Prism, the capital of the Empire of Aurora, was known across the world as the Rainbow City for a very good and very obvious reason. Here, every building, every stone, every stitch of cloth bore the family color of the House that owned it. The fishery was McNamara blue, the color of clear seas, the bakery was the mustard yellow of House Wheaton, and the house just across the street was the pretty lilac color that belonged to House Murtas. 

The Salazar Manor stood like a black hole amid a galaxy of bright stars and like a black hole, it pulled everyone associated with it back into its depths time and time again, no matter how hard they struggled against its gravity. It seemed to always win. 

That was where Felix Salazar found himself, in the current of Salazar Manor's gravity well. Again. 

His sleek black automobile screeched to a halt along the curb just outside of the manor's gates. They were wide open, awaiting his arrival, but Felix remained in his seat, his gloved hands tightly gripping the steering wheel. The leather of his gloves creaked as he squeezed the wheel even harder, spotting someone in one of the third-floor windows, peeking through the heavy black curtains. His mother stood there, watching him, waiting for him to step through those gates. He couldn't deny her summoning any longer. He couldn't flee, couldn't come up with some vague excuse to explain why he never showed up. Not now that she'd seen him. He never could hide from her. 

Spitting a curse, Felix unfolded himself from his automobile and straightened his all-black suit. He tugged at his sleeves, smoothed out nonexistent wrinkles, and rebuttoned the shiny black buttons down the front of his suit jacket, synching it close to his figure. He checked his hair once more in one of the mirrors and smoothed a finger across a well-groomed eyebrow. He scoured his face for even the slightest shadow of stubble. Not a hair or stitch could be out of place, not even a single blemish was allowed in the pristine black halls of House Salazar. Not while Valentina Salazar was Matriarch. 

With a heavy sigh, he finally gave up the ghost and began his trek into the manor. He focused on the massive front door, pretending that he didn't see his mother still watching him from the upper windows. The black iron gates swung closed with a loud shriek once he passed them, locking him inside, trapping him in his mother's pull. 

Felix clenched his jaw and continued onward, passed bushes of black roses, up a path of black stone, to the front steps. The heels of his newly polished black shoes clicked loudly on the black marble. 

The Salazar manor with its enormous pillars, overuse of marble, and few windows, looked more like a bank than a family home. It was hard to believe a child had ever lived there, let alone was born in one of the rooms on the third floor. The building was as stark and cold as the woman that owned it. 

The door was wrenched open before Felix could even touch the doorknob. His brother, Marcel, panted in the doorway. "Where have you been?" He hissed in a whisper that wanted to be a scream.

"I got stuck in traffic," Felix replied dryly.

"Whatever, just get inside," Marcel rolled his eyes and yanked his younger brother inside. He shut and bolted the door, putting yet another obstacle between Felix and freedom. 

Marcel Aziza was practically a carbon copy of Felix. He had the same black eyes, the same straight nose, the same warm, bronze skin, peeking out from an impeccably tailored, all-black suit. They were even the same height and possessed the same slender, athletic build. His black hair was styled the same as well, cut short along the sides and the nape of the neck, and left longer on top. It was parted to the side and was slicked back from his face with the same brand of styling grease, giving the two brothers the same fake pine scent. The only difference really was what their mother couldn't control. Marcel was a decade older than Felix and his age was beginning to show in the small lines creasing his forehead and the corners of his black eyes. He could dye his grey hairs all he liked, but he didn't have the ability to erase his wrinkles, much to their mother's dismay. 

"Shouldn't you be wearing green?" Felix asked, noticing a distinct lack of any color but their own family's pure sable. 

"I wouldn't dare, not during a summoning." Even married and no longer part of House Salazar, Marcel was still a loyal son. Felix couldn't blame him for that. Even he, as much as he despised her, still couldn't break himself from his habits. He still only wore black, still shaved three times a day, still styled his hair the way Valentina liked it. She had trained them both far too well. Marcel patted his sweaty forehead with a black handkerchief. "I hope you've got some better excuse made up. Mother is furious. You were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago." 

"She's lucky I showed up at all," Felix said, maintaining a placid mask. 

"You couldn't avoid this forever. You had to have known that."

