Cult of Two

Doubts

Sabrina was still speechless as she lowered herself into the milky, lavender-colored bathwater Lilith had drawn for her.

She hadn't said a word on the walk back to her chambers. She wasn't sure what to say. Was she supposed to say that she was sorry? No, that wasn't right, and Dorcas would hate it. Especially, when she got off easy.

She got away from Lucifer, but Dorcas didn't get away from Blackwood. Some might say she was lucky compared to so many other women, compared to so many other people, but she didn't feel lucky. She just felt guilty.

It was an irrational feeling, she knew, but she couldn't shake it. Why did Lucifer just leave her? He could have easily overpowered everyone in the room. Was it because he wanted to try again at a later date? Was he going to try to lure her into a false sense of security? Why didn't Blackwood just leave Dorcas alone?

There wasn't any rhyme or reason to any of it.

She tried to put it out of her mind, and focus on something else. Anything was better than thinking about this.

She picked up a rose petal that floated past her in the water. She had been bathing in this stuff for weeks, in preparation for a wedding night that would never come to pass.

She twisted and twirled the rose petal between her fingertips until it ripped.

They didn't talk about the kiss.

Her mind was too filled with horrifying thoughts of the previous night to acknowledge it, but Caliban was completely coherent. He could've brought it up any time he liked. Did he really care enough about her mental well-being to not stress her out further?

Impossible. He wasn't human.

Then again neither was she. Not entirely.

Carefully, she picked up a few delicate elderflowers that were floating by her knee and watched as they fell apart in her hands.

She took that as a sign that she had been in the water too long, so she stepped out of the bath and wrapped herself in a big fluffy towel. She ran her fingers through her damp hair and plastered a wide smile on her face as she looked in a mirror.

It was her wedding day, and she was supposed to smile.

When she couldn't stand looking at herself any longer, she slipped into her robe and into her bedchamber.

That was where she found Dorcas. She was seated at her vanity viciously ripping a hairbrush through the knots at the base of her neck. The ones that Lucifer had caused. She could still see him in her mind's eye with a bundle of red strands clenched tightly in his fist.

"Let me," Sabrina said.

Dorcas looked at her skeptically but handed over the hairbrush, "Aren't I supposed to be the one brushing your hair?"

"Don't get used to it," she said, doing her best to be gentle as she worked the brush through the knots. She looked up at her in the mirror and realized she was still wearing her slip, "You need a dress. I have some that might fit."

"But your tiny," Dorcas said in disbelief, "Like the fair folk."

"Everyone else was surprised by that too."

When she ascended to the throne, demons and other damned creatures had come from far and wide to lay gifts at her feet. They had been shocked to see that their queen of fire and gold was so fragile looking, so human. A mere slip of a woman at five foot two.

Much too short for the gossamer gowns they gifted her alongside, gold, fine jewels, and frankincense. Only a few had been altered to fit her. Her duties took precedent over pretty dresses and diamond earrings, but they would fit Dorcas.

She set the brush down and ran her fingers through her hair to be sure she hadn't missed any knots. "Come on, let's take a look."

Her closet was no less than four times the size of her room at the mortuary. Dorcas eyed her well-worn mortal clothes with disdain, before running her fingers over the luxurious fabrics of her gowns with wide-eyed amazement.

"Pru is going to want to know you found me."

"I'm going to Earth for a while. I wanted to see my family on my wedding day," she explained, "I'll tell her then."

She reached out for several long silk dresses. The red ones were out of the question, and the gold ones were too. At this point in her life, the color gold repulsed her on a chemical level. Magenta was too bright, but dark green just might work.

She held it up for Dorcas to see, "Try this. I'll find you some earrings."

She went to a jewelry cabinet, avoiding anything extravagant. She settled on a pair of black diamond earrings and a matching necklace. It was another gift from some nameless, faceless demon trying to buy her favor.

"Fits like a glove."

She turned back to Dorcas and found her running her hands over the smooth fabric of the dress, the slip she had been wearing discarded on the floor.

"It's yours," she offered, dropping the earrings in her hand, "It's not my style."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked as Sabrina put the necklace on her, "Is it because-"

"No," she interrupted, "What happened to you never should have happened, but I don't think you're less of a witch because of it, and I'm being nice to you because as queen it's my duty to treat the souls in my realm as they deserve to be treated, and I don't think you deserve to be tortured."

"I've done terrible things," Dorcas said, "To you. To the people you care about."

"I think you were just scared," Sabrina told her, "I think we all were."

They were just kids. Scared of losing the only lives they had ever known, and the people they loved. They weren't as different from each other as they had initially thought.

Dorcas was silent for a few moments, staring at the earrings in her hand, "Did he give you these?"

"Caliban?" she asked, and Dorcas nodded, "No. He brought me flowers once."

"Flowers?"

"I like flowers," she said defensively.

"Maybe you like him."

"I most certainly do not," Sabrina countered, "He's annoying, egotistical, brazen-"

"He's also gorgeous," Dorcas interrupted, "If you hadn't noticed."

She refused to acknowledge the other girls, correct, observation, "He's clear about what he wants. He doesn't try to hide it. I know where he stands, what he wants. It's... refreshing."

He wanted power and she had it. She wanted off Lucifer's marital radar, and he removed her from it. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement. And he wasn't trying to buy her.

Sure, he brought her various trinkets, like the flowers she had mentioned earlier, but when she asked what he wanted in return he almost seemed... indignant.

She hadn't trusted him, or rather, she trusted in the fact that she didn't trust him at all. Now she wasn't so sure. The past few weeks had left her with doubts.

She went back to searching through her dresses. She selected a purple one and held it up to herself. It was much shorter than most of her other dresses, more practical, and clearly made for day-to-day activities. It would be suitable for a wedding in the mortal realm.

She had places to be, and she didn't have time for doubts.