“You’re becoming more demanding.” His grin sharpened. “I like it.”
Alora paced the length of the dais, her steps echoing faintly off the cavern walls. “You know, Rune,” she said sharply, “for someone who claims to be all-powerful, you’d think you could conjure up something more exciting than a hole in the ground.”
“It’s not a hole. It’s a lair.”
“Alair,” she repeated with exaggerated disdain, spinning on her heel to face him. “How impressive. Shall I embroider that on a pillow for you?Welcome to Rune’s Lair. Abode of Darkness and Dust.”
His lips quirked, but his gaze remained steady. Standing, his towering frame forced her to look up as he prowled closer, but she held her ground.
“Would you prefer chains and fire instead? I can arrange that.”
Her heart stuttered at the mild threat.
“Oh, how generous,” she shot back, throwing up her hands. “If I cannot step outside then at least spare me a window.”
Rune chuckled as he sat in his throne again. “Rest for the day. I will call for you once the night falls.”
Alora opened her mouth to argue, but shadows surged before she could breathe the words, swallowing the throne room whole.
When she opened her eyes again, the throne room was gone, and she stood once more in her chambers.
Alora had no way of gauging time in the windowless room.
She had traded her black gown for a long-sleeved dress in pale green velvet, warm and elegant, lined in silver thread. Less scandalous, more modest. It was one of many dresses now hanging within the new wardrobe in her room.
She sat curled on the bed, trying to think of another escape plan, but her mind refused to settle. Her stomach turned at the memory of the throne room, of the corpses nailed to the walls, and the thousands of eyes watching her like carrion beasts.
Shadow Queen.
She gritted her teeth. She was no queen, but a prisoner dressed in silk.
A soft meow came, and she smiled with relief when Nexus came out from beneath the bed.
“There you are!” Alora scooped him up onto her chest. “You disappeared earlier. I was worried.”
The little creature purred as she scratched behind his ears. “Where did you run off to?”
A knock rattled the door.
“Your Majesty,” came a deep gravelly voice. One she had not heard before. “May I come in?”
Her pulse skipped but she already knew who it was. She quickly tucked Nexus back under the bed. “You may enter.”
The wall groaned and split open, shadows parting as a figure filled the doorway. She caught her breath. He was enormous, tall enough that his horns brushed the stone lintel as he stepped inside. His skin was bronzed and warm-toned, a stark contrast to the pale white hair falling loose across his shoulders. Heavy, ridged horns curved back from his brow, dark and sharp as black kyanite. He made no attempt to menace her, yet his sheer size and presence pressed the air from the chamber.
Hadeon.
Without a word, the large, muscular demon reached behind him. Alora blinked as he caught Deimos by the scruff and set him down firmly on the chair beside her bed.
“My watch is finished,” Hadeon rumbled, voice like stone grinding against stone. “This one will take my place. He shall guard your door and see to your every wish.”
The last words struck like a hammer, his glowing eyes narrowing on Deimos in warning.
“Abyss take me.” Deimos muttered under his breath, tail lashing angrily.
Hadeon’s lip curled faintly, whether amusement or threat, Alora couldn’t tell. He inclined his head to her, a motion surprisingly formal for such a creature, then turned. As he passed back through the wall, the stone sealed in his wake, solid as if it had never opened.
A drag of silence followed.
