Exalted Champion: Ch 15 (Rough Draft) (Patreon)

Chapter 15: Sanctify

“The college staff seems to be worried your spending so much time away from Tiffany and Adelia.” Sasha said from the bench on the other side of the carriage.

The wheels crunched on gravel as we approached the house of stars, “I know, but I don’t trust either of them, they were prince Leonard’s,” I said adjusting my armor. We had come straight here from the dungeon run. I didn’t even want to bother seeing my two new acting wives.

No way that’s going to happen, not with the college gung hoe on getting exalted mages hitched and breeding.

“The slaves are talking, so it will only be a matter of time until the college officially says something.” Sasha resumed her position on the floor as we pulled up to the front of the house of Stars.

Timmothy opened the door, uniform in perfect order as he greeted his returning master. “Exalted Prince Grayson, welcome home.” He bowed and two Kitsune in maid uniforms waited to either side of the double entry door.

“Sarah?” I asked knowing I should keep my words vague when in the open air. Once I was in the house the protective wards left by Montfort and bolstered by Rachel would conceal enough that I could begin speaking freely. But no, never truly freely not with the order obedientia watching, listening now…damn it!

“Below master.” He said, keeping pace behind me.

The doors shut and the slight weight of eyes left me. “Attend to your duties,” I said to Timmothy as I began descending the stairs to the lower levels.

The once heavy thump of my boots now muffled by the runner carpets Ashley had picked quieted my foot falls. The basement hummed with familial warmth and the flicker of mage lamps along the walls. Kitsune, whose minds were once ravished by the degeneracy of their captivity passed with light steps and flowing fabric. They had smiles upon their faces and new light in their eyes. The slaves had made this place into something that actually felt like home, a warmth that had nothing to do with temperature and everything to do with care.

I reach the oak wood door to the room that had been given to Sarah and her hand maids in the slave quarters of the house. I knocked three times and opened the door slowly, allowing for any last-minute adjustments to be made.

“Greetings master Eric,” Sarah’s elegant curtsy in her house uniform marked her as clearly being from a noble background.

“High priestess Sarah, is it ready?” I asked with a polite nod of my head.

She motioned to their closet.  Their shared room was simple yet well cared for. Bunk beds and a table were all that adorned the room, save for the closer door at the back.

Enya opened the closet door, her star elf skin a deep lavender in the low glow of the single lamp in the room. Daisy locked her arm in mine and ushered me through the closet door. Two rows of shelves and poles for clothing lined the two sides. Sarah pushed panels on the back of the closet, and the false wall unlatched and swung in word.

The warmth of the place soothed my body, the smell was a mix of warm cinnamon and cloved spice, and rich stew. The entranceway opened on a large room, with sofas and cushioned chairs that offered comfort in their simple act of upholstered existence. Relaxation whispered on the currents of air made luminous from the light of the fire.

Candles burned warm flames for the eyes easement as I was lead to a chair. “Lets get these boots off and get you into something more comfortable for home.” Sarah said, smiling and kneeling in front of me and helping to take my boots off.

“This is wonderful, it feels… it feels so much like…” I was at a loss for words.

“Home,” Yarie’a said, pulling my weapons off and coat.

“Yeah, but like out of a story book. A fantasy, like it is more real somehow,” I added as my clothes were taken. Daisy went through a door and the sound of running water burbled from what had to be a bath.

“Yeah, but like out of a story book. A fantasy,” I added as my clothes were taken. Daisy went through a door and the sound of running water burbled from what had to be a bath.

Enya helped Yarie’a with the more stubborn straps, her star-elf fingers quick and deft. She met my gaze once, eyes a deep, dark violet, and offered a small, conspiratorial smile. The kind that said she knew exactly what was about to happen and she was more than a little excited about it.

Yarie’a’s hands were already stripping off my remaining armor, and the speed and confidence with which she handled the straps told me she’d been waiting for this. My chest was bare in seconds, then my pants, and then I was standing naked in the glow of the sacred hearth, the scars and lines of my body exposed to the candlelight and their eager eyes. There was no judgment here, only purpose and reverence. The space hummed with it.

I didn’t even get a chance to say something sarcastic before Daisy pressed up against my side, warm and soft, her tail flicking with anticipation. “If the house must be pure for the Goddess, then so must its master. It’d be sinful to leave a speck of dirt… anywhere. Let’s get you clean, Master,” she purred, her fingers trailing down my back.

