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bitethedemon · 7 months ago

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Daggers, Poison, and Shiny Things (Lucanis x Reader x Illario): Chapter 4

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Link to this fic on AO3

Tags: Slow burn, De Riva Reader, Eventual Smut, Messy Love Triangles

Fic summary: You lost everything in Rivain: your family, your home, and your hopes of ever becoming a seer. Treviso offered you revenge, but you were not prepared for the loneliness you would find amongst the Crows. The busiest assassin in Antiva became your only friend. That is, until he died and left you alone to pick up the pieces of yourself and his devastated cousin.

Imagine then, that your dead old flame shows up after a year, very much alive, with a very loud demon at his side and a hot new boss, while you have to explain that you are now dating his cousin. Don't you just hate it when that happens?

The city had been in complete disarray, and the Cantori Diamond had been much the same when the information came in: a dragon had landed in Treviso. It was all hands on deck. Even you were ordered to go out there and fight, which was saying something about the level of fucked you all were.

Lucanis came too to defend his home. Everything was going completely to shit before Rook swooped in and saved the day.

When she arrived, they miraculously managed to make the dragon retreat. Parts of the city were completely destroyed, but it could have been much worse.

It’s not that you weren’t grateful. You were. Your home had been saved.

You just did not need to see the way Lucanis looked at her once it was over. Now you had to hear from everyone about how great Rook was. Apparently, she had let everything go sideways in Minrathous just to save Treviso.

You could not help wondering: Why?

She was a Mourn Watcher from Nevarra. She had no allegiance to Treviso. There was no other possibility in your mind than she had done it for Lucanis, and that thought was gnawing at your mind.

Between worrying about your partner acting weird and your jealousy towards Rook, there was no more space in your head for any other feelings. You could not let it go. Your mind was constantly buzzing with it.

There really was no sense to any of your worrying. Logically, you knew that worrying about Illario was a lost cause, as it had always been. Logically, you knew that Lucanis wasn’t yours anymore and he should do whatever made him happy. Your mind did not listen to logic though.

It was about two weeks after the attack that you heard a knock on your door.

No one ever visited your home, except Illario and he always used the key you hid in the flowerpot on the windowsill. Viago would not be caught dead in your neighborhood, so he never visited unless someone was dead or dying. No one ever knocked.

You opened the door and were surprised to see Lucanis there. The dark circles around his eyes seemed to only have gotten worse. He looked like he had never slept a day in his life. There was something more than just tiredness too.

“Is…” Lucanis began. “Is Illario here? I don’t want to intrude. Viago said you would be here.”

“No, he’s not,” you answered and opened the door more to let him in. “You’re not intruding. Please, come in.”

He gave a small nod. You led him into the living room and gestured for him to sit down before you went to get a cup of coffee for him. When you handed it to him and he didn’t complain about how thin it was, you knew that something was really wrong.

“What’s going on?”

His eyes flickered to you as if he had almost half-forgotten that you were there while he was seemingly lost in his own mind. Spite was looking around your house, examining the paintings on the walls one by one. He was a complete contradiction to his tired host with the energy he exuded.

“Nothing,” Lucanis said and shook his head. “Rook thought it would be a good idea if I came to see you.”

You forced your facial features not to change. Why would she suggest that?

He was going to tell you that the two of them were together now, or that he couldn’t see you anymore, you were sure of it.

Whatever it was it must have been something horrible.

“Why is that?” you asked a bit too quietly for your own liking.

He sighed and opened his mouth as if he wanted to speak before changing his mind and closing it again.

“Forget it,” he said and got up from his seat. “I shouldn’t be here. It is not fair to Illario, and in this state, with Spite—"

You got up too and stood in his way.

“Wait,” you said. “Please. What is going on?”

He was quiet for a long moment, just looking at you. He looked at you with such a broken expression.

He briefly told you about a mission they had been on in Weisshaupt. You only knew the gist of everything that was going on with the whole ‘elven gods’-situation from pieces of information you had stitched together from Viago and Illario.

“I missed,” he said quietly. “I had a perfect shot at ending a god, and I missed, River. I am no use to anyone, and it is driving me insane. I failed. I cannot even do a simple job.”

