Kyan was in the middle of stirring an antidote for the new flu that was spreading across the capital when Karsyn burst into the room, Shalom hot on her trail.
"WHAT THE HELL!" Kyan yelled as the crashing sound of the door shook the delicate consistency of the mixture. "I have been working on that antidote for the past eight months and you ruined it in a span of a few seconds!" He exclaimed in exasperation.
Kyan was one of the best chemists and doctors on the entire continent. They both knew that he could easily recreate it.
"Shalom refuses to sleep in the same bed as me!" Karsyn announced indignantly.
"Karsyn, you are making it into something more when it's not that big of a deal. Stop being so dramatic!" Shalom responded in a stern voice.
Kyan sighed in defeat. His sister could be quite over-the-top when things did not go her way. Her and Shalom had decided on being celibate until they got married. Being young parents was hard without adding to the fact that they could not get the comforting touch of their partners until after they get married. Of course, Kyan would not understand this since he could care less if his sister and best friend got it on. He would rather press bamboo shoots up his nails and swallow a vat of belladonna than discuss their sleeping arrangements.
"Yes well, you are not the one getting sexually frustrated by just lying beside me now are you?" Karsyn whined.
"Have you ever thought that maybe I might not be able to control myself when I'm lying beside you?" Shalom responded in an equally whiny voice.
Usually, Shalom was the most serious and logical person in their group, but since the birth of his daughter and his engagement to Karsyn he's become equally messed in the head as Kyan's sister. To say it irritated him was an understatement.
"Mommy!" A sweet as sugar voice called out from behind the door. "Mommy, are you and da-da in there?" The same voice asked in an even sweeter tone.
Jenny was the sweetest girl ever. Kyan had no idea how 'Serious Shalom and Crazy Karsyn' ever made her.
Karsyn immediately softened and so did Shalom.
"Yes, honey! Why don't you come in? Uncle Kyan is not mixing anything hazardous or deadly."
Jenny had been warned about Kyan's laboratory and it's dangerous fumes so she was advised to always knock or ring a bell before entering.
Jenny looked a little like both Shalom and Karsyn. She was short and had her mother's pink eyes, but had Shalom's blackish-purple hair and his bone structure.
"Can I go with Tryssy to the market to get Earthling sweets? They have a new haul of those choccies called 'Twix' they look yummy." She asked in the most polite voice.
Kyan couldn't help but smile at her manners. She was so much like Shalom, it was uncanny.
"Of course you can dear," Shalom replied with a smile and Karsyn nodded her assent.
Jenny skipped off laughing merrily. Shalom and Karsyn smiled at each other and also walked out the door, their quarrel already was forgotten and left Kyan to his devices.
Shalom smiled at his tavaryš as they walked down the hallway.
"I'll sleep with you if you promise to not wear your delicates to bed." He whispered in her ear. He smirked when he noticed the chills on her neck.
"They are comfortable." She whispered back in a breathy tone.
They just smiled at each other after that, their hands intertwined and slightly swinging.
They had met when Karsyn was in a dark place. When her scars -both physical and mental were still fresh. He had wanted to save her. Save her from the impending darkness and despair. He had wanted to cocoon her in his dark power and make her his. He wasn't by any means possessive, but Karsyn brought out the worst and the best in him.
She had given her heart and body to him and he had done the same to her. He loved her and she loved him. Their connection went deeper than their hearts, to their souls. They were tavaryš, mates. They were forever and meant to be. Karsyn had her doubts about their love in the beginning. It was always there like an ugly cloud at the back of her mind that their love wasn't real, but just an illusion. Shalom was quick to shut down such ideas and proved to be that their love was real.
They had Jenny when she was just sixteen and he was eighteen. It wasn't planned, but they couldn't be happier. Theirs was the forever kind of love. Something that could not be broken and no one would even want to break.
They kept walking down the never-ending hallways of the house, uncovering new hideaways for their trysts and getting lost in the magic of the house. As the day turned into night and the bell rang eight times to mark the eighth hour of the second fraction of the day, they smiled and laughed and talked late into the night forgetting for once that they have responsibilities and a child, forgot that there was darkness brewing in the shadows waiting to pounce on the little girl with porcelain skin and pink eyes as she danced around in circles, her uncle distracted for a second by the vendors, his back turned to her. They kept going on, not knowing that come morning the biggest test of all in their life would be on their doorstep ready to destroy and demolish their peaceful bubble. Ready to shatter their hope and serenity. Ready to show them the war that is about to cause havoc on the land and people they love.
Hope is there, but so is despair.