untitled: 'I'm pregnant and they are yours'

"Thank you..." Urius said softly, taking the wine and staring into it. He didn't know what to do or think. Just looking into the deep red liquid made him think of Adonis' eyes. He shuddered involuntarily and gently put the wine down on a side table. He couldn't bring himself to drink it.

Settled back down again, Ceata was quiet, alert. His eyes flicking between Urius and Death. The red head was silent and brooding. There was much to think over, so much. What exactly went through the heads of all settled here, privy to this tale of woe and folly?

"Geh...this is ridiculous," Stannis growled under his breath, impatient with the fact they were stalling. The silence only made things more uncomfortable, especially since Stannis was eager to get this over with. The sooner Urius came clean, the more likely they would be able to deal with Sorrow...or, at least, that was his theory. Perhaps if the guilt was not such a heavy burden, he wouldn't transform so readily. True, Stannis was the last person for building up his brother's self-esteem, but he would do anything to keep the monster at bay.

"Hush, Stannis." Death rumbled, having been lost in thought. Dark eyes distant, mind somewhere else entirely, far from this room. The pause gave him time to mill over what he had heard so far, to process it and gather what he could. The information was priceless.

"Urius... if you could go on, I would appreciate it." The immortal asked, voice hushed. "The sooner this is over with, the sooner we can get to fixing this issue."

"Y-yes...I suppose I should not hesitate," Urius says softly, glancing towards Ceata. He sat there and folded his hands again before him, having to look at the ground, because he could not bring himself to look into another person's eyes. "...Um...where were we?"

"You were speaking of playing God." Ceata piped up softly and glanced to Urius. More than anything, the young man wanted to over.

"Ah....right," Urius says as he clears his throat a bit, still feeling nervous. His throat is dry, but he won't drink the wine. Too red...too like him.

"As I was saying, Rowan began down a strange path...and all the while, I continued to fall further into a terrible state with Remalphia at my back..."

~ ~ ~

"You don't let me stay as long as you used to," the beautiful dark-haired Remalphia breathed, pressing against Urius' smooth white skin. He sat there in the bed, staring at the fire as it crackled and danced before him. He felt the greatest urge to thrust the woman into the flames..."What's the matter, Urius? Don't you love me anymore?"

He didn't answer that, simply getting up and beginning to dress, his young supple flesh still glinting with the strains of sex. He had fucked her like a mad dog, not caring how much he stretched that girlish body of hers.

As he worked his belt, he felt her eyes upon him from where she was on the bed, staring at him with such a hollow and hungry gaze. It was strange to think that a girl who was once so innocent could fall so quickly into the basest of desires - lust. "Urius....why do you let Rowan do terrible things to you?"
Urius flinched a moment, wondering where this line of questioning was going to lead. He turned to look at her, the supposed lover of his master, his own best friend. She was the ugliest thing he had ever seen...he couldn't imagine Rowan's pale skin brushing up against hers or the blond curls at the base of his cock brushing her womanhood in the trawl of sex. It made him sick even thinking of it.

"Why are you asking me this?" Urius tried to act as indifferent as possible. He'd never told the girl he loved her...never said anything. He hated her with a passion. He wanted to kill her with his own hands. Sometimes, as he lay with her, he'd fantasize about ripping her little throat open and watching her bleed to death beneath him. It gave him satisfaction to know he could do that whenever he wished...Honestly, he didn't know what was stopping him.

"Because, you have new scars every time I see you. It looks like claw marks on your chest this time...Why do you let him do that to your beautiful body?"
She had such hollow words, such hollow eyes. The obvious lust there made him want to wretch, he fanning out his shirt instead to get rid of the wrinkles. He didn't answer her quickly enough to suit her and she glowered at him.

"You love it, don't you....You love feeling that pain. You love being made to do things you hate, all so he'll glance at you...Just so he looks your way..." Her eyes were tearing up as her hands fisted in the sheets. "Why won't you look at me?!! Can't you see I would do anything to get you to look at me the way you look at him?! Urius, I love you!! I love you and you won't even glance at me!!!" she screamed, grabbing up a pillow and flinging it at him. It hit him with a soft fluff of fabric, bouncing off him and falling into the fire where it slowly began to burn. The smell of burning goose down stung Urius' nostrils as he turned to look at her. She was crying, her eyes still so hollow.

