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1.

The Sangrar Legacy

"He said that about me?"

She watched the surprise overtake him. His grey–blue eyes widened, making his face appear childish despite his stubble. Clawed fingers pushed his hair behind his ears, a habit of his she noticed he had even though his dark locks were too short to touch his face.

She giggled. "Yes, you. I heard father say it."

"Blethinette, are you sure? Maybe he meant something else by it," he said.

Blethinette sighed and rolled her green eyes. "'Auronmar will be a good partner to my daughter. He is strong, an Illusionist I hear. His powers will challenge Blethinette's own See Mahou. When he takes on the Dark Blood, he will strengthen the Sangrar legacy. Their engagement will be announced on my daughter's name day the year she comes of age.' That's what I heard father say."

He lifted a questioning eyebrow at her. "You remembered all of that?"

She looked down. "Maybe I added extra words, but he did say mostly that stuff."

Auronmar crossed his arms, stretching his blue tunic across his chest. "You need to stop sneaking around your father's meetings. You're not supposed to be there."

"As long as they don't sense me, I won't get in trouble." She grinned.

He shook his head and started picking at the grass blades by his knee. She could tell he was thinking about what he had just told her. It shouldn't have come as a surprise. Auronmar had been the first of the male Superior demons to come of age.

His height had shot above the rest, his face had darkened with hair around his squaring jaw, and his voice had deepened while others still squeaked when they spoke. After that, the most prevalent sign of maturity appeared: he seemed to stop aging. Three years had come and gone since he had been named a man, and he appeared exactly the same.

Blethinette sighed. She hadn't been marked a woman yet. The only thing changing about her body was her height. She knew she was still too young to bleed, but her mother had been an early bloomer. Maybe she would be one too, and once she did, she knew her own aging would slow, just like Auronmar's, and the mark of a false immortality would grace her.

All Superior demons went through this process. In fact, it was how matrimony was determined among them. The first demon of the opposite sex of the Dark Bloods' heir to come of age was betrothed to said heir. In her case, Auronmar was the first to become of age, binding him to Blethinette. The next male and next female demons to mature would be marked as their Guards. They were not allowed to wed and would be brought up under constant training.

Aside from the Guards, relationships were encouraged and sometimes forced among the Superiors. In order to keep the high tiers of Mahou alive in their species, they needed to mate. And they did. Despite the rare oddity of an Upper being born, every Superior generation had spawned at least one individual from each of the six branches of the highest Mahou.

Each generation tended to die off together, usually within the same year. Their deaths were marked by the passing of the king and queen, meaning grandchildren never saw their grandparents because they were born years after their deaths. It was believed the Mahou dictated how and when the generations were born and when they would die, for each set appeared as a cycle—continuous, similar, and familiar—as if part of a greater balance.

Blethinette sighed, throwing her head to the sky. White stars dotted it, hot giant glimmers against the powdery blue vastness. Closer to the skyline the color blurred into purple waves which darkened black when it touched the horizon. No stars could be seen there.

She turned back to Auronmar and stretched her legs out from under her. Her green dress was sprawled around her, a puffed puddle of lace and ribbon too thick for her to feel the grass beneath her. The reason why she even sat on the ground was because the dress' color would hide the grass stains.

"Why are you still so surprised by it?" she asked Auronmar, seeing he was still picking at the grass.

He faced her with sharp eyes and licked his thin lips.

At least our sons will be handsome.

"I'm not surprised," he said. "I knew I was going to be promised to you, but it's not really official until you come of age."

She scowled. "I will soon! I'm eight now! I should become a woman any minute!"

Auronmar smiled at her in a way that told her he still saw her as a child.

She bared her tiny fangs as she shot to her feet. "You'll see, Auronmar! I'm going to be the most powerful queen ever and you're going to be happy you had me as a wife."

His smile turned into an amused smirk. "Of course, princess."  

Her anger made her tremble and stomp her foot. "Stop teasing me!"

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are!"

"I swear to you, princess. I'm not."

She saw him bite down another smirk. "You're mean, Auronmar!" she huffed.

"Princess!"

Blethinette looked up to the sound of the voice and bit her lip when she saw Kalili, her governess and servant. The Upper demon was marching towards her, hiked skirt pinched between her three fingers where long black claws curled. A silky shawl fell over her chest but the rest of her was covered with light brown fur, streaked grey in certain areas and spotted white over her shoulders and muzzle. 

"Your dinner date with your parents is soon," Kalili said when she arrived before her. "And look at all the grass blades caught on your dress! We will have to bathe you again! What are you doing out here anyway?" Her fawn ears twitched next to her filed down horns as she waited for Blethinette's explanation.  

Auronmar stood up, brushing the dirt from his pants. "I'm sorry. That is my fault. I brought the princess here. I didn't know she had an engagement."

Kalili glared at him until her eyes widened in recognition. "Oh, Auronmar! No, the princess should have declined your offer. She knew about her engagement."

