Sovereign of Wrath Ch238: The Author

A/N: Hi all! Apologies for the lack of SoW recently, but I had to cram Garden of Silk in the weeks leading up to its launch. The good news? I am (tentatively) back to writing 1000 words a day! Fingers crossed!

I am also considering discontinuing pdfs. If that's something you disagree with, comment or message me here or on discord!

Deep into the night, Lilith finished telling us of what was happening in Navanaea. Battles between demons, humans, and more, all told from the familiar perspective of someone who worried only for others. That raw anxiety was very, very contagious: I worried for Aretan and Mereneth. I even worried for Hammer, the Formid who’d escorted us into the mountains, and the merchant who’d taken us to Baetnal, whatever his name was. Floor-something.

It was abundantly clear I was needed there.

But Daram had just invaded Edath… Which was, perhaps ardently, not my problem. A war between mortals I had no say in unless they decided to cross the mountains south and invade Astrye. If they even got that far—Edath may be defiant, but they are a vassal of the Empire of Ordia on paper.

Which meant that the Empire was at war with Daram on paper, and that the Church forces which would otherwise potentially try to follow a corrupt angel to their deaths here in the frozen south may instead deploy to aid Edathan and Ordian troops.

They wouldn’t want me getting involved. I had no ties to the duchy they were currently invading, and Norgath sat between here and there. I would worry for Duchess Arina Kapel in Gedon, but she was far, far away from any invasion and across quite rugged terrain at that.

However, if Avarice was involved, it could suddenly become my problem. I didn’t need Lillith or Sey to point out to me that the Church wouldn’t make the distinction between kinds of demons and would use this as an excuse to make me even more of a pariah.

Still, mortals moved slowly, and unless an army of demons—perish the thought—was on its way, there would be weeks before a winter invasion could make serious headway even should Daram hold an advantage.

If that was true, none of us knew. Lilith said she hadn’t been to Daram in centuries when I’d asked.

“I think…” I mumbled into the fire, but I’d been silent long enough that Lillith and Sey stopped to listen. “I think I should get Utraxia’s forces to guard Astrye and the three of us should move to stop Envy’s plan in Navanaea.”

I felt Sey’s hand on my shoulder and I took a deep breath. “So far, we’ve been reactive, on the back foot, tails dug in, wings clipped… sorry the metaphor got away from me. What I’m trying to say is that this is a chance for us to be proactive and I don’t think Envy will expect that. They’re playing some sort of game with me, I know it.

“There’s something more at stake than them wanting to kill me—they’ve had chances and not taken them. So perhaps I’m playing right into their plans. But if we can rescue Baetnal, if we can get the Navanaeans, Formid, and the freed demons there on our side, that’s a big first step.”

“On our side?” Sey asked. “Why would we need them?”

“Credibility. I hate this, but I need to get known if we’re going to counter what Envy’s doing. They’ve already got fingers in the royal guard, but if our demons could be allowed in to fight Envy’s demons, or if people were just aware of what is going on, then we stand more of a chance of stopping their plans, pinning them down, and taking them out.”

“I like that thought!” Sey wrapped a wing around me. “In a killing mood after taking down that overblown goose?”

I frowned. Was I?

“Killing mood or not,” Lilith interjected, “I think Zarenna’s right. She’s already pulled demons out of the shadows in Edath and Ordia, and it’s a lot easier to get things done in the light, so to speak. If Envy’s goal is to get their fingers in administrations like Edath and Navanaea, it stands to reason they want to puppet them. If we drag that out into the open and get the mortals on our side, then we stand a better chance of stopping them.”

“Is it safe to presume Envy has succeeded in Daram, then?” I asked.

Lilith hummed. “Or Avarice. He’s been absent from Envy’s plans in Navanaea at least, and I can’t imagine turning an isolationist society towards war would require less than the full focus of one of them. Have Avarice or his ilk been involved here in Edath?”

I shook my head. “Not for months.”

“Then it’s probably Avarice in Daram,” Sey concluded. “It would explain how this came without warning.”

“We know the least about Daram, and the invasion won’t reach our doorstep for several weeks, at worst. Whereas Baetnal’s takeover could fell Navanaea any day. I must beseech Utraxia to extend her protection to Astrye in my absence.”

“I disagree.” Lillith’s voice was hard.

“You understand why I’m not going to listen to that, right?”

The Sovereign of Lust nodded, still frowning.

“I’ll leave at dawn, then. The trip will take until dusk—would you like a proper inn room, Lilly?”

She looked at the fire, then the dense snow falling around us. “Yes, please.” With a wholly unnecessary snap of her fingers, she donned a familiar mortal guise.

Sey laughed. “There’s no need for that.”

Lillith smiled. “Let me indulge, dear. Now would you kindly help a not-so-young woman get down from this frigid mountain, Zarenna?”

“Only if my wife says it’s alright,” I answered with a shrug.

Sey swooped in and swept Lillith up into a princess carry. “My turn, Renna. You can’t have all the transportation duties.

Lilith blinked, and I saw a flicker of fear in her eyes. Any protest she wanted to say died as Seyari took off with a jet of burning air that trailed like a comet up into the sky. I took a moment to put the fire out and jumped up after her, flying sedately toward Astrye.

Soon enough, Lillith was settled in to the inn. No one bought for a moment that she was human, to Seyari’s endless amusement. At the mention of horn polish, she’d finally given up the guise and retreated to a long bath. Not without an innuendo that still made my cheeks burn thinking about it.

Lust, alright. Of a certain sort.

I’d made it south of the forests, out to the edge of the endless white, when I felt another blindingly powerful aura enter my demesne. Panic gripped me and I soared untethered through the air until I realized familiarity in the aura.

Utraxia.

