He could feel her power washing over him, probing at the edges of his suppressed abilities, trying to understand the contradiction before her. The assessment left her even more confused than before.
"I don't even know your name, shadow-walker," she said finally, her voice carrying a note of genuine perplexity. "How did someone like you free me? When we fought, you were..." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "So weak. Yet something shattered the bindings that held me for so long."
David hesitated for a moment. Giving his real name felt dangerous, but he needed some form of identity that wouldn't raise more questions. "You can call me Light, Your Majesty."
The Sun Empress stared at him with obvious bewilderment, her expression a perfect mixture of amusement and disbelief. "Light? You introduce yourself as Light while wreathed in literal shadows?" Her tone carried the inflection of someone who couldn't quite believe what they were hearing.
