- Chapter Five: She Can Have The Ruby -

Fighting amongst themselves over who would be given what to wear when they entered the city - the two best options furnished by the Kahn being a veiled ensemble of jewels dressed in silk so fine it was sheer, or an ornate gold plate adorned with a blood ruby the size of a heart and the lushest of scarlet-bleeding-to-eggplant gauzes - neither Tanya nor Zyanya said a single word during dinner that night. Steaming iron pots stuffed to bursting with stolen spices and mangy rabbit flavored by a scant hint of leftover pheasant from the night before, Ko'atal had spent the better part of the afternoon preparing the meal, even going so far as to barter one of the spare sets of cracked clay plates for freshly baked bread made with olives and sesame seeds. Camp erected under pitted cliffs dotting the outskirts among the dried desert brush, the plain pavilion unmarked and braided as civilian to avoid rousing suspicion amongst the refugees they had met on the road from Ti'ian, it had not been an easy feat to convince the old matron to enter negotiations, however the timely arrival of her eldest daughter had turned the tides; Rain would later receive the first serving, as well as an extra two slices. As fate would have it, the self-proclaimed prince had returned quite ravenous after a taxing go of establishing contacts after an even longer day of seeking personal pursuits with the pretty little things that painted the drab scenery, far too much so to even register that there was such a strenuous tension peppering the air.

"How goes the hunt for Lunga?" Ko'atal, who had long ago learned the hard way to not get any more involved in feminine squabbles than was absolutely necessary, politely inquired of Rain as they broke bread and passed around a flask of ginger-and-clove ale, "The way the people speak, he is still locked away within the impregnable walls of Si'Sil-on. The men often bemoan that they cannot be him while the mothers fret over lovely daughters and promising granddaughters coming into womanhood." It was grace alone that kept the Osh-Tekk from pointing out the revered enemy was not the only shark in the waters that the locals ought to be weary of.

Three-pronged fork skittering crookedly across the top of gouged flatware as he picked his portion clean - thoughts less on the status of the mission at hand and more on the gems that would soon be lost - the Edenian simply shrugged in reply, "Even I'm not that good - this kind of thing takes time. If they weren't so busy pouting over who gets to be second best," vain as ever, there was no question that he was referring to their looks and calling himself the most handsome in the land, "Tanya might consider backing me up, because trust you me, she could tell you how trying it is to ferret out which scum is the most willing to introduce you to the right person." Ignoring the double death glares piercing his amethyst armor at the implications being made, the dark-haired demigod pressed on heedlessly, "By rights the demon should have the necessary skill to quell this cat fight, but it would seem that she is otherwise occupied."

Untouched mammal foot shoved away with a sad little frown that ordinarily would have gladly devoured the morsel in a few short bites, lightly painted lips wiggling with a wince as an unprotected knee rammed into the stubby box of a table leg at the sudden ascent, the impling caught the other's eye for the most fleeting of moments, glance broken before the other two could catch on. Reunited in body the relationship had only been half a secret from the rest of the newly formed unit - arriving a whole half a day late to the prescribed rendezvous point, the entirety of the guard and the pair of Edenians had been greeted by the unknowing marriage of almost beastly moans of pleasure and the rapid-paced guttural slapping sounds that frequently accompanied the peak of intimacy. As for the rest of it though, the recently muted hellion had seen it fit to limit (if not outright prohibit) any action that might lead to the impression that there was anything more than sexual attachment and respect between the two. In fact now that the subject came up... still awaiting an answer to a certain question, Ko'atal had actually been wondering about the hellion of late...

"Aren't you going to go after her?" Self-described as being beyond the shackles of tendering to some woman and her baggage, Rain motioned towards the figure retreating to the sandy paths that were collectively called streets, neither concerned nor interested in a person that had nothing to offer him (though not for a lack of asking into the matter), "That all seemed rather dramatic."

Meal unceremoniously halted by the silent outburst, the ambassador's only heir ceased her merciless impaling of the other foot as the bored look on her face was promptly replaced by the incredulous scowl working its way onto her otherwise lovely countenance, "This is precisely why you'll never find a wife, Rain." Princess Kitana finding an admittedly impressive way to make her rival's blood boil before parting paths, Tanya had been on the outs with her plum peer since departing from the royal palace, or close enough to that time to make no matter, "Sometimes the demons feeding on the secret corners of a woman's heart aren't defeated by a few meaningless mistakes." The venom in her tone was such that there was not a single eye batted at the girl's somewhat regrettable choice of words.

Chewing a mouthful of toasted loaf before going for another bite it couldn't have been any more transparent that the demigod was unaffected by the private jab at his character, however the thinly-veiled insult made the warrior sun think; Ko'atal knew that even in the worst of times loving the succubus was no mistake, yet perhaps there had been something more gnawing at her that he didn't see, some unknown piece of the puzzle causing her to suffer alone... It would have been very much in line with the woman he knew to bottle up the worst of the news to handle it on her own.