"I suppose I should have," Felix said, feeling sorry for his brother. Marcel had broken their mother's rules only once in his life when he'd asked to break off his engagement to one of their distant cousins and marry Rozalia Aziza instead, his secret sweetheart of several years. As there was an...accident, on the way, Valentina had to agree to save face. However, Marcel's happiness had come with a price. As the baby was conceived out of wedlock, while Marcel still carried the Salazar name, they would belong to House Salazar. How lucky it was for Valentina that the baby happened to be a girl. Valentina Salazar had her heir at last. 

Valentina had raised the girl since she was barely a year old and had been taught to treat her father more like a brother. Little Serafina was eighteen now and had never called her father by anything other than his first name. 

Valentina had only had sons and in a matriarchal society, where bloodlines were traced from one generation to another through the female line, that just wouldn't do. She had to find some more creative ways to make use of her children. Marcel had provided her heir. Now, Felix would provide her with political power. He'd managed to dodge all her previous attempts to marry him off, but he knew as soon as he received the summons that he wouldn't be able to squirm his way out of this one. Somehow, the witch had managed to snag a proposal of marriage for him from the daughter of the goddamned Prime Minister. 

"For what it's worth, I've met the Van Brandt family before. Miss Eleonora seemed like a...well, she was a little strange, but she was nice enough." Marcel attempted to calm any nerves Felix may have had and failed miserably.

"Splendid. How could I not be foaming at the mouth with that raving review?" Felix sighed again for the thousandth time that day and turned toward the winding staircase that led to the manor's upper floors. "Let's just get this over with." 

"Good luck," Marcel gently patted his back. It was more awkward than comforting. 

"Thank you," Felix replied in a low, barely heard mumble. He ascended the unending staircase. The heavy, solid-wood railing was painted black, just as every other thing was, from the black marble tiles of the floor to the wallpaper and the frames for the paintings on the walls, which themselves only bore a bleak monochrome color scheme. If you looked closely, you could see very pretty carvings of flowering vines and the odd faerie creature within the woodwork, but the house was so dark, you'd have to have a nocturnal animal's eyes to be able to tell much about the craftsmanship. 

Sometimes, that's what Felix felt like, a nocturnal animal. Here, in the dark pit of Salazar Manor, he could see quite clearly. Here he knew every creaky floorboard. He could find his childhood room even if he kept his eyes completely shut. Here he knew his place in the world, a second son good for only marrying off, while out there, in that rainbow city he felt like he could only squint and fumble through the blinding light. 

The door to his parents' chamber on the third floor swung open before he reached it. The black marble at his feet flowed into the void of it, that heart of the black hole. Valentina Salazar sat in a chair by the four-poster bed, her braided, dyed-black hair circling the crown of her head. Black lace covered every inch of skin from her throat to her ankles. Beyond her, he could just see a lump tucked beneath the all-black blankets and the many machines clicking away in the corner.

"You are late." Valentina's voice snapped at Felix like a whip. He nearly stumbled on the threshold, his legs not wanting to move him forward. He prayed his mother hadn't noticed. "Are you drunk, Felix, or is that old clumsiness returning? I thought I had banished it for good." Valentina said without glancing his way. Felix sometimes wondered if she were in fact some sort of monster with eyes in the back of her head. It would explain a lot.

An apology immediately tried to force itself from his throat, but Felix swallowed it down and said nothing. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and sauntered toward the roaring fireplace. It wasn't a cold day. It was already warm in the house, but the fire had made the room as stifling as hell. Still, he clung to it, keeping his back mostly turned toward the enormous bed. The fire gave off too much light and he didn't want to see what lay there. "I don't suppose there's anything I can say to get me out of your little arrangement." He said to the fire.

"I've let you do as you please for longer than I should have. You're twenty-six years old. It's well beyond time you settle down and make yourself useful to this House." She said. "We are lucky that the Van Brandts even considered my proposal considering your...disadvantages." 

