Page 127 of The Ascended
The distinction lingered between us.
I closed my eyes, letting myself exist in this impossible moment—safe in the arms of death itself.
A discreet cough shattered the moment.
We jolted apart.
A Shadowkin servant stood at a respectful distance, bowing deeply.
"Forgive the intrusion, my Prince," the servant said. "Lord Morthus requests your immediate presence in his study. The mortal is to accompany you."
Xül's expression hardened. "At this hour?"
"A message has arrived, my Prince. Lord Morthus deemed it urgent."
The servant's gaze lingered on me longer than they should have.
Xül noticed immediately. "Eyes elsewhere," he snapped, shrugging out of his formal coat—an elegant garment of dark fabric adorned with silver threading. He draped it over my shoulders in a single fluid motion, completely enveloping me in the heavy fabric. The weight of it was surprisingly comforting, the collar still warm from his body, carrying that distinctive scent of citrus and dark wood.
"There," he murmured, so quietly only I could hear. "No need to give the servants a show."
Fear twisted in my stomach. Nothing good ever came from urgent messages in the middle of the night.
"We'll come at once," Xül said, all traces of the man I'd glimpsed in the garden now completely vanished beneath the mantle of the Prince of Death.
We followed the servant through silent corridors, the distant sound of the Black Sea fading with each step deeper into the palace. Xül walked with precise, measured strides, tension evident in every line of his body.
Morthus's study was a vast chamber lined with weathered texts, dominated by a massive obsidian desk. The God of Death stoodexamining a heavy parchment sealed with twin marks—one blue, one silver.
He looked up as we entered, dismissing the servant with a gesture.
"Father," Xül acknowledged, loosening the collar at his throat.
"A message has arrived," Morthus said without preamble, holding up the parchment. "Bearing the seals of Thalor and Sylphia."
Xül went completely still.
Morthus broke the seal with a twist of his wrist, unfolding the heavy parchment. His expression darkened as he read.
"The second trial begins tomorrow at dawn," he announced. "All surviving contestants must present themselves at the Western Lake of Hydrathis, where Thalor and Sylphia will oversee a trial by water and wind."
"Tomorrow?" The word escaped me before I could contain it, horror crawling up my spine. My body still remembered the trauma of the hunt.
"This is unprecedented," Xül said, his voice tight with controlled anger. "This acceleration serves no purpose except to increase casualties."
"Perhaps that's the intent," Morthus replied quietly.
My legs suddenly felt weak, and I gripped the edge of a nearby bookshelf to steady myself. Another trial. Tomorrow. We were being thrown back into danger with no time to prepare, no time to heal.
"We need to leave immediately," Xül said, turning to me with an urgency I'd never seen in him before.
"I'll open a portal to the Bone Spire," Morthus said, his expression grim.
Xül nodded, the tension in his shoulders visible. "Thank you, Father."
The simple exchange felt weighted after their argument earlier that night. Morthus inclined his head in acknowledgment, then turned to me.
"Good fortune in the trial, Thais Morvaren. It was a pleasure to have you in our home."