Preparing to be the hero of the evening and rise from his own plate to give pursuit, of all life's unexpected twists the teal tumbler was forcibly slapped in the side of the head by the least likely of occurrences, and that was even including the existence of alternate time lines: Tanya volunteered to go instead. "I know what you're thinking Ko'atal, but trust me, you're the last person she needs to see right now." Utterly at a loss for why that would be the case, Tanya seemed so certain that it felt right to just leave it and believe in whatever bond had been built between the two women before the garment war began. "Leave this to me." Finished with her own dinner and just playing with the remains like a stubborn child trying to stay up past their bedtime, quite possibly more sympathetic than given credit for and almost definitely far more knowledge on the matter than either male was aware of, she placed a polished hand on his forearm and shook her head lightly. Pupil-less like his own, her milky dove-colored eyes promised him that she would keep an eye on the demoness and bring her back.

How unscathed the target was upon return remained to be seen, but what other choice did he have?

One Short Chase Later...

Dangling like two droplets of color as they started to bleed down vertical canvas over the unguarded cliff edge the same exact way someone would ruminate at the side of a swimming pool, a lone figure sat amidst a scattering of squat rocks ideal for gatherings and gazed out at the open expanse sucker punched by the jutting of unsettled earth. Suicide the first thought to jump to the mind of any witness to cross the scene or any other similar setting, oddly enough the yet-to-be-paid huntress knew better as she joined the hellion at the abandoned overlook to watch the ruddy sun set over the purple mountains in all their unsung majesty, the sight so breathtaking that for a minute nothing else mattered. For one thing such a morbidly morose tantrum wasn't the demon's MO, and for another the thought never even occurred to Tanya. How could it in such a serene place?

Wind whistling a special tune as the various shades of gray melted into snow-capped violets and bluebells so mesmerizing an experience that there was no meaningless tiff between allies over dressings that would look equally and exchangeably splendid on either, no guilt or internal war to plague the crumbling semblance of a soul. Everything was pure and untouched and completely in alignment with the sacred perfection known only to the Elder Gods, each song in the sky a gift that never died, all the ill in the world a distant memory that was coming to feel more and more like a bad dream that took too long to end. So far as the girls knew, this moment had been especially manufactured just for them.

Sapped throughly of strength and all trace of negativity, Zyanya was the first to shatter the illusion of a magical world free of woe, mindful that there was the very real chance that neither could remove their eyes from the picturesque horizon that spanned millenniums during the entirety of the conversation as she breathed softly, "I'm glad it's you." Stuck on the soaring downward spiral of the most daring of sky-bound raptors - what looked like a dead lizard clasped in its beak - the impling motioned to the nest of distance-blurred hatchlings bickering for their mother's return, "They can't see her, but they still feel something inside that knows she'll be back for them. It's just innate, but how do you know something like that? Would they feel it if she died? What about if she just never came back?" Somehow the Edenian had the inclination that the Netherreamian was no longer speaking of the winged rodents. "How can you know that you're ready?"

"For?"

Brought the hazy memory of a conversation she had once had with her father when the demoness thought of Ko'atal's attempt to make an honest woman of her, Zyanya also reflected that monogamy was a taboo because the heart was far too frightened to trust such a level of commitment. "Marriage may be a profession that most females from other realms pursue," declared in the resolute passions of youth in a time when she had been emboldened by the potential prospect of a match, the adolescent hellion had had nothing but scorn for the institution, "or perchance some form of a hobby or somehow even something joyous that is highly coveted. But it is something I actively aim to avoid." Treatment of the sire harsh enough that it never slipped her mind to be cautious who she was addressing, the demoness recalled hastily amending, "Of course should my father or Lord wish for it I shall oblige to serve, but I do not await the day I am forced into that place of immovable servitude and disdain."

In those days her personal mantra had been 'my freedom is the one gift given me, and I do not wish to see it taken away by the whims of someone less than deserving'. Called persistent for that stance, marriage had since become a topic barely broached; in some ways the demon had even deluded herself into believing that it would be bad for her health to limit her food source in such a way, though technically there was no evidence to support the claim either way.

Relenting to a virtual stranger easier than opening to Ko'atal in some ways, the assassin-turned-ambassador admitted that the first thing to run across her mind had been that to legitimize their affair was to say that it meant nothing at present, tone breaking as she confessed, "He wants to marry me, but how can I possibly say yes when I can't even tell him what's in my heart? I..." starting to say something but giving up half-way in, the pearl shook her head at the mother bird returning to the nest, "I'm not worthy." For so many different reasons, every day spent with Ko'atal was both a gift and a lie that only grew worse the deeper in love she found herself.

Not saying a single word, the ambassador's daughter placed her hand over the other woman's and gave it the most gentle of squeezes.