Blethinette's claws dug into her palms. After she had told Auronmar she wasn't a little girl anymore, Kalili comes and starts treating her like one. She bit her tongue and slouched as she crossed her arms. Kalili's open palm whack'd her back.

"Straighten up, Blethinette. Now say your farewells and come along," Kalili ordered. She gave a nod to Auronmar before walking away.

Blethinette knew she shouldn't take long or she would suffer another hit from Kalili. She turned to Auronmar, eyes watery with embarrassment.

I am just a child.

"Blethinette," Auronmar said.

She saw him fall to one knee before her. "Blethinette," he repeated as he took her hand, "you're a beautiful girl, and I'm sure you'll be even more beautiful as a woman."

She gaped at him, cheeks flushed. The smile he gave her was unlike his other teasing smirks. Blethinette could only nod before wiggling her hand away from his and turning away to follow Kalili. She caught up to the Upper demon and fell in stride with her.

They wove through the garden in silence. Red hedges dotted with blue and purple flowers outlined their path. Veins swirled through the cobbled pathway, burgundy leaves peeking between the smooth stones. A trail of red branches cut through the grey where feet had imprinted the leaves upon the gravel. As they neared the center of the garden, the sound of falling water was heard. After a few dozen paces, Blethinette saw the fountain.

It was an amber tower layered with six platforms, each carved from a different gemstone. The smoky quartz tip spilled cool water upon each one until the liquid fell into a rimless pool that spread upon the ground like a pond.

Around the shore was where most of Blethinette's generation chose to run, play, or simply kick and splash at the water with bare feet. Laughter and playful yelps hit her ears as they passed. Blethinette saw Aessi, a friend of hers, waddling at the water's edge, her waist length hair braided and shining. Blethinette bit down the urge to run and join her. She could run into the water and keep swimming until she submerged under the fountain. It was better than what she was about to face.

"Do you like Auronmar?" Kalili asked.

Blethinette wrinkled her nose at Kalili's sudden question—she was prone to ask random nonsense from time to time—but a heat spread over her cheeks. "He's okay."

"Just okay, princess? Is that what you think of your future husband?"

 "Well, he thinks I'm just a little girl," she said. His parting words entered her mind, darkening her cheeks. "I'll show him though. I'll be a woman soon."

Blethinette waited for her desire to come true. With each passing year she did grow, her chest especially. The baby fat around her face was melting off and her limbs were shaping and tightening. Each time she looked in the mirror, she scrutinized her developing body, but each time Auronmar made his weekly invites to the gardens, he had nothing but compliments for her.

"Your hair looks nice like that," he had said when she decided to curl it around her head. When she smiled he added, "And your smile is just as beautiful."

Other days he'd speak of her eyes and lips or of the dress that she felt hung around her body in awkward angles. They were all empty compliments, she was sure, to help her feel comfortable around him. They were to spend the rest of their long lives together. Why make it harder than it had to be? Yet each one punctured through her, tiny holes that had allowed him slow access to her. She hadn't noticed the breach until it was too late.

There was one day when Auronmar had not invited her to walk with him that week, breaking a ritual they had shared for multiple months. Instead, Blethinette found herself sitting by the fountain's pond with Aessi.

It didn't bother her. In fact, she was going to make sure Auronmar knew she hadn't been looking forward to seeing him that day at all. He would know his absence had not caused her heart to sink to her stomach. She was going out with Aessi to the gardens that day to enjoy her friend's company and not in the hopes of seeing him there by chance.  

Both girls had taken off their shoes and stocking, tying their dresses' hems to their waists with ribbons. It had been a wasted effort. The girls had splashed each other, soaking their clothes, and had mud caked up to their knees. It was child's play, Blethinette knew, but she enjoyed it, and Aessi seemed to have fun too despite the fact she had bled and would be named a woman on her next name day.

"How is it?" Blethinette asked Aessi as they sat on the muddy shore. "How does it feel?"

Her friend smiled, pushing her blonde locks out of her face. "You always ask me that, princess. I have told you many times. It's icky and painful."

She shook her head. "Not the blood. I want to know if you feel any different now."

Aessi sighed. "No. I thought I would, but I don't. The only thing that is different now is that I'm going to marry Quint eventually."

Blethinette had gone to bed that day with Aessi's words in her head. She thought that was why she had felt the agony in her stomach and abdomen. The pain branched down her thighs and across her lower back. She would wake up to it, curl into a ball, and try to find sleep again. It wasn't till she woke up in the morning that she saw the red spread between her legs and smeared across her mattress.

"Kalili!" she called out. "Kalili! Come!"

The Upper demon's room was next to hers, connected by a door between the two. It flew open and Kalilli rushed to Blethinette's side, her hoofed feet clomping against the peanut wood floor. When she saw Blethinette's distress, she ran her hand through her violet hair and patted her head.

