Chapter 893: Aelyra is nervous.
The chambers reserved for Monarchs within the Celestial Palace rarely knew disorder. They were spacious chambers, built of polished stone and ancient metals, adorned to accommodate rulers who considered themselves pillars of the continent. Heavy tapestries muffled outside sounds, crystal chandeliers cast a soft glow across the walls, and tall windows opened onto hanging gardens reserved only for the most prestigious guests. Everything in that section of the palace existed to reinforce status, stability, and control.
That night, however, Aelyra’s room knew none of these things.
The Monarch of the Stormy Tides paced back and forth like a storm trapped in too small a space. The sound of her heavy footsteps echoed on the dark stone floor, punctuated by the short, irritated breath she made no effort to conceal. Her hair, normally impeccable, was partially loose. Her armor had already been removed and replaced with light, restful garments, but this did nothing to diminish the aggressive presence emanating from her. Her eyes blazed with a vivid, hot, almost humiliating fury.
She still felt the impact.
Not the physical blow from Strax. That had already faded from her body. What remained was worse. The memory of him looking at her without any reverence. The way he had blocked her attacks with absurd indifference. The breath that had thrown her against a column in front of everyone. The casual comment. The laughter of the others. The subsequent silence.
For someone like Aelyra, raised in centuries of obedience, victories, and automatic respect, this was not just defeat.
It was profanation.
She stopped before a tall mirror propped between decorative columns. For a moment she stared at her own reflection. Beautiful, powerful, impeccable posture. Yet, behind the image, she saw only the woman thrown against the stone like a presumptuous beginner.
The mirror shattered the next instant.
Aelyra punched the surface with enough force to pierce metal and crystal. Sharp fragments flew across the room, scattering like shimmering rain. The entire structure collapsed backward and shattered against the wall. The sound echoed down the outside corridor.
She took a deep breath, her hands clenched.
It wasn’t enough.
She turned and launched another blow, this time directly at the side wall.
The reinforced stone cracked with a violent bang. Part of the structure collapsed in large blocks, dust rising in a thick cloud. Ornaments tumbled. A heavy table overturned. The light fixtures swayed from the ceiling.
Aelyra stood motionless in the center of the destruction, her shoulders rising and falling.
"I’m going to kill him."
The words came out low at first, hoarse with contained rage.
Then she raised her voice.
"I’m going to kill that arrogant worm."
A blue lightning bolt shot through her arms and across the cracked floor in short electrical lines.
"And I’m going to kill those three too."
The mention carried a particular contempt.
Scarlett, insolent and mocking. Tiamat, the laughing beast who had applauded her humiliation. Ouroboros, silent and too observant for her liking. In Aelyra’s eyes, they had all shared in the insult simply by standing beside Strax.
Which was frankly idiotic.
But anger rarely feeds on logic.
She ripped a necklace from her neck and hurled it against another wall. The metal embedded itself in the stone like a projectile.
"I’m going to drown that ridiculous city of his. I’m going to break every tower. I’m going—"
The door slammed shut as she pulled it open herself.
Aelyra stepped into the corridor still radiating unstable energy, determined to transform impulse into massacre before reason had a chance to interfere.
And then she stopped.
Leaning against the opposite wall of the corridor, arms crossed and a bored expression, was Shalom.
The light from the side torches cast soft outlines on her motionless figure. She seemed to have been there long enough to have heard everything, and comfortable enough not to bother hiding it. Her eyes followed Aelyra with an almost irritating calm.
"You’d better not go," Shalom said.
Aelyra stared at her as if her mere presence were a new offense.
"Get out of my way."
Shalom didn’t even uncross her arms.
"I’m not in front of you. I’m beside you. Technically, you’re choosing the problem."
Aelyra took a step forward.
"Shut up."
Her voice vibrated with ancient authority, accustomed to ending arguments before they even began.
"You’re a temporary Monarch. A substitute. You shouldn’t even be among us." She raised her chin with sharp disdain. "You have no voice."
Shalom closed her eyes for a second and let out a small sigh.
It was the sigh of someone tired of dealing with predictable people.
"Maybe," she replied. "Still, I’m warning you that you’re going to die."
The entire hallway seemed to cool down.
Not because of any explicit magic, but because of the naturalness with which it was said. No threat. No vanity. Just a statement of fact.
Aelyra stared at her for a moment and then laughed.
A short, sharp, humorless laugh.
"Me?"
She took another step, moving closer.
"Am I going to die because of him?"
Another step.
"Do you really believe that animal is invincible just because he surprised me once?"
Shalom shrugged.
"No."
Aelyra frowned.
"Then?"
"I don’t think he’s invincible." Shalom tilted her head slightly. "I think you’re stupid."
The silence that followed was heavy and immediate.
Distant guards at the end of the corridor, who had pretended not to pay attention, suddenly seemed very interested in tapestries.
Aelyra smiled dangerously.
"Do you want to die before him?"
Shalom uncrossed her arms for the first time and pushed herself away from the wall, standing upright. She was smaller than Aelyra, less ostentatious, less ornate, less theatrical in every sense. Yet, something about her posture made it seem as if the difference in status mattered very little at that moment.