The “bath” was less a room and more a temple in miniature. Stone tiles inlaid with silver knotwork glimmered underfoot, the air heavy with steam and the scent of spice and honey. At its center waited a sunken pool, water swirling in gentle currents that reflected firelight from braziers and candles along the walls. The entire room pulsed with living magic, the power of Amara thickening the air until it felt like velvet sliding down my throat.

System Notification:Consecration in progress.Hearth Power: 1.0 percent / 100.0

The four women undressed in a flurry of practiced motion, the green and black of my house colors falling away to reveal skin in every hue. Sarah’s soft pale, Enya’s lavender, Yarie’a’s cream tinged with a light blush of pink, Daisy’s warm, athletic tan. Their bodies pressed in close, hands guiding me down the steps into the water. The heat wrapped around me instantly, a whole-body embrace.

Sarah took charge, her priestess authority in every motion as she knelt at the pool’s edge. Her fingers traced the lines of my neck and shoulders before dipping a cloth in the water and trailing it across my chest. “You are the heart of this home, Eric, the foundation and roof,” she whispered, and divine power whispered through her touch.

I shivered as Sarah’s hands moved over my chest, her words laced with more than just tone, every brush and stroke, syllable and iteration trailing gentle, electric heat. The sensation was nothing like the utilitarian baths and showers of my old world, or even those I had indulged in on this new world. This was slow, deliberate, and sacred, and it was made for me.

The four women pressed in, their bodies bare and luminous in the amber light, and their hands were everywhere. I felt Enya’s fingers at my shoulders, strong and unhurried, pressing into every knot and scar as if she was memorizing them for the goddess. Yarie’a knelt beside me, her hands working up my calves and thighs, the touch confident, almost playful, but always reverent. Daisy, never subtle, was in the water with me, her tail flicking against my hip as she washed me, her hands more intimate and bolder, wandering with a wolf’s single-minded devotion.

“You are the heart of this home, Eric. This house will be your sanctuary. Let the goddess see and know every part of you.” Sarah’s words hummed in the air, more spell than speech.

System Notification:

Consecration in progress.

Hearth Power: 3.7 percent / 100.0

Sarah’s hands wrapped around my head, pressing her forehead to mine. Her eyes glowed blue in the candlelight, pupils blown wide. “Let us make you clean, Eric. Let us make you whole.” The four pressed closer, every inch of skin slick and burning, not for pleasure but for belonging, for the promise that this would never be taken from us, from them, again.

I didn’t resist. I let them pull me under, hands guiding me down into the sacred pool. The water closed over my head, cold then hot, the world flashing white and gold. I surfaced with Yarie’a’s mouth locked to mine, her tongue slick and sweet, and Enya’s hands around my cock, stroking with reverence.

Yarie’a’s mouth locked to mine, her tongue coaxing me open as Enya’s hands wrapped around my cock and stroked me with worshipful intent. Her silver-lavender hair drifted across my chest as she pressed closer, inhaling my breath as if it were smoke from the sacred fire. My body surrendered to the embrace of the pool and the heat of their skin.

Sarah’s voice washed over me, low and clear, her words weighted with ancient power. “Be as you are, Eric. The goddess accepts all. We offer all that we are, Goddess you are hearth and haven. We call out to you, Amara. Bless this home, bless this man, bless his kindling hearth. Let it be a place of safety, of light, of longing made whole.” Her hands gripped my face, eyes glowing with an inner blue fire, and her lips brushed my forehead in benediction.

I felt the words crawl into my bones. The water lapped my thighs, Enya’s hands not faltering, her gaze reverent and unblinking. Yarie’a pressed against my chest, her fingers splaying to trace every inch. “It is good, master. The body remembers. The body is a home, a hearth, a temple as well,” she whispered, pink flush spreading across her creamy skin.

Daisy’s tail flicked beneath the water, silver and soft, and she straddled my lap, her thighs tight around my hips. “You feel it, don’t you? That pull, the throbing longing? It’s not just lust… it’s the fire in the soul and the light in the windows. It’s the way home, the path that wraps around you and never let’s go.” She leaned in, sinking lips on my shoulder, teeth and tongue tasting flesh filled with faith.

Enya’s fingers worked me harder now, every motion slow and certain as she rubbed me along Daisy. She whispered, words, a spell, a prayer. “He is the hearth. He is the roof. May Amara’s warmth shelter him always.” She was trembling, awe vibrating through her as the power of the consecration built. I felt it in the shudder of her grip and the way her body pressed against my legs.

