Page 30 of Seraph's Tears
“What’s that?”
He hesitated, and an odd look crossed his face. Almost as if he didn’t want to answer me. “I’ve told you what ayim is,” he said slowly.
I nodded. “It’s like blood, but…more spirit-based. You glean energy from the sun through it.”
Gabriel nodded. His eyes were intensely dark and brooding, pinning me to my seat. “When ayim is shared, it creates a bond between seraphim. It is like family sharing blood. Siblings in arms will do so. Friends swearing oaths to one another will also cut their skin and spread ayim on one another.” He paused again, and I knew I wanted to hear this part, since he was so unsure about sharing it. “And…mates.”
“Like…husbands and wives?”
He bobbed his head awkwardly, then sighed, as if he realized I would press him on the matter. “Marriage is a legal matter among our kind.”
I nodded along. “The nobility in my world also see marriage as a business, legal arrangement. Mates are for love?”
He nodded, more or less. “It is love, yes, but it is also physical. Our bodies physically react. Philosophers have theorized that it’s a way to ensure the best traits of two seraphim are passed on to the children. However, I don’t think that makes sense, because while our kind requires male and female reproduction, we mate and love regardless of sex or gender.”
I held up a hand. “Wait. What?” I knew sometimes men loved one another and women loved one another. I knew some people didn’t identify as male or female, or sometimes realized they were in the opposite body. It was mostly accepted in Anglia, though, for reproduction’s sake, for marriage between men and women was still considered traditional. And there were a few people who looked for reasons to hate another person, and being “nontraditional” was as good a reason as any.
“Seraphim love regardless of sex, regardless of gender. We marry regardless of them, too, for the echelon we were born into matters far more.” He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced away. “I have had lovers of every gender in the past. Long, long ago,” he hastened to add. “And if I chose to marry, my parents would look for an arrangement with the best suited family.”
“But…children,” I pointed out. “In our world we need children to pass inheritance to. Our nobility are obsessed with having sons to pass the title and wealth to.”
Gabriel spread his wings a little. “I thought I was telling a bedtime tale.” He laughed. “Not comparing and contrasting our social and sexual customs.”
My belly flipped each time he alluded to anything sexual. I needed to get a hold of myself.
“Children, the next generation, yes, they are important to seraphim also. We commonly adopt—as long as the adult child was born into the same echelon. Heirs can be from your bloodline or not. They can be any of the children, regardless of birth order. Except those of us who join the military. We can’t be heirs to family titles or lands.
“My uncle, before he died, had gained some wealth and status. He never married, so he had no one to inherit his holdings. Neither spouse nor children. But when I was halfway through the academy he mentioned adopting me, so I could carry on his name and honor.”
I frowned in thought. “Interesting. Yes, I see how that would make marriages between those who cannot bear children together more acceptable in your world than in mine.”
He nodded, getting back to the first point. “Mating and loving are intertwined, but there are stories of finding your mate in a person you hate. Or loving someone who isn’t your mate.”
“But what exactly is mating? How do you know if someone is your mate?” I pressed.
Chapter Twelve
Eve
“Mates, to become ayim-bound, will share ayim with one another. Marriage ceremonies don’t require it, unless you’re also marrying your mate. And,” he added off-handedly, “not everyone has a mate. Or perhaps doesn’t find them. Or perhaps aren’t born in the same lifespan. No one knows for sure. It is true, however, that it’s considered a treasure to have and hold a mate. Even better if you can marry them. That bond is always upheld in seraph society.”
I nodded.
“When we find our mate, the ayim will pound in our blood. It can cause dizziness, shortness of breath, tingling in the limbs.”
“Sounds like a bad case of puppy love,” I joked.
“It’s more than that,” he said. “Until the bond is recognized, until the ayim in both mates react to one another, it can cause discomfort, even pain. At least, that’s what I’ve been told.”
“How do you know?” I asked.
His wings spread out behind him in what seemed like an elaborate shrug. “I’ve met a few mated pairs, and they always say, ‘when you find your mate, you’ll know.’ It is the most infuriating answer ever to give a horny young seraph barely out of academy.” He flashed a smile.
“That is an annoying answer,” I agreed. “What are the benefits of being mated?”
“You know you found your perfect other half,” he said. “And the males become deeply protective. Mated pairs who achieve pregnancy sometimes bear more children than married couples who aren’t mates. And according to superstition, mixing ayim will make the seraphim stronger, heal faster, and perform greater magic. While all those things make mating an attractive possibility, the most important part is finding the one person who will understand and care for you, no matter what.
“Anyway.” He cleared his throat and rubbed the center of his bare chest as if it pained him. “Engiel and Onyxa.”
