For long moments amid the settling dust, Ori found himself captivated by Harriet’s presence. With his newly acquired sight, she seemed to breathe life into the world around her.

  “Mistress, I’ve prevented the staff from entering for now,” Poppy said as she dashed into the sanctum, cautiously navigating the dust and debris. She seemed to enrich the atmosphere, her movements sending ripples through the room’s energies, multifaceted and sparkling like liquid crystal. Her Grace showed itself on so many layers that Ori found himself breathless with awe. “What happened?” she asked, pausing to take in the full extent of the damage, Ori’s glowing eyes, and Harriet’s obvious distress.

  “Thank you, Poppy,” Harriet said, regaining her composure as she stood and retrieved her dressing gown. “Please take Ori and wait for me in my drawing room. There we’ll try to work out what just happened. Ori, are you able to turn off that effect?”

  Ori blinked, momentarily overwhelmed by the swirling energies around him. He hadn’t considered that this sensory overload might be something he could turn on or off. Closing his eyes, he managed to shut out some of the colours and sensations. With far more effort and concentration than usual, akin to his experience with Aura of Amplification, Ori located a mental switch. Flipping it, he felt the world’s vibrancy drain away.

  “How’s this?” Ori asked, reopening his eyes to a hall coated in lifeless, monochromatic dust, illuminated only by the baleful blue light of the rift. The two elves were still beautiful, but the vivid life and energy he’d seen before were now only faint traces. Both Harriet and Poppy looked reassured by his display of control, yet Ori was unsettled by how their attention kept returning to his eyes.

  “Better, but still different. Go, and I’ll see to the staff and repairs,” Harriet said, her gaze lingering on Ori’s eyes as she turned away to leave the sanctum.

  “If it would please you, Ori,” Poppy said, offering her hand.

  He took it, and within a few steps found himself in a cosy office. The light from the ringed gas giant and a few lanterns gave the room a softer, warmer feel, a stark contrast to the wide, airy hall they’d just left. Ori walked around the desk, his mind dividing its attention. One part wanted to look directly at Poppy, but settled for the view outside instead. Another sifted through Eltitus’s memories and soul fragments, purging or quarantining those he found useless or unsettling. A third focused on Poppy, using her as a point of reference to probe the changes to his passive awareness and its expanded coverage.

  “You feel different,” she observed.

  “Yeah. I’m working on it,” Ori replied.

  “What happened?”

  “The short version is, a few days ago, I absorbed the soul of a lich. I couldn’t use his experiences or access his power until right in the middle of that transmutation,” Ori explained. “And then it all came at once.”

  “That’s too short a version,” Poppy said, concern sharpening into displeasure at his flippancy. “Mistress looks genuinely shaken. What did you do?”

  “Honestly, I don’t really know. Maybe we can piece it together when she comes?”

  Silence stretched. Both stayed still, Ori sensing Poppy’s stare on his back. The first part of his mind joined the second in auditing his soul. While his soul felt stronger and more resilient than ever, a small part of it wasn’t entirely Ori. He could sense a separate set of instincts, some benign, others irritating or outright dangerous. With the useful parts of Eltitus’s knowledge, tracing their roots through his soul was now effortless. Pruning them away from what was useful was sharply painful every time he did it, but it was necessary.

  He could sequester or delete the undesirable parts of Eltitus’s soul, but changes to the rest of himself were inevitable. The weight of the lich’s four-hundred-year existence pressed down on him like anchors bolted to his chest. Glancing through those years of abuse and torment, first inflicted on Eltitus and then inflicted by him on his enemies, felt like a third exposure to horror, ageing Ori well beyond his two decades of life.

  Ori used his bonds as his anchor, returning to them whenever his sense of self or purpose blurred in the ocean of gloom and chaos. As the minutes stretched on, he felt his chest lighten and his mood lift, the second set of instincts fading or becoming less intrusive.

  “Sorry,” Ori sighed.

  “For what?”

  “For causing so much aggravation. Sometimes you’ve just got to apologise, even when things happen that are beyond your control.”

  “Well, at least you survived. I take it your soul isn’t possessed by an undead lich’s spirit anymore?”

  “More or less. How can you tell the difference?”

  “You’re not the only one with fancy perception, Ori.”

  “Heh.” Ori turned to face her, taking her in. “Are you alright?”

  Poppy sighed. “There’s much I cannot say.”

