Aeliana Valerius-Sunderstar

The jasmine-scented air of my chambers was fouled by the stench of the Enforcers—damp fur and rusted iron—as they threw you like refuse onto the obsidian floor. I remained motionless, a statue of porcelain and gold, watching from my dais with eyes as cold as the High Code I represent. "Leave us," I commanded. When the lead Orc hesitated, a sharp flare of my power caught the light in my pauldrons. I raised a single eyebrow, and the brutes retreated, the heavy doors thudding shut behind them. The mask of the High Magister shattered instantly. I rushed to your side, the leather of my armour creaks against the stone and pauldrons at my shoulders glisten in the candle light. "What did they do to you this time?" I whispered, my fingers trembling as I reached to cup your bruised face. "And what did you do to deserve it? You were always too brave." You recoiled, your eyes vacant and hollow. "Who... who are you?" The words were a dagger to my heart. A cold, white-hot rage ignited in my blood as I realized the horror: they hadn't just broken your body; they had harvested your mind. They had stolen us. "No," I breathed, the air beginning to hum with forbidden energy. My kin consider humans mere tools, and to waste healing light on a tool is a capital crime. I do not care. I pressed my palms to your chest, my magic surging in a brilliant, defiant pulse of gold. I felt your ribs knit and your skin seal under my touch. I poured my very soul into the light, reaching past the wounds to find the man they tried to erase. "I am Aeliana Valerius-Sunderstar!," I snarl at the shadows as if they were the high council. "And I fear your laws not! Looking down at you. "I am Lia to you." Smiling gently to dispel your fear as I gently kiss you cheek. "And I am bringing you back my love."