Morgause kept working.
I stayed seated across from her.
And for several minutes, absolutely nothing happened.
It was wonderful.
After weeks of ancient Goddesses, dimensional anomalies, and conversations about the very real possibility of dying, I had discovered that watching Morgause sign documents could be surprisingly entertaining.
Mostly because it was Morgause.
Also because she still hadn’t thrown me out.
“You’re still staring at me,” she said without looking up from the report.
“I’m appreciating the atmosphere.”
“You’re staring at me.”
“You’re a very important part of the atmosphere.”
The tip of her pen stopped moving.
“Nellie.”
I smiled and rested my chin on one hand.
“It’s been almost fifteen minutes.”
Morgause slowly raised her eyes.
“Are you counting?”
“Historical documentation.”
“Of course.”
Fifteen whole minutes inside the Demon Queen’s office.
With permission.
No fire.
No guards.
No threats involving windows.
Attempt number thirty-five was breaking records.
The door opened before I could share that important statistic.
“Your Majesty, I have the latest reports on the displaced groups from the western sector,” Orbit announced as he entered.
Then he saw me.
He stopped.
Looked at my chair.
Then at Morgause.
Then back at me.
“Oh.”
Morgause didn’t even lift her head.
“No.”
“I haven’t said anything yet, Your Majesty.”
“You don’t need to.”
Orbit smiled.
“Miss Nellie.”
“General Orbit.”
“You’re sitting.”
I looked down.
“So it would seem.”
“Voluntarily?”
Morgause set her pen down.
“Orbit.”
I raised one finger.
“With permission, too.”
Orbit’s expression brightened.
“Extraordinary.”
“Thank you.”
“There is nothing extraordinary about this,” Morgause cut in. “The report?”
Orbit immediately returned to a professional expression.
“Of course.”
He approached the desk and placed a folder in front of her.
“The patrols found two more groups affected by the Rupture. Thirty-two demons and eleven humans.”
My smile faded.
“Together?”
“Not at first,” Orbit replied. “The humans were hiding in some ruins when we found them.”
Morgause opened the folder.
“Injuries?”
“Three. None serious.”
“Why were they hiding?”
Orbit took only a moment to answer.
“They believed our soldiers would kill them if they revealed themselves.”
The office went quiet.
So did I.
It wasn’t hard to understand why they thought that.
After all, the humans had summoned me from another world specifically to help fight the demons.
Morgause turned a page.
“They’ll be treated like any other displaced civilians,” she said calmly. “Food, shelter, medical attention. Once there’s a safe route back to human territory, they’ll be escorted there.”
Orbit inclined his head.
“As you command, Your Majesty.”
He didn’t close the folder.
Morgause noticed.
“There’s more.”
“Yes.”
Some of the lightness disappeared from Orbit’s voice.
“Twelve demon civilians appeared on the other side of Aldren’s border.”
My stomach tightened.
“Are they all right?” I asked.
Orbit looked at me.
“They’re alive.”
That wasn’t really an answer.
Morgause set down her pen.
“What happened?”
“The first village they reached refused to let them inside. There was a confrontation. Two were injured before a human patrol intervened.”
Morgause’s fingers slowly tightened against the edge of the desk.
“Who is with them now?”
“The same patrol. The officer in command refused to hand them over to the villagers and set up a camp outside the walls until we could retrieve them.”
Morgause remained still for several seconds.
“Send an escort.”
“It’s already prepared.”
“And get me that officer’s name.”
Orbit raised an eyebrow.
“To file a complaint?”
Morgause looked at him.
“To thank him.”
Something shifted inside my chest.
I had been summoned as a Heroine to protect humans from people like her.
And there Morgause was, worrying about eleven humans who had probably grown up hearing stories about demons murdering them if they ever fell into their hands.
Maybe the absurd part wasn’t that I had fallen in love with her.
Maybe the absurd part was how long it had taken me to start understanding any of this.
Orbit closed the folder.
“That’s all for now, Your Majesty.”
“Good.”
He bowed.
Before leaving, he looked at me.
Then at Morgause.
His smile returned.
“I’m pleased to see the situation here is also... stabilizing.”
“Orbit,” Morgause said.
“I’ll take my leave.”
He slipped out before she could add anything else.
The door closed.