"You're not worth looking at," Urius replied and turned, grabbing his coat and sword on the way out. "Be sure to take your clothing with you when you leave. I don't want you back here again." He shut the door behind him, standing in the hall as he heard her scream.
"Urius!!! Urius, come back here!! Come back here and look at me!! URIUS!!!"

~ ~ ~

By his side, Ceata clenched his hands in the fabric of his pants, felt the sting of nail against the pale, yielding flesh beneath. This part of Urius' tale was too close for comfort, the young male feeling all too keenly that desperation. That driving force that burned deep and relentless.

Death was as impassive and quiet as before, chin upon his hand and gaze directed to the somber, guilty storyteller before him.

Stannis grit his teeth and glowered at his brother so sternly. Oh, yes...he remembers how he saw the girl lingering at Urius' side. It was disgusting, knowing that his own brother would go so far as to sleep with that woman just to keep her from Rowan. Ah, but he created a monster. She wasn't about to let Urius go...As far as the true evil in this situation, she came as close to Adonis' own viciousness as any of them.

"She wouldn't....she wouldn't let me go. Like myself, she would endure whatever pain I dealt her just to get my attention. If anything, she was truly pathetic. From that day onward, she never left Rowan's side. She clung to him, spoke sweetly to him, let him hear whatever he wanted, just to watch my rage...And Rowan knew what I was doing to some extent. He said nothing, though...which was perhaps more unnerving than anything."

~ ~ ~

"Urius, come here," the handsome blond ordered with the crook of his finger. Urius left the picnic blanket where he was setting up the food to sit on the swing with Rowan. The gardens were lush and blooming in the early spring, Urius rather liking the clean and fresh scent. Especially the lilacs...they smelled like Rowan.
"Yes, My Lord?" Urius asked, settled beside him.

"Urius...tell me, when does love turn to hate?"

So startling was the question that Urius almost fell off the swing, eyes wide with surprise as he could see the pain in Rowan's gaze. He was looking somewhere distantly, a look that arrived more frequently on his beautiful countenance lately.

"I...I don't know, My Lord. I have never loved," Urius lied, watching the other with increased curiosity. Rowan sighed then and hung his head.


"Oh, I see..." He paused for a long moment, staring at the flowers at his feet. "You know...Remalphia is a really nice girl. She's kind to me. She dotes on me." Rowan raised his gaze and looked to Urius, the other knowing better than to stare directly back. Sometimes Rowan had such a temper to him - like a child that could not hold back his feelings. This time, however, he simply reached out and ran his fingertips along the other's jawline, touching his cheek gently as his green eyes sparkled. "I wish you would dote on me too..."

Urius grit his teeth, trying not to say what he felt.

"You're not a child anymore, My Lord. I will not treat you as such."

Rowan's gaze turned slightly sad, the green almost getting a blue tint.
"But...I liked it. When I was younger, you'd hold me whenever I was frightened. I was so much smaller than you...It felt like being enveloped in a dark shadow, comforting and warm. I liked it..."

Urius turned, letting his eyes shyly meet Rowan's. God, they were beautiful. He felt his breath hitch and his heart ache. He wanted to possess those eyes and every facet of green within them. "Rowan, I..."

"Rowan-Adonis, my dearest!!" came that voice which Urius would have rather forgotten, his face at once darkening. Remalphia quickly came from the other side of the house, dressed in so much lace that she looked like a perfect porcelain doll...He'd seen under that dress and she wasn't as innocent as all that. She had breasts and hips like any other woman. And a dirty cunt too.

"Ah, Malphia...You're late," Rowan says, getting up and off the swing. Urius sits there silently and watches them meet, sharing the most chaste of kisses. Such whorish lips...He glared at her when Rowan's back was turned and she offered him a sickly sweet smile. He'd kill the bitch...Rip her open and watch her squirm. She'd be so much prettier once she was gutted out.

"Oh, Rowan, my love...would you please go back to the other side of the house? I believe the carriage is still waiting...I...I'm sorry, I'm such a ditz, but I wanted to see you so badly that I ran off without telling him that he should pick me up at eight. Would you be a dear and go tell him?" she asked coyly, pressing her body up against Rowan's. Rowan merely smiled that charismatic smile, kissing her cheek.

