by Unknown
She climbed to her feet, revealing puddles of blood in the sand beneath her, and waited, staring at me warily. I strode forward slowly, giving her the opportunity to attack again. I knew this beaten appearance was all a ruse. She was finally thinking strategically, luring me in closer so she could catch me unaware. But I had been fighting far longer than she and I had tricks of my own. Tricks I'd developed back when I was the weaker opponent. I would use her ploy against her.
I took another step forward and then she was flying through the air, going straight for my throat. I lowered my head at the last second and we crashed together, my head going straight into her open mouth. I pushed further, feeling her teeth cut gouges into my fur as a horrible cracking echoed in my sensitive ears. Her jaw.
Fallon cried out as Zariel whined in pain. I pulled back and she simply slid off me, like the blood dripping down my face. She crumpled to the ground beneath me, her eyes rolling wildly as she held her head rigidly still. Her chest heaved and puffs of air blew from her nostrils with spatters of blood, shifting the sand around her. Her lower jaw was at an unnatural angle, almost ninety degrees to her upper jaw, so wide that I could see the attachment of her tongue. It appeared abnormally long in the fractured frame of Zariel's mouth and lay in the sand shivering like a salted slug.
The fight had been ridiculously short, which I knew it would be. This wasn't a challenge, it was a punishment. I needed Zariel to not only fear me but have a distinct memory of what to fear. So even though she was obviously beaten, I lowered my face and closed my own jaws over her neck, biting hard enough to make her bleed. After I tasted her blood, I let go of her, backed up, and sat on my haunches. I began to clean myself meticulously, as any cat would.
Kirill came up behind me with a silk robe. He knew I didn't like walking around nude, no matter how comfortable shifters were with their bodies. When I had licked all the blood away, I changed back to human and he slid the robe quickly around me. I belted it, keeping my eyes on Zariel. She must have been in enormous pain but she knew she couldn't shift back until I allowed it. If she did, she was dead.
I stared at her. One, two, three, and then nodded. She whimpered as the magic overtook her. The change healed all her wounds but it took its toll and she laid there nude and shivering, unable to move. I turned my back on her like she was nothing and the Intare did as well. Only her father went to her and held her, rocking her like she was a baby.
“Fallon,” I called back to him.
“Yes, Tima?” Came his gruff reply.
“Collect your things and your daughter and leave my territory immediately,” the words hurt to say but I knew my family wouldn't be safe with that viper living beneath the same roof as us.
“Tima?!” Fallon cried.
“You may stay, if you wish,” I stopped walking but didn't look back at him. “But she must leave. It's your decision whether you want to leave with her or stay with your brothers. Choose wisely this time.”
Chapter Nineteen
We feasted then and as much as it felt wrong to celebrate while one of my best friends faced the toughest decision of his life, I knew that this would all change if I succeeded. Fallon's feelings would be the least of what I saved if I was able to alter the future. Besides, he deserved this. He, with exception to Kirill himself, was the lion with the most reasons to be loyal to me. I couldn't simply forgive his betrayal.
I wasn't surprised when Fallon once more chose Zariel. Sad but not surprised. While I sat in the dining hall between my Intare husband and our daughter, Fallon slunk out of my territory with his daughter. I knew the moment he left, I could feel the line between us thinning. He wouldn't die from the thinned cord but he would suffer without his Pride.
The Pride, however, was happier without them there. As soon as Fallon and Zariel left, it was like a dark cloud had lifted and my carefree lions broke out of their shells once more. I sighed, content to sit there with them, watching them tease one another and pass around plates of food like brothers. Aidan stole someone's steak, as he often did, and a chase ensued. As he passed by Hunter, Hunter's leg stretched out, apparently by chance, and tripped Aidan. As Aidan was tackled, Hunter looked up at me and winked. Roarke would be proud.
I smiled but then took another look around the table. “Where's Darius?”
The room fell silent.
“He moved to Faerie, remember?” Kirill asked softly.
