Love Hurts ((ON HOLD))

Chapter XV

There was no sign of Mero when Malisa finally emerged from her room, and the look on Otho's face of sympathy meshed with aggravation told her not to even ask. All for the better, she decided as she silently followed the white-clad immortal back through the now-dim lit hallways. The sunlight was nowhere to be seen, settling the domain into an endless eternal night.

"Does he control this too?" she asked as they passed by a window that displayed only sparkling darkness.

"Very much so," Otho responded as they walked by. "Lord Eros expends much energy, constantly, to keep the domain to his liking."

"And if something should happen to him?"

Otho cast her an assessing glance. "Nothing shall."

She perked a brow, knowing she was testing uncertain territory. "Can you kill a god?"

"No. You can't," he said, matter-of-factly as they continued walking down an unfamiliar set of stairs. "They can be weakened to the point where they must rest to regain their strength for an undetermined amount of time, depending on the injury, but they cannot die."

"Pity," she snorted.

"Are you so quick to leave us, Lady Malisa?"

"Just considering the quickest way to rid myself of Eros and his curse," she admitted.

"The best advice I can give for that, then, is to work together with Lord Eros. When he asks you to do something, do it. Do not consider him an enemy. It will only make the task at hand far more tenuous."

"Do you know what he could ask of me?"

Otho shook his blond head. "There are certain parts of Lord Eros' mind that even I am not privy to. And perhaps that is for the best."

She let out a sigh. "I assume he doesn't curse mortals often then, does he?"

"Rarely is there a mortal that denies him."

Otho gave her a wink as they turned one more corner which gave way to a set of large double doors. Placing both hands on the smooth wood he opened them into a large dining room that could have fit Boreas' entire manor. There were windows along the main wall, much like her room and the rest of the rooms in the domain, and at each end was a large fireplace each with a roaring fire that kept the room comfortable warm and well lit. In the middle was a long banquet table set at each end and piled with various fruits and meats and breads and drink in between.

Standing at the fireplace on her right, Eros stood wearing similar clothing to what he wore earlier in the day, this time covered by a long black jacket with silver embroidery at the cuffs and lapels. He held a glass of red wine and stared into the flames until their presence was known, turning to face them with an almost-welcoming smile.

"When Mero returned alone, I was almost worried you'd decided against dining with me," Eros admitted as he sipped from his glass. "It would have been a shame for such a meal to go to waste."

The male in question stood with his arms across, looking out one of the tall windows and paying no attention to Malisa or Otho when they entered.

"Apologies for being late," Malisa said, reuting her attention to Eros. 'I had unexpectedly fallen asleep, and if not for Mero I would have missed dinner altogether."

"A toast to Mero then," Eros mused, raising his glass towards the dark general.

Mero had the respect to give his lord a glance but made no other attempt to move or acknowledge them.

Eros let you a huff of laughter before returning his attention to Malisa. "You must be hungry. Please— by all means. Let us eat and then we will talk."