Page 124 of Court of Aether and Shadows

“Never busy enough to not support my Queen,” he assures me before placing a reassuring kiss on each temple. His hand traces along my cheek before he lowers it entirely so he can move to kiss the top of my head.

He pulls back to stand next to Kaelon once more, his shadows reluctantly following as I realize they’ve been swirling around an energy of twinkling threads of illuminating white. I’m assuming that my aura playing its role as it dances effortless with the shadows, making such a distracting yet uniquely beautiful display of power.

Ever since we had that intimate night, it’s been a lot easier to see how our energies blend so effortlessly.

Like Ying and Yang.

"Lady Nyx," Kaelon said pointedly, his galaxy eyes narrowing at her casual stance. "You forget yourself before the Lord of Shadows."

Nyx's laugh was like crystal wind chimes in a storm.

"Oh, I forget nothing," she said, meeting Aetheron's molten golden gaze without a hint of submission. "I don't even bow to Lord Thanatos of the Void Court, and trust me, he finds it more amusing than offensive."

She glanced at me with a wink.

"Besides, I think we all know who the real power in this room is, even if she doesn't realize it yet."

With deliberate grace, Nyx swept into a deep, theatrical bow — not to Aetheron, but to me. Her multicolored hair cascaded forward, the galaxy swirls in her tattoos pulsing with barely contained void energy.

"My lady," she purred, before straightening and throwing a mischievous glance at Kaelon and Aetheron. "There. I bowed. Just not to who you expected."

A rich chuckle escaped Aetheron's lips, his molten golden eyes dancing with amusement. I thought he’d be mad withher rebellion, but I’m coming to realize how calm and joyous Aetheron normally is.

"I should have known. Lady Nyx's...reputation precedes her. The Void Court has quite the collection of stories about their most troublesome wolf."

"Troublesome?" Nyx pressed a hand to her chest in mock offense. "My Lord Aetheron, I'm wounded. I prefer the term 'creatively defiant.' Besides," she shrugged, her uniform's chains tinkling like starlight made sound, "what else can you expect from such a rare creature as a void wolf? We're practically required to cause a little chaos. Otherwise, existence gets so dreadfully boring."

Her galaxy eyes sparkled as she continued.

"And let's be honest. All these stuffy court politics could use a good shaking up. When was the last time anyone had any real fun around here? Present company excluded, of course," she added with a meaningful glance between Aetheron and me that made heat rise to my cheeks.

I couldn't help the giggle that escaped me.

"She has a point. A little chaos can be... refreshing."

Nyx's face lit up with delight at my support, not hesitating to stand next to me and lean in to look up at Lord Aetheron and Kaelon.

"See? Your queen gets it. This is why we're going to be magnificent together." How she said it carried weight beyond the playful tone, hinting at destinies yet to unfold.

Her confidence in our partnership and potential friendship really relieved me that this was already going smoothly.

"Well," she spun suddenly, her movement leaving trailing echoes of void energy in the air, "I should check in with the Portal Master. Technically, I didn't use an approved entrance to get here."

Kaelon's galaxy eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Then how exactly did you enter the Twilight Court? Our borders are heavily warded."

Nyx's grin turned positively wicked.

"Oh, you know... that little rift you all so carefully sealed earlier?" She winked at me, mischief written all over her playful expression. "Quite the dramatic entrance you made, by the way. I approve."

The silence that followed was absolute.

Kaelon's mouth actually dropped open slightly, while Aetheron's shadows coiled tighter around him.

"You... came through the rift?" Kaelon managed finally. "But we were monitoring it. We would have sensed?—"

"Would you though?" Nyx challenged playfully. "Void wolf, remember? We exist in the spaces between spaces. Your monitoring only works if you're looking in the right dimension."

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