A Shadow in the Ember

“You may not be Chosen, but you were born into this realm, shrouded in the veil of the Primals. A Maiden as the Fates promised. And you shall leave this realm touched by life and death.”

“It is far easier to be lied to than it is to acknowledge that you have been lied to.”

“You feel like silk and sunshine. Beautiful. That’s it, liessa, fuck my hand.”

“There were, and things went both good and bad. It’s never easy making that choice. Life is important, liessa, but what comes after is an eternity. I know many believe that things are black and white. That if you do this or that, you will be rewarded with paradise or punished. It’s never simple. There are people who do terrible things, but that doesn’t always mean they’re terrible people.”

“But when I’m around you, the last thing I want is to be uncomplicated. Or in control. Or decent. What I want is your taste on my tongue again. What I want is to be so deep inside you that I forget my own fucking name. And I don’t even need to read your emotions to know how much you want that, too.”

“What I sensed, what I tasted in the back of my throat, was the bitterness of fear. The tanginess of anguish and hopelessness. And the saltiness of determination and resolve. That was what I felt when I saw you. A girl who was barely a woman, forced to fulfil a promise she never agreed to. I knew you did not want to be there.”

“Touch me, and I will break every bone in your hand. And then I will make sure the Princess has no reason to fear her wedding night or any night she is doomed to spend at your side.”

“Once you are introduced as my Consort, only the most foolish of gods would go after your family, as they would become an extension of mine.”

“You are sitting next to me, gloriously naked, and I am intentionally staring.”

“Killing is not something one should have little regard for. It should always affect you, no matter how many times you do it. It should always leave a mark. And if it doesn’t, then I would have grave concerns about that individual.”

“I think it’s all the wicked, indecent bones in my body guiding my thoughtfulness.”

“It’s not your palm I want wrapped around my cock right now. It’s you I want. Tight and wet and warm. And if you keep touching me like that, that’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to get inside you, and it won’t be my fingers you’ll be fucking. I think you know that.”

“I remember how you showed me the way you like it. I play that over and over in my head. I could write a fucking tome on it by now. When I’m fisting my cock, I remember how you held my hand against you at the lake.”

“There is no other choice. Not for you. Not now. Even if you managed to escape punishment for what happened here, I staked my claim on you in front of others. That will spread, eventually reaching the attention of the gods and other Primals. They will become curious about you. They may even believe you hold some sort of sway over me. They will use you, and whatever ways you have paid these past three years will pale in comparison to what they will do.”

“My apologies. I should’ve elaborated. I’m very good at pretending to enjoy things I do not, but I was not pretending when I had your tongue in my mouth.”

“Friendship? Even if I considered such a thing, I would never think of you. There is no way I could ever trust you. That I would not doubt or question every thought or action. Not when you were shaped and groomed to be whatever it is you believed I wanted. Not when you are just a vessel that would be empty if not for the ember of life you carry within you.”

“Look, it was clear—to me at least—that you didn’t want to do what you believed you had to. That doesn’t mean I agree with your actions or that I’m not disappointed. You seemed to make him…Anyway, it’s not like we don’t have explicit experience in carrying out terrible deeds because we believed we had no other choice.”

“Because now here we are. You’re in the Shadowlands. And soon, you will be known as the Consort. My enemies will become yours.”