What a relief… oh no. Oh no. Oh no.

I turned in the air and sped back to Astrye. I could only hope Utraxia and Lillith didn’t cross paths.

***

Seyari was drifting around the valley’s edge when she noticed a commotion in the town square. She’d been skirting the mountains, riding the warm edge of Zarenna’s demesne as the clouds thinned to a starry, pre-dawn sky.

When she angled closer, the source of the commotion jumped out immediately: a massive blue demon standing opposed to a small, magenta one. Aura sight picked up two familiar signatures: Utraxia and Lillith.

Oh, I do not want to miss this!

If her wife were here, there’d be mediation and kind words and something between a handshake and a hug. All Sey cared to do was make them take their fight elsewhere so they wouldn’t level the town. Preferably somewhere she could watch. There wasn’t a crowd, not really. Just a few familiar and semi-familiar faces keeping an eye out from rooftops, windows, and alleys. In fact, it seemed like the whole plaza had been evacuated, just in case.

“I don’t want to hear your excuses,” Lillith hissed as Seyari touched down on a roof nearby. “In fact, I think I’ve made it abundantly clear that I don’t want anything to do with you at all!”

The pride demon opposite Lillith stood tall on her haunches, chin held high, but her tense jaw gave everything away. “They are not excuses, they are facts.”

“I. Don’t. Care!” Lillith shouted. “You ruined centuries of my life that I’ll never get back!”

“Do you really believe I am the one to blame?” Utraxia ground out. “Do you not remember what you were like then? How you struggled and how you failed me?”

Oh, they were totally a couple.

“I failed you!?”

Seyari’s feathers twitched as she felt mana gathering in the air. She jumped down just as Utraxia said something so quiet she missed it. But it made Lillith’s gathering spell stop dead. 

“What?” the Sovereign of Lust whispered in a small voice. “What did you say?”

Utraxia swallowed and took a deep breath. She looked around and seemed to finally notice Seyari. Her shoulders rolled, and her mouth worked like she was trying to avoid being sick. “I said… that I was n-not blameless. There was more… I should have done.” Another deep breath. The Sovereign of Pride was shaking now, all four legs wobbling like she might fall over any second. “I was w-w-wrong. I was wrong! There! But you were equally at fault! At least! I’m not the only one to blame for what happened!”

All of Utraxia’s high language and diction had flown away in favor of an ancient, unplaceable accent. Lillith’s eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open.

Seyari tried to hold in her laughter. Then a snort escaped, and the dam burst. The Angel of Wrath nearly fell over laughing. “You! You sounded like a scolded child! And that reaction! Stunning! Perfect!”

Utraxia growled and whipped her head toward the intruder. “How dare you!”

“Don’t laugh at her!” Lillith hissed, whirling on Seyari as well. “Do you know how difficult an apology is for the Sovereign of Pride? I’ve lived millennia and I didn’t know it was possible!”

“Lillith?” Utraxia said in a small voice, which Seyari could barely hear over her rolling chuckles.

The Sovereign of Lust shook her head. “No. No we can’t. Not after what happened, never. But…” she bit her bottom lip. “I am sorry for what I did to you. Credit Zarenna for making me more introspective, but I suppose I laid the blame for my own failings at your hooves. It wasn’t fair.”

Utraxia smiled wide. “Apology accepted.”

“Yes, I imagine that was a good deal easier for you than taking even an ounce of deserved blame. I suppose we should tell Zarenna that we’ll have no issues working together against a common foe?”

“We shall.” Utraxia reached down into—is that a saddlebag? She pulled out a neatly-folded, slim stack of parchment. “I did not deign to record what I have admitted, but there was something else I could do, inspired perhaps by recent events.”

Lillith, brow furrowed, flicked open the parchment and scanned the lines. Her brows shot up and she gasped, clutching the letter and staring at it like it held the secret to defeating Envy. When Sey sidled around for a look, she suddenly found herself halfway across the plaza, several seconds later and with no memory of walking there.

She shivered and shook her wings. They are still Sovereign demons. Ancient… monsters is an unkind word, but their power is monstrous indeed. Seyari hadn’t even felt the shift of mana of a spell forming.

By the time she shook off the effects of whatever Lillith had done to her and walked back over, the Sovereign of Lust was clutching the letter to her chest, crying. She’d moved to stand next to Utraxia, who had regained her “better than you” pose and presence.

“I knew I still had the gift of prose,” Utraxia declared proudly.

Lillith wiped her eyes. “Oh you have more than that. I’d forgotten just how wonderfully depraved the mind of an uptight ancient could be. And this is only the first chapter! Will there be more? Another volume? A proper sequel?”

“I should not think my mighty creative talents to be stymied by another century of fallow thought.”

“So, yes?”

“You understood me perfectly well, Lillith.”

“Yes, but your writing is so much more direct. So to the point.” Lillith’s eyes glowed bright pink.

Seyari blinked, and suddenly felt like she really ought to leave. But at the same time, she was rooted to her spot at the edge of the square, her mind flashing back to the books at Lillith’s home in Navanaea.

“You are married,” Utraxia retorted.

Lillith waved the concern away with a hand. “He’s into that.”

Utraxia snorted. “You just made it clear there is no chance.”

“Not for romance, dear. You know well what I am.”

“A bleeding heart?”

“A connoisseur of kinks.” Lillith batted her eyes.

Utraxia took a step back. “This is more than sudden.” 

“Is that a no?” Lillith’s seductive tone vanished, and she leaned back, suddenly proper.

“It is a ‘not yet.’ I require time to decide on a proper course of action.”

“Okay!” Lillith chirped. “And I’ll require time for some of the more exotic ingredients we’ll need.”

Utraxia looked at Seyari with wide eyes. The Angel of Wrath couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing again.