Chapter 1484: The Lover She Never Claimed

Danton’s footsteps reverberated through the spacious hall, disturbing the stillness beneath its vaulted ceiling. Golden-white radiance poured from the Lord’s six-winged avatar and spread across the polished stone, reaching the towering pillars and their delicate golden carvings before rising into the sacred light gathered overhead.

The hall could have accommodated a gathering of whole two families, yet Danton had claimed its entire length for himself, marching from one end to the other while the Lord began to wonder whether the magnificent floor would survive another hour of his temper.

He stopped, raked a hand through his hair and muttered beneath his breath before turning upon his heel. His brows remained tightly drawn, his jaw clenched until the muscles along his cheeks twitched. The handsome composure he ordinarily wore with such arrogance had deserted him, and the darkness in his golden eyes betrayed far more than anger.

Millions of years of experience, apparently, had left him woefully unprepared for this particular humiliation.

Since Danton’s awakening several weeks earlier, the Lord had witnessed his pride, cruelty and extraordinary cunning often enough to understand why the J?rmungandr had been through. He could stand before beings far stronger than his present self without lowering his head, drawing upon memories of ages the Lord had never known.

Even after the disaster in Antarctica, with both families still struggling to comprehend their losses, Danton had retained enough composure to consider his next move.

His arrogance had never prevented him from recognizing when patience or retreat would serve him better. He learned from his failures, however bitterly he resented them, and seldom allowed anyone the pleasure of watching him lose control of himself.

Yet the Lord had now been enjoying precisely that pleasure for quite some time.

Danton raised a hand to his mouth and began biting a nail.

Upon noticing what he was doing, he stared at his fingers with disgust, lowered them and cursed beneath his breath before resuming his march. The Lord’s lips curved.

If the answer to his troubles lay anywhere along this corridor, surely he ought to have found it by now.

For months, Shekinah’s name had brought a confidence bordering upon reverence into Danton’s voice when he mentioned her or thought about her. He had recalled her ancient might, praised the magnificence of her existence, her cunningness and how smart she was even praised her far better than the legends of her themselves and spoken of their eventual reunion with such certainty that the Lord had never thought to question the stories surrounding them.

He had even looked forward to witnessing the reunion of of these two himself, which made the things Danton had neglected to mention all the more entertaining.

"I must admit," the Lord began, his voice pleasantly conversational, and poked around the seething snake, "this is rather different from what I expected."

Danton continued walking, although the slight movement of his brow betrayed that he had heard.

Encouraged, the Lord went on, "All this time and these years, I have been told and heard how close the two of you were. And you have certainly never been reluctant to recall your ancient love and time you two spend together. After everything you told me about her, how could I fail to look forward to your lovely reunion?"

Danton’s steps slowed.

The Lord watched him with increasing satisfaction. "I imagined something worthy of those romantic films humans seem so fond of producing. An embrace after being eons apart... uh, and maybe even a three-minute embrace, perhaps tears of happiness. An ancient love finally reunited beneath the heavens after surviving the cruelty of time."

The J?rmungandr Prince stopped with his back still turned.

His shoulders stiffened, and the Lord allowed his gaze to rest upon them before adding, "A kiss, perhaps? Surely a mouth-crashing kiss for the reunion would have been appropriate.<anno data-annotation-id="2a69b77d-71f7-f3e8-6d09-fcb697ed36ef" data-title=""">"<sup>1</anno>

Danton’s fingers curled, but the Lord continued with an innocence that could scarcely have deceived either of them. "From everything I heard and read, your devotion was spoken of throughout existence. A couple unmatched in power and affection alike, their names remembered together even among the Original Progenitors. I had almost begun to envy you."

The murderous Essence gathering around Danton should have persuaded the Lord to leave the subject alone. Alas, the Lord had discovered a source of amusement far too precious to surrender so readily.

He had seen the ancient serpent angry before; he had never seen him this embarrassed and humiliated.

"You can understand why I was so eager to help you awaken her first, don’t you? Beyond me wanting us to awaken our second Progenitor, I genuinely believed I would witness something magnificent. All this time, I was imagining the return of two ancient lovers, only to discover that you were merely her admirer."

The chuckle that escaped him drew Danton’s head around, revealing a glare that would have driven anyone less powerful out of the corridor.

