A Shadow in the Ember

“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 father loved my mother more than anything in these realms. More than he should have. And still, he could not keep her safe. That is why I have these conditions. These rules as you like to call them. It’s not about me attempting to exert authority over you or control you. It’s about trying to do what my father failed at. It’s about making sure you do not meet the same fate as my mother.”

“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.”

“There are many ways you can be taken out. Thousands. And I’m well acquainted with all of them. Your options are endless. Some painless. Some quick. This way won’t be either.”

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

“I know you should rest. I know I should…let you be, but I…If it’s okay with you, I would just like to be here with you. That’s all. Just be here.”

“My interest in you is a very real, very potent need. It’s almost as if it’s become its own thing. A tangible entity. I find myself thinking about it at the most inconvenient moments. I find myself recalling the taste of you on my fingers a little too frequently.”

“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.”

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

“One day, that mouth of yours is going to get you in the kind of trouble you won’t be able to talk your way out of.”

“I think you’re a lot of talk. You seem to have no real interest in anything beyond touching me, no matter what you claim you do with your hand and—”

“To do what? Explain yourself? It is unnecessary. I know all that I need to. You were willing to do anything to save your people. I can respect that. I can also…respect how far you were willing to go to fulfill this duty of yours. But for what purpose? Love has never been on the table.”

“But you spoke with no fear. You acted fearlessly. Each time I saw you. You interested me, and I hadn’t expected that. I didn’t want that. But at that lake, you were just Seraphena. And I was just Ash. There was no deal. No perceived obligations. You stayed simply because you wanted to. I stayed only because I wanted to. You let me touch you because that was what you wanted, not because you felt as if you had to. Maybe I should’ve told you, but I was…enjoying myself with you. I wasn’t ready for that to end.”

“You’re not unworthy. You’re not a curse or anything like that. You carry the ember of life in you. You carry hope within you. You carry the possibility of a future. You don’t know what the Primal of Death thinks.”

“So, keep that in mind the next time you doubt the realness of my interest. Because I won’t have you up against a wall. I will have you on your back, under me, and neither of us will remember our fucking names. Are we clear, liessa?”

“He’s a monster. He’s always been a monster. Our…our father knew that. Everyone knows that. He is, as you said, of little significance.”

“I do have the authority. Over you. Over everyone here and every mortal in and outside of this realm, but that is not why I have these conditions. They are in place to help keep you safe.”

“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.”