A part of being a deity meant showing up to different gatherings. Gatherings I didn't wanna attend now when I had Frej. I wanted to hide him away in my country estate, never have him face any of the absolutely vile people that resided in our shared community. But I had been summoned and it was my duty to show up.

Ugh.

We arrived early at the mansion of a deity named Mitra. He was known for being kind to all creatures of the night and I hoped he at least would welcome Frej into the ranks of our kind.

He was in the door by the time we had climbed the many marble steps, smiling widely at me, my siblings and Frej.

I brought Frej closer to me, his hand in mine, making sure he wasn't in any immediate danger. He softly squeezed my hand, definitely being a lot stronger than I was right now. Mitra had always been a dear friend. I didn't want to lose him too over this.

But he didn't look discouraged as we ascended the staircase. He just smiled at us, greeting us and showed inside.

"I must know your name," he said to Frej.

"My name's Frej," my husband said with a low voice and bowed his head, having already forgotten all about the rule of only bowing to those I bowed to. But I didn't mind. I didn't bow to Mitra because we... Were friends. I hoped.

"That's a lovely name for a lovely boy," Mitra said with a smooth voice glancing over at me. He had always been a fan of beautiful things. No matter if they were alive or not. And being the deity of honesty amongst other things, he believed firmly in telling the truth too. Even if no one had asked.

"Tec, I must congratulate you. I hear rumours of a wedding."

He leaned forward slightly, making all the gold necklaces around his neck clank together. He looked nothing like any other deity I knew. Where we all tried to at least fit in in East Anglia or where ever in the world we were, he did nothing to hide his divine powers or being. Dressed in the finest silks, he wore an open robe over his bare torso and a golden crown resembling half a sun on top of his black-haired head.

"Yes, I'm very fortunate," I replied smoothly and maybe a bit smugly too.

I could tell Frej was intrigued by the deity in front of him and I wasn't so sure I liked how Mitra was sending sly looks at my lover. I decided to keep a firm hand on Frej for the rest on the evening, always keeping him close. Mitra was known for having certain kinds of refreshments that played tricks on the mind.

"There's of course blood for you and your companion. And your siblings too." Mitra held his arm out, showing us all into a sitting room furnished nothing like my own. This one had no furniture, just a floor covered in soft pillows and rugs. There was a heavy air, clouded by smoke coming from the large pipes centred in the small circles of pillows, people all lounging and passing on the long tube to smoke the sweet-smelling tobacco.

"I must hear everything of your wedding," Mitra said and showed us to a free pillow circle. We sat down and a servant served us tall golden goblets containing blood.

There weren't many outside of the Aztec and our brood who drank blood. But not many others were deities of death or disease either.

I handed Frej a goblet and he tentatively sniffed the content.

"It's spiced," Mitra said. "For your enjoyment."

Frej looked a little confused and glanced at me, to help him out.

"Mitra knows many herbs and which effect they have on us. In this blood, I suspect there's... Thyme."

"Your nose is still spectacular, Tec. I must say," Mitra laughed and took a goblet from another servant. "But that is no surprise. You've always had a master's nose."

"You just say that because I don't mind the smell of you," I laughed. I felt Frej move a little closer to me, and I put my arm around his shoulders. "Try the blood, lover," I murmured into his hair, before kissing him.

He took a small sip and immediately some of the tension slipped out of his shoulders. I don't know what he had expected. Maybe he was afraid he wouldn't like it and then Mitra would take offence. Which of course he wouldn't. Mitra would just bend over backwards to find something my lover liked.

"So this wedding," Mitra said and settled his dark brown eyes on Frej, determined to get all the details.

"It was just Xipe and me," Frej started quietly. "He gave me this ring." Frej held his hand out and Mitra took it in his, getting a closer look at the ring.

"That is indeed a beautiful ring. One from home, Tec?" He looked up from the ring and at me, his eyes narrowing a little.

"Yes." I accompanied my reply with a small nod and a swig of my drink.

"And what of yours does Tec bear then?"

"Besides my heart?" Frej asked, retrieving his hand and looking lovingly up at me.

Gods, this man was going to kill me with sweetness one day. And I was thinking this sentence at least twice a night now.

"Show him," Frej murmured and kissed my cheek.

I pretended to sigh and slowly peeled my arm off his shoulders, so I could pull up my sleeve, to expose the runes etched into my skin.

"Well, I never. And what does it mean?" Mitra gasped and looked back at Frej with wide eyes.

"It's... It's my name. In my language," Frej stuttered a little nervously.

Mitra smiled, his eyes now bouncing between Frej and me. "I've known you for a long time, Xipe Totec. And I never in my wildest dreams thought you would go to such lengths for any creature, no matter how beautiful or rare. But I see you've found your gem in Dania. Perhaps I should travel there myself to have a look at these Vikings."

"There's no one like Frej," I said and placed my arm around his shoulders again.

"And there's no one like my brother either," Zitzi chimed in. "They're both one of a kind. But yet make up a matching set."

She smirked a bit at Frej who chuckled back at her. They had become closer over the last months, which made me very happy. No one was as dear to me as my sister and my husband, so them being friends certainly pleased me.

"And what does Death say to that?" Mitra asked, the sly smile sliding right off his red-painted lips.

And there it was. That damn question that always emerged. "Death has not spoken to me since she asked me to give Frej a second life."

"Ah... Why do you think that is?" Mitra asked and narrowed his eyes again.

"I don't question her motives," I tried to say as carefree as I could. She had be suspiciously silent about me turning Frej without her permission. And him being so young... Oh gods, I had done so many wrongs in this I couldn't really figure out what was right anymore.

"We're gonna go, Tec. I think I heard Neith out in the hall," Zitzi said and rose to her feet.

I didn't blame her. Mitra wasn't the least interested in my siblings and hadn't really uttered one word to them since we had sat down.

Mitra leaned back against a mountain of pillows and finished his drink. He kept glancing at Frej, who kept looking around, straining his neck to get every detail of the room absorbed. Sometimes he'd point out a painting in the ceiling or on the wall to me. He'd say it was either beautiful or intriguing. I'd either agree or disagree and we'd discuss art.

"You have your own fair share of art on your skin," Mitra pointed out when Frej mentioned he wasn't a good painter.

"Oh," he murmured and looked down to find his sleeve having rolled up to his elbow. He pulled it down, smoothing out the wrinkles in the fabric. "I do."

"I'm sure we'd all love to see them." Mitra gestured towards the middle of the room where there was a polished table. A couple of people had been dancing on top of it moments ago but now it was empty.

"You don't have to do that, Fakkel," I hurried to say.

"I... I don't mind," he said reassuringly and rose to his feet.