The envoy arrived at noon.
The sky darkened first — clouds rolling in like bruises across the sun. Winds howled through Dravenfall's towers, rattling banners and driving soldiers to their knees.
Elira felt it before anyone spoke.
Something was calling her.
The gates opened without being touched.
Light poured through — blinding, merciless — and a figure stepped onto the stone.
Not a man.
Not entirely.
White-gold armor glowed as if forged from sunlight itself. Wings unfurled behind him — not feathered, but made of raw radiance. His eyes fixed on Elira instantly.
Recognition flared.
" Starborn, his voice echoed inside every skull.
You have strayed far from your orbit."
Elira staggered, pain lancing through her temples.
Kael moved in front of her without hesitation, shadow coiling tight around him.
"You stand in my fortress," he said coldly. "You will address me."
The envoy finally looked at Kael.
Disdain was immediate.
"You are the beast she was warned about."
Kael smiled without humor. "Good. Then you know better than to touch what's mine."
The word rang louder than steel.
The envoy's gaze sharpened.
"She does not belong to you. She belongs to the Firmament."
Elira stepped forward, pulse racing. "I don't remember that place."
The envoy's expression softened — false pity.
"Your memories were stripped to spare you.
Come willingly, and you may yet be restored."
Her chest ached.
Restore what?
And at what cost?
Kael's voice dropped, lethal. "You'll leave."
The envoy laughed — a sound like breaking glass.
"You have no authority over heaven."
Light flared — pressure crushing, divine and absolute.
Kael did not move.
Shadow rose to meet it.
The serpent screamed.
Stone cracked beneath Kael's feet as he planted himself harder, refusing to yield an inch.
"If you take one more step," Kael said, voice shaking with contained violence, "I will kill your god and wear its bones."
Silence.
The envoy studied him — truly studied him.
"Ah, he murmured.
That explains the corruption."
Then his gaze slid back to Elira.
"You have until the next celestial convergence, he said gently.
Choose where you belong."
The light collapsed inward.
The sky cleared.
He was gone.
---
⚔️ The Second Demand
The council struck within the hour.
They did not summon Kael.
They summoned her.
Elira stood in the chamber alone this time, Kael barred from entry by ancient wards — wards she felt humming uneasily at her presence.
The noblewoman from before smiled thinly.
"You've inspired quite a panic," she said. "Gods tend to do that."
"I'm not a god," Elira said.
"No," the elder replied. "But you are leverage."
A scroll was unfurled.
"A political marriage," the elder continued. "To secure alliances before word spreads. The Warlord will marry Lady Isolde of the Eastern Reach."
Elira's stomach dropped.
"Kael won't agree," she whispered.
"He already has."
The lie slid smoothly off their tongues.
Her chest burned.
"And in exchange?" she asked.
"You will be protected," the noblewoman said sweetly. "Contained. Studied. Revered."
Elira laughed — sharp, broken.
"You mean imprisoned."
"Sanctified."
The doors burst open.
Shadow tore through wards like paper.
Kael strode in, eyes blazing, serpent raging just beneath the surface.
"Say it again," he snarled. "Slowly."
The elder lifted his chin. "The marriage will proceed. Or the star leaves this realm."
Elira looked at Kael.
Really looked at him.
The warlord.
The monster.
The man who had chosen her at the cost of everything.
"You can't do both," she said softly.
His jaw tightened.
"I know."
Silence stretched — brutal, suffocating.
Finally, Kael spoke.
"I will not marry anyone."
The noblewoman smiled coldly. "Then the girl goes."
Elira reached for his hand.
Felt the tremor there.
"You don't get to decide alone," she said quietly. "Not anymore."
His eyes snapped to hers — fear naked now, unguarded.
"Don't," he whispered. "Don't offer yourself."
"I'm not," she said. "I'm choosing."
She turned to the council.
"I will stay," Elira said. "On one condition."
Every head lifted.
"You will never use him against me," she continued, voice steady. "And you will never use me against him."
The elder scoffed. "You have no power here."
Elira smiled faintly.
The walls glowed.
The fortress listened.
"Try me."