Chapter 2

Nira gasped as she looked up in surprise. “Damian! What a surprise! He hasn’t. Not really. He’s more the sous chef,” she giggled. Her long white-blonde hair was pulled up into a messy bun, several wisps escaping from its hold. Her violet eyes were filled with mirth and curiosity as she glanced up at her husband before looking back to the tall, darkly handsome man with tattoos and muscles for days.

Mikael looked at Damian curiously. The Prince of Ikisat had always been his closest and oldest friend. He’d been there for Mikael when no one, not even his own mother, would tell him about his father. Damian had shared everything about Lucifer, or Hades, or whatever name he was going by. He shared every good story as well as every bad. He shared the things that he admired about the Dark Lord and the things he didn't. He'd even explained how he had gone from being known as Hades to known as Lucifer.

When his own mother had cursed him to remain forever in his Daemoni form, unable to take another form and thus unable to ever truly leave the Dark Realms, Damian had tried everything to break that curse. He’d never given up, even when Mikael had. Even though, to this day, Mikael valued the friendship he had with Damian, his friend didn’t pop in for visits and definitely not in his human form.

Damian hated being around humans, He avoided being in the Earth realm. All he saw was their sins and missed the good in them, but that wasn't a surprise to Mikael. How could Damian see the good when he’d only ever seen their sins, the evil, and had to punish the ugliest of souls, day after day since the creation of humans?

In truth, the good, and most especially the love, in them was a foreign idea to him, as it had been to Mikael until Nira. He’d never even known that love could exist for their kind. Sure Mikael had heard the stories of how his father had supposedly found love and abandoned them all for it, but that’s all they were, stories. All he and Damian knew was what happened to the Dark Realms and to Mikael's mother once Lucifer was gone. The chaos that’d come about and what they’d done to try to fix it.

It was a surprise then to see Damian away from Ikisat and his duties there. “So, this is a surprise. Anything wrong?” Mikael asked. He knew Damian and knew his heart. So he recognized the turbulent look in his dark eyes. Something made him come to their home. Something that chilled him to his very soul.

Damian looked at Mikael, his unusually pale green eyes questioning Damian as only a long time friend could. “Mikael, you have been blessed to find something our kind lost, what it is to know love. Real true love. Galena, she has seen the future of your joy and your child. Then she has seen nothing.”

Mikael looked worriedly at his wife. Nothing. In the case of Galena, a true seer that accessed the essence of the realms and the universes, nothing usually meant only one thing, death. Only very rarely did it mean a powerful event other than death, but something in the very heart of his soul told him that this time it didn't mean anything good.

“What does that mean?” Nira asked as her hand immediately went to her belly as if to protect it.

“Possibly nothing, possibly death,” Damian stated bluntly. He didn't waste time on flowery words. Being in his human form was uncomfortable for him. He preferred his natural Daemoni form. “That is why I am here. What you’ve found must be protected and now that you’re mortal, your powers are minimal. I give you my honor-bound word, as Damian, Prince of Ikisat, that I will protect you.”

Mikael looked at Damian in shock. Daemoni Princes never honor-bound themselves to anyone, for fear of betrayal. Giving their honor-bound word locked them to the persons involved until true death of their souls. Because of his surprise as he looked at his old friend, completely forgetting about the dinner cooking in front of them. “Why?”

“Because I must. You give our kind hope. Too often we are consumed by the evil we punish until there is no other choice but to destroy us for the sake of every realm. We become as the humans see us, demonic monsters bent on their ultimate destruction. To see love, to know it... that hope is something worth protecting for us all.”

“No, don’t bind yourself to us, Damian. Our child, you must protect our child,” Nira implored, fear and worry etched into her beautiful face. She knew they were always at risk from enemies, and feared what it meant for the innocent babe growing inside her. That fear was so strong that she often felt sick from it. She may not have the ability to access the essence of the realms as Galena did but she had a mother's instinct and that instinct screamed she needed Damian to protect her daughter.

“Nira...” Mikael began, trying to stop her. He wasn't sure how much she should tell Damian, or anyone really. He didn't want his mother and Mordecai to learn what they knew as fact.

“Mikael, you haven’t felt her power as I have. She is only weeks old and her power flows through me freely. Today, I sneezed purple fire and when I banged my foot, I melted a flower pot with just an angry thought. I also made roses bloom simply by thinking how pretty they will be. I’ve never had power as our child has. My mother was human but our child will be not only human and Daemoni, but Illuminare and Celestian.