The Lord regarded him with undisturbed delight. "It does make me wonder who first spread the story of you being lovers even back then in ancient times when you guys were still alive. Even Marcus believed you two were lovers, and the other Progenitors seem to have believed much the same.

"How does such a misunderstanding survive for so many ages without anyone correcting it?"

He considered that question, then his eyes brightened. "Derek and Maddie! Of course! Now it makes sense... you, uh, you always seemed to despise those two rather more than the others." Danton’s expression changed sharply enough to nearly draw another laugh from him. "I assumed there was some ancient grievance between you. Did they simply know you had been chasing a woman who had never once considered herself yours or even a worthy love interest?"

"ENOUGH!" Danton’s roar shook the corridor as Essence erupted from his body.

Golden radiance flashed beneath his skin, his robes snapped backward and the polished floor trembled beneath the weight of his Saint Stage might. Between the enormous pillars, the sacred light shuddered while he faced the six-winged avatar with an urge to attack that he was making little effort to conceal.

"Do you think this is the time to fucking gloat?" he demanded. "Do you have any idea what just happened? What she’s done to everything we’ve prepared?"

The Lord’s smile remained, and Danton gave a bitter laugh, throwing one hand toward the vaulted ceiling:

"Of course you don’t! You’ve finally found something to mock me about, and you’re enjoying every fucking word. Meanwhile, the very woman we spent all these resources to awaken thinks she can just awaken and overturn our plans whenever she damn well pleases!"

He resumed pacing, his heel striking hard enough to leave faint cracks in one of the polished stones. Essence still gathered around him, trailing his furious movements as he turned upon the Lord again:

"We spent years preparing for this. YEARS! Every arrangement, every sacrifice, everything we endured and lost in the process while desperately trying to awaken all of the Progenitors. She was supposed to help us! With her awakened, there should have been almost nothing on this damned island capable of standing against us together."

The Lord listened, offering him the courtesy of keeping his amusement to himself while Danton continued:

"And what does she do upon returning? She begins forbidding things— plans we painstakingly been preparing and progressing towards!"

Apparently, the Female Angel Progenitor had committed a grievous offense by possessing opinions of her own.

The Lord resisted the temptation to point that out.

Danton still had plenty to say, and interrupting him might deprive the Lord of something even better.

"We had already arranged to take Melissa and her unborn child," Danton said. "Tonight would have been perfect. Phei has returned, the family is celebrating, and their attention is upon Melissa and the children. Everything was prepared. We could have taken her while they were occupied with their ridiculous celebration, but suddenly we’re forbidden from touching her?!"

"WTF!!! And you find this amusing?"

His expression twisted as he recalled the prohibition. "We cannot harm Melissa! We cannot take her! And apparently we’re not even supposed to entertain the fucking thought!" He dragged a hand down his face, his laugh roughening into a growl. "Because what? She’s pregnant? Because she’s carrying a child now?"

The Lord watched disbelief struggle through Danton’s fury:

"Since when does Shekinah care about another woman’s pregnancy? When did she become the patron saint of every pregnant woman beneath the heavens?"

The Lord’s mouth twitched, and Danton caught it immediately. "Don’t you fucking laugh!"

"Naturally," the Lord replied, inclining his head. The golden radiance surrounding his majestic figure remained tranquil, although the amusement in his eyes did little to support his assurance.

Danton glared at him before continuing: "That’s not the woman I know. Shekinah has never been some softhearted saint trembling over the suffering nobody strangers. She’s seen things that would make the oldest monsters in Greater Realms shudder— to make a Primordial shudder! She’s stood before beings whose names alone inspired terror from their names alone, yet now she expects us to abandon out plans because Melissa is pregnant? Is she Mother fucking Theresa?!"

He spread his hands, the Essence gathering around his fingers casting pale gold across his face.

"Phei and his entire ridiculous family are celebrating as though the heavens have personally descended to congratulate them, and we have to stand here and let the opportunity pass. She has barely returned! She knows almost nothing of what has been happening here, nothing of what we’ve sacrificed or lost while she slept in oblivion, but we’re supposed to bow our heads and accept her commands?"

His fists tightened, and he leaned toward the Lord with a furious stare: "Who gave her the right to decide what we can and cannot do?"

The Lord could have reminded him how often he had praised Shekinah’s ancient might.