Can I get a bump? {Magnus}

[magnus]

He smiled kindly at her as she dropped her head, as she looked up at him through her lashes. “I am very glad to know that you found your way here,” he said, voice genuine. For a moment, he glanced away toward the border, missing the almost touch, not seeing the space between them disappear for a second. When he looked back, she had withdrawn, but he had no way of knowing and so he only smiled.

“To be completely frank, I don’t view it as ruling much.” He shrugged his powerful shoulders,  the scars rippling across them, as he stepped forward and to her side. “I have been General, and Lord, and King before of several kingdoms before the Reckoning.” He had called so many different places home, rising in rank in many of them, turning his bloodshed and sweat into power. “I do not claim to be King here. I am merely a guardian. I help protect those who call it home and serve them to the best of my abilities.”

It was the promise he had made to the faeries when Offspring and he had crawled up the mountain to make their case. They would use Tephra as a home and not a grab for power. They would use it to shield their families and any who needed a safe place to call their own. It was a promise he intended to keep.

“Now, if you are asking how long I have led, it would be since the beginning, although it was not always alone. After the Reckoning, Tephra was born from an alliance between several kingdoms. I helped to found it alongside Offspring, Eight, and Malis. They have, however, stepped down to live privately.” Leaving him to lead it alone. It was a lonely life sometimes, but it was one that he was accustomed to. He did not mind the responsibility that settled along his shoulders, the constant need to protect the land.

He laughed lightly at her question, although not unkindly, and stepped away, motioning her forward. “Well, as a diplomat, the best thing to show you would be the borders.” And with a smile, he moved forward to the border of Tephra, leading her around molten lava and water alike.

out of the blue out into the loneliest place that you'll ever know
I carried the world just as far as I could but the damage had taken its toll