------------- The Midnight Rose

Amanda sat up. In the darkness of her bedchamber, there was a great deepness, a yawning portal of despair. The night's passions had beaten it back for a time, but it would return. The gnawing teeth of time were always there, hiding in the cold nights, waiting for her. She looked back over her shoulder at the soundly sleeping Drovik Ambassador. He would still be young and vibrant many decades after she was gone, and he wasn't the only one. She stood quietly and walked to the Franco doors to look out on Carel bay, her mind racing back over two lifetimes in this city. Yes, when she was gone, she would leave many behind, a son to take the throne, and friends from both lifetimes that would outlive her.

Maybe none of them would be quite like Kuritha Rose. There was a bond there that transcended Amanda's reincarnation. Amanda was her own grandmother, Aeriel Atreides, reborn into a new generation as Amanda Hayes. Kuritha also had many of the characteristics of her grandmother, Queen Demlane Aragon of Raidon, but she was a unique individual. However, she was much more than that.

They had met over thirty years ago, in Dient. None of them knew then what fate had in store for Kuritha. They knew she was the apprentice of Doctor Damien Collingate, a Demonhunter. She was also the wielder of Marax the Holy Crusher, the God-send of Athena. Before long, she would face the High Executioner, Talon Baelgorral, in single combat in the back streets of Carellon. Their clash would unleash the forces of the Abyss and help resurrect Lolth. A few years later, in Duchess Amanda's palace in Dragaard, Kuritha would learn her grandmother's identity. Soon after that, in the Iron Prison of Ares in Tarterus, she would learn of her true father. The first nearly shattered her faith, the second reaffirmed it. Following the Lolth Incursion, Kuritha would repeat history and help Talon and Mollasar slay Lolth as her grandmother had done before.

When the Silver Gryphon was finally retired, Kuritha returned to Nice Little Place, took up Doctor Collingate's medical practice, and married. She had a son, Augustus, and watched him grow into a young man. Along the way, she began to understand her own true nature. As the daughter of Ares, she was immortal. Queen Demlane had fought the forces of the Abyss her whole life, but time eventually defeated her. Kuritha would go on forever, fighting against her father's minions as well as the shadows that lurk in the night.

Amanda heard Kheldar roll out of bed and cross the bedchamber to stand behind her. She had her own battle to fight with time and darkness, and her own impending death. Kheldar would be there, as would her grandmother's indomitable will, and her own faith, to see her through the trials to come. Then she could sleep. Kuritha would not be so lucky. She would never rest in the bittersweet embrace of the grave. There would always be a Midnight Rose stalking the ruins of the world, striking down Liche Lords and battling the Vampire Clans, Marax blazing before her in the darkness.

As Amanda turned to kiss Kheldar, she thought how pleased she was that Kuritha had finally learned to enjoy life. She prayed that Kuritha's happiness would last many more centuries. She would need it.

------------- Credits

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