  “Like how you decided something and held my hand as if we were lovers, without any explanation?” Ori said, his smile softening the words.

  “Yes, that,” Poppy admitted, suddenly sheepish.

  “Not saying I didn’t like it. I did. It was nice. It’s just…”

  “It’s just that you’re a summons, or that your desires are split several ways, or that you don’t see yourself as worthy of anyone, let alone a Queen or her handmaiden?”

  “I…”

  “None of that matters. As mad as it might seem to you, I’ve made my choice.”

  “About me? What does this even mean? Is it part of your heritage, or is it just a crush, or what?” Ori asked, confusion rising as his heart raced.

  As she approached, Ori was once again captivated by the way she moved, as if carried by a hidden cadence that dictated a smooth rise and fall in time with deliberate, flowing steps. She stopped in front of him, placed a hand on his chest, and looked up. Her usual enigmatic smile softened into something more earnest.

  “Much more than a mere crush. I’m afraid I’m stuck with you, summon or not. Any more than that will have to wait until the mistress arrives. Will you be okay? I should go and see if I’m needed, and you seem busy with your thoughts.”

  Ori simply stared, confused and a little panicked. Still, if he was honest, having some of the uncertainty cleared, with the promise of answers, helped settle him. “I’ll be fine.”

  In the quiet of the room, Ori delved into Eltitus’s memories. His recent experiences had given him confidence that he could reassemble Sera’s soul, provided he had the pieces. As he scoured the lich’s ancient mind, he began to piece together where those fragments might be, and the challenges of retrieving them.

  Souls, he learned, went to a place called the Ethereal Demiplane. Unlike the other eight demiplanes, Celestial, Astral, Faewyld, Material, Elemental, Abyssal, Underworld, and Infernal, the Ethereal Demiplane was inaccessible to corporeal entities and lay beyond the reach of Fate and most Awakened beings. The fact that Ori was not Awakened seemed of little consequence, as the difficulty of finding specific souls within the Ethereal Soul Sea was staggering.

  Continuing to sift through Eltitus’s memories, Ori stumbled upon the lich’s last thoughts during his battle with Lord Bartholomew and the “curious mortal that had given this pitiful force such foolish hope.” Ori was surprised to discover Eltitus did not possess a true domain. Domains at Sovereign rank were extremely rare, typically manifested by Divinities and higher beings.

  Needing a countermeasure against Grace Knights, warriors who harnessed the nearly inexhaustible belief of followers, Eltitus devised a pseudo-domain. He substituted Intent, the unification of Will and Perception, with his Soul. It was that creeping swell of a foreign force during the final battle, seemingly invisible to those around him. With his soul compensating for his inability to form Intent, Eltitus created a domain where he blocked the external influence of Lord Bartholomew’s Grace, substantially weakening him. Eltitus believed his pseudo-domain was stronger than a normal domain in this regard, as using his soul to envelop another’s was likely a more effective way of blocking Grace.

  The more Ori examined the lich’s soul, the more he appreciated the man’s intellect. Eltitus was not one to settle for received wisdom or accept facts without verification, a trait Ori recognised from his own education in the scientific method, with its emphasis on experimentation and peer review. However, as he delved deeper, Ori recoiled at the lich’s methods and implementation. The desolation and loneliness Eltitus seemed comfortable with were anathema to every instinct Ori had. The lich’s existence was steeped in cold, detached cruelty, a grim contrast to Ori’s own values and inclinations. It was a stark reminder of the path he never wanted to tread. As a result, he felt increasingly grateful to Sera for giving him a chance to survive, as after Eltitus had held Ori in his grasp and made contact with his soul, there would have been no other way to escape.

  The door opened, and a flustered Poppy entered, followed by Harriet, radiating her Queen persona like a chill wind.

  “I want to stay.”

  “Poppy, I’ll tell him. Please attend to the staff.”

  “Anoriel!”

  “Sarrecent! I should do this alone,” Harriet growled, her anger piercing her icy demeanour.

  Sensing the argument involved him, Ori started to step in, uneasy at the idea of causing a rift between them.

  “Is everything alright?” Ori asked, only to receive two angry high-elven glares in response.

  “Poppy, trust me to handle this.”

  “Very well, mistress,” Poppy said, then left the room.

  Ori watched in silence as the young Queen visibly relaxed with a sigh. He could have taken offence at their attitudes, but he felt guilty about what had happened during the Quickening, and he was grateful for their help and presence so far.

