Present Day - Grypheem
He hadn’t expected…any of that.
When he came into this, he knew he was obsessed with the idea of Raven. With the woman he hadn’t been able to save. The one whose fault it was that Oleks was taken. And in several ways, the woman whose fault it was his entire life had imploded.
In the beginning, when he realized she was in the games, he wanted to use her. He wanted to hate her. He wanted her body.
But then she infected him, a festering wound that he had no hope of healing. A Sacred Cherished woman he desired when he would be better off running fast and far away from.
His mother was a Sacred Cherished, and it had only led to his own father’s demise.
History always attempts to repeat itself.
After fucking Raven senseless, he had relocated them to the bed and that is where she slept now in his arms.
The door opening to his quarters had him jumping to attention, but through the dimming firelight, he relaxed at the sight of Julian.
Griffin wrapped the blanket around Raven, placing overstuffed pillows on each side of her before getting out of the bed and joining Julian on the couch in front of the fire.
It was dying now, the light barely illuminating the men’s faces, the embers clicking and clacking as they attempted to maintain life.
“Oleks caught me up,” Julian finally spoke, his head falling forward into his hands.
Griffin reached forward, opening a drawer in the coffee table and pulling out several items. “Here, these are for you.”
Julian looked up in curiosity and took the items from Griffin’s hands in surprise. “This seems silly in the grand scheme of things, but thank you, I really appreciate it.”
Griffin inclined his head, quirking his lips. The olive branch was a necessary lubrication to work up to what they needed to discuss.
Julian made quick work of putting the metal piercings into all the holes on his face and ears.
“It feels like we’ve been in this castle for years, as if my autonomy was stolen from me. Felix hasn’t even come to speak with me, after our time together, it was as if it was all a farce. He was just waiting to get here, and now I am dead to him,” Julian unleashed, falling back into the couch and staring at the dying fire listlessly.
“Felix is supposed to be one of Anadil’s, I imagine he doesn’t want to cause you any more issues than he already has. And besides that, my brother will report back any suspicious activity to her.” Griffin sighed heavily.
“You don’t call her Nightingale.”
It wasn’t a question, but Griffin replied to it nonetheless.
“When I met her, it was clear she was a victim,” Griffin admitted. “And the name Nightingale came from the people of Luscinia. It never sat right with me to call her that. It just…she’s not like them. She’s worse in a lot of ways,muchworse, but…”
“But at the end of the day she was a victim too.” Julian breathed out roughly. “Yeah, and I get that, I do. But she’s gonepast the point of return. She has been playing with all of our lives for years and for what purpose? Nothing has changed.”
“She’s attempting to move mountains.” Griffin grumbled annoyedly, not bothering to explain further. His attention flashed to Raven to ensure she still slept. “Listen.” He leaned forward, lowering his voice as much as he could.
Julian’s eyebrows knitted together in concern at the change in tone.
“We will be forced to complete the pre-marital ceremony.”
Julian opened his mouth, but Griffin hedged forward.
“We will be forced into a chamber filled with cameras. It will be broadcast across the Sacred Trinity. Typically, the woman must be filled with seed. It must be spilled into her womb. Since it is the both of us…”
“We’ll both need to fuck her.”
Griffin hummed. “Yes, but it goes further than that. In order for us to have equal claim, we must do it at the same time.” Griffin advised, his memory flashing back to when he had asked the Priestess this question. He hadn’t known at the time how important the information would be.
It was archaic. The entire ceremony was. But he didn’t have any actual power.