"You have bled now, princess. You are a woman," she said. "I will get you something to catch the blood."

Blethinette blinked, staring at the stains on her skin and sheets. She was a woman now, but she didn't feel different. Everything was just...

Icky and painful. Aessi was right. There is nothing different.  

However, a smile blossomed on her lips, despite the ache around her stomach. No, there was a difference. She could be a queen now.

Kalili had taken too long to return, but when she did, she came back with a summon from her father. Yesterday, that would've terrified Blethinette. Yesterday, that would've made her beg Kalili to tell her father she was too sick to see him, but yesterday she had been a girl.

"Very well, Kalili. Help me bathe and dress to see my father. I will not see him in the filth I am now," Blethinette said.

The Upper demon gaped at her a moment before smiling. "Yes, princess."

After her change, Blethinette walked alone to her father's quarters. Kalili had spread fragrant oils onto her arms and neck, giving her skin a glossy glow. The hallway seemed brighter and cleaner. She felt taller, older. Blethinette smiled as she came up to the arched pair of doors that led to her father's room. She knocked on them and was surprised to see her father answer it himself.

"Your grace," she said and curtsied, ignoring the cramping pain it caused her, "you called for me?"

He looked down at her with eyes of ice. He said nothing but went inside the room, indicated for her to follow him with the flick of his wrist. Blethinette went inside, focusing on his swaying hair. It went down to his waist, more gray than violet. She remembered when it would stand out against the white that marked him as king, but the strands were staring to blend with the cloth now.

The room was familiar; it was where King Sondin Sangrar would hold his meetings. Tied scrolls and bound paper littered the wooden bookshelves that didn't allow the walls to be seen. Half a dozen cushioned chairs created half a circle around another one, taller and wider than the rest.   

"What is the most important thing to us, Blethinette?" King Sondin said without turning to face her.

She stopped. That question was the most important question in the world. Blethinette remembered when he first asked it. She had answered it wrong, earning a slap across her face that rattled her teeth. King Sondin proceeded to lecture her on the correct answer while her bleeding lip healed.

 "Mahou, your grace," Blethinette responded.

 "Correct," he said and whirled around, "but why is Mahou the most important thing to us?"

Us. Superior demons. Dark Blood demons.

"It is what flows within us all, your grace. It is what separates us from the Lower demons, yet it is also what keeps them ruled and organized. It is part of our world and life and it is what sustains us."

King Sondin's eyes bore into her. His face was half a skull, a sight that never failed to scare Blethinette when she was a child.

"The state of mind of the Lower demons is chaotic," he said. His voice was not as fragile as the rest of him looked, but even so, Blethinette knew his appearance was deceiving. "Though they cannot wield Mahou, it is part of their stability. It is part of their world and it is part of their existence.

"Which is why a strong king and queen are needed. It is us—the Dark Bloods, the Sangrars—which keep this flow going. We are needed to keep the Mahou alive and within us all. Before the Mahou there was only chaos. Demon fought demon. Brother fought brother. Father fought son. There was nothing."

He gave Blethinette his back again and took a few steps away her. "The appearance of the Mahou changed that. It brought us peace and it chose us to keep it. It showed us how to pass on its power within the Dark Blood line, and so it has been done for thousands of years. We keep the rule because we keep the power."

Blethinette's stomach whirled and her back ached from standing like a plank of wood. For half a moment, she thought his silence meant he was done talking to her and she was expected to leave, but he turned to face her again.

"You are a little girl," he spat.

She flinched. Her mouth opened but she bit her tongue, knowing it would only earn her another slap if she spoke when a question was not addressed to her.

"Kalili told me you have bled. That is good. You are closer to marrying Auronmar, but it does not make you any less of a little girl. A woman they may call you, but women are merely taller looking little girls.

"I would not have cared had you been the younger sister to an older brother or had you not been mine at all, but you are. Your fault is that you are the only Dark Blood and such makes you the heir. A woman heir to the Sangrar throne." His lips curled up in disgust.

"My advice to you on your day of blood is to listen to Auronmar," King Sondin spoke as if he was indeed talking to a child. "He will be a good, strong husband for you. He will challenge you and perhaps make you strong. Your only duty to him is to give him a male heir. Give him plenty of sons. Do the best you can do because, in the end, all I can do is make sure the throne is passed down to a man capable of ruling it with honor worthy of the Dark Blood power."

He sighed, pinching the area between his eyes. "How the Sangrar throne, a mark of power and honor, fell to you is a mystery. The Sangrar name is a legacy of men. My father was given a bride that bore him seven sons, yet my wife could only spit out you.

"Do not stain the Sangrar name any more than your mother has. Your birth has already shamed me. Do not deepen the disappointment by failing me as well."

Blethinette's cramping pain deepened as her father stalked over to her, each of his steps adding another spike of agony. 

 "Hear me well, Blethinette," he snarled, hostile and threatening. "Do not fail in the only thing you are meant to do."