Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Five
Crow didn't need to see Sylvanna's glowing green eyes or feel the subtle shift in nature's magic to know what was happening. He was a necromancer, a summoner, and above all—observant. The air around him trembled, not with danger, but with jealousy sharpened to a blade's edge.
He turned calmly from Liana, who was currently tracing a glowing rune on his arm with unnecessary slowness.
"Sylvanna," Crow said firmly, voice cool as shadow.
A breath passed. The earth stilled.
Up in the gnarled tree, Sylvanna's posture shifted. Her vines retracted half an inch.
"I wasn't going to do anything... yet," she replied innocently, the forest around her eerily silent.
Crow stepped forward until he was beneath the tree, and met her stare directly.
"I appreciate your loyalty. Your strength. Even your protectiveness," he said. "But I won't have my allies turning on each other."
Sylvanna crossed her arms, expression unreadable.
"Liana keeps trying to seduce you."
"She's testing boundaries," Crow replied evenly. "And I've set them."
Then he surprised her.
He reached up and extended a hand.
"I chose you as one of my first Primordial allies for a reason, Sylvanna. You don't need to compete for my attention. You already have it."
For a moment, the silence between them was louder than a battlefield.
Then Sylvanna exhaled, tension bleeding from her shoulders. She floated down from the tree, landing silently before him. She didn't take his hand—but she stood closer.
"I just don't like... being overlooked," she muttered.
Crow gave a rare, slight smile.
"You never were."
Behind them, Liana narrowed her eyes but said nothing. She'd seen enough to know one thing: this wouldn't be the last moment of divine jealousy.
And Crow? He knew he was going to have to manage more than just armies and kingdoms from now on.