This time, I didn’t make a joke.
Morgause noticed.
“What?”
I looked at the folder Orbit had left behind.
“I don’t understand how humans and demons can still hate each other after something like the Rupture.”
She leaned back slightly in her chair.
“Because a few weeks of shared suffering do not erase centuries of fear.”
“But those soldiers helped the demons.”
“And our soldiers helped humans.”
“Exactly. So it can change.”
Morgause was silent.
“It can,” she admitted at last. “That doesn’t mean it’s simple.”
I leaned forward.
“Why do you always say that like you’re trying to convince me to stop trying?”
Her eyes met mine.
She didn’t answer.
And then I understood.
Or at least part of it.
“Does this have something to do with me?”
Morgause closed her eyes for a moment.
When she opened them again, she no longer looked annoyed.
Just tired.
“Do you truly believe that all this time, the only problem has been that you irritate me?”
I blinked.
“Well... that does make up a significant portion of our dynamic.”
“Nellie.”
I stopped smiling.
Morgause lowered her gaze to her hands.
“You’re a Legendary Heroine.”
“I know.”
“A human Heroine.”
I didn’t answer.
“You were brought into this world to fight us. To fight me. To humans, you are one of the people who is supposed to protect them from demons.”
Her gaze returned to mine.
“And to my people, you are one of the weapons humans summoned to kill me.”
That sounded much worse when she put it that way.
“I’m not a weapon.”
“I know.”
The answer came immediately.
That shut me up.
Morgause continued.
“But knowing that does not change what you represent to everyone else. If a human Heroine remains at the side of the Demon Queen, some humans will say she was manipulated. Others will say she betrayed them.”
Her fingers tensed slightly.
“And some demons will say I allowed one of the people sent to kill me to get too close to their queen. That I placed my feelings above the safety of my people.”
My heart struck once, hard.
My feelings.
She seemed to realize what she had said.
Her gaze shifted away.
I didn’t smile.
Not this time.
“What do you think?” I asked.
Morgause remained silent.
“Morgause.”
“I think I have a kingdom I’m responsible for.”
That wasn’t what I had asked.
And we both knew it.
“That doesn’t answer me.”
“You cannot always get the answer you want.”
“I’m not asking as part of attempt thirty-five.”
That made her look at me.
I swallowed.
“I’m asking seriously.”
For several seconds, Morgause looked like she was arguing with herself.
Finally, she spoke.
“I think you’re dangerous.”
I frowned.
“That sounded less romantic than I was hoping for.”
“Not because of your magic.”
Oh.
“Then why?”
Morgause lowered her voice.
“Because you make me want things a queen cannot afford to want without first considering the consequences.”
I had no answer.
None.
Me.
Nellie.
The woman who could turn a death threat into flirting.
I was completely speechless.
Morgause looked away.
“There. You have your answer.”
For thirty-five attempts, I had thought my goal was to get Morgause to say yes.
I had never stopped to wonder what saying yes might cost her.
I looked at the folder on the desk.
Humans afraid of demons.
Demons rejected by humans.
Centuries of fear compressed into a handful of pages.
And the two of us right in the middle of it.
“Then I have another goal,” I said.
Morgause frowned.
“That sentence never announces anything good.”
“I don’t mean a date.”
“That makes it worse.”
I shook my head.
“If the problem is that being with me would force you to choose between your people and me... then I’m not going to ask you to choose.”
Her expression changed.
“Nellie...”
“I don’t know how to do it yet,” I admitted. “But if humans and demons can help each other after the Rupture, then it isn’t impossible.”
“One patrol does not change the world.”
“No.”
I smiled slightly.
“But it’s a start.”
Morgause watched me for a long time.
Then she exhaled slowly.
“You’re far too optimistic.”
“One of my best qualities.”
“I’m not sure about that.”
“But you didn’t say I was wrong.”
Her eyes narrowed.
Ah.
There it was again.
I settled proudly into my chair.
Morgause picked up her pen.
“Do not turn this into another one of your romantic victories.”
“Too late.”
“Nellie.”
I smiled.
The problem was much bigger than I had thought.
For the first time, winning Morgause’s heart seemed like the easy part.
Now I only had to convince two peoples who had spent generations hating each other to stop.
Well.
No one had ever said marrying the Demon Queen would be easy.