“Lucanis…” you said softly. “Killing a god isn’t a simple job.”

He groaned tiredly and ran his hand over his face before sitting down again.

“You sound just like Rook,” he said. “It is simple. I had her. And I still failed.”

“Okay fine,” you said. “But what does beating yourself up over it achieve? It happened. It’s over.”

“He’s not here,” Spite said, now looking directly at you. “Help US!”

You looked from Spite to him. You could not help asking, even though you knew it made Lucanis uncomfortable to talk about it.

“What does he mean by that?”

Lucanis glanced at Spite and then shook his head. He gave you a dismissive wave of his hand. To no surprise, he did not want to talk about it.

“Forgive me for bringing all of this to you, River,” Lucanis said. “I shouldn’t have. Rook insisted it would be good for me to talk to someone from home. I should have told her no.”

You sighed. It was frustrating how he always shut down like that.

“You can talk to me,” you said. “I hope you know that. I might be with Illario, but you and I knew each other first. We’re still friends, aren’t we?”

He looked at you for a moment and gave you a tired smile.

“How are you?” he asked.

You gave a bitter scoff.

“Let’s not.”

“You said the same last time,” he pointed out, his tone slightly lighter now that you were not talking about him. “You always said to me that I should talk more. Now I come here and talk, and you are quiet. You know I am a creature of habit. Don’t do this to me.”

You smiled at his attempt to get you to open up. The world really had gone upside down, because that was usually your job. You couldn’t lie to him. You had never been able to.

“Illario is being impossible,” you admitted. “He is driving me up the wall.”

“I know,” Lucanis said. “He is hard to talk to these days. I’ve tried. How is he?”

“He is losing his mind.”

There was a hint of worry in Lucanis’ eyes.

“How so?”

You couldn’t tell him about the First Talon thing. You had promised Viago. You could tell him about something else, but you really didn’t want to. You shouldn’t have said anything, but now you had to say something.

“He uh…” you said. “He proposed to me.”

His eyebrows raised at your words. He looked at the floor in front of him for a moment before finding your eyes again and giving you a small smile.

“Congratulations,” he said.

Your eyes narrowed slightly at his reaction.

“I didn’t say yes,” you explained. “Because of the obvious political reasons and given who I am. It can’t happen.”

It took him a second to understand what you were saying. He shrugged slightly.

“That shouldn’t hold you back if you love him,” he said, not quite keeping eye contact with you. “My great aunt married a simple tailor, and eventually got the family’s approval too.”

“There is some distance between tailor and ‘Rivaini witch’,” you said. “Besides, you two are the only Dellarmortes left. That changes things too.”

“The other families would oppose it, yes,” he said. “And Viago would kill both of you in your sleep, but you would have my blessing at least. You should do it if you want to do it.”

You couldn’t believe he was actually trying to talk you into this. You found it frustrating for some reason. Your next words flew right out of your mouth:

“He also almost cheated on me after I told him no.”

His eyes narrowed at that. You heard a low growl of irritation from him.

“Illario, you idiot,” he mumbled and shook his head. “I am so sorry. He doesn’t think with his head.”

“Don’t tell him I’ve told you that though,” you quickly added. “I forgave him, and we’re fine now. He has been through a lot. He was drinking, so…”

“I won’t,” he said with a hint of anger still in his tone. “I should not get involved in you and his relationship like this.”

“No, I know,” you said with a sigh. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything either. It’s not fair to him that we talk about this.”

Lucanis shook his head and made a dismissive hand gesture at your apology.

“It’s my fault. I asked,” he said and got up from his seat. “I should get back.”

Spite suddenly jumped up as if someone had set fire to him.

“NO!” Spite hissed loudly. “No leaving. TALK TO RIVER!”

You jumped at the sound.

“What is his problem?” you asked.

“Everything,” Lucanis answered tiredly. “I cannot get a moments peace from him these days. Ignore him.”

Lucanis suddenly groaned in discomfort and put a hand to his head as if in pain.

“Lucanis?” you said and put a hand on his shoulder.

He pushed you away and the discomfort of whatever he was going through seemed to get worse. He was fighting against Spite for control, you realized. You weren’t sure what to do. Suddenly he stopped struggling.

