The Day of the Black Rose
  by Tonian Pariad

And so it was that Portia gave birth to the twins, Alessandra and Melchezidek, the head and tail of the coin of Soirin. But it was this very act of birth that weakened the Lady Portia and sapped her
immortal spirit, for with this birth she was split into two halves. Her will was divided among the children who would come to rule her domain, but none was left for her.
 And so she passed from the Heavens leaving behind her essence in the infant immortals.
Ages passed for the Soirin without the Divine Presence while the young deities aged and learned to control their essence. The wait was hard for the faithful, for their lives seemed without meaning, without pleasure. By the time the Two matured and returned to their people, it was nearly too late.
It was a desolate and sad scene that greeted the Two when they delivered themselves unto Malveillant. The faces of the Malveillanti's were long and drawn until the serene beauty of their newly matured Prince and Princess gazed upon them. Their hearts were once again filled with the pleasure and yearning associated with the Divine Presence and in a downpour of black roses, the Two disapeared once again, to return to their place in the Heavens, but it was enough for the faithful. They had received the sign they had been waiting for for many generations. They had once again been graced by the Mistress of Seduction through her progeny.
