we are aching bones and wasted years; cinzia, any

[magnus]

you and I both know that the house is haunted
and you and I both know that the ghost is me

Magnus is acutely aware that it is not polite to call upon the sisterhood so often—and even more impolite to bring a guest to show their kingdom—but he is grateful that Rhy does not turn him away. He may not live in the Jungle anymore (and, truthfully, he would be discontent to live in a kingdom where he could not serve as a full-fledged member), but it was still his home. Even if the Gates and the Amazons were to end up on different sides in a pending war, he would be hard-pressed to fight against them. Not that he admitted such weakness aloud, but he knew in his heart, he would not be able to bring harm to them.

Smiling toward Rhy, he simply dips his head and then glances toward Cinzia with a smile.

As they make their way through the kingdom, he stays most silently, weaving his way deftly through the arching roots and tangled vines that barred their path. Purposefully, he kept their path along the edges of the kingdom without cutting toward the center. He knew Rhy was being gracious by letting them enter, but he also knew that the sisterhood was a fiercely private kingdom; he would not upset them further by letting a stranger see the inner workings of the jungle and get to know their topography. Magnus knew their landscape was an enormous advantage when it came to war, and he would not see that spoiled.

He laughs when she finally speaks and glances up to see some of the birds taking flight from where they had been nesting in the trees, upset by the sudden rumble of noise. “You get used to it. Everything else begins to feel…empty.” The Gates had been difficult to adjust to for that same reason, although he had learned how to deal with the quiet during his stint in the Chamber—there it was mostly silent except that faint thumping of his father’s heart. “You aren’t quiet though,” he looks at her with gold-flecked eyes. “Even if you don’t say much, you are very much alive and loud. I can practically feel your thoughts.”

Smiling again, this time his expression wistful, “The green here is unlike anything I have seen anywhere else.” It was brilliant—sometimes jeweled in tones, other times almost as dark as midnight—but it was always alive and vivid. He loved it. “I’m glad that I was given the chance to show you it in person.”

MAGNUS

once general. once lord. once king.