Safeke had always loved Oriliagh. Always. From the moment he saw her face, he loved her and wanted to give her the world and more. Obviously, he had loved her in a very different way when they first met, as a newborn Oriliagh lay in infant Safeke's arms. Not long after her birth was his first time in battle, and then fighting became a regular thing, despite his age – the war demanded fighters. All Wizards were put to use, and a child's magic can be trained to mature before its host. And this way killing in battle would be made normal for them, it was believed it harm them less.

That is, until Safeke reached the age of what on Earth would be eight, and people realised what this could do to a child, even with all the love and support from family imaginable. But as much as he loved her, he was always jealous of Oriliagh. Why did his sister get to grow up in luxury, not having to face battle? While she was a loyal and caring as a sibling could be, Oriliagh doing whatever he wanted and taking care of him didn't make up for what is life was – and had always – been. When dealing with trauma, people can react in different ways, and feel different emotions, ranging from crying to laughter to anger. Safeke was the type to get angry, which was an advantage in battle, so no one ever taught him to control his anger or how to deal with it. The only way he had ever dealt with it was by taking it out on High Witches. At first he hated killing, and the sight of blood, but over time he became so indifferent that he became more brutal with his methods in battle. Despite being a child, he was already a rather famous killer every High Witch knew about, mostly due to his unnecessarily brutal methods. But his father never stopped him, he was getting the job done, why should he have?

He always wished he didn't enjoy it so much, though. He began to realise how sick he was when he got angry with Oriliagh, and his first instinct was to slap her across the face. Naturally, he apologised instantly, he loved his sister more than anything, and he hit her without second thought. At first, he couldn't believe what he had become, and Oriliagh consoled him the best she could. But time passed, and his anger grew at not what he had become, but at what his parents, at what this scum of a society, had made him into. Wanted and encouraged him to be. All that lead him to hurt the most precious thing in his life: Oriliagh, his beloved sister. He had never been so angry in his life. How dare they hurt Oriliagh!

Which is why, as a young child, in a fit of rage in the middle of the night, he took a dagger into his parent's bedroom, and he slit his mother's throat. However, as trained as he was, he was unable to match his father's expertise, and was unable to bring harm to him – and his father swiftly healed his mother, the cut not deep enough to kill quickly. It was the kind of event everyone knew about but no one spoke of. His parents tried to keep it quiet, but of course that wasn't a possibility. No one quite knew what to do, and Safeke never spoke about it again, even when questioned – he was sent to live with his aunt to have a more peaceful life. Everyone tried to forget about it, even his parents, focusing more on raising their own children, consisting of Oriliagh, three older girls and one older boy.

Oriliagh had always loved Safeke. He was always there for her, he was her best friend. Then, one day, for reasons beyond her understanding, he went to live with his aunt and she wasn't to speak to him again. When she reached an old enough age, her parents told her the truth. First came the questions, and the confusion. The came anger and sadness. But once all her raw emotions had boiled down, she began to recall how unhappy he was fighting, and how he had slapped her. She hadn't thought twice about it, she had forgiven him instantly and understood why he did it – why would she think twice? But Oriliagh only wondered how tortured he must have been to do such a thing. He was a good Wizard. She knew him, and she loved him. Wasn't it a highly held value to help the ones you love? To have faith in people no matter what, and to forgive?

Oriliagh wanted to help him. While her father was out in battle, and her mother was too busy worrying, she decided to pay him a visit. Oriliagh was used to her own large window with a balcony. Safeke's window was a slit in stone. Like a prison, she thought, what's he going to do if it was bigger, stare the plants to death? He wasn't out to kill everyone and everything, he wasn't crazy. She needed to ensure she wasn't detected, so decided to climb the stone instead. It was difficult in her long dress, but a few minutes and several cuts later, she reached the window. Pressing her lips almost against it, she found herself lost for words. What was she meant to say after all this time? Oh, hello, the last time I saw you you tried to kill our parents, how are you?

'Safeke,' she said, heart pounding.

In his room, Safeke swung around violently on his bed and came to the window. A voice she hadn't heard since she was a child rang back. 'Ori…Oriliagh?'

'Yes,' Oriliagh's voice cracked. 'It's me.'

'You aren't supposed to be here.'

'I know,' Oriliagh said. 'can you come out? I want to talk with you. I'm on your side Safeke I don't blame you for what you did.'

There was a long silence before Oriliagh heard footsteps leaving the room. She scaled down as quickly as she could, and as soon as she saw Safeke walking towards her, she ran and embraced him.

Neither of them could speak through emotions for the longest time. Oriliagh didn't want to let go of him, but she slowly backed away from him, torn between smiling and crying. The next few hours were spent with Safeke explaining himself. At first, Oriliagh was shy, only sitting opposite him and giving sympathy with her eyes. By the end of it all, she was leaning into him and holding his hand.

