Demon King's Gardener

To announce their intent to wed to the gods, Braelin joined Jurao on his next trip into the city to speak with Maenscul, planned to be at the beginning of the week of the Golden Sun Feast.

Jurao had been in Vemera's temple before, though not recently. Like Maenscul's temple, it was within the central Temple District of the city, though it bordered the Court District – where all the municipal buildings maintained by the Crown were located. It followed the same general structure as most temples – a circular building with a domed roof, opening first into a large central area with a statue of the goddess in the middle of the room. Hers was crafted of hematite, the stone associated with her, and depicted her working diligently at a desk.

"Your highness, good morning," the High Priestess Vier greeted them at the door with a bow, and added, "Please allow me to escort you."

"Thank you, your grace," Jurao replied, a hand on Braelin's back. Though unlike much of the city, hardly anyone else in the temple appeared to pay them any mind, so his partner was mostly at ease.

Those in the gray and faded purple vestments of Vemeran clergy were either working at desks as diligently as the statue of their goddess, or rushing from one part of the temple to another - most with stacks of documents. Jurao knew that on the right side of the temple were the legal courts of various levels, and that was where most of the activity was focused. High Priestess Vier guided them to the left side of the building, to a smaller chamber quite close to the entrance. Here were enshrined smaller statues of Vislaelos, Nosu, and Maenscul, each in their own alcove.

There were other priesti on duty near the entrance, who bowed to their small party. Jurao supposed it made sense to keep the intention chamber in an area that was easy to access, since it was often such a short matter.

"When you are ready, your highness," the High Priestess said, waving him forward.

Jurao nodded to her, and he and Braelin stepped before the state of Vislaelos carved from obsidian. The King said, "Vislaelos, I, Jurao, intend to wed this man, Braelin."

"And I, Braelin, intend to wed Jurao," Braelin said, as they had practiced.

After a few moments of silence, High Priestess Vier nodded and said, "Vislaelos has no objection. We have recorded your intention," she waved to a priesti with a pad of paper, "Did you intend to have a ceremony?"

"Yes," Jurao said, leaving his hand on Braelin's back as he said, "We will send the Temple the details when we have settled on a date."

The High Priestess inclined her head and said, "Then I bid you good day, your highness."

"And I to you, your grace," Jurao replied, following the priestess out of the intention chamber. While he would typically walk from Vemera's temple to Maenscul's, to avoid curious eyes, he and Braelin took a coach.

"That was more simple than I expected," Braelin said, smiling.

"Yes, it does tend to be a small matter," Jurao agreed, "though it helped that Hujur sent the usual paperwork done after a declaration ahead of us."

"That does make sense."

With their intention to wed, Jurao had asked if Braelin would like to meet Maenscul – as he thought the deity would enjoy meeting his partner. Braelin had been curious and so joined Jurao for his meeting.

"What's this?" Maenscul asked, grinning lazily as usual as they appeared on their mundane throne of felted clouds and rainbow cloth.

"Braelin and I just declared our intent to wed at Vemera's temple," Jurao said, taking his usual seat on the bench, "I thought perhaps you would like to meet him."

"Hello," Braelin said, taking a seat next to the King.

Maenscul chuckled and said, "Hello, Braelin – and congratulations. I am sure my daughter will also be pleased to hear of your intentions."

"Thank you," Braelin said.

"We were going to make a formal announcement to the court during the Golden Sun Feast," Jurao said, "as we intend to wed before the Hundred Years Ball."

"So soon?" Maenscul asked.

"While we aren't marrying for political reasons, it has been suggested that being married will help with my diplomatic intentions with the empire," Jurao said, taking one of Braelin's hands in his own.

Braelin gave his hand a squeeze and said, "Yes – most human nations put more stock into marriages, as they represent formal unions. Even if the empire does not care, other human nations will at least have considerations on their own stances about the Demon Realm if the Demon King is married to a human."

"That does match what human deities have told me," Maenscul said.

"Do you know many?" Braelin asked.

Maenscul waved a hand, "Oh, yes, I've met most of the major ones. I do see some more than others, of course – Micah, Ometchla, and the other Celestial Monarchs…"

"Celestial Monarchs," Jurao asked.

"The first deity of each mortal realm," Maenscul replied, "I am one, then there is Ometchla of the Human Realm, Empru of the Beastkin Realm, Krakithan of the Troll Realm, Amaloam of the Kinfolk Realm, Pasiden of the Siren Realm, Sou of the Dragon Realm, Uyishi of the Elven Realm, and Mae'dah of the Fae Realm. Most of us are sun deities, as well, but not all – Sou is a moon deity, Ometchla an earth deity, and Empru is… well, Empru consumed all the other beastkin deities, so they are many things."

Jurao had heard of the many-faceted beastkin god before, as Empru was the only deity of the beastkin. The others were new to him.

"Ometchla is… a Bended god, isn't he?" Braelin asked.

"They are," Maenscul replied, "Their gender is one of fluidity – they initially split into two deities to reproduce, but later decided to be one once more. As they have explained it to me, their two halves developed separate genders based on the social beliefs of their mortals, and when they reunited, they retained those feelings of different genders, only in flux – though occasionally at the same time. Different Bended nations worship them as different genders, which they appreciate as they feel it represents them in all aspects at once, so you may have only heard of them as a man."

