“Adequate.” Vask repeated the word with faint mockery. “High praise. And the males in the pits?”
“Still alive. One shows promise.”
“And the third female?” Xar stepped forward from his position by the door. “The one our Alpha King claimed as his...pet?”
The pause beforepetwas carefully calculated. Implying something else. Something more.
Sylas met the knight captain’s gaze without flinching. “What about her?”
“She sleeps in your chambers.” Xar’s green eyes glittered. “Not the Luna’s quarters. Not a servant’s room. The Alpha King’s personal nest.”
The chamber went silent.
Ryxin’s hand drifted toward the psyblade at his hip—subtle, but Sylas caught the movement. His brother sensed the same thing he did. This wasn’t casual observation. This was an opening attack.
“Some might wonder,” Xar continued, “if ‘pet’ is truly the appropriate term for a female who shares the king’s bed.”
“Some might wonder,” Sylas said slowly, “why a Lux Knight captain concerns himself with where his Alpha King’s property sleeps.”
“Because that property has become a topic of discussion among the faithful.” Xar spread his hands, the gesture almost reasonable. “The Frosted Tears scent. The ability to handle a Moon Tear core without dying—something even our own engineers require extensive shielding to attempt. The rumors spread faster than we can contain them.”
“What rumors?”
“That Lux has sent a blessing.” Xar’s voice dropped to something reverent. Something dangerous. “A sign. And some question whether keeping that sign as apet”—the word dripped with contempt—”shows proper respect for the Great Snow Beast’s gift.”
The implication hung in the air like smoke.
Sylas should be elevating Elsa. Making her Luna, or at least acknowledging the divine nature of her presence. By keeping her as property—as a pet who warmed his personal nest—he was either insulting Lux herself or hiding something.
At least, that’s what Xar wanted the council to believe.
“The human,” Sylas said carefully, “is valuable. I’ve acknowledged that. But she is not Yzefrxyl. She cannot bearheirs. Cannot participate in the rituals that define a Luna’s role.” He let his gaze sweep the room, meeting eyes one by one. “Would you have me mate a creature who cannot even survive our winters without assistance? Who requires special food, special shelter, special protection from the very air we breathe?”
Murmurs of agreement. Some reluctant, some relieved to have an argument that made political sense.
“Then perhaps,” Vask interjected, “the blessing should be...shared.”
Sylas’s claws scraped obsidian. “Explain.”
“If Lux sent this female to our people—not merely to our king—then perhaps her presence should benefit the faithful more broadly.” Vask leaned forward, his scarred face intent. “Let her serve in the temples. Let the priests study her scent, determine its source, understand why the core responded to her touch.”
“You want to hand her to the Lux Priests.” Sylas kept his voice level despite the snarl building in his chest. “For study.”
“For understanding.” Vask’s correction was smooth. “We’ve never encountered a human who carries Lux’s mark. Surely that warrants investigation? The knowledge gained could benefit our entire civilization.”
Over my dead body.
The thought erupted before Sylas could control it. His beast pressed against his skin, fur bristling beneath the surface, every instinct screaming at the threat to what washis.
He forced himself to breathe. To think past the red haze of possessive fury.
This was a trap. A carefully constructed argument that put him in an impossible position. Refuse, and he looked like a king who prioritized his own pleasures over his people’s spiritual needs. Agree, and he handed Elsa to males who might see her divine scent as something to dissect rather than protect.
“The human,” Ryxin said quietly, “proved essential to retrieving the core. She guided us through the storm-woods, identified the crash site, located the navigation systems where the core was housed.” He paused, casting him a measured glance, quietly testing the tension stretched within the room. “Without her, we’d still be excavating blind while the grid failed around us.”
“We don’t dispute her usefulness.” Xar’s tone sharpened. “We question whether one male should monopolize a blessing meant for all.”
“I am Alpha King.” Sylas let power rumble through his voice, the kind of authority that came from fifteen years of crushing challenges. “Everything in this territory belongs to me. The lands. The resources. The people who inhabit them.” He leaned forward, pressing his claws into the map until stone cracked beneath them. “If Lux sent a blessing, she sent it tome. To use as I see fit. For the benefit of our people—which I determine, not any council or knight or priest who thinks they know better than their king.”