The bath shimmered around us, the light of a dozen candles dancing on the water, the air thick with honeyed spice. I felt my body go slack, all tension washed away by the hands and voices of the women who believed in me utterly.

System Notification:

Consecration in progress.

Hearth Power: 15 percent / 100.0

Enya released me with a trembling sigh, her eyes shining. “The goddess sees, master. She sees your strength, your kindness, and your hunger for warmth. She gives to those who give, and you have given us everything.” The words were a gift, and I took them, swallowing past a sudden tightness in my throat.

They led me from the bath, Sarah wrapping me in a towel. The air beyond was cooler, but never chill from the warmth of the hearth fire. The four dried me with gentle care, each motion a prayer, a promise. Their own bodies glistened in the candlelight, unashamed and luminous. We passed back into the hearth room, where the holy fire burned bright and steady in its stone cradle, the heart of the home. The scent of clove and cinnamon thickened, sweet and dense.

Sarah guided me to the rug before the sacred fire, her hands never leaving me. “Here, before the hearth, we offer all that we are, together. Amara is the warmth in the walls, the laughter at the table, the longing that finds its answer in gentle hands. We give ourselves to her, as we give ourselves to you.”

I knelt before the fire, feeling the eyes of the goddess Amara looking on from far away, from beyond the sea of chaos. I felt the presence of Amara brush against my soul, a distant warmth that reached out through the void and wrapped around the five of us like a living quilt. The crackle of the fire and the slow, measured breathing of Sarah and her handmaidens was the only sound in the room. The four of them pressed in close, their bodies a living wall shielding me from everything outside these four walls, from the empire, from the void, from the endless, grinding expectations of power and title.

Sarah’s fingers found my hand, lacing them together. Her touch was deliberate, grounding, each movement a benediction. “This is the way it should be, Eric. Hearth, home, warmth, and bodies that answer longing with longing.” Her lips brushed my jaw, feather-light, before she nuzzled into the crook of my neck. “Let the goddess watch. Let her find sanctuary, and in turn find solace within the fire she kindles in the soul. We are hers, but tonight, we are yours.”

I could only shudder as a ripple of energy moved through me. Yarie’a pressed against my other side, her soft curves molding to my body with practiced ease. Her breath tickled my ear as she whispered, “You can let go now, master. You don’t have to hold anything back here. Not with us. Not with Amara looking on.” She giggled, the sound throaty and low, and her hands explored my chest, fingers tracing new muscle.

Daisy’s tongue flicked over my skin, leaving a hot, wet trail up my inner thigh. “Master, nothing feels better than being here… with you. This is what it means to belong, to be home. Let us show you.”

Enya pressed up against my back, her toned dancers body supportive as a silk cocoon, she murmured in my ear, the swell of her breast pressed into my back, “Amara delights in pleasure given and received. She delights in comfort, in the soft sounds of love in the night and the kindled heat of bodies together. Let us show you how the goddess wants you to be worshipped.”

Daisy lapped her tongue higher up my thigh till she nuzzled her face next to my cock. the heat of her cheek pressed against me as she moved her lips over my hard shaft. Her mouth found my cock, tongue swirling around the tip, slow and teasing.

Sarah guided me down onto Enya, cradled in the softness of her lavender skin. My body relaxing as their hand supported more than just flesh. Warmth swirled in the air. Cloistered here in this place of sacred fire, peace washed through me with pulsing heat each time Daisy took me to the base of my cock, wolfish eyes glowing in the fire light up at me.

Sarahs blue eyes burst with white light, energy crackling along her body and emanating radiance that tore at the fabric of reality as something larger than this world entered her, spoke through her, voice echoing beyond the bounds of reality, “WELCOME, MY PRIESTESS, MY DAUGHTERS, MY MOST BELOVED HEARTH-BOUND. THE WORLD TURNS ON LONGING AND LOSS AND THE HOPE OF HOME, AND I HAVE WATCHED YOU SUFFER, WATCHED YOU ENDURE. I HAVE FELT THE VOID GNAW AT YOUR DOORS AND THE COLD SLIP THROUGH CRACKS IN THE STONE. LET THIS HOME BE SANCTIFIED. THE WARMTH OF THE HEARTH IS THE ONLY TRUE SHIELD AGAINST THE VOID. THE SOUL OF HOME IS THE SOUL OF HOPE. LET ALL WHO DWELL HERE BE HELD IN THE EMBRACE OF THE BLESSED FLAME. MY PRIESTESS, MY HANDMAIDENS, MY CHAMPION. THE HUNGER OF THE ABYSS FAILS BEFORE THE PROMISE OF THE TABLE, THE BED, THE LAUGHTER IN THE DARK. THE FIRE WILL NOT FALTER. THIS HOME WILL NOT FALL. BREATHE DEEP, ERIC. YOU ARE SEEN, AND YOU ARE KNOWN THIS NIGHT, THIS MOMENT, THE HOUSE OF STARS IS SEALED.”

