back in the chapel, but my beautiful Sprite is gone. My daughter, my bride, her mother, everyone is gone, but the room is rapidly filling with priests of Love. I see a shock of red hair as blood covers me. The priest who married me to my Sprite is dragging my wings away.

My wings. I try to stand, to scramble to my feet despite the screaming pain in my back. I slip in the blood on the floor.

My blood.

My claws swipe out and rip the jugular of one of the priests. Now it's not all mine.

Warriors flood the room. I howl, snarling as I recognize the blue and silver insignias on their breastplates. The First House is here.

Something is crawling up my throat. A living thing, viscous liquid, drowning my lungs. I gasp soundlessly, praying that I can still breath, still fight. I need to fight.

A red haze descends. I fight. I kill. I feel flesh and bone under my talons, my claws ripping and shredding everything in their path.

I fight until I can't remember what I'm fighting for.