If it were not for the tubes and IV that protruded from his body like living extensions and the hiss and whirl of the monitors, Mana would have thought that he was simply sleeping. As she approached him though, she could see the sickly, pale undercast of his normally tan skin, as well as the scars from the recent explosion, which she suspected had been slow to heal thanks to his current condition.

She stood arm's length from the bedside, unsure of what to do. Then, she felt Jade move from beside her. The Spitfire wove her way around the front of the bed and over to the window on the opposite side and proceeded to perch on the ledge that jutted out into the room. She carefully crossed her legs, so as not to disturb the fan unit beneath the ledge that controlled the room temperature. Once she was situated, her lips curved into a smile of acquiescence that was reminiscent of her brother. Mana noticed then that Jade, like Jirou, had her father's dimples and chin structure.

Grateful, Mana sat down in the lounger and reached for Jirou's right hand and carefully clasped it in both of her own. She pressed her lips to his knuckle and murmured, "Jibare..." The name sounded foreign on her lips. It was his true name, the name his parents had given him. The name she knew and called him by in that other life.

His skin felt hot and clammy. A sign that his body was attempting to fight the poison that coursed through his veins. Overwhelmed by simply being in his presence again, Mana squeezed her eyes shut and willed herself to remember. To picture him healthy and strong. Unbidden, the memories bubbled to the surface.

Their first meeting in the palace gardens. She had sought solitude in order to practice her magic. Initially, she had been alone. So his sudden, unexpected appearance and subsequent praise on her skill had surprised her, which caused her to accidentally lash out at him with her power. Caught unaware, he had fallen comically on his backside in surprise.

Mortified by her own outburst, she had run over and attempted to assist him up. She babbled an apology and inquired if he needed to see the healer. He waved her off while pulling himself upright. He claimed that he was fine and no real damage had been done.

Then, his eyes met hers and her world shifted.

It was as if the sun had ceased to hang in the sky and instead, was suddenly standing before her in all its glory. Yet, she had felt rooted to the earth and unable to look away from what was the most beautiful man she had ever seen.

A shiver of anticipation crawled up her spine. He was handsome. He was tall with a lean muscular frame that was capped off with dark curly hair and deep blue eyes.

Blatantly, she wondered what his bare skin would feel like against her own. Raw, insatiable hunger rolled through her. The need to taste his blood was almost unbearable...

The primal and obvious desires of their first meeting aside, Mana remembered how considerate and supportive he was. One such instance involved their living arrangements. His father, Fadil, had expected them to move into his household. This, of course, was met with some protest as she had been born and raised in the palace and was studying to be a great magician like Master Mahad.

Oh, yes. She suspected the whole palace could hear the argument between Master Mahad and Fadil. Even Pharaoh and Isis had expressed their concerns on the matter.

Much to her surprise (and everyone else's) her beloved stepped in and declared his intentions to reside in the palace with her!

"Thank you." She whispered.

"Father has got things well in order," he quietly told her, "My mother and sister are more than capable of running the household in his absence."

"And your mother? She is okay with this arrangement?"

He laughed and ran his fingers through her hair. Cupped her face tenderly. "As long as she gets to welcome her new daughter into our family." He tilted his head slyly, "You should know, she and my sister are very curious about you."

She was of course, curious about them as well. Curious if they would like her.

To her joy, both Rania and Teana had welcomed her with open arms. Even his former concubine, Zahra had been kind to her - though understandably, it had taken her a bit longer to accept Mana's presence. The two of them eventually warmed up to one another though, and even formed a tentative friendship, much to Jibare's delight and chagrin.

Rania had giggled at her son's plight while giving her daughter-in-law a wink. "He's afraid the two of you shall compare notes on his intimate performances, my dear."