“…Lucanis?”

He opened his eyes, and they were glowing purple. Spite in Lucanis’ body smiled at you.

“Now. We talk,” Spite said, his voice a mix between his own and Lucanis’.

“Get out,” you warned. “Now, Spite.”

“No,” he said. “Help Lucanis. Make him talk. Make him free us.”

“Free you from where?”

“He is not HERE,” Spite said firmly. “Never left. The prison...”

You didn’t understand. Lucanis was here. You vaguely remembered something from your training back in Rivain: spirits are beings of emotions. Mental and emotional states can be interpreted as very literal by them.

“Help US!”

“I…” you said. “I don’t know how.”

Spite let out a growl of frustration. You saw his body twitch and his eyes turned brown again. He looked at you with so much concern. He looked you over as if he might have hurt you in some way.

“I’m so sorry, River,” he said. “I should never have come here.”

He rushed out the door before you could even react.

Viago came and got you from your laboratory. He explained briefly that someone wanted to talk to you, but he was unsure about what. He led you into a room with Rook and two strangers. You froze a bit. One of the strangers was a Qunari. You frowned slightly when you saw them.

“You’re River, right?” Rook asked in that sugary sweet voice of hers.

“I am,” you answered coldly, still looking at the Qunari.

The Qunari were all over Rivain to the point that some of the societies there took to the Qun as well. Your village had not been one of them. Your village had stuck to the old pantheistic beliefs and shunned the Qunari and their faith. Needless to say, Antaam or not, you were not a fan.

The Qunari smiled at you.

“You’re a seer, right?” the Qunari spoke with genuine excitement. “I’m Rivaini too. Not a seer though, but I like the whole talking-with-spirits-thing. Are you the only Rivaini Crow or are there others? Do you think—"

“Taash…” Rook interrupted.

“Sorry,” they answered.

You blinked at them in slight confusion. It was difficult to maintain your frown with just how eager and interested they seemed.

“It’s��complicated, and yes, currently…” you answered them briefly and then looked at Rook. “What is this about? Is Lucanis alright?”

“That’s what we wanted to talk to you about,” Rook said. “Lucanis has briefly mentioned that you are able to communicate with Spite. Is that true?

You looked at the others and then back to Rook.

“Yes,” you answered curtly.

“Lucanis is…struggling right now,” she began explaining. “I’m not sure what to make of the whole thing and it’s not as if he is eager to share the burden with anyone. If you—”

You put a hand up to stop her.

“I won’t abuse Lucanis’ trust,” you said. “If he wants you to know something, he’ll tell you. I won’t go behind his back.”

Rook sighed softly.

“And I understand that,” Rook continued. “But I’m getting worried. We all are. We can’t help him unless we know what is going on.”

“Then talk to him,” you said a bit more harshly. “Look, I worry about him too and it is hard to get him to talk, but if he learns you went behind his back like this, it’ll only make him shut off more.”

Another sigh from Rook.

“I can’t talk to Spite, except for when he takes over Lucanis,” she said and then pointed to the other stranger behind her: an older man. “Emmrich can hear Spite, but he doesn’t know Lucanis as well as you do, so it’s difficult to make head and tails about what is going on.”

The older man stepped forward. He was a Mourn Watcher too, you guessed from his outfit.

“Spite says that he wants ‘out’,” Emmrich explained in a gentle tone. “He speaks about being trapped, but he claims that Lucanis is trapped too. This makes me believe that it is not actually a splitting of spirit and host that is Spite’s wish. We thought that perhaps you might have a theory to what is then?”

You looked from Emmrich to Rook’s pleading face. You hated this. Of course you wanted to help Lucanis, but you hated that it had to be this way.

“He trusts you,” Rook said. “Please help us help him...”

You groaned.

“Fine…” you said quietly.

You turned to look at Emmrich.

“Spite uses ‘we’ when he speaks about getting out,” you began explaining. “He has mentioned a prison. He says that Lucanis never left, and that they are stuck there, but I don’t think it’s a literal prison. That’s just how Spite sees it because he’s a spirit. He has asked me to help but…I’m not sure how.”

