Chapter Six
1138 Words
As we entered what Kim Lee had called the briefing room, I was still turning Gabriella’s words over in my head. No matter how I twisted them, they didn’t sit right. Was someone here planning aggression toward Earth? From what I’d seen of their guards and weapons, we might get in some good shots—but in the long run? It would end one of two ways: total takeover, or a glowing, war-ravaged wasteland. Neither was acceptable.
The room didn’t help. Stone walls and wood beams gave it the air of a medieval war council chamber—only sharper, colder. Everything gleamed. The air smelled faintly of scorched metal and polished wood—like the memory of heat still clung to the stones.
At the head of a long oaken table stood Lord Raven, his gaze fixed on another man like a drawn weapon.
Raven was tall, lean, quiet. The other? He looked like a riot wearing skin. Broad. Heavy. Shorter, but all brute force—built to take damage and return it without blinking. If Raven was a bird of prey, this guy was a bulldog with a grudge. His face had the kind of cruelty that didn’t need a reason.
Whatever was going on between them, it wasn’t subtle. You could taste it in the air.
Both men turned as we entered. Kim Lee took her place by the door—half guard, half sentinel. Gabriella and I moved to Raven’s side. She dropped to one knee, calm as glass. Raven gestured her up. I bowed, uncertain, but it seemed safer than nothing. The other man locked eyes with me, and some part of me just… bristled.
“So this is the outworld savage,” he muttered, eyeing me like I was something that stained his boots. “Doesn’t look like much.”
Raven sighed. “May I present Lord Vulkarin. Of the House of Vulkarin.”
I nodded. “Evening, Lord Vulkarin. You’re right—I am from outworld. And I’m only as savage as the situation requires. If you’re curious how much that is, I’d be happy to show you.”
My mouth ran ahead of my caution. I didn’t like this guy. Some people just rub your soul the wrong way. Vulkarin was made of sandpaper.
It was a powder keg, and I had just lit the match.
Vulkarin snarled. “If you want these talks to continue, Raven, I want this animal’s head on a platter.”
Raven didn’t blink. “This ‘animal’ is a guest of my House. He has conducted himself with honor—and as a Master of the most honorable order. He shed blood to defend my submissive. If you want his head, try taking it yourself. But don’t expect me to do your dirty work.”
He leaned forward. “In fact, I’ll wager a thousand crowns that if a head ends up on a platter, it won’t be his.”
My eyes flicked to the steaming cup in front of Raven—some dark drink. Coffee, maybe. Mentally, I marked its position. If Vulkarin lunged, it’d go in his face first. I don’t fight fair. I fight to win.
Vulkarin’s face turned the color of raw meat. For a second, I thought he might actually go for it. But then he spun on his heel, armor clanking like a threat.
“I fight on my terms, Raven. This animal insulted me. If these talks are to continue, they’ll do so on my conditions.”
He shot me one last glare and stormed out.
I exhaled. “I have a real gift for pissing people off. Didn’t seem like the moment to show weakness.”
Raven allowed the faintest smile. “You were right. Vulkarin was already looking for an excuse to stall the talks—he’s losing. The only time you show weakness around a man like that is when you’re in the ground.”
He turned to Gabriella. “And what exactly were you planning to do with that throwing knife?”
I looked over. She’d been trying to slide a blade back into its hip sheath—subtle, but not subtle enough.
“Just cleaning my fingernails, Sir,” she said sweetly.
Raven raised an eyebrow. “Kim Lee, are your fingernails also dirty?”
Kim Lee blinked, wide-eyed. “They were, Sir. But they’re better now.”
He shook his head. “Submissives... they get dirty fingernails at the damnedest times.”
Then, without fanfare, he drew a silver blade from within his cloak, examined it, and re-sheathed it on his belt.
I couldn’t help it. I smiled.
Raven took his seat at the head of the table and gestured for me to do the same.
“Gabriella, bring our guest a drink. A temper like his must come with a dry mouth.”
She nodded once and slipped out.
Raven folded his hands on the table. “So,” he said, “what do you think of the House of Raven?”
I let the cup settle, careful not to break the silence.
“I’d prefer not to speak without knowing the correct form of address,” I said. “Respect seems to matter here.”
Raven inclined his head. “You may call me Sir. Not ‘My Lord.’ Not ‘Sire.’ Certainly not ‘Master.’ Any insult from you, I’ll assume is born of ignorance—once.”
“Yes, Sir.”
He let that rest—long enough to sink in.
Across the room, Kim Lee’s chin lifted slightly—like Raven’s words had struck some inner drumline in her chest.
Then: “What has Gabriella told you?”
“Only that your people aren’t from here. That your world was destroyed. That submission and dominance here... aren’t cosplay.”
“She was about to explain more, but then your summons came.”
“As it should have.”
Outside, the twin suns hadn’t shifted, but the light inside the chamber felt different—fractured across stone, like something in the world had turned.
Gabriella re-entered, steady as ever, and resumed her place beside Raven.
And I saw it clearly now.
These people would bleed for him. Die for him.
Not out of fear. Because he deserved it.
He didn’t shout. Didn’t puff his chest.
He didn’t have to.
They followed him because they chose to. Again and again.
I didn’t trust him yet.
But I believed him.
And I hated that part of me still wanted to look back. To make sure Vulkarin was gone.
For the first time since I stepped through that portal, something settled in my spine.
Even after Vulkarin was gone, the air still tasted like metal.
And then Raven spoke.
Not loud.
But like something sacred had just turned to face me.
- Writer