“Oh, right, to be with Lorna,” then I remembered that it was Lorna's son who had killed me. I searched inside me for Darius' cord and couldn't find it. My heart began to race as I asked, “What happened to Darius?”
“Without you in Faerie, he lost his connection to our magic,” Lesya said gently. “We don't know what happened exactly. I'm sure it wasn't a comfortable situation for him but still, he never came home. He stayed with Lorna and one day, I felt his cord break.”
I swallowed hard and looked down at my lap. I knew exactly what she meant by that. I had connections to all of my lions, glowing cords I could see in my mind if I concentrated. If the cord broke, it meant the lion was dead.
“He chose to die in Faerie instead of returning to us?” I asked quietly.
“As I said,” Lesya shook her head. “I don't know what happened. I do know that King Guirmean was enraged after the death of his son. He might have imprisoned Darius and prevented his return or he may have killed him outright. When Dad went to Faerie to see Uncle Arach, no one knew what had happened to Uncle Dare and no one would take Dad into Water to ask.”
“You would have gone into the Water Kingdom to find Darius?” I asked Kirill in surprise.
“Vouldn't you?” He asked simply.
“Fair enough,” I gave a little laugh. “I'm sorry he died, however it was done.”
The table of Intare nodded somber heads in agreement. Losing one of their own was hard on them, almost as hard as it was on me. They might not have had the same connections with each other as I did with them, but they had been through hell together, twice from the sound of things, and that forged strong connections in people.
“Has anyone gone to Duat to look for him?” I asked and the Intare stared back at me with open mouths. “What? Did you guys forget that you're bound to Anubis in death? Haven't anyone gone to see our dead brothers?”
“We did forget,” Kirill huffed a laugh and then laughed even harder as he shook his head. “Aidan, go to Duat and see if Darius is there.”
“No,” I called to Aidan before he left the room. “Let's finish our meal and then we'll all go.”
“Yes, Tima,” Aidan went back to his seat smiling and the rest of the Intare started eating with more enthusiasm.
It was a good day for the Pride, they'd had the return of their Tima and news that their brother was not entirely lost to them. Hopefully that would be enough to assuage the ache over losing Fallon and our little lion princess.
Chapter Twenty
It had been a long time since I'd visited Duat and even longer now, I suppose, but the chant hadn't changed and I was able to trace in easily with my entire Pride. Anubis must have sensed our arrival because he came running down the long hallway toward the onyx tracing chamber with a pack of werejackals on his heels. He stopped short when he saw me; the gold beads in his sleek, jet-black, shoulder length hair clicking together as he held his hands up to stop the jackals.
“Vervain?” He asked in an awed tone. “Is that really you?”
“Sorry to pop by unannounced,” I smiled wide. “I wanted to see my dead lions and I heard you may have a new one.”
“I heard you were a dead lion,” his face was shifting through emotions so fast, I couldn't register them all.
“I was,” I frowned, “or rather, I will be. My daughter Samara came into the past and brought me forward in time so I could change a few things.”
“Change a few things?” Anubis blinked, his expression finally settling on confusion.
“How about we sit down and catch up?” I glanced behind me. “We're abou
t to have a pile up in your tracing chamber.”
“Oh, of course,” he laughed, “come on in, Not-Dead-Vervain, and bring your entire Pride with you. Why not?”
“It's good to see you too, Anubis,” I grinned as I went forward and hugged him.
His arms slid around me and his head laid over mine but it felt awkward. Anubis was the Egyptian God of Embalming and as such, he knew all about the human body. It made him very good at certain intimacies but this hug lacked all his usual finesse. His body was tense, his arms forming a loose cage around me instead of pulling me in. It was the type of hug you gave a family member you loved but didn't like. Not at all what I'd been expecting from Anubis. I adjusted myself into his side so I could give him a quick squeeze before letting him go.
“Are you alright?” I looked up at Anubis and searched his oil-slick eyes. Jewel toned colors were swirling brightly across the black of his irises.
