Mara - The Lady Grief (Completed)

54 Blood and Water

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

Thelios

The outcry from the city below seems to ring through the palace throne room like bells. I'm already halfway to the balcony overlooking the rest of Ersetu, to test my newly-grown wings, when the din of thousands of voices rises and chimes like bells.

"What is happening?" Belen asks, bewilderment on his face. He still looks a little green from being sick.

"My Princess is home," Nateos announces, a broad smile stretching across his face. His eyes have lightened in pleasure, dare I say it, almost brown.

Thane and I are racing to the balcony, throwing ourselves off of it without any hesitation. We can see the formation of warriors heading straight through the main gates of the palace. It winds like a spearpoint, a viper with blade and teeth. The Basru is here.

In their lead is Lier.

And in his arms... Mara.

Her red hair flows over his thick arms clutching her tight. Furs are wrapped around her, hiding most of her, just one slim hand is out. It's pressed against his bare skin, just below his throat.

My wings catch the wind. Sore from their reforming, I still push their limits. I have to touch my Flame again, hold her, love her.

Thane hits the ground running and I'm just a step behind him. When he hits Lier and Mara hard enough to tumble her from his arms to the cobblestone street I'm shocked for a split second.

It's like he doesn't notice Mara's slight form tumbling from Lier's arms. The furs fall away, revealing her frailty. My heart stutters. She is so thin, so delicate. Her lips, usually a deep red, are pale white. Shadows under her eyes stand in stark relief to the brutal cut of her cheekbones. I grab her, clutching her to me, grabbing her to my chest. The air I'm pulling into my lungs hurts. My Sprite is dying, even here, in the fucking Underworld, she's so fragile.

"Mara? My Sprite? What... what do I do, Thane?" I ask my brother.

He doesn't respond. I look up and get the second shock. Thane is tangled with Lier, his hand at the dark male's throat, fangs bared and dripping with venom. His tail is whipping in the air, his other hand struggling against Lier's own to plunge into the male's guts and rip them out.

"Fuck Thane! What are you doing?" I bellow. I pick up Mara and move backward to safety. The Basru circles the two warriors, eyes grim, claws and teeth at the ready.

Two of them shift into wolven and charge in between the two males to break them apart, only to be thrown off by my brother without Thane relenting the pressure on Lier's throat at all.

"Not yours," Thane sneers.

Lier chokes, prying at the hands on his throat.

"Traitor. Did you think that I would let you touch my Princess? You whore of Inanji's. I will slice out your eyes and cut off your balls and sew them to the holes in your empty skull," Thane bellows at Lier.

"Feed my daughter, Thelios," Nateos commands. He is watching the fight between my brother and Lier with an odd twist to his face.

I gather my Sprite closer as I take a claw and slice along the vein in my throat. Fresh blood spills, some of the droplets splattering on Mara's too-pale face. "Mara, Sprite, drink. Drink, firesprite." I press her mouth to the wound.

At first, nothing happens, then I feel her softly inhale, feel her tongue dart out and taste. She hums a soft sound of pleasure before she sucks gently, then swallows.