Chapter 35

"Okay, so you're, like, really immortal. You can't die. Ever?"

"Not that I know of."

"That's cool, a good thing, right?"

"For some people it would be."

The scene before me, to anyone else, would look quite normal. I sit, one leg pressed up to my chest, the other fully extended and Leander sits cross-legged across from me. For all the world we look like two friends meeting up and gossiping about Flame knows what.

This scene, however, is anything but ordinary. I, the queen of death and Leander, a general of Highstone can be described as anything but ordinary.

Leanders almond shaped eyes are full of excitement, relief and curiosity.

The first thing that had drawn me to Leander Varian Night, was how alive he was and is. Every inch of him is vibrant with life. He is curious and willing to learn and his heart is full of hope and love. Nothing could be more human than Leander Varian Night and I need as much human as I can get in my life.

I'm losing my mind and I'm stuck in the past and I need someone like Leander to pull me out of myself when I cannot.

Right now I'm thinking about how long it might take to suffocate. For a human it would most likely only take a few minutes at most, for me it could take ten minutes or more. Right now I'm thinking that if I fall off a cliff, I might land just right and my neck will snap, leaving me rendered dead, but that will never happen.

Right now I want to know how many seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, I have left before I can finally rest-

"So like- you want to die?"

I sigh, pulled out of my thoughts and not wanting to answer his question. When he sees how utterly broken I am will he decide that I am no longer worth it? I close my eyes and I lean my head against the mahogany headboard. I can't lie to him, not him. "It's not like I'm openly trying to-" Kind of true. "But I wouldn't be opposed."

His knuckles tighten and his face flashes with darkness. I know that he's angry, but I don't if he's angry at me or for me and I would rather not know. Its better to question everything than to face the chance of him telling me that I'm not good enough, that I'm not worth a friendship that will inevitably end in heartache and hardship. "You're life is worth more than that. You of all people should know-"

My laugh is dark and just as twisted as me, "I should know? What? That I am a monster? What?"

His knuckles tighten further with the effort of not lashing out and his dance with demons in them, "that living is worth it. At the end of it all, this will be worth it."

I shake my head, just as determined as him to break through his thick skull, "You think that at the end of this war, I'll get to be anything but the evil queen that eats children and kills innocent people for fun?"

"The deal you made-"

"The deal I made with Lucas and Draven was a mockery. I don't get to just walk away and I don't get to die, so I will always be shackled to Varsillia. It's not a choice."

His eyes narrow and the brown orbs focused to points on me, "you aren't shackled to anything. You get to walk away. That is your right."

"Aculiac's aren't born with rights. We are born to live, rule and die by the family. There is no out. There is no in."

His big eyes bore into me and he is about to say something, but we both hear a knock at the door and the person on the other side call out, "Leander, are you in there?"

Leander exchanges a look with me. His eyes widen and he looks guilty as the Hells and I'm really not sure, but Draven's voice sounds rather soft, so maybe- no- he still must be shaken up from seeing me dead. Maybe? Yes, of course. That must be it.

Draven knocks again, "Leander?"

Leander unfolds gracefully from the bed and goes to answer the door, cracking it open. Draven can't see me and I feel like I'm intruding in on a moment those two are sharing. I'm the third wheel, the intruder.

Draven goes to cup Leanders face and I almost double over. I know I've been out of the loop in Varsillian affairs for a while and I haven't known Leander or Draven for hardly long at all, but this is weird. Next level weird. Draven is supposed to be moody and detached and an awful person who's not so awful and who can apparently show affection. Then again I'm supposed to be the devil incarnate, so I guess I've misjudged him.

Leander looks awkward, knowing that I'm right behind him, watching and knowing that I now know that there is something more than just friends between them. "Are you alright?"

Draven Atkinsons just asked if someone was alright. He doesn't sound like he's mocking him or being rude or slipping in a snide remark. No. Draven Atkinsons is being sweet and showing concern for someone other than himself.

Now it makes more sense that he didn't really care who his wife had relations with when he was sneaking behind the courts back and seeing Leander.

Leander coughs a little into his hand, pulling away from Draven and for a moment I swear he looks a little disappointed. Draven straightens and fixes his tie, "You were taking a long time."

Leander gulps, taking on an expression of guilt again, "So, remember when we all thought Evelyn was dead, well, she's not."

Dravens lips curl up, like a jokes being played on him, "Don't be cruel to me."

Leander opens the door all the way and I wave at Draven when he sees my figure on the bed. Dravens' jaw tightens and he comes to understand that not only am I alive and well, but now I know that he and Leadner are lovers or something of the sort.

When he gets over the shock, I see the fear of rejection in his eyes. It's only there for a second, but I catch it. It's the same look I get everytime I've told someone about my past or shared my memories. His face then turns up into what looks like relief that I'm not dead.

I'm sure he wasn't looking forward to telling the Varsillian court that I'm dead and they would be royally screwed when Varkeshia was going to attack.

"Draven, it's good to see you looking well."

He nods at me, "You as well."

O0oo0O

Draven leads me and Leander down the hall and outside into the street now that Leadner and I have explained not only how I am alive, but what I was able to accomplish in dying, "Be ready for Gislee. She went a little insane and is throwing a public funeral."

"Hells, we're about to walk into Hell then. I wonder what colorful things she's come up to say about me."

Draven nods, "That sounds like Gislee, from what I've gleaned thus far. The other Elders of the sectors are here as well."

Draven heads our small group of three as we head through the bakery doors, across the street, through an arch and I make for them to stop. I want to see what's going on before I head into it.

Gislee stand on a podium with Aera and Karina to her right and Phinneaus and Mary to her left, Elliot, Mary's daughter, standing in the front row.

Gislee is projecting her voice through the packed square and I think that every person in Lunata is here. How sweet. "We gather here today to honor the life of Evelyn Ashifre Forrester Augustine Violetta Night Aculiac." Gislee takes a moment, looking rather emotional as her eyes well up, "Evelyn was like another daughter to me and she loved this city almost as much as I do, if not more so. Evelyn loved this city and although she made mistakes, many, many, mistakes, she had a good heart and a good head on those thin, boney, pale, shoulders of hers. She died protecting this city and protecting what she loves."

I blink back tears and I can't move because no one has ever told me that I'm worth anything but Bex and she was bound and fated to tell me that. Gislee truly means everything she says and its so sweet and breathtaking that she sees me as anything but a monster after I had let Ravenna Nivirah into this city.

She goes on, emotional, but pushing it back to get her words out, "When the civil Sector wars came, when we were not strong enough to be able to stand together in the face of adversity, she brought us together and helped us to defeat the wench that called herself Riven. Ravenna. Something of the sort. Her methods were strange and she was a shady person, but she is a good shady person."

Gislee clutches her hands on the podium, trembling slightly and I know this is taking a toll on her.

"She was dramatic, sure, and she definitely had flair and charm. I once gave her lavender cookies and she wouldn't stop glaring at me for the rest of the day. Wouldn't speak to me either."

Elliot Halowin, with a few tears down her face, coughs and interrupts Gislee, "She was allergic to lavender."

Gislee pays her no heed as she finishes her speech, "She will be dearly missed."

1640