“No,” the King of Death smiled, and leaned back as his retinue settled. The drummers set their instruments down noiselessly, and two underdressed individuals splayed themselves before his throne. Sephora curled her hands on her lap as she remained straight-backed, staring at nothing in particular. “I did not come to talk about him. Instead this is a greeting between powers.”

“It is?” Morningstar nodded a small amount as he heavily leant to one side, away from me, hand dropping to begin playing in the hair of a surprisingly pleased wench. “Well then. Welcome from my court and greetings.”

“I thank you. Greetings from Rahl,” Morté replied in a silky, smooth voice. “Now, I wondered if you had heard the rumours?”

My attention was grabbed at that. I did not move, however, and kept my focus forwards, on a small bird that fluttered over the grass. It was a wren perhaps, or a robin.

“What rumours?” Morningstar said slowly. There could be many out there. One at the moment was certainly the world ending.

“About one of your brothers,” Morté replied.

Those words had me snapping back to the room. My face spun, gaze first flickering to Nyx and my siblings beyond her, and then all four of us stared wide-eyed at Morningstar. Our hearts thumped. What brother could they be talking about?

Morningstar, however, remained perfectly passive. He blinked and raised a hand to us gently, as we stood on anxious knife edge.

“Peace,” he said, without looking at us. Then he smiled pleasantly at Morté. “What brother of ours might this be?”

Morté lifted his brow, a hand rising and finger shoving at his terribly sharp-featured face, with a jaw so strong it could shatter glass. “One that I am most concerned with.”

I frowned. Why would Morté feel at all threatened by a primordial? He was a god of death, for heaven's sake, who ruled one of the underworlds (yes there were a fair few, but it still meant he had power many of us could only dream of). My eyes remained on Morningstar.

I would not look at Sephora. I would not look at Sephora.

“And who might that be?” Morningstar spoke carefully, each syllable a perfected oyster of charm and irritation.

Morté lowered his hand, and extended it towards the other throne. There was a hesitation before pale fingers slipped into hold with his. Sephora.

“Thanatos,” the King of Rahl breathed.

My lips parted, and I felt struck dumb. Thanatos was the personification of death itself, a man who I had been great friends with in our early years. Whereas I brought about destruction, he gave instantaneous end to any life, and together we could fell small communities. It was the two of us who had been responsible for an early civilisation's collapse, before I realised my mistake and swore never to do such a thing again.

Shortly after that time Thanatos had disappeared. The Great Calamity had struck and he was never seen again, presumed dead.

Morningstar furrowed his brow and looked at me, then Nyx and Hemera. I blinked. He had asked me to stay silent. But then he settled on Nyx.

“You knew him best,” he intoned.

She paused, and I seemed to remember that her and Thanatos had, at one time, been intimate. Sharply, I breathed in and gazed at her also.

“He died. I have not seem him since the Calamity, neither has Hemera … and I am certain Charon.”

His lips pressed together as he considered my words. Then he waved a dismissive hand, clearly meaning that her time for speaking was over. Morningstar switched his attention back to Morté.

“Thanatos, it is said, is dead,” he summarised.

Morté blinked a moment, his fingers curling tighter around his wife's hand. Around me my siblings relaxed back into previous positions.

“Well, whomever it is, who is using his name is certainly demonstrating great powers akin to his. Souls have come into my realm claiming he killed them.”

Morningstar breathed in slow. My focus was currently on the joined hands.

“I see,” my brother said. “But perhaps this situation need not concern me. He might never cause issue in anything of my interest.”

“Any one of your siblings, left unchecked, could be capable of tremendous power.”

Morningstar found himself pausing. “I am sorry … what. What power is my own.”

“Indeed,” Morté kept his face perfectly calm. “But you are sane. And your case is unique. Your other siblings … well.” He flourished his free hand to Nyx, Hemera, Geras and myself. His hand remained pointing at me for some time before it dropped.

“Any of my siblings is perfectly allowed and able to go and do as they wish - unless I take a particular interest.”

Case and point, myself.

“Indeed,” Morté inclined his head, “and if I or others decide to, but you cannot deny that your kind’s potential has divine consequences.”

“We cannot create, nor or omnipotent,” Morningstar replied, using the very examples I had once to him, “we are not gods, and neither are you.”

“I?” Morté raised his brow, “I am as close to a god as it is possible to be, without being truly divine. As is my wife, and my children.” And he gestured behind him.

It was then I saw them.

Ten male and female individuals, that had been so tightly collected together and dressed in so much black they looked part of the courtiers. They were so intermingled amongst the other denizens of Rahl that I had not realised they were separate. Now that I saw, however, I noticed every one of them had a thing silver band upon their crowns. My lips parted as I realised that she could be amongst them.

It seemed a great amount of the activity today was concerning me. Which was not surprising as the being Morningstar was meeting the King of Death, my old employer. Thanatos at least had been Nyx's lover, not mine. There was still the issue that Morté had decided to bring all his children, whom I had thought to simply be commoners in his retinue, and one of them could be mine. However, he still did not know, and I had never sought to let the child know. Barely could I point her out from her siblings anyways.

They all stood in a bundle, ranging from what would seem to be five (in human years) to adult maturity. There was a variation if they had horns or not - as their father was akin to a demon lord and their mother, who had been a drow originally, but whom he had blessed. They were either pale, dark skinned or of greyish pallor. Variation also occurred in the height, gender and build, though all had strength and none were overly skinny. I knew Selene was dark haired, pale skinned and had blazing red eyes - but there were three daughters under that description. I would need to get closer.