I'm not good at emotions.

Melchiah

When he faced his wife and five year old son, Melchiah was cursing Moebius' thoughtful gesture. It'd only bring them all pain. It didn't help that Zephon stood in the same room alone, but he quashed that thought as soon as it rose. There were people who would wear a local soccer jersey in Glasgow. There were people who would wear a KKK mask to a Martin Luther King Memorial. There were people who would walk into the sanctuary of the clans wearing an 'I love Moebius' T-Shirt. But even they would think it inappropriate to mention Zephon's family when he was in earshot.

Focusing on his wife, he tried to think of something to say. He could see her confusion, but she knew him well enough to have an idea of what was coming.

"Did Moebius tell you why he brought you here?"

"No...all he said was 'Come with me' I hardly had time to dress."

"Dress?" Melchiah narrowed his eyes at her in mock suspicion. She smiled.

"Guard duty last night. I thought about visiting my secret vampiric lover, but he was occupied. So why was I brought here?"

Instead of answering, he bent down to his son.

"Did you miss me?"

"No!" his son responded imperiously, promptly contradicting himself with "Are we staying here now?"

"No. You aren't here long."

"That's not fair!"

"Perhaps not, but it's true."

"Should I keep him amused for you?" Zephon called from across the room, a touch sadly, in an obscure tribal language to keep Melchiah's family from understanding.

"I think not. I don't want to rob you of this time."

"I have nothing worthy to do with this time. But you need a final farewell for your wife, and such a moment should be private."

"You need not look after him. We will not have long to spend."

A scream echoed through the fortress, evidence of the demon's presence. Subtlety was not something he knew, it seemed. Melchiah's wife leaned close, whispering.

"The way you didn't answer me means tragedy approaches." She glanced towards where the scream had come from. "And the means becomes clear."

He couldn't meet her eyes.

"Look after him."

She wrapped arms around his neck and kissed him, her armour inhibiting the movement slightly, but the love was there.

"Shall I stab Moebius for you?" In spite of his situation, Melchiah laughed. Quite the vicious creature, was she not?

"I think not. He doesn't die easily."

Another scream. Closer.

When Moebius had summoned them, Melchiah had brought his armour by hand, but not donned it. Now his wife began strapping it to his body, quickly and efficiently. She'd squired him before. Once finished, she did the same for Zephon, and picked up their son. Now in tears, she got one final kiss from him, said her farewells, and left. Saddened, Melchiah turned towards the door the demon would emerge from, to face whatever was to come.