And beneath it all, her softness was fading, carved away by something sharper and eerie. Something ancient. For a moment, she couldn’t tell who was staring back.
Nexus darted ahead in the bush, chasing butterflies, pulling her back to the still forest. Wisps of black smoke hovered around her restlessly.
Alora sighed, frustration dropping in her stomach. “But what am I supposed to do with your shadows? I can’t control them.”
Something like amusement sparked in Rune’s eyes as he reached out for the black smoke coiled around her shoulders and the willful things responded like living ribbons, affectionately winding around his fingers.
“I sense,” he mused, “that you won’t keep them for long, shadow darling.”
Her brow lifted at the new moniker. “Because you already know how to reclaim them or because the Dominions would likely try to overthrow you if they found out?”
His smile turned dark, dangerous. “They are welcome to try.”
Alora’s gaze lingered on the spiderweb glinting with dew in the bushes. “If the Dominions are such a threat,” she said quietly, “why permit them to hold so much power in your domain? Why not end them? You held no reservations for Caelum.”
Rune smirked softly. “A Dominion is not a man you can execute on a whim. We are the Seven Lords of the Seven Hells. Kill one without cause, and the Court does not fall silent. It fractures.” The shadows split, as if illustrating the thought. “Fractured courts riot and devour one another for power or devour the one who dared to rise against them.”
The words settled heavily in her chest.
“Killing Sal’vathar would not end a problem,” Rune continued. “It would turn one blade into a host of thousands.”
Alora swallowed. She had thought leniency stayed his hand.
It was restraint.
“A Dominion may only fall by sanctioned means,” Rune continued. “Vahl’Torinvoked. Unanimous censure. Or failure to uphold the Realm.” His jaw tightened. “Until then, his life is not mine to take.”
“And if you did?” she asked softly.
He turned then, copper eyes steady. “A king who rules by impulse does not rule for long.”
There was wisdom in that.
Alora looked down at the tendrils of smoke drifting from her fingers. Even with all this power, in the face of danger she wouldn’t know how to defend herself. She didn’t even know how to use her own magic let alone his.
If the Dominions did come after them, she would most certainly die.
His hand trailed up to cup her cheek. For once, it was warm. “I’d sooner burn the world than let that happen.”
The light between them shimmered.
And she recalled what Sal’vathar had said about continuing his plan.
“Is that not what you wanted?” Alora asked. “To burn the world and drape it in darkness?”
“I did…” he admitted. “Once.”
There was a faraway pain in his eyes as he gazed at her.
“I resented Elyon… for many things.” He looked away. “I warred on the world for revenge, for a place my court could survive in without the light’s punishment. Above all, to regain what I’d lost. I will not give you an honorable reason, for I have none.” He met her eyes again. “I spilled blood, damned souls, and committed every depravity you could name. I am the source of all wickedness.”
But Rune looked so soft in the afternoon, voice soft as he confessed his sins. Like a man who once ruled darkness and would now kneel to her light. The way he was looking at her dissolved her armor, because for once, his own was slipping.
“If I asked you to remake the world into a better place instead of filling it with darkness,” she whispered, “would you do so?”
His copper eyes warmed. “For you, love? Anything.” He smirked though, scratching at his chin. “I can’t say the court won’t protest. Demons live for mayhem and bloodshed. And they were never meant to be here.”
Alora paused, now understanding the perplexity of his presence in the Mortal Realm.