"Of course...Anything for you." With that, he turned and began walking down the little path. Only when he was out of sight did she turn to look at Urius with the cruelest of smiles. He outright glared at her.

"Oh, my....did I ruin the moment?"

"Shut up. Your talking wastes air." Urius got up and went back to the business of setting up the picnic - anything to be doing something that would occupy his hands...Otherwise, Rowan would come back to find his dear sweet "Malphia" with a broken jugular.
"Oh, my...Still jealous that he's kissing me and not you? Quite honestly, he's not as vicious as you are, but I guess his schoolboy innocence has its charms...And he's rich, of course - always buying me gifts and the like." She giggled and showed off the finely jeweled bracelet on her right arm. "It's only a little while until this is a ring."

Urius glared up at her. "You don't know what a monster he is. Only I know Rowan." He was nigh to bearing his teeth at her, like a feral dog snarling at an intruder. She only smiled at him, pushing some of her curling black hair out of her face.

"You say that like it's a fact...But, Urius, only I know you, and if I can't have you, I'll take him from you. It's that simple." Her eyes were hollow again, holding nothing there but the base need to have him....because he wouldn't let her, she wanted Urius all the more. "You're a monster, just like him. When we marry, I'll see to it he kicks you to the streets like the mongrel you are."

~ ~ ~
Shivering, Ceata had to reposition himself. He was suddenly very, very agitated and the could barely fight the urge to get up.  However, he knew better than to do that. He had control of himself. Urius needed him no matter how uncomfortable this was making him.

"She did just that...The day when Rowan finally came to me to tell me he was marrying her, we were much older. By that time, we had successfully created an organization that not only fought Robert Valen, but every other man like him. We saved thousands of Shadowshifters by the time the Great War ended, leaving us with a surplus of workers. We gathered Demons and Angels and Humans. Creatures from across the realms and even Gods came to our aid sometimes. Rowan was...amazing. He had the ability to make anyone love him, trust him, need him...Only I knew what he was doing - building an army of Engineered Angels for some vengeful purpose. I stayed quiet. I did his bidding. I'd kill whatever he wanted, I'd maim, I'd destroy...When he told me to end the life of one of my own relatives, there would be no questioning it."

Stannis growls upon hearing that, standing at the door still. He's glaring at his brother with his eyes gleaming a faint blue. How much rage he feels towards Urius only grows with the more he reveals. Some of it Stannis knows, but other bits of it he had no idea about.

"I loved him...I loved him desperately enough to let him hurt me. I grew to enjoy completing a mission, no matter how disgusting, because he would approve. We grew distant, though we were constantly together...By then, Roaden had become Rowan's Third and Jinevae was his Fourth. I did not...really spend time with them. I was their commander, but they weren't my friends. I confided in no one...I had nothing but Rowan, so...when he came to me that day at the Department of Justice, I...I felt my heart break."

~ ~ ~

Urius watched Rowan walk away, having said nothing. Rowan had just told him how he was marrying Remalphia soon, that he was going to leave the organization and it was now Urius' job to keep them going. He didn't want to fight anymore....he wanted to run. A part of Urius was so betrayed that he could only let Rowan go, but...there was something else.

'That bitch...' Urius breathes, feeling the weight of the parchment in his coat pocket. Remalphia's letter...it detailed all the terrible things she would tell Rowan if Urius didn't keep his mouth shut. Blackmail...it really wasn't beyond her capabilities, but Urius never thought she would go to this extreme. All the dirty deeds he had done in her bed seemed to weigh at his soul yet again, burdening him with silence. The worst of it could only be summed up in a single sentence, written clearly in the bitch's hand.

"I am pregnant and they are yours."

~ ~ ~

A gasp escaped Ceata before he could stop himself and he clasped his hands quickly over his mouth. The young man's wide eyes flicked to Urius, staring in shock.
Nothing needed to be said, for Urius could clearly enough see the jealousy there. No anger, just jealousy.

Death snorted, whether it was amusement or disgust was hard to tell.

Urius grit his teeth, his eyes wild with a rage he could not escape. It weighed at him with his guilt, his hands gripping so tight that his nails cut the skin. "...so that day, in the rain, I let him go. The leader of the organization had disbanded us. I was forsaken as Rowan's Second, as his friend......as someone who loved him. I lived in agony, taking a job up with the Law. Yet, for a time after Rowan's wedding - a ceremony I could not bring myself to attend - I was a mess."

