::::It was the easiest thing in the world to love someone and hold them in your arms and touch them tenderly, but the other side of the coin was letting them go. Inside a part of him mourned already....to let his little love away from him hurt more deeply than when he had sent Shakti to America so long ago without him. To face the nights without Evangelines face and touch and voice would be like losing the light of the suns embrace all over again. Her innocent impetuousness was what had set free his fettered soul, and without it there the world would be a place without color...a place dark as any imagined biblical hell. The knowledge of his love for her had come slowly, but since coming to terms with it he had also had to face the reality of letting her go. More than anything else now it was her safety that mattered.::::

:::That night when they had left the Lava Lounge after Marcus had spoken with Tino he knew that there was no further choice but to send Evangeline away somewhere safe. With the strong magic of his Dark Queen it was space that would protect her better than anything else. Even the gargoyles in the end had been unable to forsee the move that Kalika made, and how could they? How could anyone? Yet here he was....trying as always to save the ones he loved from the destiny that met them because of him. Perhaps what the council had told him was true.....perhaps he truly was cursed.::::

:::Her apartment was sparse and tiny....a place perfect for who she was and perfect for him if it meant that he was near her. As the night wound down they had laid out across the cushioned sofa...his golden body cradling hers against him as tenderly as though she were a child. Long tapered fingers softly played with the silk of her hair letting it run across his skin and watching the play of light against it as the moon bathed them both. A soft undercurrent of power blanketted them both and he tried very hard to ignore the other currents of power that ran there leaving the Ulfric and Tino alone, or as alone as any of them can be. A light melody drifted from his lips....a lullabye in Italian that his mother had sung to him in some vague distant memory that he was not quite sure was real.:::

:::If he could stretch this one single shining moment into eternity he would do it, and in truth there was a way. The cruel twist of fate that to give her safety and protection he had to take away her life, and that was a price he was unwilling to pay for his own happiness. Marcus would not finish the marks, he could not bear to let her go, but he could not steal her life either, not while she was yet so young. A few more years was what he wanted. A chance to watch her grow and experience before she made the choice to spend the rest of eternity with him, or at least whatever piece of eternity they could carve out for themselves.::::

:::It was time. Deep down in his blood he felt the burning call of the sun....knew the flight of Apollo neared to damn the night. Physically he ached in a way he had not known he could...ached for this precious human life laid out beside him. Leaning forward he brushed the hair from her forehead and watched her stir in her sleep....the sweet blossoms of her lips parting as he saw color rise to her cheeks....and how could any sane man resist. With tender care he kissed the blush of her cheeks...lips soft as butterfly wings where he touched her....his little psichico.....his Evangeline. Careful not to wake her he rose from the couch and pulled a blanket down to cover her with...making sure she would stay secure and warm in his absence.:::

:::There was a long moment there where all he was capable of doing was watching her....memorizing every facet of her appearance to hold close to him in the time to come. Without that memory he knew he would be lost. Like a shimmering chrystal brough to light the mark between them seemed to twist and unfurl with grace and he ached to know that when she was gone he would no longer feel that connection so strong. From his pocket he pulled a letter written on thin cream colored vellum and sealed with golden wax that was stamped with the issue of the orchid that was a symbol of his court...and then he disappeared back to the lonely nonexistence that waited to swallow him with the coming of the dawn::::

::::When Evie awoke she would find the letter propped against a candle on the coffee table. The envelope thick containing not merely the letter but also a plane ticket, one way to London, and a wad of cash to help her get out of town as quickly as possible. The letter was folded three times....paper crisp beneath her fingers as she read the loosely curling script.:::

Evangeline,
       
         Sweet, incomparable Evangeline, what a strange effect you have on my heart! No time has passed since I parted from you., and already it is as though I had been eight years away from you, although I can avow that not one hour will pass without your memory which has become such a close companion to my thoughts that now more than ever is it the food and sustenance of my soul; and if it should endure like this a few days more, as seems it must, I truly believe it will in every way have assumed the office of my soul, and I shall then live and thrive on the memory of you, and I shall have no life but in this single thought.

Let the God who so decrees do as he will, so long as in exchange I may have as much a part of you as shall suffice to prove the gospel of our affinity is founded on true prophecy. Often I find myself recalling you and the memories of times we have spent together--for all are dancing about my heart with a tenderness so wondrous that they inflame me.

For I shall never rest content until I am certain you know what you are able to enact in me and how great and strong is the fire that your great worth has kindled in my heart. The flame of true love is a mighty force, and most of all when two equally matched wills in two exalted minds contend to see which loves the most, each striving to give yet more vital proof...

 I have lost my life before at the hand of my Mistress, but to lose you would be more painful than to live in darkness for the rest of eternity. You must be safe my love or all that this world holds becomes meaningless. Without you all the centuries have been for nothing. If you love me at all then go to London, to your mentor Alex, and do not look back. We will fight this tide of darkness as we can, but I cannot bare for you to be a part of the battle to come. While Kalika hold court here you must be safely away. When it is safe I will send for you once again.

Until then, mio dolce amor, a thousand kisses; but give me none in return, for they set my blood on fire.

Marcus