Chapter 150 Alliances
“You’re still glowing,” she pointed out gently.
“That’s not glow,” I said with a faint, tired smile. “That’s me trying not to collapse.”
Her lips parted slightly at that.
“Is it dangerous?” she asked.
I leaned my head back against the throne and closed my eyes briefly. The music flowed around us. The smell of food and wine and firelight wrapped the hall in warmth, but I felt like I was standing outside of it.
“It can be,” I admitted. “The Between feeds on me. Not maliciously. But it’s connected to my power. Every ripple, every conjured object, every throne, it’s all tethered to my dragon.”
Amara swallowed.
“Does Dante know?”
“He feels it,” I said. “He always feels it.”
As if summoned by the thought, I felt his presence, fire steady and watchful somewhere just behind the semicircle of kings.
Amara leaned against the side of my throne, her voice dropping lower. “You don’t have to hold this open forever.”
“I know.”
“Then when do you close it?”
I opened my eyes and looked out across the hall.
Rhevik was speaking with Valin now. Edrin stood at his side, already leaning in, already advising. The Deathborn tables were animated, buzzing with new hierarchy and speculation.
Storm and Shadow territories mingled carefully.
The Old Guard watched everything.
“If I close it too soon,” I said quietly, “it looks like instability. Like I don’t trust the outcome.”
“And if you don’t close it soon enough?” she pressed.
I exhaled slowly.
“Then I burn myself out.”
Amara went quiet at that.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then she nudged my knee gently. “You know,” she said softly, “for someone who just crowned a Death King and threatened to erase his entire bloodline, you look very small right now.”
I let out a breath that almost resembled a laugh.
“Don’t tell anyone,” I murmured.
She smiled faintly.
“You did good,” she added after a second.
My dragon stirred at that, not proud, not boastful. Just tired.
“I did what was necessary,” I corrected.
Amara tilted her head. “Sometimes that’s the same thing.”
I looked back out at the hall again.
The celebration was loud.
But beneath it, I could still feel it, the undercurrent.
Death territory had a king.
But Thane’s shadow had not vanished.
And more than half the table had nodded too quickly.
“I don’t think this is over,” I said quietly.
Amara followed my gaze.
“No,” she agreed. “Probably not.”
I leaned back into the throne fully now, letting my black fire dim to a controlled, steady flicker.
“But for tonight,” I whispered, “I just want to sit.”
Amara squeezed my hand.
“Then sit,” she said firmly. “Let the kings handle the talking for a bit.”
For once, I didn’t argue.
I felt him before I saw him.
The air shifted slightly to my right, older magic, disciplined, structured.
Lukas stepped into view beside my throne, his presence quiet but unmistakable. He did not interrupt loudly. He did not demand attention.
He simply stood there until I acknowledged him.
Amara noticed the change in my posture immediately. She straightened, water coiling faintly around her wrists again, protective without being aggressive.
“High Priestess,” Lukas said, voice low enough that it wouldn’t carry far beyond us. “There is an update regarding Thane.”
Amara stiffened beside me. She didn’t step away. She didn’t flinch. She stayed exactly where she was.
I appreciated that.
“Continue,” I said evenly.
Lukas glanced at Amara first, a silent question of whether she should remain. Amara met his look without backing down.
“She stays,” I said before he could ask.
He gave a single nod and continued.
“Thane has crossed into Shadow territory.”
The words slid into me like ice water.
My dragon’s claws flexed internally.
“And?” I asked.
“He did not remain in neutral land,” Lukas clarified. “Our men tracked him as far as the border. Footprints. Scent. Residual magic. Everything.”
His jaw tightened slightly.
“And once he crossed into Shadow land… it vanished.”
Amara’s breath caught.
“Vanished?” she whispered.
Lukas nodded grimly. “As if he stepped off the world.”
My black fire flared faintly at my shoulders.
“Someone is protecting him,” Lukas continued. “Our trackers confirmed it. His trail was clean until the border. Then nothing. No magical residue. No broken ground. No displaced air.”
Amara looked genuinely ill now. “Why would anyone do that?” she asked, voice thin. “After everything he’s done?”
I ground my teeth together.
The answer was obvious.
“Thane is of old blood,” I said quietly.
Lukas’s gaze sharpened.
Amara blinked slowly.
“He can rewrite laws with his blood,” I continued. “If he gathers enough consensus. Enough leverage. Enough fear.”
The Between hummed low, disapproving.
My eyes shifted instinctively across the hall.
Kael stood near the Shadow throne, speaking with one of his men. His shadows coiled lazily at his boots, nothing outwardly aggressive.
They had worked together.
Thane and Kael. On forcing women to change. On manipulating bloodlines.
My stare lingered long enough that Kael glanced up and met my gaze from across the hall.
He went still.
Lukas followed my line of sight.
“We have no proof Shadow territory is harboring him,” Lukas said carefully. “But he disappeared there. What should we do?” Lukas asked.
He wasn’t asking as a father. He wasn’t asking as an advisor.
He was asking as someone who would move armies at my word.
The hall continued to celebrate, unaware that beneath the music, war might already be shifting its weight.
I didn’t answer immediately.
Inside me, my dragon rose again, not exhausted now.
Alert. Calculating.
If Thane has protection in Shadow territory, she murmured, then someone there believes he is useful.
Or fears him, I countered silently.
Or both.
My gaze remained fixed on Kael.
He had bowed earlier.
He had accepted Rhevik.
But Shadow territory was built on concealment.
On secrets.
On strategic silence.
Lukas waited.
The Old Guard behind him were already bracing for orders.
Amara turned toward me slightly. “Seraphine…” she whispered.
I finally shifted my focus back to Lukas.
“Do nothing yet,” I said calmly.
Both of them blinked.
“High Priestess?” Lukas pressed carefully.
“We do not storm Shadow territory without proof,” I continued. “We do not accuse a king in the middle of a diplomatic celebration.”
Amara nodded faintly at that.
“But we do not ignore this either,” I added.
My fingers tightened on the arm of my throne.
“Thane does not disappear on his own.”
Lukas inclined his head. “No.”
I turned to Amara.
“Go get Lucian,” I told her quietly. “And Dante.”
Her eyes sharpened instantly.
She didn’t ask questions.
She simply nodded and moved, weaving through the hall quickly but without drawing attention.
The moment she stepped away, my dragon leaned closer to my consciousness.
If Shadow territory shelters him, she said darkly, then we are not dealing with a runaway king.
We are dealing with an alliance.