“Back from the dead and she asks if I'm alright,” he chuckled and looked over to Kirill.
“You're avoiding the question,” I frowned as Anubis led us through the halls of Duat, towards his ballroom. He must have realized that his dining room wouldn't be big enough for all of my Intare.
“It's a trifling matter,” Anubis sighed. “I'm having a bit of a disagreement with my wife.”
“Your wife?” I asked with a big grin. “You found her?”
“Yes, I found her,” he smiled at me. “The very one you showed me all those years ago. She's wonderful, Vervain, and I'm normally very happy with her.”
“But?” I pressed.
“But she thinks I'm neglecting her lately,” he rolled his eyes as we entered the ballroom. “Oh,” he turned to one of the jackals. “Go and fetch our resident Intare.” The jackal barked and ran off. “Please,” Anubis waved us all into the ballroom and then strode across the massive room to yank open the velvet curtains which had been closed over the glass balcony doors. Sunlight poured into the room, adding its cheery warmth to the stark god lighting.
“Why does she think you're neglecting her?” I followed him to a seating area near the balcony, my heels clicking on the pristine marble floor.
I took a chair near Anubis and Kirill chose one on my other side. Lesya positioned herself behind me, as if she were my bodyguard; arms crossed and eyes wary. That gave me pause but when I looked up at her, she just smiled at me like this was perfectly normal.
“She can be a bit high maintenance,” Anubis sighed. “Vervain, I'm sure you're not here to listen to me prattle on about my love life.”
“I most absolutely am. Tell me all about her.” I grinned; ecstatic that someone's life had been totally unchanged by my death. I was also a little relieved that he wasn't mad at me. That hug had been disconcerting.
“Alright, I will,” Anubis smiled and it lit his dark features in a way I'd never seen. “But first, don't you want to see your lions?” He waved a hand back towards the doorway and I turned to see Darius entering the room with Rick, Hamish, Alan, Noel, George, and Ethan. My Dead Lions Society.
“Boys,” I smiled wide as I stood and opened my arms to them. They came rushing forward, bringing the living Intare along with them like magnets, and encircled me.
“Tima,” Darius whispered as he hugged me. “How can you be alive? Are you like us? Did Anubis somehow bring you to Duat?”
“No,” I pulled away and quickly explained it to them. Then I turned back to Darius. “What happened to you? Tell me how you died.”
“I don't think it will help,” Darius sighed. “It definitely has nothing to do with your quest and I think it will only bring you useless pain. I died after you did.”
“Dare,” I growled.
“Guirmean had me imprisoned at the beginning of the war,” Darius sighed. “He thought he could use me as leverage against you if he needed to.”
“Did he?” I frowned.
“I don't know if the attempt was ever made,” Darius' eyes went serious. “All I know is he came storming into my cell one day and stuck a knife in my heart.”
“Guirmean did?” I felt another piece of my own heart break.
I knew Guirmean had his reasons, that he was influenced by the loss of his son, but it's never easy to learn that the people you care about can become monsters. For me, it was even worse. The knowledge forced me into a decision. Did I allow these things to alter my opinion of Guirmean? I already knew that I would forever harbor resentment towards Zariel over what she'd done. Even were I to change things so that she never did them, I would always see the traitor she could become. But then Zariel had tried to hurt my daughter and my lions. Guirmean had simply responded to the death of his child in a way any parent would understand.
The thing was; Prince Morgan had been fighting in a war. There are obvious risks that come with war and Morgan had killed his fair share of faeries before he paid the price. I knew that better than anyone, being one of his victims myself. So was it honorable for Guirmean to slay Darius in retaliation? Darius; an imprisoned innocent man. No, it wasn't honorable nor was it excusable but still, the question remained. Did I hold this future against the past Guirmean? Was that honorable? Especially considering the fact that Arach had done much worse in retaliation for my death.
“I don't hold it against him,” Darius said, as if responding to my thoughts. “I do miss living with Lorna though, and our children.”