"If I wanted to kill you," Shalom said, "I wouldn’t be talking."
Aelyra felt the provocation like a slap.
Blue energy began to circulate around her wrists again.
"You think you’re brave because he humiliated someone today."
"No." Shalom leaned slightly to the side, observing the shards still stuck in Aelyra’s hair. "I’m just thinking I’m patient."
Aelyra gritted her teeth.
"You’re nothing but a temporary occupant of someone else’s territory."
"Possibly."
"Without lineage. Without legitimacy."
"Maybe."
"Irrelevant."
"Clearly fake."
The reply came out so curt that even two servants crossing a side corridor disappeared in the opposite direction.
Aelyra raised her hand.
Shalom didn’t move.
The two remained motionless for seconds that were far too long. Energy accumulated in the Monarch of the Tides’ arm. No sign of fear appeared on the other woman’s face.
Finally, Aelyra slowly lowered her hand.
Not out of mercy.
Because killing Shalom in the palace corridor would create unnecessary political problems, and part of her mind was still functioning.
"You’re delaying me."
"That was the goal."
"I’ll pass you."
"Go ahead."
Aelyra narrowed her eyes.
"And then?"
Shalom leaned back against the wall as if the conversation was nearing its end.
"And then you go hunt Strax, find Strax, attack Strax, underestimate Strax, and die embarrassingly."
Aelyra laughed again, louder this time.
"You talk as if you know him."
Shalom took a second to reply.
"I know him well enough."
"Then you know how to kill him."
"No."
"Convenient."
"There’s nothing convenient about dealing with him."
Aelyra tilted her head.
"Are you afraid of him?"
Shalom seemed to reflect honestly.
"No."
"Liar."
"No. Fear is for things I don’t understand." She looked directly at Aelyra. "I understand him. That’s why I’m telling you to stand still."
Aelyra crossed her arms, unconsciously copying the other’s initial posture.
"Explain."
"You’re wounded in your pride, not your body. You want quick revenge to erase the feeling of humiliation." Shalom spoke as if describing the weather. "That makes you slow where you think you’re quick, predictable where you think you’re creative, and blind where you think you’re focused."
Each sentence seemed to irritate her more.
"And him?"
"He’s strolling around."
Aelyra frowned.
"Stroling around?"
"Yes. Probably buying food, casually insulting someone, or trying to make Ouroboros laugh." Shalom shrugged. "Meanwhile, you’re breaking furniture."
Aelyra felt heat rise to her face.
"I’ll rip your tongue out."
"Get in line."
For a moment, it seemed inevitable that the hallway would erupt into combat. Aelyra’s energy wavered dangerously. Shalom remained irritatingly calm.
Then footsteps echoed in the distance.
Two imperial servants approached, accompanied by an officer who was visibly nervous upon noticing the scene. Upon recognizing who stood before him, the man paled and bowed immediately.
"My ladies... there have been reports of structural damage in the eastern sector and—"
Aelyra merely glanced at him.
The officer forgot half of his own literacy and took three steps back.
Shalom raised her hand without looking at him.
"Come back later."
He obeyed so quickly he almost tripped over his own cloak.
When the corridor emptied again, Aelyra spoke in a lower tone.
"You’re irritating me."
"Great."
"Why?"
"Because anger is tiring." Shalom closed her eyes for a moment. "And when you get tired, maybe you’ll think."
Aelyra remained silent.
It was rare for someone to insist on contradicting her without seeking political gain or trying to impress others. Shalom seemed genuinely uninterested in any reward.
This irritated her even more.
"Suppose I listen to you," Aelyra said finally. "What do I do with that?"
Shalom opened her eyes.
"Practice." "Train?"
"Yes."
Aelyra was almost more offended by that than by everything else.
"I don’t need to train."
"Then die."
The answer came instantly.
Aelyra took a deep breath, holding back the impulse to attack anything alive.
"You’re unbearable."
"I’ve been told that too."
"By him?"
"By many."
The corridor fell into a new silence.
Aelyra looked towards the palace exit, then at the destroyed door of her chambers, then at Shalom.
The desire to go hunting Strax still burned. But now it was accompanied by the irritating memory of being thrown by a casual breath.
She hated admitting any doubt.
"Where is he?" she finally asked.
Shalom almost smiled.
"See? You’re thinking better now."
"Don’t push it." "In the capital, I imagine. Disguised. Doing something irritatingly normal."
Aelyra clenched her jaw.
"If I find him?"
"Then choose whether you want to talk, learn... or become a joke again."
Aelyra turned abruptly toward the destroyed room.
Before entering, she threw one last sentence over her shoulder.
"If I come crying later, I’ll kill you first."
Shalom shrugged.
"As long as you get a password."
The door slammed shut behind the Monarch.
Shalom stood alone in the hallway for a few moments, arms crossed again, listening to more objects breaking inside.
She tilted her head toward the ceiling.
"Powerful idiots are always noisy."
Then she walked away calmly, leaving behind Aelyra’s contained storm and the simple certainty that, sooner or later, someone would ignore her advice.
And I would probably pay dearly for it.
