Sephora frowned, now completely oblivious to the half-eaten carrot still in her hand, "Ravyn never told you what was going on?"Joe scoffed and gave Sephora a long look, that answered her question, but he elaborated all the same, "That sneaky little Shadow doesn't tell me anything. The only times she's ever spoken to me was to hurl insults at me, or reprimand me on my table manners - that or she has some comment to make on how I 'objectify' females."As if she'd been there the entire time, Ravyn appeared from behind the General from a cloud of mist. Sephora's eyes flicked to the Shadow's and she had to bite on her lip to stop from laughing. Joe followed Sephora's gaze, that was no longer on him and he slowly closed his eyes with dread."Shit." He rasped. Sephora snickered, as Ravyn walked round to stand beside Sephora with a bemused smirk."Indeed." She purred to the General, who now looked like he wanted to melt into the floor. Ravyn huffed a laugh, "Didn't anyone warn you that the w
Sephora slowly walked down the marble hallways leading to Ambrose's study. She may have taken the slightly longer route up to the second floor of the palace, and may have stared out of more than one window on the way down. It was as though all the confidence she had down in the breakfast room, had been drained away and now she was a dawdling nervous wreck. She had no idea what she was going to say to him. None. What do you say to your mate after you've been avoiding him for a week, betrayed his trust, and flinched away from him after being forced upon by his greatest rival?Sephora only hoped the words would find her once she made it to Ambrose's study. But that wasn't the only thing Sephora was worrying about. Ambrose hadn't attended a single one of his council meetings, and after her not leaving her bedchamber for the whole week. His people must feel completely abandoned, and right after they'd just suffered losses from Vince's attack on the veil-stones. Sephora realised they both n
"What do you mean, 'we're having guests'?" Sephora whined, twirling a strand of hair, while she stared up the sky, lying on the grass in the gardens.Ravyn sat cross-legged beside her. Who now chuckled, and poked Sephora in the ribs, eliciting a hiss. "It means exactly what I just said," The Shadow drawled, "You and Ambrose both need allies now that Vince has waged war against you. We have always been close with Lord Rhonan, and so Joe has invited over a group of his Emissaries and Ambassadors to come and discuss an alliance."Sephora groaned, a loud and undignified sound, that made Ravyn chuckle again. Sephora sat up and glanced to her friend with a frown, "I'm going to have to play hostess aren't I?"Ravyn snorted, and picked a daisy from the grass, "I'm sure Ambrose would want you to just be yourself. An ally is an ally, if they don't accept us at our worst, then why should they see us acting our best?"Sephora gazed at Ravyn with an unending measure of respect - a small part of he
Sephora couldn't hold back her smile, as she silently walked away from the door. She held in her laugh, as she made her way through the passageways that took her round the back and to the second entrance of the council chambers. She peeked round the door and smiled, she was almost directly behind him. She slipped into the council chambers, her bare feet silent as the cold stone floor caused her to mutely gasp. She glanced in alarm to Ambrose, who still hadn't shifted from gazing at the document. Sephora waited until she was directly behind him, until she could hear his deep breathes in and out.She bit her lip again to keep from laughing, just as she brought her hands down to suddenly grasp his arms, "Rahh!"Ambrose swore and jumped from his seat with such speed, he in turn startled Sephora. Panting hard and his face now slack with shock, Sephora could no longer hold it together, and erupted into laughter. Loud stomach aching laughter, that had her leaning against the back wall, tears
The five males silently arranged themselves around the circular table. Megan unsurprisingly, sat herself directly opposite Ambrose, while being sat next to the Governor. Sephora, naturally took her place beside her mate, on his right - the bastion of flame, next to the eternal mountain.Ambrose gazed around the table, content that everyone had his attention, he opened is hands out before him, in a gesture for them to begin. As before, it was Emissary Brock that spoke first,"Lord Inferus understands that Lord Mortem has declared war on you and your lands, for reasons currently unknown. And therefore, we need some clarification before our Lord would be willing to sacrifice our men, on your behalf." The male's brown eyes were dull, resigned, and as formal as his words.Sephora was a stranger to such politics, but she supposed there was no better way to learn - than on the job. Everyone knew she was a young new Lady of the court, and so she would be forgiven for making any naive mistakes
They had all moved into the white drawing room, and Ambrose had invited them to stay for cake and refreshments, which they had agreed. Politics aside, everyone was now relaxed and talked freely, laughing and joking as if everyone was close friends. Sephora had decided to converse with Lance, who seemed to be the only person Sephora felt comfortable around, as he wasn't as puffed up and formal as the rest."Believe it or not, but I'm a Nuanam myself." He informed her, with a dashing smile, taking a sip from a peach coloured cocktail. Sephora gave a jolt of surprise,"Really?" She exclaimed, he nodded. She had never come across another Nuanam before, she had always known they were rare. But aside from Vince - who was Ardanam anyway, she had never come across someone who had made it through the Veil before. She smiled at him, "I was human once, too."It was Lance's turn to look surprised, "No!" Sephora chuckled and he shook his head, looking her up and down - as if he could try and see i
Everything was muffled, the only thing Sephora cared about was that screaming female, and that damned hand that she'd dragged down her mate, like he was some possession. Sephora allowed a bit of heat to escape from the flames, enough that it had begun to slowly, painfully burn the female's delicate hand. She could hardly hear Megan scream for mercy, under the rage that thundered in her ears, though she could have sworn what smelt like burning flesh reached her nose. Ambrose tried to stop Sephora again,"My Lady, you can stop now, I believe you've made your point." Ambrose's voice was surprisingly calm. Like he wasn't worried at the fact that Sephora had just broken his promise, not to harm the visitors. No, in fact it was almost the opposite - pride gleamed behind those gorgeous green eyes, his features were relaxed and neutral.And just to prove a point, just because he was her Lord and her mate - and he had asked her to, Sephora stopped. Her flames winked out as though they had neve
After Sephora's 'grand explosion of fiery temper', as Ambrose liked to put it, the Emissary and the rest of the guests shortly left - saying they would be reporting everything that had occurred, to Lord Rhonan and that word of his decision would follow shortly. Sephora still felt guilty for ruining things between Ambrose and the Governor, but Ambrose seemed completely fine about everything."But I might have have just ruined your chances at an alliance? How can you be ok with that?" Sephora turned and asked her mate. Just as the doors of the throne room, slammed shut behind the exiting entourage of Lord Rhonan's Emissaries and Ambassadors.Ambrose glanced down at her with a delighted smile and he let out a little chuckle, turning toward the great obsidian throne, "Oh, they'll get over it, and I know Rhonan - if anything he'd have wished he could have been here to witness the whole thing." Sephora raised her brows, Ambrose smiled at her again, as he sat on his throne and rested his hea