What she meant was his lack of magical ability. When the first of Aurora's empresses died of a sudden illness, the magic that once saturated the continent seemingly went with her. It was suddenly weaker and the power had faded further through the generations that had passed over the past hundred years. With each generation, the families' capability for magic waned. Those who still boasted strong abilities were appointed to positions of high power, while those that were fading like the paint on the buildings just outside the Salazars' door fell further and further down the social ladder. House Van Brandt boasted several gifted magicians in their bloodline. Their family and others holding positions of power within the empire maintained strong magical ability. It was why that family had kept the office of Prime Minister in a system of succession, passing the seat from mother to daughter, since the day both Empress Alexandra and magic died. Only the royal family, House Belmonte, could boast a more successful lineage. 

The Salazars, on the other hand, was a once-great house that had fallen dangerously low. Valentina was holding onto her position as one of Empress Theresa's ladies-in-waiting by a thread. That position was already a far way to fall. Felix's great-great-grandmother had been Empress Alexandra's steward during her lifetime, now his mother was little more than a glorified servant. Serafina would be lucky to hold any position in the imperial court once Valentina finally died. Which, made the fact that House Van Brandt would consider a match between Felix and their only daughter make very little sense.

"How did you do it?" Felix asked. "What did you tell the Prime Minister about me? I hope it wasn't too ludicrous a lie. Those things get tiresome to keep up." 

"I told them no lie. It was the Prime Minister that came to me about it, in fact. Eleonora was widowed recently and hasn't produced any children. Considering her age, it was important to Charlotte that she remarry as soon as possible."

"I'm not opposed to a cougar every now and then, but how old are we talking?"

"Very funny." She hissed. Felix could practically hear the sour purse of her lips. "She's three years your senior, nearly thirty."

"That doesn't give me a lot of time to work with."

"It gives you plenty." She huffed. "Stop talking to the fireplace and look at me while we speak."

Screaming inwardly, Felix turned. His eyes passed for a moment over the thing he'd been trying to avoid. His father, Lorenzo, another older copy of himself, lay deathly still on the bed. Wires wove through his veins while thick tubes were shoved down his throat and nostrils. One of the contraptions kept his lungs expanding, another kept his heart beating. His father, the only parent Felix felt anything for, who had once stood so tall and proud, and who was the only person that would protect them from her, had been reduced to a corpse that wasn't quite a corpse. She couldn't even let the man die. He hadn't seen the man in three years, not since his mother first had him hooked up to those machines. He'd never wanted to see him like that again, but this sight, just like his mother, couldn't be avoided forever. 

Felix quickly averted his eyes, meeting his mother's for the first time in just as many years. Valentina and Lorenzo were sixth or seventh cousins, so there was a family resemblance. She, like the rest of the family, seemed to have black eyes, but it was a mirage. In truth, her eyes were brown. She'd darkened them with her powers just as she'd hidden the greying of her hair and the wrinkles that cut through her face. Valentina appeared easily thirty years younger than she was, thanks to her magic and copious amounts of makeup. Her face was dusted with a heavy powder that made it paler than the rest of her skin. Her thin lips were painted black and the color had bled into her mouth, giving her teeth a  greyish tint. "So she needs to have babies to appease her mother. I can relate, but that doesn't explain why her mother would want her to marry me. She could take her pick from any House she wanted." Felix reached for what answers his mother was willing to reveal.

"Charlotte did try a few others, but apparently you were the only one Eleonora would consider. I haven't a clue why, I'm guessing she showed her a portrait and you were to her liking, but I'm not about to argue against it. The girl isn't especially powerful either, so it is truly a shame, but Charlotte hopes that the strength of her bloodline will make up for our...short comings." She practically growled at the end. A black-painted nail tapped loudly against her armrest in irritation. It was clear that Charlotte had said that particular line directly to Valentina's face. Felix felt a twinge of respect for his future mother-in-law. "Even if you have no magical affinity whatsoever, you can at least still be useful in that regard," Valentina added sourly.

Felix prickled at that. "Ah yes. I get to play a stud horse. Yippee. Sounds positively romantic. When do I start?"

Valentina's thin eyebrows rose up to her hairline. "No arguments? No talking back? Not even a rolling of the eye? I could do without the sarcasm, but this is an improvement to what I got with the others."

"What can I say?" Felix smirked, shrugging his broad shoulders, "red's my favorite color."

There was far more that he could have said, more that he wanted to say. Volumes of words tried to claw their way up his throat. If it meant that he would no longer be part of House Salazar, that he wouldn't have to jump at every summons or ever set foot in this rotting corpse of a house again, then he would gladly marry whoever Valentina threw him at. The fact that his bride was from one of the most powerful and richest families in Aurora didn't hurt matters either. 