“You have sanctified the hearth, the table, the body of the home, and the foundations. The home is made whole, and it will not be unmade.”

System Notification.

CONSECRATION COMPLETE.

Hearth Power: 100 percent / 100.0

Holy Domain established: House of Stars, Prince Eric Grayson.

Sarah’s body convulsed, heat and light radiating from her skin, her pussy gripping me like a vice. My cock was buried in the wet heat of her, and every pulse of my heart drove more seed into her willing body. I wasn’t fucking her anymore. I was offering. I was the power and her the altar vessel, and my cum was the wine of the sacrament.

The other three pressed in, desperate to be part of the union. Enya’s mouth found my neck, sucking hard enough to leave marks, her hands warping us each. Daisy lapped at the flood between our joining, her breath ragged. Yarie’a buried her face in Sarah’s hair, sobbing as the energy crackled over her skin.

Then Sarah collapsed against me, her body limp, her breathing shallow. The light faded, but the heat remained, a molten thread tying all five of us together. we rested now on hollowed ground, the house of stars made more so than it ever was before. A bastion fortress against the darkness that encroached on this world.

Hearth Blessing: Amara’s Embrace.

Effect: The home is always protected from direct abyssal influence, scrying, or mental tampering. All who dwell here are considered under the goddess Amara’s protection. Homeborn slaves are permanently immune to corruption or void-induced madness. The domain’s master may invoke Amara’s Embrace once per day for a complete restoration of health, mana, and removal of all negative status effects.

System Notification.

High Priestess Sarah Allenoic has entered the next stage of divine favor.

I picked Sarah up in my arms, she was light and the grace of her noble demeanor evident even in the deep sleep she was now in. “Let’s put her to bed,” I said, and Enya opened a door to a large bedroom. the warmth and smell of home permeated to the master bedroom.

The bed was soft, the covers plush and warm under my hand as I tucked Sarah in, her body boneless from what she had just channeled. The mark of Amara on her hands glowed blue, pulsing gently in the hush of the bedroom. Yarie’a fluffed the pillow beneath Sarah’s head, her face unusually serious as she brushed a stray lock of raven hair from the priestess’s cheek. Enya and Daisy hovered nearby, the air around us thick with the scent of cinnamon, clove, and the heat of the hearth.

“She’ll sleep for hours,” Enya said, her voice quiet with awe. “The goddess pushed so much through her. The bond is deeper now than it’s ever been.” She touched her lips to Sarah’s brow, reverence in the gesture.

Daisy sat cross legged at the foot of the bed, “We’ll watch her, master,” Daisy said, turning to me. “No one will get near her unless they go through us first.” There was a flash of teeth in her smile, a promise that was as much wolf as woman.

Yarie’a perched on the edge of the bed, eyes bright in the lamplight. “We’ll stay here, keep her company while she dreams. It’s always like this, after, though this is a hundred times more intense than it has ever been before.” Her fingers brushed Sarah’s cheek, careful and reverent, as if the touch alone might wake her.

This was their true home now. Not just a place to sleep, but a hearth, a family, a center of gravity that would not be moved by the empire or the abyss or anything in between.

“I have to return to the college tonight,” I said, keeping my voice low so as not to disturb Sarah. “If I don’t, the college will start making noise about it. Tiffany and Adelia will find ways to use my absence against me. It would bring trouble for all of us, for the House of Stars. I don’t want to leave her, or you, but…” I let the words trail off, frustration burning at the edge of my calm.

Enya was the first to answer, her gaze direct and steady. “We understand, master. You have to protect us all, and sometimes that means playing their games.” Her hand squeezed mine, fingers cool and sure.

Daisy cracked her knuckles, her wolfish grin returning. “Go do what you need to do. We’ll be here when you get back.” Her confidence was infectious, and I found myself smiling despite the tension knotting my chest.

