It wasn’t the command deck that Arx Maxima guided me to, but the same floor as my quarters. We walked for five or ten minutes before a room unsealed itself and welcomed us in. The plate next to the door said Diplomatic Suite, and I exhaled a long sigh that sounded similar to the whoosh of the powered door as it closed behind me.

“This Suite contains luxurious quarters for visiting dignitaries, a functional conference room, and a holo-suite for cultural exchanges. None of that is material to the moment except for the quarters,” Arx Maxima said as she came to a halt in the middle of the wide open space of the entry hall.

“Why does that matter?” I asked a little confused, but I didn’t get an answer.

The air twisted a dozen feet from us, and a portal of blood red roses formed. After a moment two dryads stepped through. Both were beautiful, although exceptionally out of place here aboard Arx Maxima. I thought that one of them might be the dryad I had been in the care of when I visited the Glade of the Evernight Rose, but I couldn’t be certain.

“Mommmmmmmy!” The black diamond of disaster, the Black Sun of Calamity, shot through the portal after the dryads. Corvusol’s motion ended abruptly inches from Arx Maxima’s golden diamond. I noticed, slightly proudly, that Arx Maxima’s crystal had grown to a size nearly as large as Corvusol’s.

“Stop it, you’re embarrassing me,” Arx Maxima chided the black diamond, even as Amaranthine Sadow stepped through the portal.

I coughed a few sparks, then swallowed. Amaranthine wore a corset style black dress that ran down to her ankles, with high slits up each of her legs, and bits of filmy transparent silk around her muscular stomach. Not a stitch of fabric was to be found above her bust, although technically I guessed the cloak of raven feathers counted as clothing, but it left most of her shoulders and chest completely on display. On closer look, I noticed that the vertical lines of the corset were stylized as rose stems, and that exceptionally dark red embroidery stylized flowers over her bust.

The artificial lighting aboard Arx Maxima did wonders for Amaranthine’s skin, accentuating the subtle lavender color without oversaturating it, and her red hair shone in the light, the long strands bounced between crimson and scarlet. Like always, she wore the black gloves with the sharp, but delicate claws at the tip of each finger. If her stepping into a room didn’t dominate it, when you met eyes with her, you had no choice but to submit. The ruby eyes sparkled with a mesmerizing brilliance, each iris like a faceted precious gem stone.

Amaranthine’s glamor hit me with more strength than any of the people I’d fought in the arenas on the Plains of Valor had possessed. I couldn’t even comprehend what sort of mad god it would take to stand in the presence of this woman and not have the breath ripped from their lungs, their tongue stolen, and their eyes glued to her. The quirk of her lips said she knew she had stolen my mind, and her allure was so great that even though I knew this to be a glamor it still struck me so completely. Knowing about a glamor or an illusion was supposed to be half the battle in defeating one.

Yet, Amaranthine’s smile could best be described as pleasantly disappointed. The mind of a fey was beyond my ability to conceive, but it felt like she was sad that I could hold up as well as I was. Which is to say, my tail bat back and forth anxiously, I had bit my tongue twice, and I exhaled sparks of lightning from my snout. The arcs of electricity made me cognizant of the scent of roses and moist earth that followed the Keeper of the Evernight Rose, and there was a touch of dizziness that spun around the back of my head. It faded after a moment, and didn’t return.

“You’re able to stand up to my glamor at full power now, bravo,” Amaranthine said with a smile that revealed the sharp teeth of a predator, and she even clapped her hands together three times.

“If I’m being honest, it’s taking everything I have to fight it,” I told the truth, and in doing so, the glamour seemed easier to fight. Perhaps she had peeled back the strength a little?

“Ahem,” Arx Maxima coughed into my mind pointedly.

“Welcome to Monados, Marchioness of the Black Sun, Harbinger of the Ebon Gale, Keeper of the Evernight Rose. Your graceful presence brings the warmth of life to our dark station,” I babbled. I had read some minor books on poems, but the flowery language of the poets wasn’t for me and sounded beyond ridiculous in the gruff rough voice of a dragon…. And yet Amaranthine smiled, more radiant than before.

“Oh, do me next, me next.” Corvusol demanded.

“You are welcome in the halls of Arx Maxima, oh Corvusol, the Black Sun of Disaster, Stygian Prince of Entropy, Bringer of Decay, and Shadow Monarch of Ruin.” I snorted out motes of lightning to emphasize I had finished.

“Don’t stop there! Keep going, where’s the part about how lovely I am? Or do you only appreciate someone in a slinky dress?” The black diamond spun in a way that I would have found intimidating not that long ago.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

““Enough, Corvie,”” Amaranthine stated flatly, at the same time that Arx Maxima did.

“See the thanks I get? After I went and clued you in on that valuable tip, too.” Corvusol conspiratorial whispered to me.

“Emery had to defeat Alrik to accomplish his other goal in the Plains of Valor, your information influenced nothing.” Arx Maxima scolded her son. I wasn’t sure how, precisely, that worked. Maybe there was a father diamond somewhere out in the Gossamyr?

“Thanks for the assistance, even if it was the guy I had to beat to recruit Xian.” I offered a thanks as a peace offering.