Rania was a statuesque woman with dark curls in the shade of fertile soil that tumbled down her back to her waist and eyes the color lapis lazuli. Both of her children had inherited her unique eye color, but she had passed on her textured coils to her son. Rania ran her husband's household with a quiet efficiency, that meshed with her compassion for others. She was an attentive wife and devoted mother. She loved her husband and soul's content but championed her children's wants and needs. She garnered the respect of her servants and the jealousy of the other lord's wives. She had blessed Fadil with not one, but two children after her transformation. Of course, the younger child had been a girl, but it did not matter as she had already given him a son.

Rania's compassionate nature seemed in contrast to her husband's. Fadil had been a stouthearted, even obstinate man. His no-nonsense attitude meant that his face was often stern. Yet Mana noticed the sternness would transform into a smile whenever he spoke of his wife and children. He was devoted to Rania. He had been proud of his only son and had welcomed his new daughter-in-law, but Teana was his favorite child.

Jibare's eldest sister was a beauty blessed with her mother's good looks and her father's wit. She was also the best dancer Mana had ever seen. The movements came so naturally for her. Every twist of her hips and flick of her wrist seemed to flow from her like water.

"I could teach you if you'd like." Teana offered one afternoon.

"Thanks, but I'll stick with my magic. You're really good though," Mana affirmed. "Better than any of the palace dancers."

Teana gave Mana a dubious look as she sat down on the stone bench next to her. "I highly doubt that."

"I'm serious!" Mana exclaimed. "You would dance circles around them!"

"You really think so?"

"I do. In fact, I could put in a word for you. You would be well cared for at the palace."

Teana smiled weakly. "I appreciate that," she said, "but I'm afraid I have to decline." Her eyes were crestfallen. "I am to travel with my father soon." Her brow furrowed. "I'm in my sixteenth summer. He has arranged a suitable companionship between me and another lord's son, as I have not yet found my soul's content."

"Oh, I see."

Teana shook her head. "It is for the best. My cravings have increased in the past season. It's getting harder to control my urges and I refuse to hurt anyone."

Mana wrapped her then future sister-in-law in a comforting embrace. "I understand." Her eyes sharpened expectantly. "You will be back in time for our wedding feast, won't you?"

A glorious smile. "Of course! I wouldn't miss it for anything!"

"Your new Companion might say otherwise." Mana cautioned.

Teana huffed. "Then he would risk my family's ire. Per the terms Father has set, I am not to move to into my Companion's household until after I attend your wedding feast at the palace."

Mana had plucked Jibare from his father and thus dashed any future of potential alliances he might have garnered with the other Nomarch families through companionship. The fact that she was Jibare's soul's content was nothing to scoff at, but Fadil was ambitious and wanted to strengthen his family's influence.

With Jibare no longer 'available', he would seek to market Teana to someone on their level. She was old enough to make a match and had not yet been swept up by her soul's content. Her 'companionship' would be a trade and a chance for Fadil to foster ties with his peers. Such an arrangement was not permeant and would usually only last until one party or the other found his or her intended one.

Some of their kind waited years to find their soul's content. Others were more fortunate and did not have to wait as long. Concubines and/or Companions ensured that the needs for blood and sex that accompanied puberty and maturity in vampires would not go unchecked while one waited to find the one fated for him or her.

"I hope that someday, I can be as fortunate as you and my brother..." Teana wistfully remarked.

Of course, 'someday' turned out to coincide with her and Jibare's wedding feast and subsequent journey. Mana was not angry when she found out though. On the contrary, she had giggled hysterically when she was made privy to the situation. This led to some rather curious and concerned looks being thrown her way. Still, she could not help herself. The encounter between Atem and Teana was serendipitous. Her prayers (and those of the sacred court) had been answered. The Pharaoh's soul's content had been found, and she was of all people, her beloved's sister!

Poor Jibare! When the news broke, he looked like someone had slapped him with fish! Which only made Mana laugh even harder...

"Why didn't you go with him?"

