Chapter 406 --406
Her expression didn’t change, her eyes remaining two deep, unreadable pools, but her answer was immediate.
"You do not ask me what I am feeling," Elara said simply. "You do not look at me and expect a display of grief, joy, or affection. When I am with you, I do not have to calculate what a normal person would feel in this scenario. You demand my body, not my mind. And right now, my mind is the only thing that tires me."
The room fell silent again, the weight of her words settling over them. To anyone else, it might have sounded cold—an admission that they were merely tools for sensory distraction. But to Ken and Mahir, who had known her for years, who had seen her carry the crushing weight of a collapsing empire without ever shedding a single tear or raising her voice, it was the highest form of intimacy she could offer. It meant they were her safe harbor. Her place to turn off.
Ken smiled, a slow, genuine expression that reached his eyes. He leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers in a slow, deep, completely unhurried kiss. It wasn’t the fierce possession of the night before, but a quiet acknowledgment.
"Then we’ll keep doing exactly that, Master," Ken whispered against her lips. "Whenever the world gets too noisy, you just come back here. We’ll always be waiting to drag you under."
Mahir nuzzled his face back into her neck, his tail beginning to wag in slow, lazy arcs beneath the heavy blankets. "One hour," he murmured, his eyes already closing again. "Starting now."
Elara closed her eyes, letting the absolute security of their heat wash over her. Outside the room, the empire was turning, Samuel was ruling, and Demerti was worrying. But inside the dark room, the former emperor was finally, quietly, resting.
The clock on the mantelpiece chimed eleven times, its distant, muffled rings signaling the end of Elara’s self-allotted hour of reprieve. True to her word, the moment the final chime vibrated through the heavy wooden walls, she opened her eyes.
The heat in the bed hadn’t dissipated. If anything, Ken and Mahir had only grown heavier, their bodies completely relaxed in the deep, post-coital sleep that always followed their encounters with her. To them, time was a fluid concept when Elara was in their space; to Elara, time was still a resource, even if she was only managing ten percent of it now.
"The hour has concluded," Elara stated flatly into the dim room.