~ ~ ~

"Urius...come on, you have to get up out of bed. This is ridiculous," Roaden said as he stood at the threshold to the dark room. Urius lay there, his eyes staring helplessly towards the wall. His bed sheets were rumpled, there being no sign that he had left them but for a few short moments. His hair had been allowed to grow shaggy, his face even caressed with stubble. And his eyes were sunken, because he would not eat. Roaden didn't know how he could get Urius up again, sighing as he put down yet another meal against the bed table.

"We all knew that if Rowan ever married her, they would get rid of the organization. Right now, it's still operating, but only to wrap things up. Gow is going to keep the tunnels working until he is certain that every last witness is relocated to a good home, that all of the paperwork is destroyed...Please, Urius, you have to live beyond this. We'll be okay. If anything, you're finally free...you can choose what you want to do now."

"I don't want to choose. I want my master." Urius stared at the wall. "I want to be owned again..."

Roaden looked a bit disturbed by the words, frowning as he stood. "Urius...Rowan grew up. We knew we couldn't keep playing at rebellion forever...I mean, come on, when has Rowan ever done anything that truly isn't selfish? He did this all just to feel good about himself...or to get over some fear of his father. Now he has Remalphia for that. If anything, you should be happy he's not so helpless that he needs you anymore." Urius flinched at those words.

"I want my master. I want him to be helpless...to need me..." Urius grits his teeth, his grey eyes wide as flecks of purple begin to work their way around the edges - as dim as anything. "I want him not to be able to breathe without me."

"U....Urius...." Roaden says with obvious surprise before he hears the fall of boots against the floorboards. He turns, seeing there a Starc in fine clothing with  wolf's fur to line his cape and shining metal armor bearing the Starc sigil. He takes off his helm, Stannis glowering at his brother.

"I see you're as pathetic as always...Weeping like a lovesick woman - you disgust me," Stannis snarled as he walked right into the room, ignoring Roaden's protest about Urius being ill. Stannis with his characteristic gentility gripped the others nightshirt and lifted him up. Urius didn't have the heart to smack him away. "As much as I hate to say it, your family needs your presence. Urlander has been appointed Regent while our mother is ill and he's trying to marry off Urielle...I figured, since my little sister loves you more than I, you would want to rescue her."

Urius stared up at his brother, his eyes lifeless. "....Why should I care?" Those words were wrong, very wrong. Without even caring that he was wearing gauntlets, Stannis slapped Urius across the face, busting his lip and offering him a great bruise to one side. Roaden cried out.

"Hey!!! How dare you hit a sick man, you Starc bastard?!"

Stannis turned to glare at him. "You will silence yourself, Valen. You're babying him here, allowing him to be foolish...Urius is a grown man. Obviously, living among the Valens so long has made him weak to emotions. We'll be fixing that shortly." Stannis turned to glare at Urius. "There is an uprising of Cave Starcs. There will be Civil War at this rate. In addition to saving your sister, you are going to fight....That's not a request from your older brother - that's an order from your General." Stannis throws down a parchment with the orders written on them. "Now get your sorry ass up....because I will not drag you."

~ ~ ~
"Mmnn... So many errors." Death uttered when Urius paused. Dark eyes still heavily upon the Starc, pinned in rapt fascination. They all made mistakes, but Urius had made so very many for just one man. It did not surprise him now why Stannis loathed his sibling.

"Go on, Urius."


"Well...I.....In short, really, I couldn't go to Rowan to ask to be his Second again, not knowing Remalphia would tell him that terrible secret...so I had to go to war." Urius glances up at Stannis, feeling the other's glare upon him like this cold spike of ice stabbing into him from across the room. "It was a worse hell than what I had already gotten myself into..."

Ceata had only just been introduced to the horror of war. War, terrible thing and the pale male shivered at the thought. By rights he should have long ago gone into some sort of battle, hired as a mercenary, but as a prince he was shielded from it. Heard stories though... bloody stories and now Urius was to speak of more.

