Mara - The Lady Grief (Completed)

51 Scythe of Death

Time Immortal, the  Arena in Ersetu, the Underworld

Thane

"What the fuck is that?" Thelios points to the words inked across my lower abdomen.

I look down, "you've never seen that? We practically lived on top of each other for weeks, Lios." I run my hands over the words, thinking about the day I took my oath.

"I don't watch you pleasure yourself, Thane. No one wants to see a tattoo so damn close to your cock."

I smirk at him. Good one.

"Anyway," Thelios lifts both arms for the goblin attendants to wipe him down with sand, getting most of the blood and gore off of him. "What does it say?"

"It is my oath. It says, 'I am the Basru. Guardian of the Gates. Protector of my Lady'," I say proudly.

He looks a little put-out.

"Lower your arms," the goblin hisses. Thelios puts his arms down and scowls at me.

"I don't have a tattoo for Mara," he says.

"You have a fucking hawk on your throat, idiot," I point it out and turn as the goblin fixes my belt loop. "And what is that pretty poppy flower?"

"It's just a Recondite tattoo. Many warriors have it," Thelios mutters.

"Not one with the Captain's crown."

"Lier has one," he spits out the name of the traitor as if it's filthy. "The same crown."

"I should get a tattoo for Poppy," I muse out loud.

Thelios glares at me, whirling his arms around to work out any kinks in the shoulder armaments the goblins are strapping on. "I should get a vow inked on for Mara," he snaps. "Why the armor?" he asks one of the goblins. The goblin just shrugs and finishes tying off the bronze and gold-gilded plates.

"It's fucking pretty armor, Lios. Don't you want to be shiny before you get it all bloody?" I laugh with him. Obviously we don't need armor. They are strapping this shiny metal overtop of skin of impenetrable scales. "Besides, where would you get a tattoo for Mara?"

He throws me a smirk and accepts the sword from the goblin. "I have empty space, brother."

I smirk back, "no one wants to see your ugly cock, either, little brother."

"Game begin!" one of the goblins hisses at us.

Turning, we sprint from the now-open wrought iron gate. This is old news, now. Thelios and I beat every opponent the depths of the Underworld throws at us. We are one fight from being at the top.

This fight.

The crowd explodes into a frenzy as my brother and I hit the sand lit by the torches hung all around the Arena. The crowd has packed the place, rows upon rows of faces screaming and cheering down at us. Banners of red and black stretch high in the air, held taut between the thin white poles stretching into the Underworld sky.

Females tear at their hair, their clothing, revealing their breasts and throwing down their undergarments, and sometimes themselves, for my brother and I. They should have learned by now, no female touches us intimately but Mara. Both Thelios and I are scarred by the memories of our own past mistakes. The thought of another female is revolting.

I know immediately that this fight is different as soon as our boots hit the sand.

Nateos is here, along with his elusive bride, Mara's mother, the Lady Kalla. She is wrapped in light silver robes, the color so similar to the ones my Princess always wears that it makes me heart ache. Next to her, the god resembles the Tasuri warrior that brought us here. They are sitting in the royal box, elevated over the sand below by just a few lengths.