Love and Chaos

The Second Duel to the Death

She glared at him as if he had been about to suggest that they should. He felt it was wiser—not to mention safer—at this juncture to stay silent instead of informing her that that particular aspect of married bliss had been the farthest from his mind.

"Once we get to Styx, you shall explain your role in your family's plot and Auntie shall take the proper legal channels, but first you're going to explain it to me. I think I deserve that much."

She crossed her arms, squinting down her nose at him.

She did, indeed, deserve an explanation, but Bedlam was sure that anything he said would be useless. She'd understandably made up her mind to hate him, which meant—if her assessment of the legal matters was correct—that the marriage was off, and that the moor would be left destitute. Even through the gloom of the night outside, Bedlam could see the flat, grassy expanse of Catawampus rolling past them, devoid of almost any magical flora or fauna thanks to the straits the moor found itself in.

"We... really did need resources," he said lamely, turning back to Raina.

"So you have said, but that explains nothing. If you were so hard up, Mayhem simply could have married me as he had promised."

"Right... Well, Mayhem backed out of it because... um... well, you're Styxian, so..."

She balled her hand into a fist, and said, through gritted teeth, "So?"

"So he thought—I mean I don't agree with him or anything—but he thought that meant you wouldn't make a very good wife, since you... you know, live so close... to the..."

He trailed off, as her other hand had also transformed into a fist, doubling the likelihood of his being punched.

"Well," Raina said, "I'm sorry you all find us Styxians so terribly humane. I shall endeavor in the future to prove otherwise. But getting back to the matter at hand, Bedlam, what exactly was in it for you?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you. Your wretched moor would have gotten what you wanted whether I married you or your brother, and yet you were the one who did the deed. What did you get out of this exchange? Prestige? Prowess? Some dark deal struck between you and Mayhem in the shadows of twilight?"

"Uh... I don't really..."

"What I am asking is, why did you want to marry me?"

"I... I... didn't," he admitted, and certain that she really was gearing up to do him bodily harm, added, "Mayhem made me!"

Raina sat back, genuinely shocked. She even unballed her fists a little.

"Made you? How?"

"He started by ruining some of my specimens, and he probably would have moved on to my inventions from there. He's always been like that. He just showed up this morning, telling me I had to switch places with him."

"This morning!"

He nodded. "I'm sorry for lying to you, but you really have to understand that by not marrying Mayhem, you're the one who dodged a bullet. After spending my whole life with him, I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone else."

"Oh."

"Still, I'm sorry... about all of this."

Raina opened her mouth to say something else, but took a deep breath and closed it, then proceeded to stare out the window, her snake-pupil eyes wide, her green eyebrows furrowed. She absent-mindedly fiddled with the invisible watch between her fingers for a moment, then finally said, "Um, I, uh, I really ought to let Sedgely rest for the night, so..."