“Never left…” Rook mused. “He’s still stuck in the Ossuary but in his…mind?”

“Something like that,” you said and shrugged.

“Ah,” Emmrich said with a thoughtful expression. “So, Lucanis is stuck in the past, and Spite perceives the past as a literal prison that they need to be freed from. Without solving whatever unfinished business Lucanis has in the past, he will not be able to free both of them.”

Rook looked between you and Emmrich.

“So…killing Zara?” Rook said. “Would that do it?”

“Revenge could certainly be a start, I would imagine,” Emmrich said.

You nodded.

“Then that’s what’s first on the agenda from now on,” Rook said and made a gesture for them to leave.

The others went out of the room. Rook stayed behind for a moment to talk to you in private.

“And thank you for this,” she said. “I care about him.”

You sighed and nodded. You had figured as much…

“Me too,” you said quietly.

Rook gave you a small smile and started heading towards the door. You grabbed her wrist before she could leave. She looked from your grip on her to your face with a puzzled expression.

You weren’t even sure what you wanted to say to her, but something made you do it. Your breath hitched and you felt tears prick at your eyes before you looked up at her.

“I can’t lose him again, Rook,” you said. “Please take care of him for me.”

Rook’s expression softened. She turned around to face you fully and put her hand over yours. She gave you a gentle smile.

“I will. I promise,” she said and squeezed your hand. “Can I ask…? What were you to him? Before the Ossuary and all of that, I mean…”

You bit the inside of your cheek, trying to stop the tears, but one rolled down your cheek anyway. You looked at the floor in front of you. No answer came out, but Rook knew anyway. She smiled.

“I thought so,” she said quietly. “With the way he speaks about you.”

Another tear rolled down before you could stop it. Gods, you hated crying in front of strangers. Especially her. You looked up at her.

“Things change,” you simply said.

She gave you a lighter smile.

“Things do change, yes. People and their feelings? Less so,” she said and squeezed your hand one last time before letting you go. “Thank you for this, River.”

It did not take long before Rook’s plans were set in action. You were in the laboratory when Illario came in. He came over and kissed your cheek.

“I’m leaving,” he said. “I will see you tonight after we are done.”

Your brow furrowed in confusion before setting down the equipment in your hands.

“It’s early,” you noted. “After you’re done with what? I thought you were finishing things up here like you said you would.”

He leaned in with a smile and placed a kiss on your lips.

“Rook and Lucanis are going after Zara Renata,” he explained and looked you in the eyes. “I want to be there.”

You pulled your head back from his close proximity a bit. You did not like the sound of that. Especially if this was Lucanis’ only chance at making peace with whatever was going on with him.

“Why? Why do you want to be there for that?”

Illario pulled his head back in turn, looking as if offended at the ridiculousness of your question.

“Venatori killed my grandmother and imprisoned my cousin,” he said. “Of course, I want to be there.”

You let out a small breath. It took everything to not roll your eyes. It took everything to not say ‘Illario, this isn’t about you.’. In fact, he was the only Dellamorte that the Venatori hadn’t touched. If the revenge of what happened belonged to anyone, it was Lucanis who had been imprisoned and tortured for a year.

You shook your head slightly. There was no talking him out of it, you knew that much. You hoped that Lucanis would ask him to stay behind. You were worried that Illario might make a bigger mess of things than necessary.

“Just…” you began. “Be careful, yeah?”

“I always am.”

Joke of the century, you thought. He kissed you goodbye and left. The feeling that Illario would fuck something up haunted you after he left the room.

#lucanis #lucanis dellamorte #lucanis x reader #illario dellamorte x reader #illario dellamorte #lucanis x rook

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bitethedemon · 7 months ago

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Daggers, Poison, and Shiny Things (Lucanis x Reader x Illario): Chapter 3

<-Last Chapter

Link to this fic on AO3

Tags: Slow burn, De Riva Reader, Eventual Smut, Messy Love Triangles

WARNING: NSFW Content, Toxic Relationships, Baby-trapping

“How do you work like this?” Viago asked and gestured to your worktable in the laboratory. “No order, ingredients thrown around, solution on the table. River…”

“Good morning to you too,” you mumbled. “There is order to my chaos.”

