Chapter 330: Alive
Liam’s phone rang beneath Arik’s hand.
The vibration changed from the endless pulse of incoming notifications to a sharp, insistent call that filled the private reception room.
Liam looked at the screen.
Mother.
He answered before he had time to think.
"Mom?"
Enia made a sound that stopped him from saying anything else.
Relief came through first.
"Oh, thank the gods."
Her voice broke around the words.
Liam straightened on the sofa.
Arik’s hand remained over his, warm against the back of his fingers.
"I’m fine."
"I can hear that."
Another shaky breath.
Then, from somewhere near Enia, Mirelle said, "Ask him whether Arik is alive too."
"I am getting there."
"You have been getting there for eight months."
Liam closed his eyes.
Of course his aunt was with her.
Enia returned her attention to him.
"Liam Sienna, do you have any idea what you have done to me?"
There it was.
The lecture.
Liam leaned back against the sofa and accepted his fate.
"The Gate closed."
"I know the Gate closed."
"We couldn’t communicate."
"I know you couldn’t communicate."
"Nuria was completely isolated. Then technically—"
"Do not technically me."
Arik’s shoulders shifted beside him.
Liam turned his head.
His husband was smiling.
Liam narrowed his eyes.
Enia continued before he could retaliate.
"You vanished into a sealed empire, nobody could tell us whether you were alive, the Gate would not open, every government involved kept saying they were investigating, and your last known location was inside a civilization that had been missing for centuries."
Her voice remained firm, but the fear underneath it made every complaint land differently.
Liam stopped preparing arguments.
Enia had spent months with nothing.
"I’m sorry you were worried."
"I was terrified."
The admission came without hesitation.
Liam lowered his gaze to their joined hands.
"I know."
"No, I don’t think you do." Enia exhaled. "Every time someone found anything about the Gate, Mirelle came over. Every announcement. Every rumor. Every ridiculous amateur theory online."
Mirelle spoke in the background.
"Some of them were entertaining."
"One claimed you were inside another planet."
"It had diagrams."
"It was nonsense."
"Very detailed nonsense."
Despite himself, Liam laughed.
Enia heard it.
"You think this is funny?"
"A little."
"I have not finished yelling at you."
"I assumed."
Arik’s smile widened.
Liam elbowed him.
That achieved nothing.
Enia’s voice changed suddenly.
"Do you know what happened this morning?"
Liam glanced toward the tall windows.
Beyond them, the newly opened empire stretched beneath an afternoon sky still threaded faintly with gold.
"I have some idea."
"Nuria rose out of the ocean."
Liam paused.
"We knew the barrier dissolved."
"No. Liam. You are not understanding me."
Enia’s words accelerated with the urgency of someone who had watched something impossible happen in real time.
"There was an ocean. Just ocean. Then the entire horizon turned gold. Every news channel switched to it. Ships started sending recordings, satellites caught it from above, and then land started appearing."
Liam listened.
"Actual land," Enia continued. "Mountains. Islands. Forests. Then things were floating. Entire pieces of land were floating over the water."
Mirelle added, "One of them has waterfalls coming off it."
"Yes, Mirelle, I saw the waterfalls."
"They are impressive."
"They are terrifying."
Liam looked toward Arik.
Arik lifted one shoulder.
Apparently raising an empire from the ocean counted as a normal sovereign accomplishment now.
"And then," Enia continued, "the capital appeared."
Liam could imagine it from outside.
Deira revealing itself above the dark ocean.
Suspended districts.
Bridges.
The imperial palace blazing gold above everything.
His home becoming visible to the rest of the world in a matter of minutes.
"The news is calling it the most significant geographical event in recorded history," Enia said.
"That sounds dramatic."
"You raised a missing empire out of the ocean."
"Arik did most of that."
Enia went quiet.
Arik looked at Liam.
Mirelle said, "I knew it."
Liam frowned. "Knew what?"
"That Arik was involved."
"Of course Arik was involved."
"I told your mother."
Enia ignored her.
"Speaking of Arik, where is he?"
"Next to me."
Arik’s amusement became significantly more cautious.
Before Liam could enjoy that, the screen changed.
Incoming video request.
Liam stared at it.
"Mom."
"Accept it."
"I am exhausted."
"I have not seen my son in almost a year."
That ended the argument.
Liam accepted.
Enia’s face filled the screen.
She was sitting somewhere Liam immediately recognized as Mirelle’s living room. Afternoon light came through the windows behind her, and Mirelle occupied the other end of the sofa, already leaning into frame.
Enia froze.
Liam knew exactly why.
He was still wearing his ceremonial clothing.
Dark purple fabric fitted through his torso beneath elaborate gold detailing and narrow crimson accents. The formal collar remained fastened. His long hair was loose around his shoulders after hours of ceremony, and his eyes had stayed gold since the Gate opened.
Arik sat close beside him in black and gold imperial regalia.
The crown might have been off his head, but unfortunately, it remained visible on the table behind them.
Enia stared.
Mirelle leaned closer to her screen.
"Oh."
Liam already disliked that sound.
Enia’s eyes moved over him slowly.
"Why are you dressed like that?"
Liam considered several possible answers.
None would help.
"We had a ceremony."
Arik looked away.
Coward.
Enia’s attention shifted.
She saw the crown.
Then Arik.
Then Liam’s ring.
Her expression changed.
"A ceremony."
Liam sighed.
"Yes."
"What kind of ceremony?"
Mirelle had already worked it out.
"Oh, you absolute bastard."
"Mirelle."
"You got married."
Enia looked directly at Liam.
Liam looked at Arik.
Arik was visibly struggling not to laugh.
"Yes," Liam admitted.
His mother stared at him for several seconds.
"You got married."
"Yes."
"Today?"
"Yes."
"Without me."
That one hurt.
Liam’s humor disappeared.
"We thought the Gate might open before the wedding."
Enia’s expression softened immediately.
Liam continued.
"Arik tried during the coronation. We didn’t know whether it would work."
"And you weren’t going to delay it again."
"No."
"We discussed doing something later with everyone," Liam said, "but I didn’t want another wedding. I wanted this one to be the wedding."
Enia looked at him.
Liam could see the moment she understood.
Her eyes became wet.
Mirelle reached over and squeezed her arm.
For a second, Liam expected another lecture.
Instead, Enia smiled.
It was uneven and tearful, and so relieved that something tightened painfully behind Liam’s ribs.
"You look beautiful."
Liam blinked.
"That was not the response I expected."
"You are alive."
Enia laughed softly through the tears.
"You are alive, you are married, and apparently you helped bring an empire back into the world. I can be offended tomorrow."
Arik finally laughed.
Enia looked toward him.
"And you."
Arik straightened slightly.
Liam immediately enjoyed himself.
Enia studied Arik’s black-and-gold ceremonial clothing, the sovereign ether still glowing faintly through the ends of his dark hair, and then the crown abandoned behind them.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty."
Arik smiled.
"Thank you."
"For the coronation and the marriage."
"Thank you."
"You kept him alive."
Arik’s expression softened.
"Yes."
"Then I forgive the wedding."
Liam stared at the screen.
"That quickly?"
"No." Enia wiped beneath one eye. "But I am prioritizing."
Arik glanced at Liam.
Liam knew exactly what was coming.
"Apparently," Arik said, "that runs in the family."
Liam elbowed him harder this time.
Mirelle laughed.
Enia did too.
And after months of silence, Liam sat in Nuria beside his newly crowned husband while his mother inspected him through a phone screen and complained that his hair was too loose for formal photographs.
It was almost normal.
Liam had missed normal.