"They will if you make it convincing." He leaned against the control panel, casual. "You'll tell them you've found your true mate. That you want to be with him, to live a life free from the burden of leadership. It's a beautiful story, really. Romantic. The kind of thing that will make even the hardest hearts sympathize."
I forced a bitter laugh. "You're forgetting one small detail. The entire Alliance thinks you're dead. You've been dead for over a century."
"A minor complication." Riuondo waved his hand dismissively. "Easily resolved."
"Easily?" I stared at him. "You expect to just... appear? After a hundred years? They'll know something's wrong. They'll investigate—"
"Let them investigate." His smile widened. "They'll find exactly what I want them to find. Two days after your abdication, Asad intelligence will receive an anonymous tip about a slave operation in the Outer Reaches. They'll mount a rescue mission—very heroic, very public—and discover me among the captives."
The audacity of it took my breath away. "No one will believe that."
"Won't they?" He began to pace, clearly enjoying himself. "I've already planted the evidence. Records of my capture. Bills of sale passed through three different criminal syndicates. Even genetic samples in a black market database." He paused, turning to face me. "I've spent decades building this cover story, Serna. Every detail is perfect. Every piece of evidence will check out."
"The Council will question—"
"The Council will be overjoyed." He cut me off. "One of their own, miraculously returned from the dead? A survivor of unimaginable horrors? They'll welcome me with open arms. Especially after you've so graciously stepped down, leaving a power vacuum that desperately needs filling."
I shook my head. "The timing is too convenient. Right after I abdicate—"
"Is precisely why it will work." Riuondo leaned forward, his eyes gleaming. "You abdicate for love. I return from hell itself. Two separate stories that happen to intersect at a momentwhen the Alliance needs stability. The Council won't look too closely—they'll be too relieved to have a solution to their problems."
"Someone will see through it. Ako, or—"
"Ako is already compromised by his association with you and his human mate." His voice turned cold. "And anyone else who might question too closely... well, accidents happen. Especially in the chaos following a Prime's abdication."
I stared at him. "And if I refuse?"
His smile vanished. "Then I torture your mate to death while you watch."
The chamber fell silent except for the hum of machinery and the synchronized beating of our hearts on the monitors.
"You're insane," I said quietly.
"No." Riuondo straightened, his expression shifting to something almost offended. "I'm brilliant. But you never could see that, could you?"
"You killed them," I said, my voice low and deadly. "All of them. Kaell'inth. Threnara. Vextaral. Sollix. Melthis. You murdered every single Prime candidate who stood between you and succession."
I expected denial. Outrage. Some attempt at deflection.
Instead, Riuondo smiled.
"Finally," he said, spreading his arms wide. "Finally, someone sees it. Do you know how frustrating it's been? Decades of careful planning, meticulous execution, and no one—no one—recognized the artistry of it."
My blood ran cold. "You're proud of it."
"Of course I'm proud of it!" His voice rose with genuine enthusiasm. "Do you have any idea how difficult it was? How many years of planning each death required? Kaell'inth's shuttle accident alone took years to arrange. I had to study his flight patterns, his maintenance schedules, find the right mechanicto bribe." He began pacing, animated now, like a professor lecturing on his favorite subject. "Threnara was easier—poison is remarkably simple when you have access to Romvesian royal laboratories. But Vextaral? That required patience. Waiting for the perfect hunting trip, training the right predator, ensuring it would look natural."
"You're a monster," I whispered.
"I'm a survivor." He stopped pacing and fixed me with a cold stare. "When you beat me in those trials, when the Council choseyouover me, I realized something. The system was flawed. It didn't matter how qualified I was, how much stronger my vision for the Alliance. They chose you because you could control your emotions better." He spat the words like a curse. "So I learned. I adapted. I became patient."
"The first death," I said, pieces falling into place. "Kaell'inth. That's when you realized—"
"That I could get away with it. Yes." Riuondo's smile widened. "I wasn't thinking about killing him, but then we were on planet Keerinth at the same time and I couldn't take the change that he might have seen me. When his shuttle went down, and everyone mourned the tragedy. No investigation. No suspicion. Just... acceptance. And I thought, 'What if they all died? What if, one by one, every candidate who stood between me and the Prime position simply... ceased to exist?'"
"So you spent decades—"
"Building my network. Yes." He moved back to the control panel, running his fingers along its surface almost lovingly. "I cultivated relationships with royals who shared my vision. Lord Savelth of the Crimson Valleys. Duke Moren. Lady Vesprex—a weapons merchant with access to military-grade technology. They all understood that the Alliance needed stronger leadership. Real strength. Not the weakness of considering humanity as equals."