“A moronic thing to say,” Viago said and started sorting through your mess. “There is no order to chaos. That is why it is called chaos.”

He sighed and swore under his breath in Antivan as he began tidying up your workspace. It had been Viago’s laboratory once. He was a master poison-maker, the best the Crows had to offer, but now he left most of the grunt work to you.

He looked at you out of the corner of his eye as he tidied up.

“What is you and Illario’s deal?” he asked.

You briefly looked up at him.

“I thought you didn’t care about my love life…”

“I don’t,” he said quickly. “But you are a de Riva. If something is going on, it will reflect badly on all of us. I would simply like to know in advance of the rumors.”

It was all bullshit, of course. Viago was big on gossip even though he acted like he was above it. His nose was solidly planted in everyone’s business.

“Why would you assume that whatever is going on is bad?” you asked. “What have you heard?”

“Nothing…” he said with a frown and a shrug.

He poured a healthy dose of various poisons into his morning coffee. He placed them in front of you afterwards. It was something he had urged you to do when you started working as a poison-maker. A little each day so that you could build up tolerance for your own poisons. You started measuring and pouring a little from each vial into your own cup.

“Although—”

There it was.

“I have seen him walking around slightly inebriated these last couple of days, and Teia swore she saw him flirting with someone a couple of days ago.”

You sighed deeply. Illario really was pissed at what you had said.

“What do you want me to do about it?” you asked a bit too sharply.

“Well do something,” Viago said and sipped his coffee. “You will look like an idiot if people see him going behind your back. It is shameful.”

“He’s the idiot.”

“Okay, you are both idiots,” he said with a shrug. “Are you happy? Fix it.”

“He proposed to me,” you said calmly.

Viago choked violently on his coffee. He coughed and waved his finger around in the air to signify that he definitely had something to say about that once he was done dying.

“Don’t he dare,” he wheezed in a firm tone and coughed again. “Don’t you dare. I did not invest all this time in you for you to become a Dellamorte. Not that any of the families would approve. Is he—”

“I know,” you said. “I told him that too. I didn’t say yes, obviously. I’m not stupid…Don’t tell anyone.”

Viago opened his mouth to start ranting again before the door to the laboratory opened. It was Lucanis.

“This conversation isn’t over,” Viago said to you before grabbing his coffee and leaving.

He shut the door behind him. Lucanis looked from the door to you.

“Trouble?”

“When isn’t there?” you said with a sigh and then looked up at him with a smile. “Hi.”

He gave you a small smile and walked over to you. He placed a tin container on the table.

“I brought you food,” Lucanis said. “Couscous with mint and bell peppers.”

Your smile widened. It warmed your heart. You had missed his attempts at making Rivaini food dearly. It always tasted amazing, even though it had that distinct Antivan taste that he never quite managed to fix. Not that you ever had the heart to tell him.

“That’s so nice of you,” you said. “I haven’t had Rivaini food in ages, actually. How do you find time to cook when you’re doing…whatever it is you and your new allies are doing?”

He leaned on the edge of the table and looked at what you were doing.

“I don’t sleep,” he said with a shrug. “I try to do something productive with the time.”

You looked up at him. He did look like he had not slept in days. There were dark circles under his eyes.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” you asked with slight worry in your tone.

“Spite,” he said. “He takes over my body when I sleep. So, I don’t.”

You nodded and could not help looking at Spite. He looked as if he was simply listening in on the conversation, though he was observing you intensely. Lucanis cleared his throat in an awkward manner. You blinked and turned your attention back to him.

“Sorry,” you said and shook your head. “He’s difficult to ignore.”

“You are telling me,” Lucanis said with a tired smile.

He most likely wasn’t fond of you seeing him that way, or he was scared of how Spite might act if given too much attention. You decided to change the subject since he seemed uncomfortable.

“Why are you in Treviso?”

He tilted his head slightly.

“Illario didn’t tell you?” he asked.

You weren’t sure if you should tell him that you two were having trouble. Lucanis sure didn’t need more things to worry about, so you simply shook your head.

“He has some information for us,” Lucanis explained. “We are supposed to meet with him at Café Pietra.”

