The Seed || A Madam Spellman Story

The Lamb

Thin yellow light shone through the window to the east of Zelda's bedroom, bathing the space in a hopeful glow that did very little to abate the nerves growing and consuming the redhead as she felt the rest of her sleep leave her body.

It was the opposite for the woman in her arms, who had come in the middle of the night to spend a few hours in peace before the battle that would determine the fate of the world. Lilith's presence was eerily calm, her moves calculated as always but still, too calculated for Zelda. She would not push it, Zelda was well aware of what Lilith would be confronting by the evening, no matter how close they had gotten or how much trust Lilith had extended, Zelda understood her boundaries.

So, she gently moved raven hair from dark eyelashes, scratching lightly at the scalp in the way she knew Lilith liked and mused- hoping that her heartbeat was steady enough to keep her sleeping if only for a little while longer. The woman wanted nothing more than for this morning to stretch forever.

"You're nervous." Lilith drawled, sleepily and seductively all at once. It was a statement, presented with a surety that could only come from the goddess. Her body warmed like a campfire awakening. She sat up, dark hair fanning around the sharp angles of her face, and blue eyes clear and searching. Her hand moved to rest just under Zelda's left breast, landing lightly on her ribs as if to catch the faint timbre of her pulse.

"I am," Zelda responded in just barely over a whisper. "I'm always worried about you if you can imagine." She added jovially, the other woman's eyes warming with humor.

"I know," Lilith added, "and to think I was the one who worried." She leaned down to meet Zelda's lips with her own; full and warm and steady. Small hands wound themselves in dark hair once again, pulling Lilith flush against her own body- wanting and craving the constant heat of her skin.

"Thank you for the morning," Lilith said once they pulled away, "It was nice to be away from Hell for a little while, though I'm sure they'll be expecting me soon."

"They'll understand if you stay a little while longer, we haven't discussed how you'll celebrate your win."

Lilith sighed dramatically, "Probably with lots of paperwork," a smirk tugged on her lips in memory, "and I thought grading papers at Baxter High was intolerable."

"I heard you were a decent teacher; Mr.Kinkle says you grade harshly."

"Well, there's only so many metaphors to the mines one can squeeze into a paper before they become redundant," she answered lightheartedly, "Sabrina's were always grammatically flawless, but her arguments were illogical- no surprise. Rosalind was always cut and dry-passionate, she liked to play it safe. Theo... he surprised me. Don't tell the others, but he may be my favorite."

"Sounds like you miss it," Zelda observed kindly.

"I do," Lilith turned her head towards the window, seeming to look past what could be seen. There was the back porch that led to an expanse of green lawn before it hit the tree line. Past that was a dense forest that led to the clearing where many things had happened since Sabrina's birth, and a little further along one would find a clear lake running smoothly over rocks in the summer heat. Maybe Lilith was looking at even more, seeing the whole world from a little window... That was something that immortals did, Lilith had told her, compressing all of those years of life into a line and trying to make sense of it through a lens.

"I took to heart what you said, about Hell being what I make it," the pause ended, Zelda listened, "and I've also thought about my legacy. You asked me once what my story was, but I do not believe I was telling you or myself the truth. I'm unsure if I ever knew who I was before this prophecy; I had only ever made decisions based on my survival."

"And now?" Zelda asked, "Things are different."

"Very different." Lilith played with the ends of a pillow. "Nothing is set in stone at the moment, but there will be immediate changes. The problem with overcrowding, the disunity between the circles- within the circles. Some things have improved, but I'm afraid that until a winner emerges between the two of us, Hell will remain stagnant."