Chapter Thirty-six: Renate

'I can wait two months, Ethan,' I assure Ethan from within his apologetic embrace. 'It will only be a matter of minutes to my body.'

Ethan holds me tighter, whispering apologies into my hair. I know he feels like he hasn't lived up to his promise, but I also know that there is nothing I can do to make him feel otherwise; if he's blamed himself for Rochelle's death for the past eight years, he's going to beat himself up over a broken promise for a while. When Ethan finally stops apologizing, he leans down to kiss me.

'Oh, yeah, that's romantic.' Ethan and I break apart to see a smirking Isabel holding hands with Arkarian. '"I'm so, so sorry, Renate. Let me kiss you and make it all better!"' Isabel mocks jokingly. 'Arkarian's been pulling the same act on me all day.'

'I already apologized sincerely for that,' Arkarian objects. 'But I had to!'

'Had to what?' I ask.

'Apologies aren't enough,' Isabel insists, glaring up at Arkarian and ignoring me and Ethan completely. It's like we're not even here. 'I thought you were dead, Arkarian. You should have warned me you were going to put on that little act.'

'I'm sorry,' Arkarian says softly, wrapping his arms around Isabel to rock them both back and forth. 'I apologize for not warning you that Matt and I were only pretending to be passed out. I'm sorry.' Now Arkarian stops rocking to kiss Isabel. At first he just presses his lips lightly to hers, but I have to turn my head away when the intensity between them builds.

'That's no way to kiss a girl, Arkarian!' I hear Ethan protest.

Suddenly Ethan is sweeping me back in his arms and kissing me. The kiss only ends when someone coughs, reminding us that we are still in Athens. Ethan returns me to my feet to bow to Lord Matthew of the Mortal Realm.

Lord Matthew, his face no longer an impassive mask but a Matt-like smirk. 'I thought you wanted some target practice,' the Immortal reminds Ethan, who smiles. The two men quickly run off, followed shortly by an amused-looking Isabel and Arkarian. Rolling my eyes—a habit I picked up from Isabel—I follow the lot of them to the outer courtyard of the palace, where I see Ethan taking up his deadly golden bow and arrow set.

'Are you ready?' Ethan asks Matt, a mischievous grin on his face as he notches a beautifully crafted—yet incredibly poisonous—arrow into his bow.

Matt bends his knees slightly, hands ready. He returns Ethan's grin enthusiastically, giving him a double thumbs-up.

Ethan looses the arrow—sending it thudding into Matt's shoulder. I scream in fright but no one takes any notice; they're all too busy watching Ethan murder one of the most important members of the Tribunal, and one of their own friends!

But Matt just laughs. 'Is that the best you can do?' he challenges. 'There was a time when you'd hit me in the heart on every hit!'

'Give me a break, here!' Ethan yells, smiling while he notches another arrow quickly. 'I haven't used this thing in years. I'm surprised I've been able to hit anything at all!'

Now Matt rolls his eyes while Ethan takes aim. 'It's not like this thing is aimed with your eyes. You have to use your skill of animation.'

'Don't you think I know that?'

'Ethan.'

'Yes, Lord Matthew of Earth?'

'Mortal Realm! It's the Mortal Realm!'

'Whatever.'

'Shut up and shoot me!'

Ethan readily complies, only to have Matt snatch the arrow out of the air, twirling the slender gold through his fingers while he laughs. 'You'll have to do better than that at least!'

Ethan scowls before notching another arrow into his bow and loosing it, loosing another one right after. Matt catches the first arrow but is unprepared for the second one, which buries itself deeply into Matt's chest.

'Oh, come on!' Matt goaded while everyone watching claps. 'You went for the easy target! Go for something harder to hit!' An arrow thuds into Matt's forehead, right between his eyes. 'Much better!'

'What are you, my Trainer?'

'Even better,' Matt smiles. 'Your sovereign Tribunal leader.'

Isabel laughs. 'Sovereign, now, are you?' she asks.

'Yes, sovereign!' Matt says while avoiding another series of arrows that Ethan is loosing at him. 'That's what the title means, Isabel!'

'But you're just a lord,' I remind Matt. 'Which means that King Richard, Queen Brystianne, and Dartemis—a god—outrank you by far.'

Matt scowls, his concentration broken by my correction. Four arrows sink into his face, giving it an odd appearance. And yet Matt does not seem to even feel the arrows sinking into his flesh; he's thinking, one hand stroking his chin thoughtfully. Finally he gives up on whatever thought process his mind was following and yells in my direction, 'That's a nice way to boost someone's ego, Renate.'

'Your ego doesn't need boosting, o Lord of Earth,' Isabel comments dryly.

Matt stops dodging arrows to glare at his sister. 'Mortal Realm!' he yells at her. 'How do you get off with such insubordination?'

'Easily,' Isabel remarks innocently, looking down at her fingernails. 'Being your sister, I can say pretty much whatever I want to you.'

'I hate that part of the sibling package.'

'Really? I love it.'

'Gee, I wonder why.'

'Target practice' continues in much the same way for the next few… however long it is, since time is not measured in Athens. Eventually though, Matt, so covered in arrows that he resembles a golden porcupine, advises us to go back home to our bodies.

Author's Note: I hope this is enough Arkarian/Isabel fluff for all of my readers (coughMISHAcough) because I swear before GOD Himself: this is the last of it! I thought I was going to vomit when I wrote the beginning of this chapter, so I had to change tracks and make it a comical chapter instead. The reason why this chapter is so short is, again, because of the Arkarian/Isabel fluff. I had to figure out a wayto fit that in there without it being totally random (come on; Arkarian is NOT a PDA-loving kinda guy. He's more conservative than that) and I still hate it. So Misha, this chapter is for you. Please stop reviewing that you would like more fluff between them, because I honestly hate (and have always hated) writing romance. The only reason I have ever written romance is because, if you haven't noticed, I am trying to emulate Marianne Curley's writing style, and she is a very romantic writer.

Speaking of Marianne Curley...

I emailed Marianne Curley via the email address at her official website and she actually emailed me back! I had told her about this fanfiction and she said she would take a look at it, so if the wonderful Marianne Curley is reading this right now: this whole fanfiction is dedicated to you! You are my favorite author of all time!