"I will speak to the Lord Commander alone," Kaguya said.
Ryuuki and Haruka exchanged a glance — brief, wordless — and both nodded. Haruka rose from the floor, adjusted Ryuuji against her chest, and walked toward the door. Ryuuki followed.
The doors closed and the throne room settled into a silence that felt different from the silence before — smaller, more honest, stripped of the performance that a room full of people always required.
Kaguya looked at Nathan across the empty space between them.
"You are willing to take her to Tenebria?" she asked. "To protect Haruka and her child personally?"
"My women will protect her," Nathan replied. "Most of my wives are Human. They understand what it is to be far from home and in need. Haruka won't be a stranger — she'll be a guest under genuine protection." He held Kaguya's gaze. "You trust Tenebria or you don't. I'm not going to argue the case further."