~ ~ ~

The acrid fumes from the many smoke fires were enough to choke Urius, his hand before his mouth to keep the stench away from his tongue. The fires were not from any sort of mass destruction or the burning of villages. Rather, they had been deliberately set in the hope of scaring out the enemy - an enemy they could very well call family. Urius watched them pile the rotting dead atop the burning wood and peat. Their bloated bodies turned to ashes quickly enough, but left a smell too horrid to describe.

Cave Starcs. They lived in the highest parts of the mountains, taking shelter in the mountains like ants in a hill. They had followed the old ways for far too long, their superiors said. Lawless and cruel, they had sought out the Ice Demon villages on the fringe and burned and pillaged even though the war was over. Though the Tenshihana government would normally not care if Demons died, these Demons had friends - Luciferian friends. For fear of starting yet another Great War after such fragile peace had been attained, it was Starc duty to find a solution. True, Tenshihana was more interested in simply diplomatically sweeping the problem under the rug, but Starc law didn't work that way.
Starc law demanded death for treason. Tenshihana was too weak to see that, some said. They would rather bargain like old men than enact justice in accordance with the ancient laws. That is why they had to burn those Cave Starcs out. They were inferior blood. They were wild and could not contain their emotions. They were dirty, perverted, and easily disposed of. And now, they were burning...

"Urius, come on over here! Standing too close to the smoke will make your eyes bleed," came a familiar voice, jarring Urius from his insane staring at the carcasses as they disintegrated in the flame. Farryn stepped up to him, a hand over his own nose to keep the burning smoke away from his sense of smell. Ah, but everything smelled like it...Even the trees, whose sweet pine sap could usually overpower even the strongest smells. House Starc smelled like blood.

"Yes," Urius answered softly, turning in the snow from the mouth of one of the largest caves. The fires had been burning for several hours now. No doubt, the fumes had reached the inner chambers and were now choking the frightened masses. After all, they'd located all the cave vents and blocked them with thick earthen cement. They would make them come out...and the army would be waiting. 

The smell of burning bodies was said to be much like the scent of roasting pig. Death had found this to be very true and wrinkled his nose up at the thought of burning bodies, the acrid smoke thick in the air, choking. He'd seen enough wars to be far too familiar with that scent and the sight of skin curling and blackening, fat bubbling under it till the skin popped open.

Shaking his head slowly to clear the thought out, the immortal waved his hand, urging Urius on.

"Are we really going to kill them all, Farryn?" Urius asked his friend softly, his eyes filled with a sort of dread that could not be comprehended. Farryn didn't really answer him, only forcing a smile as they headed towards the trees. Soldiers had taken seats there under the thick pines, their armor gleaming in the low light of the cloudy sky. Snow and cold bit at one through their armor, but they were used to it. No Starc had ever been born that couldn't weather the worst of winters.

"Stop simpering," snarled a voice far colder than a winter. Urius turned over his shoulder to behold his brother, a general in his warm wolf fur cloak and heavy helm. He had been standing by the trees, as still as anything, and heard Urius' forlorn question.
Though Stannis was a well-respected general who would even go so far as to fight with his men, he was still a hard-hearted person in war. Killing people who were only trying to flee came with the order, so he followed it. No questions asked. That is how the Starc lived.

Ceata made a face, shifting in his seat. It was not even second thought that they would have killed whomever was left in the cave. He knew enough about Starcs to be aware of that fact, but it still rubbed him the wrong way, pampered prince that he was. You did not include innocents in battle. At least the honorable did not. But honor could not always be the first thing one thought of in those situations. You did as ordered or paid for it.

Stannis was such a person. He knew that if he disobeyed that he and his men would pay the price. What's more, these people would simply not change their ways. To avoid a lengthy feud with much bloodshed, it would be simpler to destroy them all in one blow. Mass blood shed to avoid generations of hate. Was that such a terrible trade off?

"Sir, someone is coming out!!!" came the call from a ways down the line of caves, a young foot soldier with sword ready staring directly into the smoke. it was true, some figures were shifting behind the screen of pluming black. Soldiers bolted from their positions by the trees - not so much out of the eagerness to kill, but simply from the astonishment that there was something able to get through that inky darkness at all. The figure moved and then bolted, the flames licking at its feet as a young warrior vaulted himself over the burning corpses...only to have a crossbow bolt imbedded quickly into his skull. He flopped atop the corpses, sliding down them as the fire licked up his body. He was twelve, covered in wolf and deer hide. He had lifeless grey eyes.

