Mara - The Lady Grief (Completed)

65 Sleeping Plots and Drunken Secrets

Time Immortal, The Palace of Irkalla, City of Ersetu, The Underworld

Thelios

Erra is a dangerous little fuck. That is why our Heart was worried about introducing us to him. My brother's ill-begotten son is an undead without the senseless need to kill. An immortal blooddrinker.

And he is obsessed with my daughter. My child.

She is such a tiny little thing. The part of me that is Thelios is livid, but the part of me that is War is murderous. As soon as I took her from my Firesprite into my arms I remembered holding Poppy for the first time. Coming out of that damn cellar where she spent her first years in the above. How she barely ever spoke at first.

I eye Erra. I wonder if he knows what her life was like before my female rescued her? I imagine if he did, he would be hunting. Some torment must be handed out to everyone who knew that there was a baby in that basement. Our Heart is too soft-hearted to allow a soul to endure centuries of suffering, but I can tell that Erra is up for the task.

"Papa, look!" Poppy climbs on top of Momo's back and tumbles off into a roll. Both Momo and Poppy stand up, arms held out, as if they are performing the most talented acrobatics show.

I hide my wince when they do it again and Poppy's shoulder hits the floor a little too hard. Lady Kalla scolds them gently, admonishing them to at least use something soft underneath.

Erra gives them his cloak, spreading it out on the floor for them.

So, he's a thoughtful, obsessive blood-drinker. Still not impressed.

"Where is Our Heart?" my brother asks me in a low voice.

I look away from my daughter to find Nateos returning from the garden without our female.

I growl lowly. All that Death is doing is making the urge to run away with Our Heart even stronger. "Let's find her, brother," I murmur to him.

I make eye contact with Erra, making sure the young male understands to watch my daughter. The male openly scoffs. I scowl, a few more years and he'll be old enough to punch.

Outside in the garden we see no signs of our female, but three of her Basru are guarding a small whitewashed wooden door tucked into one of the corners.

"Our Princess?" my brother asks.

"In the Napthia garden," one of them answers.

"Alone?"

"With her cat," another Basru answers. "She asked for privacy."

I frown. There is something odd about the male cat she has. Even shifter animal spirits aren't so... aware.

My brother and I pace for no more than a few heartbeats before we've had enough with waiting.

I push the door open and see our female, curled up on a bench, fast asleep.

Mishu and Mushu push past me, cavorting and scampering around the garden. Mushu grabs a rose and yelps, looking at the thorn that has pierced his hand. I frown and walk over, looking at the thorns. The flowers have white petals with blood-red centers that look wet, like they are actual hearts. The thorns seem normal, but the very tips are black, and the edges appear too sharp to be any sort of normal plant. The thorn that pricked Mushu has a small spot of black blood on it.

A thud grabs my attention. Mushu has keeled over onto his back, his rounded belly stuck up in the air. Mouth open, he snores.

Fuck.