  “Did it work? Any side effects?”

  Ori activated his vision, and the world burst into colours beyond normal sight. He saw Harriet’s lifeforce, the strength of her spirit, the Aether in her clothing’s enchantments, and the quality of her soul.

  “I feel more exposed than ever when you look at me like that.”

  “Sorry,” Ori deactivated his vision. ”As for side effects, aside from unlocking an ancient lich’s soul fragments at the worst time, I think Quicken Perception worked.”

  Stolen story; please report.

  “You did what!?”

  “Yeah, so remember that last trial...” Ori then went on to describe his actions at the end of the previous trial.

  “And this lich’s soul, are you possessed?”

  “No. I absorbed the soul,” Ori said as Harriet gasped. “I needed his knowledge, Harriet, to figure out how to get her back.”

  “Very well. What can you see?” Harriet sighed, her shock settling into curiosity as she returned back to the topic at hand.

  “Colours. Lots of new ones. I see ripples when things move. I can see all around me, but focusing is still best with my eyes.”

  “And your other senses? Hearing, touch, smell?”

  “Hearing’s the same. My skin and smell are more sensitive, even without the skill active.”

  “I wish you’d confided in me about the soul fragments,” Harriet sighed.

  “Yeah, well, I wish I knew why you summoned me. Sometimes it seems you’re the only one allowed secrets,” Ori replied, frustration bleeding into his voice. “Help me help you, Harriet.”

  Harriet looked small and haunted, wrapping her arms around herself as she moved towards the window.

  “I had this perfect plan to summon my Taurna’diem, to thwart the man who killed my mother and prevent our house’s annexation through a novel application of an archaic law. But things haven’t gone as planned, have they?” she said, sullen, her face ashen.

  “What’s a Taurna’diem?” Ori asked.

  “Taurna’diem. It’s… I wish I could sing its meaning to you. Speaking it out loud just sounds crass. In enchanting terms, the inauguration was my Quickening, while I was named Harriet by my brother, who has the class, and Taurna’diem is, as you can imagine.”

  “A soul bond? Between you and your… summon? Me?” Ori said, silently adding, again?

  “High-elven tradition grants greater privileges to those who attain this bond, as many never find it. It’s usually celebrated as an auspicious event, bringing tangible benefits to both parties.”

  “Okay,” Ori said, dazed. “Okay.”

  “Let me start from the beginning. High-elven society is typically ruled by representatives from each realm, the Briar Queens. During peaceful times, matriarchy is almost universal, as our women generally have twice the aptitude for Affinity and Grace as men. However, occasionally, a high-elven male attains the Immortal ranks despite their disadvantages. It’s rare for male elves at Immortal rank to upset the status quo, and even rarer for them to succeed.

  “However, we live in an age with no Immortal Briar Queens. Rufus Terradi’del Osson, a Silvan elf at Immortal rank, who killed my mother and had my father assassinated, seeks to become an elven Overlord under those same ancient traditions.”

  Ori swallowed. “And this Taurna’diem would prevent him from doing that?”

  “It was my hope. Under high-elven law, no Taurna’diem can be broken in life by anyone outside it. Breaking the soul bond would mean breaking elven law, a law enforced by our Guardian Spirits and Fate itself.”

  “But how does making it impossible for him to break this Taurna’diem stop him from becoming Overlord?”

  “To become Overlord is to seek submission from every Briar Queen, by power or persuasion, under ancient traditions. Essentially, to marry him or die. When my mother couldn’t defeat him in a formal duel, she chose death. And so will I if he can declare his challenge.”

  “So with a Taurna’diem, elven law would invalidate his challenge and prevent his rise to Overlord?” Ori asked.

  “Though he could still have my brother and I assassinated. Most likely, it would buy me time.”

  “Time to level up and get stronger. I get it. It was a clever plan.” Ori let out a long breath. Things suddenly felt real in a way they hadn’t a moment before. He’d been bracing himself for something like this, but finally knowing the reason behind his summoning and his place in her solution still brought relief, even as sorrow rose at the likelihood of her plan falling apart. “So I take it this Taurna’diem is some sort of love bond, then? How does it happen? And why wait to tell me until now?”

  “Taurna’diem is forged during sex. I’m not clear on all the details, but the elves involved often know well in advance of its occurrence, and love is indeed part of it.”