Yarie’a’s tails curled around her legs, but she tipped her head back and shrugged. “We’re not going anywhere. Sarah needs to rest. We’ll keep the hearth burning.”

I studied each of them in turn, letting my gratitude show. “Thank you, and with Amara’s blessing whatever we face in the future we’ll be that much more prepared.”

I let the door close behind me, heat still clinging to my skin and the rich scent of cinnamon, clove, and sweat trailing after like a flag of victory. The shift from the sacred hush of Amara’s hearth room to the mundane hush of the basement corridor hit like walking out of a hot shower into a cold locker room. My boots thudded softly on the runner Ashley had laid, and the stone walls, freshly scrubbed and lined with mage lamps, seemed to pulse gently, alive now with something new. The world felt different. I half expected the System to pop up a notification for “Achievement Unlocked: First Home Blessing,” but it was eerily quiet in my head.

I had to shake myself back to reality. There was always another problem waiting, another show to put on. The empire, the void, the Order Obedientia. Even now, the “wives” at the college would be tallying up my absence, plotting their next move. But here, in this moment, the only thing that mattered was the lingering magic and the pieace that it brought.

At the end of the corridor, Sasha lounged against the wall, arms folded, tails fanned out behind her in a blue-and-white halo. Her grin was wide enough to break her face in half. “I guess the consecration went well,” she said, not even trying to hide the glee. “I can feel Amara more strongly. It’s like walking through honey and sunlight down here. Everything’s warm. It’s like she’s… everywhere.”

“She is. This place, the house of stars, is fully consecrated now. I just hope it won’t make us a target.” I said starting to worry the blessing might get us undo attention.

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that. Amara can be as sneaky as a house mouse when needed.” Sasha answered.

Sasha fell into step beside me as we moved up from the basement. The corridors of the manor were quiet at this hour, the lamps turned low, the only sound our footsteps on soft runners and the distant tick of a clock. A pair of maids nodded to me as we passed, their faces bright with happiness, and I nodded back, feeling for the first time in a long while that I was doing something right.

Outside, night pressed against the windows, the darkness deep and velvet, but the lamps along the drive burned steady. The carriage waited, four centaur slaves standing at attention, harnesses polished and gleaming even in the faint light. Timmothy handed me my coat and nodded, his eyes lingering on Sasha with approval. He must have felt the change as well, the way the house had been infused by the goddess’s will. I wondered if he would comment, but he only bowed and stepped back, leaving us to the quiet of the night.

The interior of the carriage was dark, the curtains drawn. I leaned back against the cushions, feeling fatigue settle into my bones. Sasha curled up on the seat next to me, her bell silent, as we held each other, her head resting on my chest and mine atop her head. We rode in silence for a time, the city slipping by outside, the streets empty except for the occasional lantern or the distant echo of a drunk’s song. The carriage wheels rattled over the cobbles, the sound steady and sure.

“You think they’ll be waiting up?” she asked after a while, voice low.

“Maybe,” I said, rolling my shoulders. “But I doubt it.”

The rest of the ride passed in companionable silence, broken only by the occasional jingle of harness or the shifting weight of Sasha’s tails as she got comfortable. When we finally reached the mage college, the lamps along the marble drive were still lit, though the rest of the grand campus and the tower stood in shadow. Our carriage pulled up to the main east entrance of the college tower.

“I’ll meet you in the room, I’m ready for bed.” I said to Sasha as I left the carriage and went up the steps by myself. Sasha would use the servant’s entrance. I did not want to draw to much attention to her and treating her with a slight bit of disdain would ensure her safety. it burned in my gut though and made a rage kindle there.

I rode the elevators up to the royal apartment level of the tower and stopped in front of Leonard’s old apartment now mine. The apartment was dark and quiet, lamps turned low, shadows pooling everywhere. For a split second, I thought maybe I would get away with just sneaking to my room, but I caught the faint glow of a single lamp from the receiving room ahead and the unmistakable sound of a wine glass softly set down.

Adelia was sprawled across one of the velvet sofas, a glass of red wine balanced in her hand, her head tipped back so that the black-and-silver of her hair fell in a sharp line over her pale shoulder. She wasn’t reading or writing like a normal person would do at this hour. No, she was half-posing, half-presenting herself, the slit of her black dress riding high on her thigh, showing off miles of smooth skin all the way up to the hip. If she shifted any further, the dress would stop being a dress and start being jewelry.

“Exalted Prince husband.” She dragged out the words, her voice low and unhurried. “You seem tired. Long day in the dungeon? Or did your sluts at the House of Stars wear you out?”

