Embers in the Dark

The Bath

Carman backed up a few steps out of fear, clinging to her whimpering daughter tightly. "Appa, y-you promised to show some restraint from now on."

Appa snarled lowly before slowly relaxing, holding up her palms and taking a deep breath. "I did," she sighed. "Apologies, my love. Now," Appa appeared in full form and craddled up Olena and Carman softly. "Just tell me what happened."

"Well, after some of the group appeared back in Lilly's life, I started noticing some...developments."

"What kind of developments?"

"Some of them...their images would be blocked by light. And it kept happening and the last thing I saw was Lugh putting something on Brigid's wrist. It's their bracelets," she said, grasping Appa's hand. "They all have magic bracelets, which means I can't see what they're up to."

Appa sighed. "Which means you can't control Lilly or Rose. Shit!"

"Shit!" Olena said with a giggle. "I love that word."

Carman and Appa both chuckled happily. "Oh, I just love her," Appa said before looking at Carman and pressing a palm to her cheek. "And I love you."

Carman placed a tender kiss on Appa's palm. "I love you too, Apate. Goddess of Deceit, Trickery and Guile."

Appa kissed her lips softly with a smile. As she pulled back, Appa cleared her throat. "Now, as for our problem, we'll just send Corvin to French Indochina."

Carman sighed with relief and nodded. "Okay. But what about Rose?"

"Oh, you let me worry about Rose," Appa said with a devious smile. "I'm gonna...kick things up a notch."

Both the women giggled before kissing Olena's cheeks and walking down the hallway.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

Arthur and Lilly laughed hysterically as they sat together in the bath. "No, you ain't serious," Arthur chuckled.

"I am dead serious, Arthur!" Lilly giggled while grabbing a strawberry from the tray. "That whole fight was just because I refused to dress like a...like a woman."

Arthur threw his head back with a loud laugh. "I hope you killed 'em."

Lilly nibbled on the strawberry happily. "Most of them."

Arthur glanced at the tray and reached for a piece of meat before chewing on it. "Mmmm, this is some good food," he said.

"Mmhmm," Lilly agreed with a smile, leaning herself against Arthur's chest. "I'm still pretty hungry."

"Yeah, so am I, and we ate most of the food."

Lilly put the remains of her strawberry on the tray and sighed. "Well, we've been in here for a while now." She looked at her fingers. "My skin is all...pruny."

"And we still have things to talk about."

Lilly groaned and turned her head to look at Arthur. "I know, but I'm just..." she rested her head on his shoulder with a pout. "Was the sex good for you?"

Arthur wheezed out a laugh. "It's always good. Hell, it's always fantastic. Why?"

"Just checkin'."

"Hmm."

Lilly nuzzled his neck before kissing it softly. "So, who's Robert Lewis, huh?"

"Oh, that. Heh. Just a...just a persona that I came up with."

"For what purpose?"

Arthur chuckled. "Just to serve you the divorce papers and get you to marry him."