All he could do was hope that she was on her way.
GRIM
“Why isn’t she dead?” Cronan asked, as Grim walked back into the room with the stars beyond the ceiling.
“I decide when she dies,” Grim said. He expected his ancestor to lash out, but Cronan only smiled.
“Perhaps my line has not weakened after all,” he said, “if you have the gall to stand up to me.”
Grim looked pointedly at his broken crown, now back on his head. “Don’t concern yourself withmystrength.”
Above, the galaxies swirled as darkness grew between them.
“Careful,” his ancestor said. His eyes narrowed as he looked him over, and Grim felt those shadows breach his mind again. They retreated quickly, though. “You don’t care about her. So why keep her alive?”
“I think she can be useful yet.” Useful againsthim. Grim kept that part to himself.
“How so?”
“She is powerful.” Grim saw that power in action when they dueled. “I think she can be convinced to join us.”
Cronan shook his head. “I tried, but it was pointless. She can’t be manipulated or broken.”
“Let me try,” Grim said.
“You think you can succeed where I couldn’t?”
Grim shrugged a shoulder. “She cares about me. I can use that against her. It shouldn’t be much effort.”
What Grim needed was time. Time to learn more about what Cronan’s plans were...and what Grim was going to do about them.
“You’re underestimating her,” Cronan said. “Her flair is absorption. Within her lives the power of everyone she has ever killed.”
Grim frowned. She was more powerful than he had thought. “That makes her even more useful.”
“Yes. She would be the ultimate weapon, if controlled.” His ancestor’s head tilted. “She could be useful in other ways too...”
“How so?” Grim asked.
Cronan turned to him, his eyes gleaming. “A child between the two of you would be the greatest heir to have ever lived.”
A child?Grim had never wanted children because of the very tradition Cronan had started, where only the strongest heir survived. And...a child withher? Never. But he didn’t tell Cronan that. He would indulge him in his delusions. He said nothing, letting his ancestor prattle on.
“I myself was the child of two great powers...” he said, his eyes going flat, as if he was lost in some distant corner of his mind. He blinked, and the full weight of his stare returned. “Very well. She lives...for now. Let’s see if she can be swayed.”
Grim sighed as Cronan passed him. He didn’t know why he felt so relieved, like a knot within him had loosened. “Come.” Cronan led Grim to the center of the room. He motioned at the ceiling, which Cronan had pieced back together in the time that he was gone.
“This is what I have collected throughout my lifetime. Some of the most powerful planets in the universe. United. Under me. Underus,” he said, smirking at Grim. “These are the worlds I let live...for they have their uses. They are led by those who chose to bow, instead of fight. Together, they form my Astral Council.”
Grim stared blankly at the planets. He didn’t really care. He had no desire to be part of any more fucking councils. The meetings he attended with his own court were tiresome enough.
But he feigned interest as his ancestor kept speaking. “I’ve conquered much of this galaxy already. But there are more. And to get the rest...I need something.”
“The diamond?” Grim asked.
“Yes,” Cronan admitted. The galaxy above was overcome by a dark void, matching the cloud of irritation that surrounded his ancestor. “And more. Your world sits between two galaxies. My Astral Council and I can only access it by going through your planet. The diamond cast me out. I need it to let me back in, so we can feed on that next frontier.” Above, the stars glimmered. “But that is not my only ambition. There is a place where all worlds meet. A place that would allow me to conquer the entire universe, every galaxy. But to access it...I need a key.”
“A key?”
