“As queen, I have the right to lay claim over anything I desire.” She stopped at the base of his claws, lifting her chin to meet the dragon towering above her. Her eyes flashed with magic. “And today, I desire his life.”
So, her appearance was as intentional as her words.
The air trembled with her power. Even the demons bowed beneath it, their snarls dying into whimpers as the torches bent toward her light. His scales smoked where her radiance kissed them.
Seeing that, Alora exhaled a low breath, then the blaze in her palms dimmed. She’d summoned control by a hairsbreadth, light still flickering beneath her skin.
The hall had gone utterly still. The balconies were silent, the Dominions watching from above.
Rune idly glanced down at the knight still caught beneath his paw. It would take nothing to crush him completely. One grain of pressure and Caelum’s organs would decorate the marble.
Alora’s small hand brushed his scaled arm, eyes met his. And beneath the fury there was something gentler, a quiet ache that wrapped around his heart like a silken chain.
Please.
Rune’s resolve broke. The hum of her soul in his chest unraveled his fury, folding it into something he couldn’t name.
He lifted his claws. The knight’s broken form sagged against the floor, gasping for breath. Shadows swirled around Rune, smoke and flesh shifting until he stood once more in his humanoid form.
His crimson eyes lingered on Alora’s face. When he spoke, his voice rolled through the chamber. “Your queen has spoken.”
Disappointed groans swept through the crowd.
Alora dropped to her knees beside the knight, taking his face. “Caelum? Can you hear me?” She shook his shoulders, but he didn’t stir. “Caelum!”
Rune turned away, not able to stomach seeing her fuss over another man. He climbed back up the steps and sat back in his throne.
“He’s unconscious,” Calla said, appearing beside her. “He likely broke a few bones. May I take him away and tend to his wounds?”
Alora nodded, rising to her feet. “Please keep him safe.”
Calla and the knight vanished in a cloud of smoke.
Hadeon and Deimos stayed behind, flanking Alora like sentinels, but no one attempted to approach her. Especially with the large panther sitting at her feet.
“Were you entertained?” Rune asked his court, his voice echoing through the stillness. “The tension. The spectacle. Truly, a magnificent display.”
Alora’s expression sharpened, and he could taste her fury like honeyed venom on his tongue.
She climbed up the steps. “Rune.”
He ignored her, ginning as his gaze swept over the jeering crowd. “I must commend the knight’s gallant attempt at a rescue. Yet it was my queen who spared him from spilling hisentrails on the floor. Who knew mankind could provide such amusement.”
Laughter erupted, roaring in his ears.
Alora stopped in front of him and smiled sweetly. “You found that entertaining?”
Before he could answer, she drew back her arm and punched him. The sound cracked through the throne room, snapping his head to the side.
Dreadful silence fell, all going still.
“Do I, at last, have your attention?” she hissed.
A smirk rose Rune’s lips as his eyes flamed. He snatched her throat, stifling her gasp. Shadows surged, taking them away and they resurfaced on his bed, with Alora pinned beneath him.
Her pulse beat wildly against his palm, electric, scorching him from the inside out. Every nerve screamed to devour, to soothe, to punish.
He had every urge to unleash all three.