“Never has a child been born with the power of her blood. There are those that’ll want that power, like Mordecai and even your mother. We can’t stop either of them but Damian will be able to.” Nira was close to tears as she explained her feelings. She didn't care about their dinner, she didn't care about anything at that moment. Her emotions, her fears, her hormones were overwhelming her.

“I’ve defeated Mordecai many times. Not even the Dark Lord can move against my Legions. When Mordecai dared to cross into Ikisat, it was a simple task to remove him.” Damian paused to think about what they asked. A child, did he wish to be honor-bound to a child he didn't know? A child that could become his enemy.

This was Nira and Mikael's child, though. A child made from a powerful love. He knew what he had to do. “Yes, I am agreeable to that if it’s what you wish.”

Mikael looked at his wife as she nodded at him, urging him to talk to Damian. Since giving up his mortality he worried about everything and what it could mean for their family. Once he and Nira had discovered that she was with child they’d discussed all of the possibilities, including if they were attacked. It wasn't a pleasant subject but with enemies as powerful as theirs, it was something that had to be addressed.

Now that Damian was here he knew it was the time to ask. Somehow he still felt nervous, knowing what he was about to ask was no small request. It could change all of their destinies. Looking at Damian cautiously, he grabbed hold of the counter tightly as he asked, “Since you’re willing to protect her, would you consider becoming our daughter’s betrothed? There is no one we trust more.”

“What?” Damian asked as he looked at them in surprise, his body rigid as he tilted his head questioningly. “You want to betroth her to me, a Daemoni Prince?”

Damian was proud of who he was but he also knew the stigma that followed them. He didn’t like humans. Too often darkness filled their hearts and souls and being around them tempted the darkness inside of him. What he didn't understand was why they chose him.

“It’s only a formality really. If she’s betrothed to the most powerful of Daemoni Princes then it’ll protect her because most will not chance your wrath. Darius knows, he doesn’t necessarily agree but he knows and it’ll ally him to you as well,” Nira explained as she absently poked at their dinner in the pan. She stared at Damian trying to read his poker face. “You don’t have to become mated. We just know that with you she’ll be protected.”

Damian nodded as he thought about their words, a powerful, yet distant look in his eyes. Honor bound. Betrothed. What if... Damian was afraid to hope what this could mean. He never thought he would ever find a mate. It just wasn't something he could imagine for himself.

Closing his eyes he let himself think over the possibilities. Inside his heart there was a spark of hope. Maybe, just maybe... Without answering their request or even opening his eyes, he softly asked, “Does she have a name yet?”

“Theanna,” Mikael answered with a soft smile. He recognized the spark he’d felt in himself. Looking at Nira, she returned his smile before returning her attention to finishing their dinner. Helen, her step-mother, told them it was important to their daughter if Damian were in her life. It would seem it was also important to Damian.

“Theanna.” Damian turned and took a few steps to look out the nearby bay window that allowed him to see the peaceful woods behind Nira and Mikael’s house. He noticed several deer at the edge of the woods. Near to them stood a proud buck. He seemed to be watching Damian as Damian watched him. Both appraising, both considering.

He let his mind relax and wander over every possibility he could imagine, every angle. This was how he’d become so powerful. Before any major strategic decision he looked at it from every angle. “As she matures she’ll not be happy such a decision was made for her.”

“No, she won’t be, but it can always be ended. For the foreseeable future, though, it’s strategic and wise. She needs allies as powerful as you. You can protect her from ones such as Mordecai and Innara,” Mikael explained.

What Mikael wouldn't say as he looked at his friend was there was another reason for the betrothment. He worried about Damian. He’d seen the darkness try to overtake him in recent years as his disdain for humanity grew. Mikhail owed Damian. This betrothment would forever connect them and allow for the possibility of him to know love.

Suddenly, Damian turned back around to face Nira and Mikael, a look of determination in his eyes. Nodding he said. “I will agree to the betrothment. A child made from the love you have should be protected. No matter what, all of Ikisat will keep her safe. So it is agreed. Chq iq xa zae! *(Let it be so!)*”

“Chq iq xa zae!” Mikael repeated as he clasped Damian’s wrist as friend and ally. Relief filled his heart at the possibilities the future now held.

“I must return to Ikisat,” Damian simply stated with a nod to them before vanishing, almost as if he had to be alone with his thoughts now.

Mikael looked at Nira and smiled broadly, “Come, wife, let’s eat!”