  “I see.”

  “I didn’t tell you because… well, if I had approached you after summoning and told you that you needed to sleep with me, or else I’d die, it would have been coercion, and I’d have had no interest in being party to it. If I’d been desperate enough to live at any cost, I’d have submitted to my parents’ killer and been done with it,” she said, acidly.

  “Alright.”

  “And I’m telling you now because…” Harriet began, then faltered.

  Ori turned away, unable to look at her any longer. His mind raced, searching for other ways to help, if she even still wanted his help, or whether it would be better to leave now and spare her the risk of his presence making things worse.

  “I get it. I’m not exactly a high-elven prince in shining armour. I’m grateful for your help and your company. Thank you for being nice to me. If there’s any way you think I can help, I’d be happy to. But if you want me to go, that’s okay,” Ori said, knuckles clenched as he stood by the window, preparing himself for dismissal and deciding whether he’d check in on her fate using Freya’s donated knowledge or spare himself the heartache.

  “I’m telling you now because I wanted some basis of trust between us before revealing anything. But now I realise that was just the foolish dream of a little girl. How could there be trust when I’m holding back the very reason you were summoned in the first place? I had hoped to have made a better impression on you by now, but between my reticence and… well, my general inability to express myself, I’ve… spirits. Why is this so hard to say?”

  “Goodbyes are hard to say because you are genuinely a nice person,” Ori said, turning to face her one last time.

  “Goodbye?” Harriet’s confusion twisted into horror as Ori prepared to leave the final trial. “Wait!” she all but screeched. “Wait. Please wait.”

  Ori froze, his heart thumping so hard he could feel it in his throat.

  “Do… do you really find me so distasteful that you would spend not a single additional moment in my presence?” Harriet asked.

  “What do you mean? You know I find you attractive. I mean, you are the most beautiful person I’ve ever met, and I’ve been under the charms of a greater succubus. You’re also kind. I love how curious you are, and how nice and generous you’ve been to me. I… were you thinking I didn’t like you?”

  “Well, I… I’ve heard it’s different for humans. We elves just know if we’re in diem with another. Society and bloodline considerations often get in the way, but with humans…” Harriet babbled.

  “I’m confused. What are you asking?” Ori said, his Split Mind racing to work out what she was trying to say.

  Harriet growled. “Perhaps it was a mistake to send Poppy away. Please sit.”

  Ori moved to the sofa she gestured towards. It was closer than he wanted, and he hesitated, then sat down awkwardly.

  “I did the summoning ritual intending to find my Taurna’diem. Someone compassionate. Someone who could make my spirit soar with their very presence. Someone who could surprise and impress me with their determination. Someone who could love as deeply and completely as I could. And when you arrived, I was insulting, unforthcoming, and unable to say what I felt, hoping you would feel it too, and it would all work itself out.”

  “So you’re saying you actually like me?”

  “Yes,” Harriet said, smiling through watery eyes. “I’m in diem with you. I have been, ever since I summoned you.”

  “Why?” Ori asked, utterly bewildered.

  “While I’m starting to understand you better, and the differences between our races… I swear that if I accomplish only one thing in our remaining time together, it’ll be making you see yourself the way I see you. I asked for someone with compassion, and I received a hero. I asked for someone special, someone who could make my spirit soar, and here you are. When I look at you, I see far more than a mortal, a human. You are a miracle in so many ways it’s hard to fathom. I asked for someone who could love, and here is a man who risks his very future for the chance to save his bonded’s soul.”

  “I… but you’re a Queen, and I’m just…” Ori said, still unable to grasp it.

  “You’re not ‘just’ anything. You are Ori Suba, Taurna’diem to I, Harriet Anoriel Thalionwen Luinilthar, if you’d have me,” Harriet said with conviction. Her hands clasped together in a way that exposed something Ori couldn’t ignore: she didn’t simply need him, she wanted him, in a way he hadn’t really known from anyone before. Ori’s mind produced countless roadblocks, countless ways this would end badly.

  “But I’m just a summons. I can’t stay here for long. I have to get back…”

  “Then we’ll make no promises in the time we spend together, no claims on each other’s spirit beyond the bond,” Harriet said.

  “What about the fact you’re a Queen? Wouldn’t you having a lover, a human lover, be a problem?” Ori asked, giving her a helpless look.