“Your children?” I gaped at him. I guess I wasn't the only one popping out babies.
“We had two,” he smiled sadly. “Two girls. They need to be in the Water Kingdom so Lorna lives there with them. They come to visit me here though,” he gave me a stronger smile. “You should see them, Tima, they're amazing. My little water lions.”
“Water lions?” My jaw dropped. “Wow. I'd never even considered that the two of you could have children together.”
“Persephone helped us,” he grinned.
“Demeter's fertility magic,” I whispered.
“Yes,” he nodded, “with a little Transmutation from Faerie... through you.”
“Me?” I smiled. “I helped you have children?”
“You sure did,” he squeezed my hand.
“Well, if I can find a way to fix this, you'll have your family back, Dare,” I squeezed him back.
“Thanks, V,” he grinned.
“So much went wrong,” I inhaled deep.
“But a few things went right too,” Aidan said from behind me.
“What's that grin all about?” I narrowed my eyes on him.
“Darius and Fallon aren't the only ones with children,” he grinned bigger.
“No way. You reproduced? Who let Aidan reproduce?” I asked in a mock horrified tone.
“Tima,” Aidan groaned. “You did.”
“I did, eh?” I laughed. “Where is she, this bastion of female strength who bore your children? I want to shake her hand. She must be a saint.”
“All of us moved our families out of Pride Palace when the fighting began,” Lucian said gravely.
“All of you?” I looked around the gathered Intare. “How many of you have your own families now?”
Hands began to lift, a lot of them, and smiles spread among my beautiful lions. I gave a shaky smile as I began to cry, so happy to know that they'd been able to find love and live the lives I'd hoped they would.
“All of you get out of here,” I said with a huge smile. “Go and get your families and take them back to Pride Palace, where they belong.”
They cheered, though it sounded a lot like roaring, and the men who'd lifted their hands said goodbye to their brothers and me, before running off to collect their families and bring them home. Home. Pride Palace had become a home to multiple families. Which meant that my family had grown much more than I'd thought.
“Vervain?” I looked up to see Ma'at entering the room.
“Ma'at,” I rushed forward to hug the Egyptian goddess. “It's been a long time.”
“Yes, it has,” her face was pleasantly shocked
when we pulled apart. “I hardly believed it when the jackal told me you were here.” She walked back to the seating area with me.
“You look just the same,” I admired her lustrous white hair, shining like a pearl atop her head and draping over her shoulders in artfully arranged curls. It appeared even brighter against her coffee-colored skin.
“Thank you,” she smiled sweetly, squeezing my hand before setting her eyes on Anubis. “Has someone told Re?”
“Yes, I believe one of the jackals went to fetch him,” Anubis' jaw clenched, his eyes darting to me and then away.
It was the same look he'd had when he hugged me earlier. The one which made my mind proclaim; Warning! Warning! Warning!, in a monotone robotic voice.
“What was that?” I pointed sharply at Anubis. “What happened with Re? Why are you making that face?”
“What happened with Re?” Ma'at looked at me with rapid, confused blinks before her gaze lowered to my rounded belly and something seemed to click for her. “What child do you carry?”
“Excuse me?” I huffed.
“The child,” she pointed to my belly. “Which of your children are you pregnant with?”
“Oh my,” Anubis stood as his mouth dropped open. “I hadn't thought to ask.”
“I'm pregnant with Rian,” I frowned at both of them. “My first child. Why?”
“Oh no,” Ma'at shared a concerned look with Anubis.
“Rian?” Kirill stood and set horrified eyes on me. “You didn't tell me it vas Rian you carried. I assumed... Nyet, zis is bad.” He turned to Anubis, “You must stop Re before he gets here. She doesn't know. I didn't zink to tell her.”
“Know what?” I growled, looking from one of them to the other. “Tell me what?”
“This is so messed up,” Hunter observed in a low, shocked tone. “I'm never time traveling, no matter what.”