"Mama? Will you tell me a story?"

Adeona glanced away from her needlework, down toward the young girl clinging to her skirt. "Demeter, I thought I told you to go to bed. What are you doing up?" Although her words were stern, her voice was kindly, as it ever was with her children.

"I couldn't sleep, Mama," Demeter replied, snowy-white wings twitching before settling against her back again. "If you told me a story, maybe I could sleep?"

Adeona chuckled softly, setting the needlework upon the table beside her before leaning over and pulling her daughter into her lap, enfolding her in an embrace of both arms and wings. "All right, dearest. A story it shall be. What story did you want to hear?"

Demeter thought for a long moment, forehead puckering with the intensity of the decision. "I wanna hear about Aidoneus," she declared, nodding her head firmly enough that several golden curls bounced about her face.

"Aidoneus," Adeona repeated softly, settling back in the chair. "Aidoneus, the grey-winged god of the dead. Are you certain, Demeter? Wouldn't you prefer a story about someone more cheerful?"

"Nuh-uh," Demeter replied, stubborn in her mind set. "I wanna hear about Aidoneus. 'Cause Papa said your brother was named for him."

"Very well, then." Adeona let out a long slow breath that wasn't quite a sigh and thought how to begin. "A long, long time ago, when the gods still walked the earth and magic flowed in abundance among our people, there lived a couple, noble, who did not have any children to carry on their family name."

"Were they nice noble people, Mama?" Demeter asked, before putting her thumb in her mouth and settling back to listen.

"No, dearest," Adeona replied, absently smoothing her daughter's curls. "They were very haughty people, full of their own importance and the purity of their family line. They had wings as white as the clouds and eyes of sky-blue, sure signs that their family contained none of the dark taint."

Demeter nodded solemnly, thinking of her uncle. "And your brother was like Aidoneus, 'cause his wings weren't white, either?"

"Yes, but you have to wait for that part of the story." Adeona smiled and continued. "After many years, the noble woman finally managed to have a baby, a son, and her husband was overjoyed to have an heir at last."

"Oh! Oh! But then he couldn't be the heir right?" Demeter burst in, bouncing a little on her mother's lap.

Adeona shook her head slightly. "The baby's hair and wing-feathers turned dark, and they would have cast him from them in shame, leaving him on the hillside as so many other nobles did with their 'tainted' children. But... he was their only heir. They'd not been able to have any other children, and the noble man preferred to have his own son take over his House than give it to a cousin."

Demeter grew still again, looking puzzled. "So what did they do, Mama?"

"They hid the child," Adeona replied, giving her daughter an affectionate hug. "Aidoneus grew up isolated, without seeing anyone but his mother, father, and the few House servants who could be sworn to secrecy. Nobody knew he was tainted, for nobody saw him. They only heard the reports his parents gave of his progress in his studies, or the like."

Demeter's eyes grew wide. "Ohhhh. That would be lonely, wouldn't it, Mama? I get to go out, and I have a little brother to play with."

Adeona nodded, falling silent a moment before picking up the thread of the story once more. "That's right, you do. Well, Aidoneus was a frail child, always thin and sickly, and his parents were torn between wishing their son would die and spare them the shame the discovery of his presence would bring, and hoping he would live and lead their House into prosperity."

"Pros-per-i-ty?" Demeter repeated, nose wrinkling slightly.

"That means they wished he would be a good leader, and make the House strong and wealthy and powerful," Adeona replied, with a grin. "I'm sorry for confusing you."

"Oh. Well, so did he make it powerful?" Demeter was starting to grow impatient, in hearing how this darkling boy in the story became important.

Adeona shook her head, brushing a hand over her daughter's wing to soothe the child. "No, he never had the chance. For when he grew older, it was discovered that Aidoneus had the healing gift. It wasn't the strongest gift of the time, but it was very unusual."

"But why, Mama?" Come on, already, what made him different? Demeter wrinkled her nose up at her mother, waiting.

"Because, dearest," Adeona replied, wrinkling her nose back at her daughter, "he could ease even the worst of pain. Even those who were dying felt no pain when Aidoneus used his powers."