We. 'We', meaning him and Rook. They were just casually going to one of Lucanis’ favorite places in Treviso. That didn’t bother you in the least, obviously…

“Right…” you said quietly.

Then silence fell over both of you. You both just stood there for a moment. It was hard to put a finger on it, but everything was so just odd between the two of you. As if there was an invisible wall between you that hadn’t ever been there before. You hated it.

“Right,” you repeated and scratched your neck awkwardly.

You moved to one of the many bookshelves along the wall to pull out a book. It was one of those he had once given you. You looked through it and bookmarked two chapters with strips of paper before handing it over to him.

“Here,” you said. “You can borrow this. There are a few chapters on seer meditation and how to move out of trance after a possession. I don’t know…It might be helpful.”

He smiled when he recognized the book as one of the ones he gave you.

“Thank you.”

“Of course,” you said and smiled back at him.

“NO BOOK. Help. Us,” Spite hissed. “River is SAFE. Help Lucanis. FREE US!”

Lucanis’ eyes closed and his jaw clenched for a moment.

“I…need to go. Good luck with Viago,” he said.

“NO!” Spite hissed in frustration.

You nodded and watched him leave in slight puzzlement. Free…us? You couldn’t stop wondering what Spite had meant by that. Something more was going on than just an unruly spirit.

You were tired. You had just closed down the laboratory and were on your way home. You heard close steps behind you and then an arm wrapped around your waist. You jumped slightly and turned to see Teia smiling up at you.

“River…” she said in a low, conspiratorial tone. “One of my fledgling’s just came back here from the bar down the street. The Sun.”

You knew of the Setting Sun, of course. It was Illario’s favorite spot to drink himself into a stupor. You already had a hunch were this was going.

“Yeah?”

“They saw Illario practically eating the face of some poor girl down there. It would just be a shame if you caught him red-handed.”

You felt a flare of anger in your stomach. Your jaw clenched and you looked at Teia.

“Thank you,” you said.

“Give him my best regards,” she said with a smile. “Don’t go easy on him.”

There were so many excuses. Illario could not quite figure out if he should play the victim card or the aggressive card. He was drunk, of course, so that did not help in the least. You had found him with the girl sitting on his lap. Now you were loudly arguing outside the bar.

“You are no different from everyone else,” he snapped at you. “You don’t love me. I am just the next best thing to him, isn’t that it?”

“If I wanted to be with Lucanis, you and I would not be together!” you yelled at him. “You have humiliated me. How stupid do you think I am, Illario?”

“I have humiliated you?” he hissed. “Do you think it is not humiliating to know that you will ever only see me in his shadow? That you will not even marry me?”

“I won't marry you because it is a ridiculous idea,” you snapped back. “Don’t you play the victim with me right now. You went behind my back.”

“As if you have only ever been upfront with me,” he said with a scoff. “Don’t you think I notice how you look at him? How you still pine after him? I hope I was a good replacement until the real thing came back.”

“Oh, shut up,” you gritted out in frustration.

“Tell me I’m wrong,” he said bitterly. “Hm? He still visits you as if nothing has happened. How do you think that makes me feel?”

“You weren’t a fucking replacement!” you snapped at him. “Lucanis and I are still friends, yes, but I love you. We needed each other at a moment in our lives when we both had nothing, and I am loyal to that. Which is why it hurts so much to see that you cannot pay the same respect to me.”

He sneered at you. He ran his hand over his face, shook his head, and sighed.

“It doesn’t matter…” he said with a bitter scoff. “You are going to leave me. Everyone does eventually. My parents, Lucanis, Caterina, and now you. It doesn’t matter what I do.”

He was playing dirty with his sad eyes and bitter tone. It pissed you off to no end. You groaned in frustration and kicked the wall behind you hard. Gods, you wanted to strangle him sometimes.

You closed your eyes, took a few deep breaths, and then looked at him.

You shouldn’t forgive him. You were better than that. Had you been back in your village in Rivain and had you two been married, he would have been shunned from the community for what he just did. You really shouldn’t…

You gave another frustrated groan and then walked up to him until you were in his face.

“If I ever catch you with another woman again, you will wish that I had left you now,” you growled at him. “You humiliate me like this again, Illario, and not even death will give you peace from my anger. Do you understand?”

