Eliza was used to the unexpected, but even she had not been prepared for Liraz to appear in the doorway of her room in Scarab's castle in the middle of the night.

Actually, it wasn't so much the doorway as the foot of her bed. And she didn't so much appear as loom over her, fiery wings glowing bright in the darkness.

"What the hell, Liraz?" Eliza managed to gasp, sitting up and raking a hand through her tangled curls. Liraz blinked.

"Excuse me?" Oh, right. It was an earthly expression and Eliza had spoken in English.

"Doesn't matter. Everything okay?" Translation: 'What do you want and why couldn't it have waited until tomorrow?'

"I-" Without preemptive, Liraz flopped down onto the end of the bed. There she sat in silence for a moment, staring down at her tally-marked hands. "I don't know."

"What?" Eliza frowned. "What do you mean 'you don't know'?" A thought occurred to her. "It's not Ziri, is it?" There was a pause.

"Yes. I- I think so." Eliza stared at her.

"What does 'I think so' mean? Did you argue?" That better not be why you woke me up, she thought. But Liraz simply shook her head. "Then what?" She pressed. "Is he hurt?" Another shake. "Is he... Is he dead?" This last came out as a gasp. How could that have happened? When? Why?

"No!" This seemed to snap Liraz out of her trance. "No, of course not. Don't be ridiculous." Eliza felt a flicker of impatience spark into life.

"Then what?"

"I don't think I love him." And with that, she burst into tears. This startled Eliza even more than the other's confession and she leapt back, alarmed. Liraz? Crying? But she was so... So stoic. In the short time Eliza had known her, she had come to the conclusion that Liraz wasn't in possession of functioning tear ducts. As for not loving Ziri, where had that come from? Not since Akiva and Karou had an angel and a chimaera been so adoring of each other. Something was not right here. Uncertain as to how Liraz would respond, Eliza inched cautiously forward, placing a hesitant hand on her shoulder.

"Hey. Hey, it's okay. It's fine. Breathe. We can sort this, okay? Now," she said, sitting back, "tell me what you mean."

"I don't think I love him," Liraz repeated, sobbing. "And I don't understand why that makes me feel like this!" She was practically hyperventilating.

"Calm down. Calm down." Of Eliza's list of people she expected to behave like this, Liraz didn't even make the top one hundred. "Tell me what you mean. Slowly."

"I do love Ziri," she began shakily. "I love being around him. He makes me... Happy." It sounded as though the word was unfamiliar to her.

"But?" In Eliza's experience, a bit of gentle prompting went a long way.

"But when I look at my brother and Karou... You and Scarab..." Her and Scarab? Eliza felt heat creep into her cheeks. "It's different."

"Well, not all couples are the same. And that's good, I mean-"

"No!" Liraz cut her off sharply. "I do love Ziri," she repeated, "It's terrifying and amazing and it's like nothing I've ever felt before. I love him and I want it to be forever." She shrugged, perhaps a little embarrassed by what she had revealed, before taking a deep breath and continuing. "But I'm not certain I'm in love with him."

"Go on," Eliza encouraged, suspicion beginning to flower inside her mind. She was remembering an article she'd stumbled across online a couple of years ago. It was rare, but was it possible that Liraz... Could she be...

"I can't 'go on'!" Frustration, pure and simple. "That's all there is to it! I've never understood how people can feel that way and I don't think I ever will and I'm wondering if I'm somehow- somehow broken." This last was just a whisper, so low that Eliza had to strain to hear it. "You know a lot," Liraz went on, not looking at her. "You have the memories of your ancestor, who lived for thousands of years. I know by now that people once admired Elazael. Surely, she must have known how to fix people like me. So," she glanced up then, eyes full of hope, "will you?"

"Will I what?"

"Fix me?" There was a pause. "Please?" Eliza hadn't been aware that Liraz knew that word.

"Look," she said, shifting slightly on the feather mattress. "I would if I could, but-" She broke off as Liraz made a choked noise. "No, listen. I can't fix you because there's nothing to fix." Liraz froze.

"What?"

"You're not broken, Liraz. You're aromantic."

"I'm what?"

"Aromantic." How could she put this to someone who knew nothing about it? "See," she began, "some people- well, you know how some women like..." No, Liraz probably wouldn't understand like in the form of like. "How some women are drawn to men and some are drawn to other women? And some men feel drawn to women and some to other men?" The other girl nodded wordlessly. "And how some people are drawn to all genders?" Another nod. "Well, some are drawn to none, or only to people they've known a while. On Earth, we call that asexual and demisexual. But the thing is, the people you fall in love with might not be the same type of people as the ones you're drawn to. And some people get drawn to people- or maybe they don't- but they never feel romantic love. And that's called aromantic. But that doesn't mean they're- doesn't mean you're- incapable of loving." She gazed at Liraz intently, trying to gauge her reaction. If there was one, it was not on display. "Do you understand?"

"I'm normal?" Two words. So simple, yet Eliza could tell how much they meant to Liraz.

"Well, it's not common, but it's not wrong, you know?"

"Not wrong."

"No," she agreed gently, "not wrong. You and Ziri might not be the same as other people, but that's not a bad thing."

"I'm normal?"

"Yes," said Eliza, understanding that this was what Liraz needed to hear. "You're normal."

"Thank you," Liraz smiled- actually smiled- before rising from the bed. "You won't say anything about this, will you?" She added, a little nervously. Eliza shook her head. Liraz gave another small smile and headed for the door. But Eliza wasn't quite done with her yet.

"Liraz?" She called. Liraz whipped around.

"Yes?"

"What you said before... Me and Scarab..."

"Yes, you and Scarab." Liraz looked amused. "Goodnight, Eliza."

"Goodnight, Liraz."

And with a nod, Liraz was gone, vanishing out the door and round the corner, whispering the word 'aromantic' to herself over and over again, leaving Eliza alone in the dark.

Her and Scarab?

Well, maybe.