Summary: Surreal's family isn't normal, but then neither is she.
Blood That Binds
1. Air
Huge, gaping breaths drew air back into abused lungs as Surreal glared at Lucivar; she completely blamed him for pairing her with Jaenelle for morning workouts.
2. Apples
Surreal considered the distance, but reluctantly concluded that Graysfang was more likely to catch the apple in his mouth than get hit by it.
3. Beginning
From the very first time that Surreal met Daemon, she knew that he was dangerous; sometimes, she wishes that that first impression hadn't been so accurate.
4. Bugs
Surreal looked quite calmly at what Daemonar was holding in his small little boy hands, and decided that Marian ought to be told that her husband was letting their son torment worms.
5. Coffee
She grumbles and snarls at the male who dares wake her before the sun, although the offering of coffee might just see him live out the day.
6. Dark
Surreal had always done her best work in the dark, so it was no surprise that she was so comfortable with the Dark Court.
7. Despair
Despair has never been a constant companion for Surreal, and, like any good SaDiablo, she challenges it head-on before allowing it a momentary victory while she regroups.
8. Doors
Surreal slammed doors when she was angry, but she never quite had the courage to slam the one that led to Saetan's old study once Daemon took up occupancy.
9. Drink
Slugging back another gulp of Khary's homemade brew, Surreal offered the males of the First Circle a dangerous smile as she kept them from barging into the room where Jaenelle was giving birth.
10. Duty
As part of Jaenelle's Court, Surreal's duties had been light and far from onerous; so much so that she still made Jaenelle meals whenever she could coax Witch over to visit for an evening.
11. Earth
She was no Queen, but that didn't mean that she couldn't appreciate the earth around her, and if Daemon wanted to go on living he would stop laughing at the leaves and twigs in her hair.
12. End
Surreal winked at Saetan as she waltzed into his study in his place in Hell, ignoring his groan as she cheerfully set about disrupting his relatively peaceful existence.
13. Fall
As crimson leaves float gently to the ground, Surreal remembers the trickle of blood in alleyways, and her workouts with Lucivar grow more vicious.
14. Fire
The males that Surreal now deals with prefer dealing with witches that are more tart than sweet, so she rages at them like an inferno and enjoys the experience perhaps a bit more than they end up doing.
15. Flexible
Both of Surreal's professions required flexibility, although she knows that her mind still has trouble believing some of the things that Jaenelle says.
16. Flying
She might not have the wings of an Eyrien, but Surreal has a heart that longs to fly free of constraints.
17. Food
Now that Jaenelle can cook, Surreal takes great pleasure in consuming her friend's meals; provided she can get to them before everyone else consumes them.
18. Foot
She never backs down, not even with Lucivar or Saetan, choosing instead to stick the other foot in with the first.
19. Grave
The Sadist might be able to dig a grave that no one will ever find, but as an assassin, she's certainly no slouch herself.
20. Green
She used to wear the Green when she was entertaining clients; now she only wears it for camouflage.
21. Head
"Don't worry your pretty little head about it," she assures Daemonar when they go hunting to celebrate his fifteenth birthday; "you just make sure you can keep up with me."
22. Hollow
Exploring some of the old crawl spaces in the Hall, Surreal realizes that many of the walls have secret passageways; she proceeds to go about scaring people until Daemon gives her a Look.
23. Honor
Saetan's honor is an odd, touch creature, and Surreal might poke at her "uncle" about many things but his honor is never one of them.
24. Hope
Hope has never been a foreign concept to her, even though she has lost it several times, but she thinks that she will never lose it again after the miracle that brought Jaenelle back to them.
25. Light
Surreal smirks and lights a torch, mockingly assuring Rainier, "never fear; I come bearing light."
26. Lost
*I am not lost, I just misplaced the road, so come and pick me up, you bastard!* she sends on a distaff-spear thread.
27. Metal
The bracelet is beautiful, curved and unadorned, and she hopes that Karla appreciates the metal's quality.
28. New
It glints in the light and is more balanced than her current stiletto, and Surreal can't help but think that her family really does know her too well.
29. Old
Sometimes it hurts to look at the First Circle and see how many of them are getting old, especially when she knows that her Hayllian blood ensures that she will outlive most of them.
30. Peace
The peace that Jaenelle brought the realms won't last, but Surreal enjoys it while it's there.
31. Poison
Surreal never uses poison to kill her targets; she prefers the personal touch that Jeweled power and flashing knives bring to the job.
32. Pretty
A whore has to be eye-catching and an assassin eschews looks, so Surreal has never been merely "pretty" before; she finds the experience an enjoyable one.
33. Rain
Surreal loves the rain because it covers her tracks; Graysfang loves the rain because he likes playing in the mud.
34. Regret
She has always regretted provoking Daemon that night, centuries ago now, for even now they have yet to recapture the easy relationship they shared before her blunder.
35. Roses
There is a small garden outside of Surreal's house that she mostly uses for herbs; the small patch of roses in the back corner is the only hint of flowers.
36. Secret
Surreal keeps secrets well when it benefits her, poorly when it doesn't; her biggest secret is how many she's going to take to the grave.
37. Snakes
Calmly, as if it was an everyday occurrence, Surreal hefted the shovel and brought it down on the cobra's head, making sure the creature was completely dead before she let Daemonar down from where she was holding him with craft.
38. Snow
A mischievous smile crossed the assassin's face as she looked outside the window, and she realized that she really couldn't resist tossing snowballs at Uncle Saetan.
39. Solid
Surreal looked up, an amazed look on her face, as she realized that she finally held the actual baby that she had been carting around in her stomach for the past nine months.
40. Spring
Whenever winter melted away, it was a good bet that Surreal would start packing; the return of spring always made her itch to get back to work.
41. Stable
Since she had never had a real family as such, Surreal wondered how she had suddenly become the rock that Rainier and some of the others depended on.
42. Strange
Despite the Dea al Mon opening their territory, Surreal still got odd looks in Dhemlan for her pointed ears and tanned skin.
43. Summer
In one of her compromises with Graysfang, Surreal practically lived outside in the summer; she would never admit to her wolf companion that it was just as good an arrangement for her since her house got stuffy at that time of year.
44. Taboo
Daemon was the handsomest man she'd ever met, but he had been off limits for longer than she had known him; that didn't stop her from treating him like family anymore.
45. Ugly
"Well, sugar, your inside's uglier than you think I am, and from where I'm standing that's the worse position to be in."
46. War
She was at war, and she would never surrender until her enemy was brought low; it was simply too bad for her that Lucivar didn't play fair.
47. Water
Her prey was unaware of her, completely at ease, a foolish state to be in, as Graysfang quickly realized when Surreal dragged him into the shower to wash off all of the mud he had once again rolled in.
48. Welcome
It would be like pulling teeth to get her to admit to it, but Surreal loved how welcome she always felt at the Keep or Hall or any of the other family residences.
49. Winter
During the winter, she had always found a nice place to pass the cold season; these years, she tried to make sure she was at the Hall with her family.
50. Wood
Surreal growled at Graysfang, unwilling to admit that she had needed his help with the task of collecting wood for a fire.