Demeter shook her head, curls bouncing about her cheeks. "But, Mama, I thought all healers could do that."

"Ah, they can now," Adeona replied, tapping one finger lightly against Demeter's nose, "but this was before they'd discovered how to do it. Aidoneus was the first and the best. Before that, they could only take the edge off the pain, and since the healers could feel what their patients felt, healing the wounded was draining for them."

"Oh." The child settled back again to think that over.

Adeona's wings shifted slightly, then curved tighter about her daughter. "Let's see... where was I. Oh, yes. Well, several years after Aidoneus' power was discovered, a great sickness came to the city where he lived."

Demeter grimaced and squirmed a bit in place. "What kind of sickness? Was it like when I got sick a few months ago? I didn't like that."

"No, dear, it was worse than that." Adeona hugged her daughter again, this time more protectively. "This was a very bad sickness. People who caught it became very, very sick -- much worse than when you did. It was a very painful sickness, too, and almost everyone who had it died from it."

"Were their mommies sad?" Demeter asked, eyes growing wide. "Cause you'd be sad if I'd gotten that sick, wouldn't you?"

Adeona gave a solemn nod and kissed Demeter's forehead lightly. "Of course I would. And I'm sure their mommies were sad, too. Lots of people were sad because their families were getting sick."

"And what about Aidoneus? What did he do?" Demeter chose to ignore the kiss, being just old enough to affect disdain at such shows of affection from her mother.

Adeona smiled slightly, her wings drawing back a bit. "Aidoneus was very sad, because people he knew were getting sick. When he'd been learning how to use his gift, his parents had to let him out of the house, and he met a very special girl whom he loved very much. She became sick, and Aidoneus did everything he could to save her."

Demeter leaned forward a bit, starting to really get into the storytelling. "Did he save her, Mama? Did he?"

"Aidoneus went to where all the sick people had been gathered together, so the healers could tend them," Adeona continued, seeming to not hear the question. "He knelt down in the middle of the rows of cots, amid the sick and the dying, and prayed to the gods for aid. He drew upon his healing power and tried with all of his might to save those around him."

Demeter's eyes just grew wide, as she listened to the story. It was finally getting interesting.

Adeona shook her head slightly. "His power just wasn't enough. He knew that. But just as he was about to reach the limits of what he could do, he felt a sudden surge of energy rush through him, moving to touch every single one of the people on the cots."

"All of them, Mama?" Demeter repeated, awed. "Every single one of them?"

"Yes... every single one of them." Adeona nodded, in confirmation. "The gods listened to Aidoneus' prayer and helped him, but there was a cost. He couldn't handle so much power; he'd never been trained to do it. And so slowly, he began to lose control of it. He held on for as long as he could, but finally, it was just too much for him. The power overwhelmed him."

Demeter blinked back sudden tears and sniffled quietly. "So he died?" she asked, in a small voice.

Adeona nodded, holding her daughter close. "Yes, dearest. He died, in order to save all the people who had looked down on him for being tainted and dark."

"I bet they wished they hadn't looked down on him after that, huh?" Demeter's expression turned almost fierce.

"Yes, dear. I'm certain they did." Adeona half-smiled. "But, after that, those who were dying began to see Aidoneus' grey-winged form coming to take them to the next life, to soothe the transition into death with his calming touch. For his great sacrifice, the gods made him one of them."

"And that's who your brother was named after?" Demeter asked, sticking her thumb back in her mouth, forgetting that she was 'too old' for such a childish habit.

Adeona nodded, smile widening a bit. "Yes, that's right. So you see why I tell you that the color of someone's wings doesn't necessarily mean they're not as good? Just look at Aidoneus. Or your uncle. They're good people, aren't they?"

"Yes, they are, Mama," Demeter confirmed, eyes drooping sleepily. "I like m'uncle."

"I know you do, dear," Adeona murmured, carefully gathering her daughter into her arms and rising to her feet. "And now it's definitely bedtime." With that, she carried her unprotesting daughter off, to tuck her back into bed again.

FIN  

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