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The day was cool and bright, and a stiff wind carried snow-laden clouds across the mountainside. I took a deep breath, and exhaled. Pine, snow, and a hint of decaying leaf-litter, now moist under the pale spring sun. The smell of spring. Spring!

I leaned against Tarvos to prevent me from shivering, and he put his arm about me. "Today is the day," he said, voice distant.

"Your mind is burdened?" I frowned. "What troubles you?"

Tarvos shook his head and smiled. "Nothing to concern you." He sighed. "No. I will keep nothing from you. I--" He halted, unsure of himself, then continued. "Oretas has made his intentions known to everyone, and has passed the mantle of leader to Nestor. While Oretas was content to keep us in the world, Nestor feels that we should be separate, that the Sons of Minos should emulate their great progenitor more closely. He will withdraw, sealing our home, after today."

My eyes widened. "But... how can you live thus? Do you not enjoy sun-touched breezes, or the sound of rain, or..." My voice trailed off. "I would be happy as long as I was with you," I said, quietly, after a pause. He rubbed my shoulder.

"I enjoy those things too, fear not. There are reasons that the Sons of Minos are rare upon the earth, and that is one of them. And if I had felt that way, I would not have met you," he said, smiling. "No, neither you nor I will set foot under the mountain for much longer, I think."

"Well... where shall we go? Where do you prefer? I do not know if Massillia is to your taste, but it is pleasant. But, perhaps too many people? They can be a vexation at the best of times, it is true..."

Tarvos nodded and sighed. "I have favour with certain nobles, but I leave this life, John, to spend my days with you. Somewhere quiet. I think there is not much taste for my kind outside this valley, and perhaps there is not much kindness to spare for our union in many places we will go."

I nodded, frowning. "I don't care where I go, as long as I am with you."

"Then perhaps we will wander for a time. See the world, while we may. You have travelled, and I am eager to share your world with you. I would be rid of the blade forever, if I can, John. I do not want to take another life. I want to be a peaceable traveller, bothering none." After a pause - in which the wind picked up, and he held me closer to him - he spoke again. "You are a poet. Have you given this up? I have not seen you write."

I laughed awkwardly. "Anyone can be a poet, as I found out."

Tarvos shook his head. "Surely not I. Nor just anyone, John."

I smiled. "No, it is true. Poetry speaks easily from the heart, and when you listen, you can write it. It is exactly that simple. Now, making enough to pay your way, that is the challenge, and for that, you must speak to a broad audience. Well, broader than one, I think."

Tarvos digested this, standing against the now stiff wind. "Would you write a poem for me?" he asked, barely a whisper above the wind. Stunned at the softness of the request, I only nodded, and held him tight.

We stood in the slowly warming day, simply staring out across the valley. Birdsong echoed, distorted, caught in the wind, as we stood between shadow and light, clouds scudding across the growing brightness of the sun. "They will be ready soon, I think. A day for them all to enjoy the sun, perhaps the last they will see. I could not say. Our fates will be lost to each other, after today, John. It makes me sad, but... I knew this day would come." He sighed again. "Let us go. It must be near to time."

My heart leapt as he spoke those words.

We picked our way carefully through the rocks and trees, mindful of the wet and treacherous earth as we came back to where the stream led me to his home so many months ago. Here and there little signs of life appeared, colour where there had been none a few weeks ago, when the wind howled, and the cold was deeper. Now it felt like the back of winter had been broken. Oretas met us as he did those months ago, wearing the robe that I had seen on him only once before, and only that day. "You are not late, I am happy to say, though I did wonder." He smiled, but his eyes were sad. "Come, both of you. Though the ceremony is simple, the significance of today will linger on long past this brief moment." He ushered us both inside again.

We walked past the ornate mosaics, past the room where Tarvos presented me with scented oils, and down, deeper, to the room where we feasted. Here now it was cleared, and a crush of flesh was set before us, parting quietly to let us through, as all the present Sons of Minos under the mountain crowded and jostled to see us, murmuring, smiling. "I have found them," said Oretas somewhat theatrically to the crowd, and there was a cheer. I turned red, and Tarvos just smiled.

Standing a head above everyone else was Nestor, a block of stone serving to set him apart as leader. "My first act as leader is a joyous one. Tarvos and John, kneel before me."

We did as we were bidden, and my heart felt as though it would explode. I looked at Tarvos, and he looked back, eyes meeting in the lamp-lit darkness. I held out my hand to him, and he grasped it, smiling.

"To you who have joined in flesh and heart, we acknowledge the love that you have proclaimed - abiding in each other and for each other - as eternal. The door to the deepest chamber of the minotaur's heart is open but to one, and each of you has given the other their key. Until that day when the blade of Theseus passes before you, may you dwell in each other's hearts forever."

The crowd solemnly spoke in one voice: "May the shadow of his blade never pass before you."

And I shivered, against my control.

"Rise, both of you. On this, the first day of spring, you are joined. May you live long and happy lives in each other's embrace, until flesh fades to bone, and you rest in the earth forever."

Tarvos looked down at me. Stunned, I gazed into his eyes, and found myself inside them, looking out, afraid. Here, deep within the earth that would eventually hold my bones forever.

He leaned down and kissed me, breaking the fugue about my heart, and I felt sharp relief. I grabbed his head and pressed back, tears flowing unabated, feeling joy as I had never before. I pressed my lips to his.

Today, from darkness, into the light.