Braelin smiled and said, "One of my gardening staff members also has a fluid relationship with gender, though it is not so complicated by their explanation. Thank you for the explanation."

Maenscul chuckled and said, "It is a concept that not all demons are familiar with as well. Porscil also considers his gender as fluid, but all as different aspects of masculine, for the many forms he has taken do not feel as though they are all the same in terms of gender, even if they are always masculine."

"Is there something special about Celestial Monarchs," Jurao asked, curious.

"Being the first, we are more powerful than other deities of the same realm," Maenscul explained, "with some exceptions – notably Sou. The Dragon Realm initially lacked a sun – and mortal life cannot form without one. He crashed his moon into an inert sun, which cost him his life but brought about the birth of his daughter, Thea. She was able to restore him before her primordial strength converted entirely to divine, but he lost most of his power after rebirth."

"I have heard about Sou," Braelin said, "My brother has made friends with one of the dragons living in Caslavven, Maukul – they said Sou lives in a cave where all the dragons go to see him."

Maenscul laughed and said, "Yes! He considers all mortal dragons as his grandchildren, and so lives mostly on the mortal plane so he can hear their stories and visit them. He is the dragon deity of death as well – and most dragons who feel they are close to passing will come to rest with him."

"It did seem odd that he sleeps on a pile of bones as a benevolent god," Braelin said, "but if it is because they're resting with their grandfather, I can see how Maukul wouldn't see it as intimidating."

Jurao did think the mental image was not a warm one, but the accompanying explanation did give it a kinder light. The idea of a god that remained on their mortal plane to interact with their mortals reminded him of his earlier thoughts about how Maenscul clearly cared about demonity, but feigned aloofness – but as he knew the subject upset them, choose not to ask after the matter again.

Braelin, however, glanced at Jurao before he asked, "Did you ever spend much time with demons, Lord Maenscul?"

Maenscul's smile gentled, and they asked, "Not afraid of upsetting me just before the feast? But no, what Jurao has told me of you does not make that surprising. Though I am sure he is more concerned with upsetting me as a kindness, rather than a political consideration."

"Yes," Jurao agreed, giving Braelin's hand a squeeze of thanks.

"I did spend time with demons, when I first made them. I wanted to know them, these new beings with wills of their own," Maenscul said, their glowing white eyes going distant, "As Jurao guessed, I am very fond of my mortals. It is that fondness that caused me to grow distant. I was not prepared for the pain of loss, you see. Gods do not usually die."

The soft tone reminded Jurao of his own feelings when Braelin had needed surgery. He had grieved his mothers, of course, but he had been so young that the feelings were not as a visceral in his mind – and while their death had been early, Beast Hunters did not shy away from the idea that they could perish. Braelin's surgery had been entirely unexpected, which had only enhanced Jurao's feelings of fear and uneasiness.

The King found himself pulling his partner into his lap as he said, "Loss is difficult."

Braelin nodded in agreement and added, "Yes – but I do think it is worth it to continue to build relationships, even if they might be lost."

"So a certain Demon King reminded me, long ago," Maenscul said, then their grin grew as they asked, "And how is your other brother, Braelin? I imagine it is Meir'ril that has made friends with a dragon."

"Malson is doing well," Braelin replied.

They spent the rest of the time talking about Braelin's family, Jurao's family, and the general preparations for the feast and wedding.

"Hmm," Braelin said, as they entered the coach again, "Perhaps I should ask Maukul about the dragon plant Malson got me."

"We could stop by the artefact shop," Jurao said, and said as much to the driver when Braelin agreed.

"It's been growing well, but it seems like it might be sentient, so I want to make sure I'm caring for it the right way," Braelin said.

Jurao had heard there were sentient magical plants similar to demon varieties, though rarer and generally more intelligent, so the idea that the dragon bulb had grown into something sentient did not surprise him too much.

"Good afternoon! Welcome to Sazel's Artefact Emporium!" the dragon at the counter – not Maukul today – greeted them brightly. They were bulkier than Maukul, with faded yellow scales and white stripes with thick red outlines down the length of their quadrupedal lower half – which only covered the back of their anthropoid upper half. Their mane of hair was also white, and very curly – their bovid ears flicking as their solid orange eyes took in the pair of them. They added, "I'm Souar. Can I help you find something?"

"Good afternoon," Braelin said, "I'm Braelin, and this is Demon King Jurao."

"Oh!" Souar said, bounding over the desk and impressively not knocking anything off of it as they said, "You're Meir'ril's brother! He's upstairs with Maukul and Lave, if you were looking for him!"

"I was actually just looking for advice about a dragonic plant I've been raising," Braelin replied with a chuckle, "Our older brother gave it to me as a gift, but he didn't know what it was, so I'm not sure I'm caring for it correctly."

"Oh, sure," Souar said, laying their lower half down as they asked, "What does it look like?"

"It started as a maroon bulb," Braelin replied, holding his hands at the size the bulb had been, "and initially grew out as maroon creeper vines in the pot I had it in. Then another bulb formed in the center, and it's grown to…" Braelin looked at his partner and said, "roughly Jurao's size."

Souar went completely still, smile frozen in place for a few moments before they said, "Oh. Oh, no."