The months passed and they met regularly, and slowly all conversations about Safeke's attempted murder stopped all together; they merely enjoyed each other's company. Upon reaching adulthood, debate started amongst their family of whether to retrain him and send him back to fight or not. To Oriliagh's surprise, he wasn't bothered about going to fight or not. A quick discussion changed everything.

'I would happily go to fight,' Safeke explained, appearing noble. 'This planet must be protected, as must others.' He looked her in the eyes. 'Especially this one due to the beautiful life that dwells on it.'

Oriliagh smiled. 'Then why are you so concerned?'

'I would happily fight,' he repeated. 'but the way this place is run is so wrong Oriliagh, you are smart enough to know it as well as I do. If I was in charge of this place… I wouldn't let anyone end up like me.' His eyes began to water. 'I'd make things OK, I know I could do it Oriliagh.'

Oriliagh rested her head n his shoulder. 'And since you would never be allowed to be leader you don't want to fight then?'

Safeke ignored the question. 'I love you Oriliagh.'

'I love you too.'

'No, I mean… I love you.'

'I know,' Oriliagh said, lifting her head and turning to face him. 'and I mean, I love you too.'

They leaned into each other and kissed, forgetting the world for a while.

'How long have you?' Safeke asked as they pulled away.

'Months, probably the same amount of time as you.'

Safeke's face crumbled. 'Just another thing that wouldn't be allowed. If I was ruler and you were my queen, we could run this place perfectly, raise a family, we could have it all.'

'We can't,' Oriliagh said heavy-heartedly. 'You said it yourself.'

'Yes we can.' Safeke said. 'I have an idea but you have to swear you feel the same way as me. We don't need anyone but each other and that you would do anything for me, just as I would for you.'

'Of course I feel the same.' Oriliagh answered.

It only took a week to convince Oriliagh that killing their parents and siblings would be a good idea. It wasn't hard, with one swing of the sword they died in their sleep, never knowing. Oriliagh had a breakdown after a while, but Safeke managed to snap her out of it. Yes, he said some mean things like she was as much of a monster as him but he did it to hold onto her. He loved her. Which, in his mind, made it perfectly justified.

Safeke kept his word. After adjusting the memories of Orin Fen, they were able to have a family, and their family grew up, and they began to grow old. In all their time together, they had rarely argued. Until Safeke suggested taking their children's magic so they could live forever together. He managed to talk her into it; he had always been skilled with words and manipulation.

Gradually, he began to slip into insanity. Whether it was guilt or something else was a mystery. But that's when the two of them began to argue more, and he was harsher to his children. They were never good enough, and for his sons, mistakes were not acceptable. Every time Oriliagh objected, he would become violent towards her, and then he became violent towards her for everything she did that he deemed wrong. And to make sure she couldn't fight back, he always got more power than her when they stole their children's magic. But Oriliagh knew he loved her. He was always so sorry after they argued, he was sorry for hurting her; it wasn't his fault if being a professional killer made him violent.

When having Serpantha, Oriliagh decided she couldn't do this any longer. The two of them agreed to not take Serpantha's magic, or any siblings to come. Safeke was still an angry person, and he became incredibly violent towards Serpantha and Oriliagh, and Áraliná had to behave perfectly or he would verbally rip her to shreds. The dresses he got her were always too small, and all Safeke would say is that they should fit. The night Oriliagh confronted him about how he was treating their children; he confessed he had no intention of letting them live because he didn't like them.

It was Oriliagh's turn for a fit of rage. Serpantha and Áraliná, and their future siblings, were used to hearing them argue, and hearing him strike their mother. But this time, Oriliagh took a dagger, and stabbed him three times in the gut. It was useless. He was quickly able to heal himself, being much more powerful than he should be. It was then as Safeke knocked her to the floor she realised she had lost him. But she still loved him. No, he didn't apologise for hitting her anymore but she knew he loved her and felt bad about it. She would always be there for her children if he upset them, and she would teach them how to stay out of trouble with him. Even when Safeke ensured Serpantha would have to kill his best friend and partner in battle, as angry as she was, she let it go. She was furious. But she was smart enough to know she was powerless against him. She knew the excuse that a relationship unable to produce children is pointless wasn't the reason he did it, but she knew he would have had a reason. Only as Serpantha got older, and met Owlola, and she saw how Owlola would stand up for all of them against Safeke that she realised why. He just wanted to cause pain. He was angry, all the time, and he needed punching bags.

When she met Larpskendya, she knew she had made a mistake. She wanted to be with him more than anything, she yearned for it so much she fooled herself into believing it was a possibility. When she became pregnant and was unsure who the father was, she needed to tell Larpskendya the whole truth. Which is the reason an hour later he was nothing but a bloody mess on the sand. Naming her son after his probable father, Larpskendya, was a reminder of what she needed to do. A think Safeke made her have Toyé for, and then killed her for before disappearing himself.

Safeke considered this a slip up, and Oriliagh had promised him it was. Oriliagh had always loved Safeke. Always. She would do anything for him, give him whatever he wanted. And right now, he wanted the lives of Serpantha, Larpskendya and the others.