The soldiers stared, none willing to say a word. Stannis lowered the crossbow, looking to the boy. His expression was unreadable. Farryn was at his back, his hand hesitantly raising - as though to touch the other.
"Get to your posts. The others should be along shortly...If you run out of arrows, kill them quickly with your swords. If your arm gets tired, ask another man to help......If you can't do it, I will."

War did not spare anyone... nor did this manner of situation. Death leaned back slowly, wearily. Though it was long passed, it left a bitter ache at what happened in the worlds outside his realm. He'd long sheltered the younglings here from it all, but that never lasted...

~ ~ ~

Stannis was silent as Urius told the story, though his eyes seemed to harden and his expression became unreadable. He had as much to atone for as Urius, but his had been sanctioned wrongs ordered by Urlander. Still, even that did not excuse the horrors he had committed in the name of House Starc.

"We killed them. One by one, as they ran out. Some of the women and children were spared, but they would be placed in reform camps. Anyone with a weapon was slaughtered. Anyone older than 50 was slaughtered, lest their ideals be passed down to the next generation. Only the very young or obedient were spared. For two years, we systematically went to each and every cave, burning them out, covering the vents, blocking off the entrances...letting people starve behind high rock walls as they tried to claw their way through stone...Some fought us outright, of course. We had battles in the highlands, over the trees and hills. Only one man sought to evade us, though...he lead most of the raids into Demon territory. Graithe they called him. It was an old name, standing for "Graithen dorth Ibelraen," which means Red Wind on Many Shields. This came from his habit of smearing blood on his armor until it gleamed red."

That was familiar, the act of smearing blood on armor. Death stroked his chin and was reminded of the great wars, of young shadowshifters making names for themselves and their habits of marking their kills in blood.

"Hmmnn..."

"It was then that we were recalled back to the southern-most tower to do watch duty. One of my other brothers took up commanding the front lines, as it was rumored that Stannis would be betrothed soon and thus needed to be close to sign any marriage documents..."

~ ~ ~

Urius didn't mind so much having to sit at the top of an icy tower, staring out over hundreds of miles of open forest and the distant peaks of his homeland. It was better than the front lines, though the quiet could be equally as disturbing as the sounds of screams. At least here there was no slaughter, far beyond enemy lines. He could rest, if only for a while, until the nightmares gripped him.

"Here, some warm tea," Farryn said as he finished heating the pot on a small contained fire they had on the top of the tower. He placed the warm tea in Urius' hands - Urius  careful not to burn himself.

"Shouldn't you be with Stannis right now, Farryn?" the younger male inquired, grey eyes searching Farryn's face. He had been very depressed lately, though Urius could hardly name the cause.

"No, it's alright. He's working on charts and battle plans...you know how he hates being bothered at a time like this." Farryn smiled wearily. "At least he might not have to see too much battle if he gets married soon, right? It'll be good for us too, since we won't be going very far from home."

"Less fighting is good, but...isn't the King sending some Valen troops here?"

"Oh, that's right...Because they have getting rumors down there about what we're doing, they're going to come and try to stop the genocide...Heh...a little late, I'd say."

"Tenshihana Parliament is always slow...little do they know almost all of the Cave Starcs are dead already," Urius said softly, his voice holding more an edge of sorrow than smug amusement. Some of his comrades didn't care much and could laugh it off. He couldn't.
"Yes, well, it doesn't make much of a difference...They're sending some female commander, so they must not be very concerned about the whole thing, Farryn replied, sipping his tea as the steam rolled up and warmed his cold face.

"Female commander? I thought Valens were oppressive with their women....not that we aren't, but...still, I'd be less surprised with a powerful Starc shield maiden than a female Valen commander."

"Her name is Kite...she's said to be from Lady Rachel's family."

"Ah, so she's from one of the colonies...that would explain it. Lady Rachel Valen rules those places and she HATES men. No doubt any one of her daughters would be fierce...but I imagine the government must not think so, that's why they sent her. Heh...I bet she'll beat her way through this like every other brash Valen before her," Urius chuckled sourly, sipping again. Farryn only shrugged for his words.

"Maybe...She's going to be sent up here with us on minor patrol duties - far away from the actual fighting."

"I bet she won't like that at all...."