It was clear in his eyes that he was torn between whether he should let you speak to him like that or if he should simply agree with you. He had not seen this side of you like this before and it clearly threw him for a loop. You were raised in a society where a man should feel honored if a woman like you looked at him twice. Illario grew up in a society that told him that everyone should bow and scrape around him.

He eventually gave you a curt nod and put his hands on your hips. You slapped his hands away.

“You reek of her,” you said with utter disdain.

You turned and walked home, leaving him there alone.

You had removed the key to your house from where it usually was hidden. You did not want to even look at him. You were tired and you were pissed off.

Of course, removing the key did nothing more but send a message that you did not want him there. Illario found a way inside anyway, to no surprise. It was late in the evening when you heard some commotion from your bedroom. You grabbed a knife from your kitchen before going upstairs.

You swung the door open and pointed the knife at him.

“No,” you said firmly and pointed to the window he had come from with the knife. “Go.”

He looked like he had somewhat sobered up since you had yelled at him a few hours ago. He was not impressed with the knife. He knew as well as you did that you had never been good with them. His expression said as much when he looked down at the knife and then smiled at you in slight amusement.

You raised a brow in challenge and slammed the knife down on the top of the drawer beside you. A flash of fire emerged from your hand instead. He frowned slightly then.

“Don’t be like that,” he said.

“I have nothing more to say to you tonight, Illario,” you said. “Leave. I am not playing this game with you.”

“I am not here to play games, love,” he said in an almost pleading tone. “I thought we agreed to put it to rest. You’re sorry, I’m sorry… I just wanted to see you. We’re fine, no?”

Gods, he could be so thickheaded sometimes. You glared at him.

“So let us move on,” he said and slowly walked towards you. “I’ve missed you...”

You did not extinguish the flame in your hand. His eyes flicked from it to you.

“We both know you won’t throw that.”

The flame grew bigger, and your fingers twitched. He took a small step back.

“What do you want me to do? Hm?” he said with a hint of frustration.

“What do I want?” you repeated his question in an irritated voice. “I want you to leave, Illario. Instead, you are here acting as if everything is completely fine. As if you wouldn’t have fucked that girl, had I not intervened.”

“River, amore,” he said in an exasperated voice as if what you were saying was unreasonable. “We talked about this. I was in a bad state of mind. It should never have happened. I told you.”

“I need time.”

He sighed and looked from the flame to your face again. You saw how he relaxed his body language, and you had been around enough assassins to know it was a ruse. You tensed and readied yourself to move away.

He got ahold of you before you could even flinch. He wrapped his arms around both of yours and forced your arms down, making you to extinguish the flame so as to not set fire to yourself. He turned you around and wrapped one arm loosely around your neck and the other tightly around your middle and arms.

“You are cute when you’re jealous,” he spoke into your ear. “Please, love. Don’t be like this.”

You gave a low, irritated groan at his words. It wasn’t his first time pissing you off and then trying to fix it with honeyed words like this. You just felt stupid that it always somehow worked on you.

He slowly kissed his way from your neck to your ear.

“It was hot when you yelled at me earlier,” he said and bit the lobe of your ear. “I’ve missed you so much…”

He pressed himself against your ass and you felt that familiar stir of arousal in your stomach. You cursed yourself for giving in so easily. He loosened his grip on you when he felt you becoming calmer. You turned around to face him.

“Never again,” you said firmly.

“Never…” he agreed.

You sighed. You leaned forward and kissed him. He smiled against your lips and began walking you backwards towards the bed.

He pushed you gently to sit on the bed and started unbuttoning his pants. You sighed internally but took the hint when he started running his hand through your hair. You really ought to bite it off, you morbidly thought to yourself as you started to kiss your way up his shaft, it would save you so many problems with this man.

His breath hitched when your lips closed around him. His grip on your hair tightened slightly when you did. His thumb ran gently over your ear.

“You are so beautiful like this,” he murmured. “Don’t stop.”

You didn’t. You took him as deep as you could go without gagging, eliciting a low groan from him.

You knew this little dance of yours, because you had done it so many times. Illario was a selfish lover. You didn’t particularly mind taking care of him like this, but it was slightly infuriating at times like these where he had been an asshole. Still, you liked making him feel good.

