For a week, Nox did not speak of the traveler's offer. He went about his duties as Emperor, but there was a new, distant look in his eyes. He would sit in council meetings, his gaze fixed on the holographic map, but he was not looking at his own world; he was looking at the infinite possibilities beyond it.
Serian watched him, her heart aching with a quiet, understanding sadness. She knew what choice he was going to make. He was a creature of the storm, and their world was now a calm, peaceful sea.
One evening, they were on the balcony, watching the twin moons of their new reality rise over the horizon.
"You're going to go, aren't you?" she said, her voice a soft whisper.
He didn't answer for a long time. He just looked out at the city, at the home they had built together. "This place," he said finally, "it doesn't need a king like me anymore. It needs a queen like you."
