Who was Elara?
She was a World-Spirit.
How could a being with such a profound origin ever be content with the quiet life of a consort, raising children in the deep halls of a castle? Her very subconscious rebelled against such a fate.
Besides, Orion was no longer the greenhorn he once was. He understood that Elara's world had been utterly destroyed. He didn't know the specifics of its demise, but he knew that her very existence was an act of defiance, a desperate craving for something that had been lost. Her fascination with the World Dragon and her desire for the throne were clues.
Elara craved power. She needed to be the one looking down from on high.
"You don't like it?"
Elara didn't answer the question. Orion lifted her from the throne and settled her onto his lap, their eyes meeting.
"How about this," he said, his voice low and serious. "If my little Elara can reach the rank of peak archlord before her eighteenth birthday, I will give you a throne of your very own."