“Your retinue may check the suit for safety as you wish,” Arx Maxima brought up the presence of the two dryads. They remained quiet and out of the way, and the glamour of Amaranthine had made me all but forget about them.

“You may do so,” Amaranthine told them, and they disappeared towards the set of doors. I glimpsed a room with greener, an uncommon sight aboard the Spire from what I had seen so far. Did the Enclave keep a suite specifically to deal with nature loving species, or had it served another function once upon a time?

I couldn’t entertain my curiosity for long. My eyes were inevitably drawn back to Amaranthine, who had taken multiple steps forward and stood only a few feet away from me now. With a small chuckle I noticed how strange it looked that she cast my shadow. Stranger still, my shadow waved at me.

“You’re going to attack the True World of Mithras?” Amaranthine asked, her red eyes studying the way I seemed to exhale lightning.

“We are. I understand you’ll be joining us?” I wanted to ask very different questions, but that wasn’t why she was here. I felt disappointed. Perhaps she had meant next time I visited the Glade.

“Possibly,” Amaranthine said airily. Either she had second thoughts, or she wanted something from me before she would commit fully.

“I hoped you would,” I opted for honesty. I hoped a lot of things.

“What if I break the Castle of Havenstone to carry out your goal? Who will bear your blame for the death of your home town?” Amaranthine tilted her head slightly askew, and I swear she could see into me, or through me.

“I’m attacking Havenstone to save my brother. I don’t get to blame other people for what happens because of that. If there is any blame, it solely rests on Mithras and I.” I would blame Mithras no matter what, and probably myself, too, so there could be no truer answer than that.

“What’s in it for me?” Amaranthine asked with a wicked smile.

“What do you want?” I hated the guessing game of offer and reject, I didn’t want to play that game.

“You will make me the Empress of Chaos,” Amaranthine answered softly. I took note that her phrasing sounded ominous, like a foretelling or a fate, more than a demand.

“He doesn’t understand your demand,” Arx Maxima pointed out.

“I don’t,” I affirmed.

“You will marry me.” That didn’t sound like a request, it sounded like an order. “You and I, Emperor and Empress of Chaos, Guardians of the Threshold, Keepers of the Evernight Rose, Defenders of the Ultimate Citadel, Sovereigns of the Gossamyr’s Heart.”

“That’s a lot of titles,” I joked lamely while my head spun. Marriage seemed like we were skipping a step or ten.

“Yes, that is the way of the powerful. Marriage is a pact that can have many components. Would you share my hearts? Will yours beat in time to mine? How much, or how little, do you wish to become one? If one must be bound, be bound by the one you love.” Amaranthine’s words seeped into my essence and conjured myriad images and possibilities to blossom in my mind.

My hearts, yes both of them, hammered harder than any war drummer had ever thought too. Lub dub. Lub dub. Lub dub. Lub dub.

This woman haunted me, and I was there for it. I wanted more. Maybe that wasn’t the right answer, maybe it was the glamour affecting my mind, maybe my libido had over-ridden common sense, but those red eyes of hers had grown large and threatened to drag me into the abyss, her breathing and stance were calculated to show off her physical perfection, and one of her fingers curled to run along her clavicle.

I snorted a puff of black lightning.

“I will marry you, after we save Etienne.” I countered.

“You two, go do something else. We are going to discuss… wedding preparations,” Amaranthine attempted to dismiss Corvusol and Arx Maxima with her order. The words next time danced in my head like a chant.

Both of the crystals spun slowly in the air. Flashing pulses of radiance appeared from their insides, one black, the other gold. Neither floated away despite Amaranthine’s demand.

“”No,”” both Arx Maxima and Corvusol told Amaranthine firmly.

I tried to calm myself and breathed in and out. I imagined my mental state as a vector, and decreased lust and increased calm. My raging heart-beat slowed. My breathing grew even. I felt the sense of completeness take over the concept of Administrator that I had experienced when I finished Envoy. I poked at my mind, and laughed.

I had unlocked Create Vector.

I pulled a coin leftover from the arenas out of the Belt of Diana, and considered the list of Vector’s I could add. The list was exceptionally small at the moment, so I gave it a vector of movement with a circle form, and the coin bounced out of my hand and orbited in a circle in the air, and it continued to move on its own.

Amaranthine laughed adorably at my new trick. The cuteness, the endearing nature of her delight with, as far as I could tell, my happiness with a new skill, was infectious. It threatened to overwhelm the calmness I had bestowed upon myself. Perhaps I needed to modify the duration?

“I want you to meet my friends. Are they the first people we’re going to tell about our union?” It was a question, legitimately. I didn’t know much about fey traditions.

“Very well, we shall introduce ourselves to your friends, make plans for Havenstone, and our marriage. Does that satisfy you, oh great crystals?” Amaranthine’s sarcasm felt weapon focused, like a whip strike at Corvusol and Arx Maxima.

I hummed a jaunty tune while we made our way to the reception room. I made it halfway there before I realized it was the song they played at weddings in Solarias. Even better? Amaranthine walked next to me, her right hand entwined in mine. She was warm enough I could feel her body heat even through my scaley hide.

Life was looking up.