Valentina's lips pulled back from her teeth in a crooked grin. Her smile was wolfish, her teeth too long, too crowded. "No, son, it will always be black." The flickering of the fire moved across her, throwing shadows in the hollows of her cheeks and the subtle lines of her face. The light broke through the surface of her glamour, revealing her for the old woman she was. "You may marry into another House and wear their colors, but you mustn't forget where you came from. Understand?"

Felix blinked at her, understanding exactly what it was she was asking of him. He was to be loyal to his new family in appearances alone. He, like Marcel, was still expected to remain a faithful, dutiful son of House Salazar until the day he died. "Sure," he said, the lie heavy on his tongue. It fell easily from his mouth. If there ever did come a day when his loyalty to his mother was tested, he was going to fail it horribly and entirely on purpose. 

"Good," Valentina purred. "Charlotte's set the wedding date for this Sunday at three."

"What?" Felix almost choked on his own tongue. "Why is it that soon? That's only five days from now. I have to arrange the move, pack, give my job my two-weeks notice."

"Leonora wanted to get it over with." Valentina shrugged as if it were no concern. "It'll be a small affair, given that this is her second marriage. She didn't want anything fancy. That said, I will not have you looking like that." She motioned with her hand at all of him. "Your appointment with the tailor is tomorrow at ten. Get a haircut before then. Everything else, I've already taken care of."

He didn't like the sound of that. "What do you mean?" Felix asked in a shuttering, terrified breath. "Did you...call my boss?"

"No, I visited in person. Miss Abby was quite underanding when I told her you were getting married." She shook her head, looking at him in that way that never failed to make him cringe. "To think my son would sink so low as to work at a ladies' club." 

"It's not a strip club. It's a parlor. I mix drinks, look pretty and chat up the rich ladies for tips. My clothes stay on."

"It doesn't matter. You're a Salazar. It's beneath you. Besides, it's not like you were struggling for money. I pay your rent and I pay for that fancy car parked on our curb."

Always. Always she was throwing that back in his face. It was money she had insisted on giving him, but nothing that came from her was ever just a gift. It took everything in him not to scream at her. He knew it wouldn't end well for him if he did. Her powers were meager, but they were enough. She could make him hurt. "I didn't do it for the money. I did it because I liked it. You could've at least let me quit myself." 

"I didn't want to risk you not following through and having to explain that to the Van Brandts. It's done now and you needn't worry about it any longer." She waved her fingers at him in a shooing motion, turning away to wipe the spittle from around the tubes sticking out of his father's gaping mouth. "You're dismissed now. You should get started on your packing. Don't be late for your appointment with the tailor."

And that was that.

Felix was already down the hall before she finished, moving as quickly as he could without breaking out into a full run. He would be glad to finally be out of the house and away from her for good. Perhaps if he left now, he could get to the club before they opened for the night and he could explain things better than his mother likely had. Abby was his friend, as well as his employer. He couldn't stand the thought of just disappearing on her, but the fact that his mother had gone there and quit for him made him so embarrassed he wanted to jump off a cliff. He wasn't sure he could face her, but he knew he had to if only to share one more drink. She deserved that much for giving him a chance to pretend he was someone else.

Felix was so lost in his own thoughts he nearly ran right into Serafina as he was going down the second flight of stairs. He noticed her in time and stumbled to a stop, grabbing the staircase railing to keep from tumbling forward.

Serafina's pretty golden-brown eyes widened and her face lit up. "Felix!" She gasped, jumping up to grab him by the neck. She hugged him tightly and he sluggishly returned it, patting her small back. While practically all the Salazars were on the tall side, Serafina was tiny.

"It's good to see you, Bug." Felix sighed into his young niece's embrace. Though she'd been raised by his cold mother, Serafina had still somehow kept her mother's warmth. She loved to hug people, which was something that rarely happened in the Salazar House. 

