The Court of Flame did not whisper.
It watches.
From the moment Elyria crossed the threshold, all eyes turned to her. There were no murmured greetings or polite acknowledgments here, only expectations and the tension that comes from binding old magic to a human flesh.
Kaelith's invitation had been more of a negotiation that she'd reluctantly accepted.
He sent a steward to prepare her for a small meeting with the intent of keeping peace between the realms.
She knew better than to trust an arrogant demon.
She enter the hall, the air felt warmer, like it didn't welcome her.
Neither did the nobility of Nox.
They stood in clusters—tall, strange, beautiful creatures who wore power like second skins. Some had horns, curling like thorns, others had tails, wings, or eyes that blinked like a serpent. Most dressed in dark silks. But it felt like All of them stared at her.
The human girl in red.
Elyria's dress had been chosen for her. A bridal color in demon tradition, the steward said. Blood for bond.
She would've preferred white. For effect.
At the end of the room stood Kaelith, his back half turned to her as he spoke with a demon, maybe an advisor. He wore dark leather with silver threading, it clung to his broad frame like a second skin. She could feel the magic coming off him, subtle and heavy.
He hadn't looked at her since she entered.
Fine.
Let him ignore her.
It made observing easier.
At the far edge of the chamber, thrones of varying sizes formed a semi-circle. The High Council of Flame. The great Houses of the Realm. House Ashen, House Zareth, and more. She didn't know any of them.
Each throne was different: some carved from obsidian, others of bone, some with thorns.
Only a few were occupied.
She was no politician but she could read the absence for what it was.
A protest.
Kaelith had told her demon courts were not like mortal ones. But even she could recognize political theater when she saw it. Some of the highborns were openly displeased.
A human on the throne beside the Prince?
Blasphemy.
The first sign came wrapped in perfume and silk.
She saw her, a woman gliding across the glass floors like a drifting shadow, violet gown trailing like smoke behind her. Her features were that of a human, but her eyes was molten gold that glittered with curiosity.
"Elyria," the demoness said, savoring each syllable. "What a curious thing you are."
Elyria fully turned meeting the woman's gaze.
"And you are?"
A sweet smile curled across the woman's lips. "Lady Veyra. Of House Zareth."
She leaned in, voice jarring. "I was quite close to the Prince well for some time."
Of course. ~~she was his ex~~
Elyria didn't flinch. "Nice to meet you."
"So you're the new bride." She said mockingly. "You know kaelith and I..."
"Elyria."
The voice cut through the hall like a blade.
Kaelith stepping down from the platform, slow. His eyes locked on Veyra with unmistakable authority.
She turned, curtsying low but not without flair. "My prince."
"Don't try her," Kaelith said.
"Join me, elyria." He said with an extended arm.
Elyria's heart thudded not in fear, but in triumph.
She met his arm. Didn't smile. But her eyes met Kaelith's, cold and electric. And for the first time that morning, he looked at her.
Something shifted in the room.
As the court gathered for formal council proceedings, Elyria sat beside Kaelith on the throne floor—his consort by law, if not by choice. The hall dimmed as lights were replaced by floating orbs, and the thrones filled with demon nobles in disdain and curiosity.
Lord Aezros of House Ashen was the first to speak.
"Is this the way of things now?" he said, gesturing toward Elyria. "Shall we take brides from the human realms, bind ourselves to fragile flesh and blind faith?"
Kaelith's smile was sharp. "Fragile? Her blood holds enough divine power to anchor an Old Pact. You'd rather I wed a cousin?"
Laughter rippled, but it was dark and thin.
A second voice rang out. Lady Corienne.
"And Evaris?" she asked. "What of the humans? You've tied yourself to a realm that fears and hates our kind."
"we were at war. They feared us long before Elyria," Kaelith said. "Now, at least, they owe us a debt."
"Do they think that?" Lady Corienne asked. "They are just using her to buy time."
Elyria stiffened.
He didn't appreciate that.
Kaelith stood, left arm raised slightly.
"Do you think I wanted this?" he said.
Silence.
"We were at war, it was the only way, so i signed the treaty. Maybe it was the wrong decision—maybe—but I will not sit here and watch my wife be used as an excuse for your cowardice."
Several lords frowned. One hissed. But no one interrupted.
"I made the decision, therefore it stands."
The court was still silent.