He pulled out of your mouth after a while and helped you out of your clothes. He grabbed your hips and turned you so that you were on all fours in front of him. He ran his fingers over your folds, teasing your clit for only a moment before one of his fingers entered you. You were already wet, which in Illario’s head meant that not much more foreplay was needed.

His fingers pressed into the soft flesh of your hips before he sank his cock into you with a groan. He leaned down to kiss your back. His hands moved from your sides to your chest to play with your tits. He began driving into you in a slow steady rhythm.

“You are mine, aren’t you?” he mumbled into your ear.

“Yes,” you moaned.

He groaned and his thrusts became quicker.

“And you won’t leave me,” he said breathlessly as he moved. “When I become First Talon, we will get married, and no one will be able to take you from me.”

You were used to Illario babbling nonsense when fucking you. You mostly tuned it out, but the First Talon thing was a new one. His thrusts became deeper and harder. He leaned down to whisper in your ear.

“You should have seen how he eye-fucked that elven girl the other day,” he hissed into your ear. “I doubt he ever flirted with you like that. He doesn’t deserve you. He never did.”

You bit the inside of your cheek and tried your hardest to ignore him. He was close. You knew it from the way he bit your neck and shoulders. Your hand went to your clit and you started rubbing it in circles. He fucked you harder, and with your own help, you managed to come half a second before he did.

Though this time, he did not pull out like he had done millions of times before. You panicked when he bottomed out and came deep inside you.

“Are you fucking stu—”

He grabbed you in a way that made sure you couldn’t move, and he pressed you facedown down into the mattress.

“I’m serious about this, River,” he growled into your ear. “I want you.”

You winced as the contents of the bottle violated your tastebuds and went down your throat. You had to make a potion that would ensure you did not get pregnant from Illario’s spontaneous desire for fatherhood. Everything was such a mess right now. What the fuck was up with him these days?

Viago entered at some point and started speaking at you: Something, something, remember to request new ingredients, something, something, five batches behind.

“Are you listening, River?”

“No,” you mumbled absentmindedly.

“I would ask if your ears were for decoration, but I have seen how they look and know that cannot be the case,” Viago chided harshly. “What is wrong with you?”

“So many things,” you mumbled tiredly and started noting down ingredients on a piece of paper. “I’m only three batches behind. I’ll get the remaining two done today.”

“Hey,” Viago said and snapped his fingers in front of your face to catch your attention. “You are not focused. What happens when we are not focused?”

“Mistakes.”

“Correct,” he said, and his tone softened slightly. “Is this because of Illario? Teia told me of his little…fling. I did tell you to do something.”

“We made up,” you said absentmindedly.

You could almost hear Viago roll his eyes across the room. As if he and Teia were any better...

You turned to face him. You needed to talk to someone. You had three someones: Illario, Lucanis, and Viago. One was the problem, the other was riddled with other problems, so there was just Viago left.

“He’s sure he’ll become First Talon,” you said. “Like dead sure. It’s weird.”

“Illario? First Talon?” Viago let out a rare laugh. “Are you serious?”

“It’s weird, don’t you think?” you said, putting the thoughts that had swirled around in your head since he first mentioned it into words. “I mean Caterina just died, his cousin just came back, and now he has mentioned it to me twice.”

“Why does he think that?” Viago asked. “We both know that if another Dellamorte were to take the place of First Talon after Caterina, it would not be Illario.”

“I didn’t ask,” you said with a shrug. “But it’s weird.”

“Someone says something like that, and you don’t think to ask?” Viago asked with a scoff. “He could be planning something.”

“Well, please do forgive me,” you said sarcastically. “Illario was in the middle of proposing the first time he said it, and the second time, he was inside me. It didn’t really seem like the time to bring it up.”

Viago’s face soured as if he had just taken a bite of something utterly disgusting. He raised his finger at you.

“Don’t ever say those words in that order to me ever again,” he said.

You smiled. Making Viago uncomfortable was one of the few joys in life. It was painfully easy.

“I will send someone to sniff around a bit,” he said. “Keep this between us for now, yes?”

You nodded.

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