How could it be that loving someone was considered one of the greatest blessings of the Divine, yet at the same time falling for a different kind of person was the greatest sin in existence?

Noel had always thought himself to be a good believer. Being of noble blood, he had been expected to be since he had been born. And he had liked following the teachings of the Divine. Helping the less fortunate, seeking balance in one's all actions and loving and respecting one's family had come naturally. He had really looked up to his mother and father, who guided the commoners in their lands with wisdom and gentleness, too.

But then Ren had come to his life. They had both been around ten years old when his mother had taken the other boy in as a servant. He had been an orphan, with no knowledge of what had happened to his parents. And, as Noel had learned only much later on, he was a heretic.

He had never thought there was anything wrong with all the stories Ren had told him of the old gods, of the mysterious world that had come before the age of man. They had been best friends. And more.

~*~*~

"Oh my goodness!" The elderly woman ushered them inside the small house quickly, the soft glow of an oil lamp from inside an inviting contrast to the darkening dusk. "It's no time for young ones to be out and about! People have been killed when they leave their homes after nightfall. It's those heretics and their monsters, I tell you..."

"Martha!" a man probably about her age sitting at the dining table barked at her. "You know those stories are not true! There are no heretics anywhere nearby!"

"Don't mind him," she scoffed. "That grouchy old man is my husband, David."

"I'm Ren, and this is my half-brother Noel," Ren introduced them. It was safer not to mention that they were lovers. Not everybody was accepting of two men falling in love with each other, and they really needed food and a place to stay the night.

"Hmph." David left the table when Martha gestured for them to sit down before hurrying to fill two more bowls from the large pot over the cooking fire. "I'll bring water to the back. They stink like they've been living with pigs the past days."

Noel couldn't help smiling a little. That was probably true. They had been running from pursuers for a while now, and in order to throw off the dogs tracking them, they had crawled through some pretty unsavory stuff. "Thank you, sir."

After they had eaten the simple, but filling porridge, David gave them some old clothes, grumbling something about his sons no longer needing them. They washed very quickly behind the house – both because it was getting really dark and because the water in the buckets was cold -, bid the elderly couple good night and retired to the room given to them.

There were three beds in the room. The place was clean, but it didn't look like anyone had lived here lately.

Noel sat on one of the beds. "Do you think those monsters killed their children?"

Ren sat down next to him. "I don't know. Wild beasts, illness, accidents...many things kill people not born to privileged life."

"Your parents too? I mean, it's alright if you don't remember."

Ren slowly shook his head. "They were killed as heretics."

"Oh...I'm sorry." If he had never known Ren, Noel would not have believed that anyone killed in the name of faith. But after his own parents had found out about their relationship and that Ren still worshipped the old gods, they had ordered him executed.

"It doesn't matter anymore." He pulled Noel closer with an arm around his shoulders. "I have you now, right?"

Noel smiled and kissed him. It had been far too long since they'd had any chance to relax.

Just in case, though, they pushed one of the beds against the door to prevent surprise interruptions.

~*~*~

They woke in the morning to the sound of someone hammering the door hard enough that the frame trembled under the impact. But it was a sturdy door, and the bed propped against it held it firmly in place.

Dim sunlight shone in through the tiny window of the room, barely enough to illuminate. It must have still been very early.

"Come out, heretic! There is nowhere to run!" a far too familiar voice called from the other side. Ellen, the captain of the guard serving Noel's parents.

"Go home!" Noel yelled back at her. "Leave us alone!"

"I will give you till the count of ten to open this door, young master Noel. Surrender the heretic, and we'll take you back to your parents."

"I am not leaving him!"

There was a long silence. Then, "As you wish."

There were multiple footsteps. They were leaving.

Relieved, Noel hugged Ren. David and Martha may have betrayed them, but everything had turned out alright. Now they could just walk away and never come back-

A large clay container was thrown into the room through the window and spilled its contents on the floor as it broke. Not a minute later a lit torch was also thrown inside.

The liquid – it must have been oil – instantly caught fire.

Ren quickly moved to push the bed blocking the door aside, but Noel stopped him. "Don't. If you go out, they will torture and kill you."

Ren hugged him like his life depended on it. "I'm not going. You are."

Even the painful death by fire would be merciful compared to what had been done to his parents. What would be done to him if caught. But Noel still had a chance at life. Since he was of noble blood, his punishment for helping a heretic would be light.

"No," Noel stated firmly. "I am not leaving you. Either we live together...or we die together."

They both knew that if their roles had been reversed, Ren would not have agreed to leave either. There was no point in spending these last moments fighting over it. Perhaps this ending had been decided from the moment they had met for the first time.

They just sat together on the bed, watching as the fire crawled across the floorboards and the sparse furniture. The air above them was thick with smoke, and it was starting to get difficult to breathe with the heat.

"Ren...Do the old gods have a baptism of some kind?" Noel asked.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"I want to be with you in the next life." Even if it turned out to be a freezing wasteland with monsters hunting lost souls, as long as they were together, it would be alright. "I don't need a god that doesn't accept our love."