Mana's eyes snapped open and she glanced over to the window ledge. Jade's question startled her, but it was not unexpected. She sighed. "I wondered when you were going to ask me," she admitted. A thin smile manifested on her lips. "The short answer is, Jirou wouldn't let me go with him."

"Typical," Jade muttered. "It's just like him to be stupidly self-sacrificing. Still, I can't see that sitting well with you. I mean, weren't you pissed with the decision?"

"I was."

"Then why didn't you say or do anything?"

Mana flinched at the accusation in Jade's voice. "I wanted to, but -"

"But what?"

"Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do."

Jade sneered, "Cause Pharaoh says so?"

There it was. She had been expecting the accusation, but it still stung. Mana's eyes sharpened on Jade. She breathed and exhaled slowly through her nostrils. "Because it's the right thing to do."

Jade startled. Her expression turned contrite. "I'm sorry, Snips. That was uncalled for." She apologized. "Blame it on my impulsiveness, and my fondness for this one." She gestured toward Jirou's comatose form.

Mana visibly relaxed. "It's okay. Had our situations been reversed, I would have done the same."

"I am just trying to understand why."

"I have my own reasons, but what it boils down to ultimately is penance for both Jirou and me."

Jade blinked in surprise. "Huh?"

"I wasn't there for her," Mana whispered. "If I hadn't left her to go and assist Master Mahad -"

Jade caught on to her train of thought. "If you hadn't gone to assist your Master, then Mahad wouldn't be here today." She admonished.

Mana shook her head fiercely. "I should have protected her."

"You were caught between a rock and a hard place. And who says you could have protected her? If those... things didn't kill you outright, then it's likely they would've have attacked you too." Jade gentled her voice. "You're only one person, Snips."

Silence ensued for a few moments as both women reigned in their emotions.

"So, now that we've established that both you and my brother have some sort of guilt complex, why didn't you... say anything to Yami when he decreed Jirou was a blot on society?"

"Gods know I wanted to. I wanted to scream, cry, and curse him to the high heavens."

"So what stopped you?"

"It just seemed kind of pointless in the end. He had already lost Teana. The kingdom was in shambles, the coven's numbers cleaved. Anything I would have said or done wouldn't have phased him." Mana's voice lowered and her expression darkened. "The Thief King wanted to break Pharaoh and those associated with him." She paused to look Jade in the eye. "He succeeded."

"And then some," Jade muttered. The Thief King's assault on the city and the Pharaoh's palace had cost the Pharaoh and consequently, the coven dearly.

"I-I also thought your father would help him," Mana admitted. Her eyes cut to Jirou's prone form. "Of course, that was before his mother..." She squeezed her shut, not wishing to recall the horrible events aloud.

Both Fadil and Rania had survived The Thief King's initial attack, but upon hearing of her daughter's demise and the role her son played in it, Rania had been inconsolable. Overcome with grief for her children, she decided to end her existence.

Grief-stricken over the loss of his beloved wife and child, Fadil blamed his son for their deaths.

"You are no longer my son."

Mana shuddered. Fadil had said the words so coldly and listlessly without any emotion...

At Mana's admission, Jade scowled and snorted, "If there is one thing Jirou and I have common, it's our ability to piss off the old man by killing the women he loves."

Her words made Mana wince. "I'm sorry," she murmured.

Jade waved her hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. Besides, I'm the one who started this somber trip down memory lane." She glanced at her brother's unconscious form and sighed, "We are a sad dysfunctional lot, but we are family. Enough moping though," She paused to rub the bridge of her nose, "What do you think is gonna happen when he wakes up and finds Anzu living under Yami's roof?"

Mana glanced longingly at Jirou. Her fingers curled around his own. "We will cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Yeah, I guess we will." Jade agreed. She leaned forward, stretched, and smiled. "Well, while we wait for the inevitable, would you mind telling me how you met my brother?

Mana blinked, surprised by the request. "He's never told you?"

"He has, but I'd like to hear your perspective."

It was Mana's turn to smile. "Well..."

To be continued...