If I’d been expecting some kind of polite greeting, I was an idiot. I shrugged off my coat and tossed it on the arm of a chair. “What are you doing up?”

She uncrossed her legs, the slit of her dress opening even farther, and I got a perfect view of her entire thigh and the slick wet pussy between her legs. I realized she wasn’t wearing any underwear.

She took a slow sip of wine, her tongue darting out to catch a drop from the rim. “I thought you might want to enjoy your new wife. You haven’t even sampled the goods. Do you want my pussy, or perhaps you’d prefer my nice tight clean puckered asshole? Or maybe you’d rather see what your cock looks like disappearing down my throat?” She set the glass aside, her eyes never leaving mine.

I stared at her for a beat, the audacity and directness almost making me laugh. “You’re not exactly subtle, are you?”

Adelia smiled, all teeth and calculation. “There’s no point in pretending. We both know what’s expected. I know my place in this household.” She stretched, her back arching, the dress clinging to every curve. “You can fuck me however you like. Or use me however you like. I’m here to serve you, Exalted Prince. I want to serve you.”

It was hard to tell if there was any true desire behind it, or if she just wanted to get the obligation out of the way. But the way her eyes flickered to my crotch, and the flush creeping up her neck, made it clear she was at least a little curious.

I on the other hand was not, at least not right now. “Adelia I’ve had a long day, and though your offer is very tempting I need to sleep. We need to get to know one another first.”

She actually looked stunned for a split second, her mouth open just a fraction, as if she’d never heard those words before. It was almost funny watching the gears turn behind those sharp, dark eyes, the way her fingers tightened on the stem of the wine glass until I thought it might snap. I could almost see the internal struggle as if the idea of talking or, gods forbid, building rapport before I shoved my cock into her was some novel, exotic perversion.

“Exalted Prince, please.” She uncrossed and recrossed her legs, this time really opening up, the dress parting so far the black fabric vanished and there was only naked skin, perfectly smooth and inviting. “You don’t have to be gentle, or noble, or even polite. Use my mouth, use my holes, use my body however you want. That’s what I’m here for. If it would please you to just bend me over this table and fuck me until you can’t stand, I’ll take every drop. I’ll swallow it all. I’ll never complain. I’m not like the others. I know how it works.”

She was leaning forward now, voice a little shaky, her nipples hard and visible through the thin fabric, her cheeks flushed. “Or… or if you want to watch me, I’ll spread for you, Exalted Prince. I’ll do whatever you want. I can take it. I want to take it. You want me to beg?” Her knuckles were white, and she was breathing a little faster.

fuck, if this isn’t begging then I don’t know what the hell she would consider begging. Might be fun. no, no, no… bed eric, bed.

I just shook my head. “You don’t get it. Maybe Leonard wanted a desperate hole to fuck whenever the urge hit, but I’m not Leonard. You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to beg. I’m not going to fuck you just because it’s what’s expected. Not tonight. Not like this. I want you to go to bed.”

Something in her face cracked, a slight madness. Not much, just a flicker at the corner of her mouth, but I saw it. The mask slipped and there was raw need underneath, a hungry, hollow pit that gaped for anything, even rejection. Her eyes flickered, the mask returning, and the doors to real vulnerability slamming shut. “Of course, Exalted Prince husband. I apologize. I was out of line.” She stood, adjusted her dress, and for the first time she looked… not defeated, but unsure. Maybe she thought I’d punish her for failing, or maybe she just couldn’t process what was happening.

She picked up her wine glass, hands steady again, and took a long sip. “If you change your mind, you know where to find me. I’ll be waiting. I’ll always be ready for you. Doors unlocked.”

“Goodnight, Adelia,” I said, already moving toward the hallway.

“Goodnight, Exalted Prince.” Her voice was softer now, almost lost in the shadows as I left her behind.

I walked the corridor to my room, my mind replaying the encounter in a loop. The way she’d tried, the way she’d… and how it had all just… fizzled. what the hell was that, was she drunk, no, nothing like that. she was desperate, or was that what Leonard had her do? I need to get Tiffany and Adelia away from each other and talk to them. fuck I feel tired, Bone-deep, soul-level tired guess that’s what a goddess ritual thingy does.

I fell into bed naked. My clothes were stripped and off of me before the door I had just walked through closed. I Wasn’t even sure who was in my bed when I landed face first, and I was out before I could find out.