Kaelith continued, voice tensed now
"You think of her fragile because she is mortal?" He turned to elyria, his voice calm. "You think me weaker for tying myself to her? She may be human but she knew they risk and she didn't hide from it. You're afraid, but not of her but of what it means that she is here.
That maybe I'm right. And I think you hate that."
He let the words settle like ash.
Elyria was smiling when he turned back.
But it wasn't mocking. It was something else.
Something Deeper.
Pleasure.
"The pact is made," he said to the court. "There is a peace treaty with the humans. Nox moves forward with it."
"And if the humans break it?" Veyra threw the question not to the court but to kaelith.
"We end them." Kaelith declared
**Kaelith's Chambers**
While the fires of the court had long dimmed. Kaelith found Veyra in his chambers, staring at the flaming map over the wall, flowing with blue lava, that never quite touches the ground.
She had always been intrigued by it.
The heat from the map casted flickering shadows over Veyra in Haelith's chambers —no less regal than the throne room, but far more intimate.
Kaelith entered, closing the door behind him without a word.
"You're angry," he said softly.
"You dismissed me too easily today"
Kaelith moved toward the bar, to pour himself wine. "I had to."
Kaelith didn't smile. "Because I knew how it would had gone."
"Of course, you do," she murmured.
That little holy girl wears your name now," She finally turned. "But not your scent. Not yet."
Veyra stepped into the light, the smoky silk of her court gown was gone, in its place a deep violet robe that clung like heat to her every curve. Barefoot, deliberate. No weapons visible. She didn't need them.
Kaelith set the goblet down, but still looking at the wine. "You shouldn't be here."
"I shouldn't be many things. And yet" she brushed her fingers along the carved edge of his desk "here I am."
He turned at last. His gaze raked over her. Slow. Measuring. But not unmoved.
Veyra saw the twitch of his jaw, the quiet hunger he hadn't felt in weeks.
Kaelith's voice was low. "You don't understand what you're playing with."
"I know exactly what I'm playing with. I've played with it before." She stepped in front of him, meeting his eyes without flinching. "Do you remember what you used to say? That I was the only thing in this court as dangerous as you."
"You were," he said. "Until you started mistaking war for power."
She smirked. "Then remind me what real power feels like."
He didn't move.
Not when she reached for his shirt.
Not when she dragged her nails down his chest.
But when her hand curled into the fabric at his waist, he caught her wrist.
"We're not doing this."
"Why?" she asked, biting back a gasp. "Because of her? That little human who flinches at her own shadow?"
"She doesn't flinch," he said sharply.
Veyra stilled. The silence between them thickened.
Then she leaned in. Her voice was a whisper. "And what about me, Kaelith? You forget what we were? What we are?"
His hand still gripping on her wrist.
"I haven't forgotten," he said.
He kissed her.
Hard.
Hot.
Mouths meeting in a clash of memory and desire. Her lips parted as he walked her backward until her spine hit the wall. His hands framed her face. Her thighs brushed his.
Veyra arched into him, hungry.
"Do you miss it?" she breathed against his mouth. "The way we fit? The way you used to touch me?"
He growled low, dragging his lips down her neck, letting his teeth scrape the skin but not bite.
Then he froze.
And slowly, he pulled away.
Step by step.
As if each one cost him.
"Enough," he said swiftly. "This isn't who we are anymore."
Veyra stared at him. Her lips were swollen. Her chest rose and fell with desire.
" But you still want me," she spat.
"I never said I didn't."
"Then why stop?"
Kaelith's eyes darkened. "Because I've made my choice. And i have to live with it."
The answer landed like a blow. Not physically. But Veyra's expression changed. Her pride was a fortress, but he'd hit the foundations.
She laughed, cold and quiet.
"I hope she ruins you," she said.
"Maybe she will."
"You think she'll ever understand you? Survive you?"
"I don't need her to survive me," he said. "I just want peace."
Veyra recoiled slightly, as if she didn't recognize the man in front of her.
"You've gone soft," she sneered. "You used to be a monster, my Monster "
Kaelith turned his back to her. "No more."
A heavy pause.
Then Veyra whispered, "She'll never know you like I did."
he was still looking away.
She left in silence.
No stomping.
No flames.
Just the whisper of bare feet on stone, and the echo of a kiss that shouldn't have happened.
Kaelith didn't move for a long time.
The flames in his chambers hissed softly behind him. The bond on his wrist pulsed, faint but steady.
He closed his eyes.
And thought of Elyria.
Not the human girl in red.
But the woman whose voice made something ancient in him tremble.