"Marcel said you were coming by today. I had a birthday party to go to this morning and I was afraid I'd missed you." Serafina pulled back and bounced excitedly on her heels. Her smile was bright and sweet. She had her mother's darker complexion and curly hair. Though there were resemblances to her father in the shape of her mouth and her distinctly Salazar eyebrows with their steep arch, Serafina was far more like an Aziza than a Salazar in every part of her being. 

Felix wondered how long that would last. Valentina had never been shy about using her powers to change her sons to her liking and he doubted she'd be kinder to her granddaughter. So far, she'd let her be. He hoped it would stay that way. "You got here just in time." Felix smiled. "I'm afraid I can't stay. I've got a lot to take care of, but would you like to walk me out?"

She nodded excitedly and he offered her his arm, guiding her down the opulent staircase. "Are you really getting married?" Serafina asked. It was such an innocent question as if it were something joyful to look forward to. 

"It seems that way. To Charlotte Van Brandt's daughter, Eleonora. Have you met her?" As they moved towards the front door, Felix spotted Marcel sitting in the parlor reading the newspaper. Or pretending to, his eyes followed his daughter with a longing that seemed painful. He imagined Marcel struggled with having a more brotherly relationship with his own daughter, though he never expressed it.

"Oh! El!" Serafina gasped, laughing at some joke he wasn't in on. "Oh no!"

"Oh no? Why oh no? Does she have a second head? Does she look like a horse?"

Serafina laughed harder as they walked down the path towards the gate, taking each step as slowly as possible to draw it out. "No, no, she's quite pretty. It's just she's....hmmm, how should I put it...she's a bit strange."

"That's what your dad said about her too." Felix grimaced. 

"It's not really in a bad way. It's just that she doesn't act as she should act at times...if that makes sense. Like during the funeral for her grandfather a few years ago, I had to use the restroom and on my way back to the service, I found her sitting outside playing with a bird. She was feeding him bread out of her coat pocket." 

Felix raised an eyebrow. "That's what you thought was strange?"

"Well, it was what she said, I thought was strange. When I asked her if she was coming back to the service soon, she shrugged at me, laughed, and said, "Nah, it's boring. Call me when the good bit starts." She didn't come back for the service until they started burying him. She had her hand over her mouth the whole time like she was crying, but it sounded more like she was trying not to laugh. I didn't know what to make of it then. For a while, I thought she might've killed the old man herself."

Felix wasn't nervous before but he sure was now.

 "I was joking! Don't faint!" Serafina cried. Felix prenteded to swoon and she swatted him good for it. The two of them laughed together amid the shad of the trees.  "Please, don't worry. That's just the way she is. She's the kind that laughs at funerals. It's not that she was happy he was dead, just that she prefers to laugh than to cry. She told me later that she was laughing at something she remembered her grandfather saying. Some silly pun. Gah!" She huffed. "I'm afraid I can't remember it now. It was pretty funny."

"You've seen her a lot since then? It sounds like the two of you are friends."

"Oh yes, she comes to a lot of the court parties Grandmother takes me to, or at least she did before her husband died. She's very funny and she tends to do as she pleases even if it makes her mother angry. Did you know she doesn't even wear her house colors all the time? She came to her cousin's wedding a few weeks ago in McNamara blue!"

"The horror." It sounded to Felix like Serafina envied Eleonora a little bit. The two of them were friends, or at the very least, acquaintances. He did think it a bit strange that a nearly thirty-year-old would be friends with a girl almost half her age, but it made why Eleonora agreed to the wedding make a little more sense. "Did the two of you ever talk about me?" Felix asked. "I'm trying to figure out why she'd want to marry a powerless guy like me. It just doesn't make sense no matter how hard I try to make it."

Serafina shrugged. "Not really, though, come to think of it, she did ask about you a few weeks ago."

"What did she ask?"

"It was really weird. She's been different since her husband died. Quieter and not herself. She actually did cry at his funeral, poor thing." Serafina began, her face scrunching up. " She hadn't spoken to me since it happened, but she suddenly came up to me at her cousin's wedding and asked what your favorite color was." 

"And what did you tell her?" Felix asked. "Do you even know what my favorite color is?" He did remember answering this question before during a birthday party years ago, but she was so little, he was sure she wouldn't remember. 

She smirked at him as they stepped out from the heavy shade of the oaks surrounding the manor onto the sunlit street painted in clashing colors. 

"You don't have one."