If Azrael notices the tension which came into Morrighan’s voice at the mention of her emissary, he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he chuckles quietly under his breath, thinking to Solterra and the trouble they had caused for Denocte in the past. Though he had been relatively new when Raum and his followers had wreaked havoc on the Night Court, the effects were still being felt today. He only had to look to Katniss as she grieved the loss of her lover, to the charred places where their food stores had once stood, to know that life had irrevocably been changed by the greed of others.
“I am told Solterra has a new king… that Delumine has a new queen. All around us, there is change…” Their own court had seen a fair amount of change lately, but then, not all change was a bad thing. He looks around them, seeing new faces, smiling and enjoying all that the party had to offer. It was good, Azrael decided, that they could gather and be at peace with one another. Too much blood had been shed already, too much chaos wrought. He much preferred peace and quiet, and to look to the stars with wonder instead of troubled thoughts.
“The stars are seldom so clear as black and white. They speak of strange magic and of something dark coming to Novus – something foreign. I cannot be certain what it means, only that it gives me pause to wonder. We would do well to prepare for whatever may come, to build our alliances now… for there may come a time where we can only rely on each other, slave to the will of the gods.” He hoped it would not come to that, but Azrael had seen darkness before. He had seen the way fate could intertwine with reality, cursing anything in its path. And he did not want to see Denocte fall, as his once-home had, lost to the flames.
Tonight though, he had no need to worry. Even Elliana seemed to be enjoying herself, finding company with the immortal child who often visited their cottage in Terrestella, far more obvious than he realized. It was good for her to spend more time with children, to let her imagination take her into worlds of play instead of the depths of an artist’s vision. He could not know how much of Tenebrae took root in the child, how much his shadows clamored against Elena’s light… but it didn’t matter. Azrael knew only pride, as he watches the girl in the distance, meeting her glance for a moment and warming with her fleeting smile before she returns to play once more.
“Do not worry, my queen…” He sips at his drink once more, letting the burn linger in his mouth before it warms him to the belly. “You have built a skilled team to stand beside you, and we will be ready, come what may.”
@Morrighan
