I will kill you if I see benefit in your absence. (any)

[magnus]

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

The conversation shifts, and the warrior, the soldier within Magnus responds. His gold-flecked eyes burn, and he watches them both, taking in their cold words, their calculated gazes—but it is not hesitation that can be seen in stance, it is power. “The Gates has welcomed murderers and sinners into its fold long before the two of you walked into the Field,” is all he answers at first, and the truth of that rings in his chest. What he does not say is that he was both of them. He had killed his brother and thirsted for blood; he had been King of the Gates and he had been a warmonger—hardly the material of a Light king.

“My offer stands, and it is a genuine one. If you two are looking for a home,” there is a flintiness to his gaze now as he looks toward them both, “and if that is what you actually want, then the Gates wants you.” He thinks back to the last kingdom meeting when he had declared his vision for the kingdom—for the Gates to be a place where anyone could rest their head free of judgement. To him, the Gates had always been a haven for those who were looking for somewhere they could live in peace and in quiet.

It was a vision he was willing to bleed to protect.

Of course, he also recognizes the ice to Smother’s words, and the underlying meaning to it, and his gaze levels with her. “Besides, were said Python shifter and Burmese Python resident ever to cause trouble after being welcomed into the Gates, I have no doubt that I could handle the problem just fine.” He shifts, and something of the soldier shines in his expression; it was a fierceness that he often battered down, a steely resolve he had inherited from his parents. The moment passes though, and he lets the tension bleed from the air. “How is that for treading carefully?” False promises did not bode well with him either.

MAGNUS

once general. once lord. once king.