A smile tugged his lips up. Ileus clasped Rolfe's forearms and then clapped on the back—a greeting that said that Ileus had accepted him as family. He said, "I would like to hear you out when we have finished the whole project. Before that let's just keep our feelings hidden." 

Rolfe stared at him, stunned for a moment and then nodded, flashing a smile. He turned to see Iona, but she was being ushered away by Anastasia. He frowned as to what could be so important, but he shrugged. It could be the girl talk. He walked out of the fortress where on the stony pavement stood his soldiers intermixed with the faes. He took a deep breath as a feeling of pride swelled his chest. A month back it was unthinkable that demons and faes could be friends and now… 

"What are you thinking, m'lord?" said Ara, as he came to stand beside him.

"Look at them Ara," he replied.. "They look so good together. Had there been free trade between the kingdoms, had we traveled easily, the Lore would have been a better place to live. Who could think that demons and faes, predecessors of the two most bitter enemies of the Lore, would stand here one day like friends?" 

Ara smiled and said, "Yes, m'lord. It is indeed lovely to see enemies coming together as friends." 

Inside, Anastasia had taken Iona to her room. "Show me your mark," she said as soon as they had closed the door. 

Iona giggled. "How do you know?" she asked with wide eyes and a flushed face. 

"You smell of him! Even Ileus knows, for god's sake, but he is too embarrassed to ask you!" Anastasia said as she laughed and tugged the collar of her tunic down. 

"Wait!" Iona stopped her, flushing like a thousand suns. "Everyone knows?" 

"Of course, you fool!" 

The two couldn't stop giggling. Iona bared her shoulder and showed off her mark to Anastasia. Anastasia gasped. She pressed her hands on her mouth as her eyes became wide like saucers. "Those are such angry marks. They will take forever to heal! She squeaked. "How long was he inside you?" 

Iona slapped Anastasia's arm. Her sister-in-law was really too much. "For a very long time," she mumbled, her skin heating up. She couldn't stop giggling as she imagined their last night. 

"Do you want a healing potion?" Anastasia asked, knowing the answer very well. 

"Hell no!" Iona said as she pulled her collar up. "I want to savor it for a long time." Her eyes went to Anastasia's mark between her neck and shoulder, which was now like two tender circles. 

"Then you should show them off!" Anastasia said and forced her to remove her tunic. 

Iona squealed as Anastasia removed her tunic. She was left in her lace that was wrapped around her breasts tightly. Before she could protest more, Anastasia had made her wear a tunic, which didn't have a collar and it showed off her marks. "Gods!" Iona rasped. She tried to cover them but the fabric would just slip away. 

Anastasia swatted her hand away. "Don't you dare Iona." Then she cupped her face and kissed her on her forehead. "You can't imagine how happy Ileus and I are. If things were normal, we would have got you married to that demon right away."

Iona was… speechless. She blinked away the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. The woman who stood in front of her was taken captive. She was part of torturing her for a long time and yet Anastasia, the fae princess, didn't bore any grudge against her. "Don't you hate me for what I did to you, Anastasia?" asked Iona, as a lump formed at the back of her throat. Anastasia sounded so bubbly that it made her feel guilty. 

"No," Anastasia replied. And the word was spoken with smoothness. "I don't feel bad at all because just like me, you were a victim of circumstances. Whatever has happened, let it remain buried in the past. You have a bright future, you are a bright girl and you deserve just the best. 

Iona didn't say anything as she tried to shove the lump down her throat. She just stepped closer and hugged Anastasia tightly in her arms. She almost squeezed her and said, "Thank you." 

Anastasia laughed. "Silly girl!" she said. When Iona pulled herself away, she had to wipe her tears. Anastasia took a ring out of her finger and gave it to Iona. She made her wear it. "When Ileus had gone to fetch Caleb, he had met Adrianna and Dmitri. They were ecstatic to know that you were alive. They wanted to come here, but Ileus stopped them for multiple reasons. So Adrianna gave this gift for you. I was wondering what would be the best occasion to give it to you and I think that for now this is the best occasion." 

Iona looked at the red ruby ring that was flanked by delicate diamonds. Her brows creased and then her head jerked back when she realized that the ruby was encased in two horns made from diamonds. "How—" 

"Iona!" Kaizan called her from the outside. "We have to hurry!" 

Anastasia winked. "We will talk about it later." 

Iona giggled again. After giving her a quick hug, she walked out of the room. 

That day they were on the last phases of the project. The tunnel had come out beautifully and they were supposed to give final touches to it. Only one more day and everything was going to be absolutely perfect. Even though they were all extremely tired when they returned, they were all in a celebration mood. 

After dinner, some of them came out to the courtyard and sat down with demon brew. They lit three small fires and huddled around it. Brew was passed liberally. Light banter, laughter and chatter followed. Ileus, Caleb, Rolfe and Kaizan also sat together around a fire. While Anastasia sat between her husband's thighs, her wings shackled, Iona sat right over Rolfe's lap. He had also got a fur for her because he knew that she would sleep fast and he didn't want her to get cold in the chilly air. She had teased him saying that he wanted to do hanky-panky with her inside the fur. But the real reason was that he didn't want to be without her. So he gladly rocked her as her head pressed against his chest, as she was carefully tucked on all the sides. That day Iona showed off her mark to everyone. And Rolfe, he had even taken his tunic out while working in the tunnel only to show off the crescent moons that she had dug in his flesh on the shoulders and back. 

Caleb watched them all with a smile as he remembered Elize. Gods, he just wanted to go and meet her. When Kaizan saw that longing in his eyes, he said, "Caleb baby, come here." He shifted to sit behind Caleb and then tugged him closer in between his thighs. 

"Kaizan!" Caleb grunted. 

Kaizan started stroking his back. "Come on pet, let me stroke you!" He wrapped his arm around Caleb's waist. 

"Do you have a death wish?" Caleb growled. 

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