  “Ideally, no one needs to know who you are. But as Taurna’diem is recognised by Fate, our bond should protect me even if it causes scandal.”

  “What about children? Don’t you need heirs?” Ori asked, completely unready to become a father or to discover he had children hundreds of years older than he was after ending the trial.

  “That did give me pause. I cannot have your children, Ori. High-elven society would not allow it.”

  Ori frowned, surprised by his own disappointment, despite having just ruled out having children right now either. “That’s probably for the best. I’ve lived most of my life not knowing my father, and I’d rather not visit that fate on my kids, too. And what about Poppy?” Ori suddenly remembered.

  “Poppy is different. In some ways, she has already formed a type of soul bond with you, her Var’Drow heritage choosing you as kin regardless of your consent. She also wishes to form a traditional Taurna’diem with you, if you’d allow it.”

  “And you’re okay with that?”

  “Yes,” Harriet said, steady gaze firm, a gentle smile making Ori keenly aware she knew exactly what she was offering.

  Glad he was already sitting, Ori sagged, the boneless exhale leaving him tired and his mind spinning. He wished he could say something clever, something smooth, but all he felt was fear.

  “I know my heart, and you’re asking me to fall in love with you, both of you, which would be no challenge at all. And then leave you. Abandon you both, halfway across the universe and centuries in time.”

  “Centuries?”

  “Yes. About seven hundred years,” Ori confirmed.

  “That’s… actually a good thing,” Harriet said, surprising him.

  “It is?”

  “Given our circumstances, yes. Assuming Rufus doesn’t choose assassination, your unavailability places you beyond his reach. We’ll be safer because no matter how hard he tries, for those long centuries, he’ll be unable to divine who or where my Taurna’diem is.”

  “But doesn’t that mean I’ll become a target later, then?” Ori asked, less perturbed by the idea than he should have been.

  “Maybe. But I will do all in my power to improve myself and put him down. And I won’t be alone, with other Briar Queens likely facing similar circumstances.”

  “Alright,” Ori said, exhaling again.

  “You’re still concerned about abandoning us?”

  “I guess so. I’m literally asking myself if it’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.” Ori chuckled. “I guess, let’s find out.” A lingering smile grew as he took in Harriet, gorgeous and only a few paces away. “So what now?”

  “I have no idea,” Harriet snorted. “I’m happy to take your lead in this.”

  Ori spent a few minutes thinking, then settled on something he’d been told not long ago. “When my dad and I reconnected, he told me the most important thing for a relationship to succeed wasn’t how hot she was, or whether you had things in common, or whether you shared goals and values. He said the most important thing was whether she liked you. And most men will never know for sure, not unless she shows you.”

  “And how do humans show that they like one another?” Harriet pressed.

  “Every society is different, and every human is an individual with unique preferences and needs,” Ori replied, wryly.

  “So how does one show Ori Suba that they like him?” Harriet asked, moving towards him with slow, deliberate steps, her hips swaying, her eyes intensely focused on him.

  Buoyed and aroused by her approach, Ori decided to be bold. “A kiss would be a good place to start.”

  Harriet sat on his lap, impossibly light as his arms wrapped around her slender form, settling on her hips, which he’d longed to hold since they first met. She looped her arms around him, resting them on his shoulders. He was enveloped by her woody, natural scent as her brilliant blue eyes set his heart racing, their faces inches apart. His gaze drifted to her lips, her pale skin, the valley of her cleavage, and the rapid rise and fall of her chest. He pulled her closer, still in disbelief, but unwilling to let her go.

  “This will be my first,” Harriet said.

  “Kiss?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then it’ll be my honour to share it with you,” Ori said, and they kissed.

  It started slowly, his hand rising to her cheek as their lips met, hers impossibly soft. He deepened the kiss, noses brushing, his desire to hold her turning into a need to meld with her as their passions ignited. Lips gave way to tongues, their breath quickening, mirroring the mutual pull to become something more than two bodies in a room.

  Harriet gasped as they broke apart. Her gentle rocking made him hold her tighter, though whether he meant to encourage it or stop it, he wasn’t sure. Their foreheads touched, and his eyes kept sliding to the swell of her breasts, mesmerised by their motion under a racing heart and heavy breaths.

  “Did that go some way towards convincing you that I liked you?” Harriet asked, a smirk in her tone.

  “A little. Could always use more convincing, though.”

  Their kissing continued.