The Lamb and the Gray Battle

September 17, 1990

Knox was becoming a world-wise traveler. He sank into the memory as if it were his own.

The bed in Dear Ren's room was still a hard slab, but now it was gold, another sign of his ascension. Luxury was displayed in every hall and room of the Fortress, but Dear Ren had always expressed his refinement in quiet fashions. An opulent piece of furniture like that was gaudy compared to the polished cherry wood desk and hand-painted dresser. Dear Ren set Mary on the surface, removed his sheaf of a robe and mounted her. Mary put a hand on his shoulder, hungered for the warmth of him, though he was a cold-blooded creature and the warmth was only the remains of their bath.

It seemed forever that they kissed, that Ren gave her the saliva in his mouth, that Mary recovered a bit more with each peck and stroke.

Ren rested his palms on the knobs of Mary's knees, stared blindly at the papery lips between her thighs. His own lips were pursed and the bit of skin between his brow pinched.

In those seconds, Knox cursed King Ao Guang, that he could touch the maimed creature that Mary was, but he also sensed the longing in Mary, the yearning that cried out to him.

Every second, Mary understood better the crisis that had shattered her beloved Zhangfu. The blush on her cheeks was like broken glass and stung, but she reached out to his penis, the hair-like tendrils shrinking from her. She started to massage the shaft in her dry fingers. Her hands ached, but still she moved them and he cooed, his heartbeat changing and his breaths in gasps. She led him to her body. Her own hair-like tendrils opened up, welcomed him.

The chafing and friction were a different pang from what her mother warned her of. She drank down his seed as it spilled into her. No child could be conceived in a body as broken as hers, but the semen fed her, made her stronger, marked her again as his alone.

After an hour of rest, Ren wanted to try again and he agreed to carry her to her own bed, that was fluffy and soft and freshly cleaned. The fireplace in her room roared with life and Ren's cold blood warmed in the heat.

Knox was sweaty, intoxicated. His virgin body was ensconced in this endless rapture, plunging him down into orgasm after orgasm. He rubbed his own penis into ejaculation, shook away the hunger, let himself wallow in it all over again.

It took a few days for the pair to achieve a rhythm during their love-making, but eventually, they found their pace and Mary's lips dripped with saliva when she felt that hot liquid invade her body. Servants brought food and scurried out again. Mary's hair curled a little and she giggled when Ren speared dates and figs for her.

BoBo came knocking.

"Your wedding has been arranged, My King."

"Get out!" Ren roared.

"My King—"

"Don't make me repeat myself!"

BoBo showed no insult. In fact, his smiling lips puckered and his black eyes gleamed. He bowed as he left.

Mary pet his head, but the screaming made her want to cry. Her brain ached. Her external body healed faster than her mind. Demon evolution: If the body can't survive, there's no point to thinking. Ren rang for a servant, had tarts, pastries, buns and cheese brought up. He drew the curtain, so they had privacy. He rubbed the roll that developed at Mary's waist and Ren nuzzled into her, licked her skin. He opened the mark repeatedly, infused it with his scent.

There could only be one reason that Ren would opt to remain in bed, endless love-making, instead of marrying properly. Mary didn't want to hear him say it. For days, she joined with him, rubbed against him, ate from his claws. The Fortress hadn't been moved once since she returned. She could avoid it no longer.

"How long do we have?"

"We have all the time in the world," he said, kissing the line of her neck.

"I can't ignore your bouts of anxiety, the moments when the servants cross you. The yelling. You never yelled before."

He sat up and she sat up too, her breasts exposed, not as frightful as they'd been that first night.

"I'm afraid of King Ao Guang," she cried.

"Aoibh—"

"Don't pacify me," she said, pushing away his claw. "He defeated Satan, his own father, as if smashing a bug."

Knox knew every flinch of this man Ren and that demon was an iron statue, bloodless and cold. Likewise, he knew every pulse and breath that Mary gasped. No words were going to appease her and Ren was trapped.

He licked his lips, his jaw stiff and his eyes fixed on her.

Mary said, "You have trained all your life to defeat Satan, but what do you know of King Ao Guang?"

She lifted her chin, her pointed nose in the air.

"Can you defeat King Ao Guang? Should you try?" Mary chest hammered, her heart warring with the thunderous beat of Ren's. "If you renounce your claim to Hell, will King Ao Guang let you go?"

Ren's eyes were lost, wandering the room, looking for answers that weren't there. His voice was hollow. "In China, we have three names."

Mary was too stunned to say anything.

"It's something all royalty does. Egyptians do it too. You—you should ask Laoshi or Djehuty about it.'

"Zhangfu, please," she whined. "I'm scared."

His green pallor paled to white.

"We pick our third name when we achieve greatness, ascend the throne." He bowed his head, picked at his claws, at the plain leathery dragon skin of his hands. "I've been too busy to select a third name and it seems pointless to me now."

"Don't evade the question," she yelled. "This is worse, Zhangfu."

He twisted the sheet in his black talons. "Children are called by their common name. Diyiren is my common name. We called my mother Madame Long—It doesn't matter. I never thought you didn't know."

His voice caught and his chin shook.

"My formal name is Guang."

He choked on a sob.

"It means light."

Terror burst from Mary's lungs. Hell couldn't be worse than this. Cold, ice, starvation, she would have bore it all again, but she couldn't suffer this. She couldn't look at those dark eyes and the long hair. Tears erupted and the walls shook and she couldn't stop it. Ren reached out to her, but she threw him off.

"Monster! Liar! Seducer! I hate you!"

Her screams echoed through the Fortress, dust and stone unsettling. She curled up on the cold floor and cried.