"How incredibly beautiful."

Sauda pulls an earbud out of her ear and looks at Kang Dae.

"What?"

He smiles at her and shakes his head.

"Stop moving " The auntie smacks the top of her head with a comb making Sauda wince but stay still. The auntie braids her hair, smiling down. "Almost done. Impatient child."

Sauda can't help but be impatient and excited. Her hair was being braided into traditional intricate cornrows with beads and jewels to sew in to match her dress.

The auntie bends Sauda's head down to reach the bottom and she looks at her lap, spreading out her skirt. Her dress was simple, but beautiful. A cream-colored skirt that reached to her calf had a red border across the bottom with slits up the side. She wore a tight pair of capris underneath and it all connected to a white halter top. Her favorite part was the beads wrapped around her waist and draped down the front. It was crafted just for her by her elders in Ethiopia.

"Your hair is shorter than the last time I touched it. You cut it?" The auntie asks.

Sauda wants to, but is afraid of getting hit by the comb again. "Many people have died. I'm grieving."

Auntie grunts in understanding. "You are finished."

Sauda jumps up and runs to the mirror. Her smile is wide and cheeks are high apples on her face while looking this way and that way to look at herself. She turns around and nods.

"Auntie. Galatoomi!"

The auntie winks at her and leaves the room, leaving just her and Kang Dae.

"Not much time left," he says to her. "Everyone is waiting for you My Lady."

"Can you not call me that?"

When we go to Korea, I will have to call you that. You'll have to get used to it." He walks to her and presents her a tray with all her gear on it.

"At least... in private can you just call me my name?" Sauda looks at her things instead of looking at him. Ever since their betrothal announcement, they hadn't been alone together. There was awkwardness between them and something more.

Kang Dae sets her tray down on a table and picks up a holster and walks toward her. It's the same type of custom gun holster as her regular one but this one is leather and dyed red with gold etchings beat into it.

Sauda turns to the mirror and holds her arms out and watches his reflection as he slides her holster up her arms and places them on her shoulders.

"How about Dada?"

Sauda's face heats up and goosebumps follow his fingertips as they trace over her arms.

He walks to the tray and back and holds out several bangles. She holds out her left arm and lets him slide them up until they hug tightly to her upper arm.

Sauda watches him as he dresses her in her traditional warrior garments. Her eyes stay on him even as he focuses on strapping on and adjusting her golden and red cloth wrapped arm harness. She can feel his fingers touch through the metal and fabric from her shoulder to her wrist.

When he's done he steps back and finally looks at her.

"I have loved you for a long time. Dada. Please trust that I had nothing to do will the deal that was made and I have no ulterior motives."

She looks at his reflection, his bright eyes. "Not even a whole day has gone by after I learned that my future was decided for me twenty years ago. That the man loved tricked me for political power. That the man I will marry... lets come out of the battle alive, and we will talk about all that."

"May I help with your weapons?"

Sauda nods and looks at herself in the mirror. Kang Dae gently brings her the two knives. Slowly he moves her hair to her shoulders, carēssing the skin on the back of her neck. He slides each one into its place in the holster. Next he brings her a small tray with two guns on them. These are a little different from her favorite ones. The safeties were on the grip. So all she needed to do was hold the gun tight and fire. She picked these up herself, checked each magazine, and then slid them home on her back.

Last he held out to her two ancestral weapons given to her by her mother. Lots of her ancestors used them and she made sure to keep them in prime condition.

She took her shield from him by the inside straps and held it out in front of her. It was a cone shape, pointed at the front and it was black and gold just like her shotel.

He holds her shotel to her by the hilt and she grabs it admiring the round top above her hand, the gold bright against the inlaid gem. Slowly, she grabs the scabbard and pulls the long curved dagger, loving the gleams in the light.

"Isn't this lovely?"

Sauda slides her shotel back into the scabbard as she turns to Raum. She can feel the anger pouring from her, greedily pulling on the power inside of her ex.

"Now, now, my love. If you pull anymore out of me I won't be able to fight at your side." Raum gives a harsh look at Kang Dae. "Unlike some who can only help you put on clothes and stand aside like a hot lady in waiting.

"Enough Raum."

Sauda doesn't look at Kang Dae, trying to save him some face and she can sense the rage rising in him too.

"Speaking of usefulness—" He takes a step closer to her "—it seems like I can be an endless cache of power for you. As soon as I rested a bit, some of my power was restored and I can still feel it building up even now. Maybe because we're bonded, you can continue to draw power off of it."

"Or maybe its because she didn't kill you, " Kang Dae growls

"Ignore him." Sauda says, turning back to the mirror.

"It's never worked their way for her father, though... regardless, it's more than what some can do. The ones with no power to give."

Raum steps closer to her but she shoots him a glare, making him step back and raise his hands. He smiles as he lowers his arms and begins to fiddle with the other jewelry on the table. "So if you were to talk to your father about marrying me instead... the better choice..."

"You are a liar."

"I'm a demon. What do you expect? It's like human nature. You love me, not him.

"That love is fake."

"But it feels real enough and you can't even tell the difference-"

Kang Dae steps in between the two exes, baring his teeth. Sauda can see the veins popping out from his neck and the red in his face. "If you say another word, I'll—"

"You'll do what? Kill me? Besides the fact that you're only a little better than a human, killing me means killing her. And that's not something you could do, Balaam."

Raum turns to her and she can feel the anger from all of them fog the air and her new found powers are begging her to release it.

"Sauda." Raum's face turns dark as his eyes squint and his mouth purses up. "Go talk to your father, while I'm asking nicely."

"That's never going to happen."

Raum slams down a hand on the table, and though it startles her, she doesn't flinch. "I've worked too hard for too many years to have a lower position than what I'm due. Hear me clearly when I say this: I will tear everything down and burn your world until all you have is me. So make the best decision and choose if you'd rather live in peace or the worst of hell."

Sauda feels the fist inside her, the one that so desperately holds her power in and keeps her human. She feels her anger caressing its fingers open and welcomes it.

Her power bursts through her and a wind blows the boys hair back. She sees her skin harden and shine, reflecting off of the mirror. She looks and admires the black rimmed red irises. She smiles and her longer, sharper canines pierce her lip. She slowly licks the drops of blood and looks at Raum who is shades paler. His eyes are wide and his mouth gape like a fish..

"Then let the world burn. But make no mistake that I will make sure you burn and break harder than I do. Now—" she stands before him in the blink of an eye and she feels her power wrap around his neck and squeeze. "—you really fucked up."

Raum's face turns blue as his body is pulled to her in the air. Sauda begins to drink him.

"From now on, being my bonded with the lowest position anyone can have. I will make sure that in both Korea and Ethiopia that you have no power and you are hidden away like a problem child."

When she's at the edge of his rage she pulls on his power, fueling her own. His eyes flutter as he begins to lose consciousness; she drops him, taking back that metaphorical hand. Keeping him awake so he can hear her.

"I don't need you to fight by my side. you are just a power bank for me now, nothing more."

Kang Dae steps over Raum's body and motions to the door "My lady. Your army awaits."

Sauda nods, takes a deep breath, and steps over Raum.

"Let's go kill a Persian Gladiator."