The meeting room beneath the western council wing had no windows.
One wall was instead occupied by a vast projection of Nuria and the countries surrounding it, the old imperial borders overlaid with the political map Arik knew from the world outside the Gate.
Agaron dominated much of the territory south of Nuria now, its borders considerably larger than those preserved in Nurian archives. Damian and Gabriel had absorbed most of the smaller southern regions into the empire over the decades, turning what the old maps showed as scattered kingdoms and independent territories into provinces under Agaron’s authority.
Pais remained Pais, remarkably unchanged compared with the other states around them.
Farther away, Donin was ruled by Christian, Damian’s younger brother.
Wrohan had changed hands much more recently.
George was dead, and Rex now held Wrohan’s throne.
The difficulty was not understanding the world outside.
It was determining what would happen when that world discovered Nuria had returned.
Arik stood at the head of the long stone table in a fitted black coat, one hand resting beside the projected border as Minister Avedan studied the southern territories.
"Agaron occupies considerably more land than our historical records indicate."
"Yes," Arik said. "Most of these smaller states no longer exist independently."
He swept two fingers across the projection, highlighting several former borders.
"My father absorbed them gradually. Some through treaties, others through political unions or military intervention. Their local administrations still exist, but they answer to Agaron."
Cassir leaned forward. "Would Emperor Damian regard Nuria’s return as a territorial concern?"
"No."
Arik answered without hesitation.
"Agaron will not attack Nuria."
That was the one border he did not need intelligence estimates to understand.
General Seredin studied him from farther down the table. "Even if Nuria reclaims territory historically considered part of the empire?"
"We are not reclaiming anything merely because Goliath once placed it on a map."
Several ministers went quiet.
Arik looked over the projection.
"Nuria has been isolated for seventy-two years. Borders changed while it was absent. People outside built governments, families, cities, and economies without us. We will not appear after seven decades and announce that their land belongs to a dead sovereign’s records."
Cassir gave a slight nod.
"That simplifies the southern negotiations considerably."
"It should."
The discussion shifted toward Pais and Donin.
Arik knew enough of both governments to provide a foundation, but even his knowledge had limits. Nuria’s emergence would change existing calculations, particularly once other states understood the extent of its ether technology and surviving industrial infrastructure.
Wrohan created a different concern.
"King Rex is recently established," Cassir said.
"Yes."
"Stable?"
"For now."
Arik enlarged Wrohan.
"Rex inherited a kingdom damaged by George’s rule and Felix’s influence. He has enough internal problems without provoking Nuria.
Nobody asked how George had lost his throne.
They already knew.
Arik moved on.
"Our immediate problem is not geography. It is perception. The outside world knows Nuria as a closed territory that disappeared behind the Gate. If access returns suddenly, every neighboring government will want to know what we are, what we possess, and whether we intend to expand."
"And what do we tell them?" Avedan asked.
"The truth where possible. Nothing where necessary."
Cassir smiled.
Arik’s private channel opened.
Only one person had access to that line without passing through palace staff.
Liam.
Arik glanced at the notification hovering near his wrist.
No message.
His eyes narrowed.
He had left Liam less than an hour earlier after telling him to wait several more weeks.
The silence afterward had been suspiciously final.
Arik sent a message beneath the edge of the table.
What are you planning?
No response.
Seredin continued outlining temporary border observation posts, focusing particularly on areas that might reopen first if the Gate network stabilized unevenly.
Arik listened, approved additional surveillance, then checked the channel again.
Nothing.
He sent another message.
Liam.
An image appeared.
Arik opened it discreetly.
Something gold rested against white bedding.
Their bedding.
He recognized the sheets before he understood the object lying on top of them.
It was small, flat, and polished, with a curved design and an ornate locking mechanism.
Arik enlarged the image.
Then frowned.
A gold chastity cage.
Of course.
He stared at it for another second before closing the photograph.
That, at least, he could ignore even if it required all his might.
"Continue," he told Seredin.
The general resumed.
They discussed controlled diplomatic crossings, existing roads that might reconnect with modern infrastructure beyond Nuria, and whether foreign delegations should initially be received in Deira or in a secured border district.
Arik recommended the latter until they understood how much attention Nuria’s return would attract.
His channel opened again and waited thirty seconds.
Arik opened the second image.
For several seconds, the meeting ceased to exist.
Liam stood beside their bed in a robe so sheer it barely qualified as clothing, white fabric falling loosely over his smaller frame while his long brown hair remained unbound down his back. Thin gold chains circled his wrists and ankles, another resting low around his waist... And beneath all of it was the cage.
Locked.
The message beneath the photograph was brief.
You said to wait.
Arik’s hand closed around the edge of the table.
His rut had been quiet for months.
Suppressants, discipline, and careful management had kept the dominant instincts that came with his ether under control while they dealt with Nuria, the Core, and Liam’s contamination. Even over the past month, when exhaustion had reduced his patience and his desire for Liam had remained painfully present, Arik had kept it contained.
The photograph shattered that restraint.
Heat rolled through him so suddenly that he had to lock his ether down before the people around the table noticed.
His mind supplied the rest without permission.
Liam waiting in their rooms.
That white robe discarded somewhere on the floor.
Gold chains beneath Arik’s hands.
The lock removed only when Arik decided Liam had waited long enough.
His mate had deliberately dressed himself to provoke an alpha who had spent weeks refusing to touch him.
And Liam knew exactly what that meant.
"Your Highness?"
Cassir’s voice reached him from an unreasonable distance.
Arik locked the screen.
"Continue."
His voice sounded normal.
That was an achievement.
Cassir resumed the discussion concerning controlled crossings into Agaronian territory while Arik stared at the projection and absorbed perhaps half of what was being said.
He understood the subject and each problem raised by the people around him.
His mind simply preferred the image several floors above.
Liam’s waist beneath those chains.
His hair spread across their pillows.
The smug expression that would disappear the moment Arik finally stopped exercising restraint.
Arik drew a slow breath.
Bad idea.
The movement only reminded him that Liam’s scent would already be filling their bedroom.
He tightened his grip on the armchair until the wood groaned.
Seredin shifted the projection toward Wrohan.
Arik forced himself to concentrate.
"Rex will cooperate," he said. "Send the preliminary diplomatic framework through the existing channel. Nothing public until we decide how Nuria announces itself."
The general nodded.
His private channel opened again.
Arik stared straight ahead.
He was not opening another picture.
Absolutely not.
The bond pulsed warmly.
Liam’s satisfaction reached him with infuriating clarity.
Arik closed his eyes for one brief second.
The brat had planned this.
He had asked politely for an hour.
Arik had refused him.
So Liam had apparently decided to dismantle his self-control from several floors away instead.
Cassir began discussing Pais.
Arik listened. But somewhere beneath the diplomatic calculations, another decision had already settled.
The meeting would finish.
The ministers would leave.
And then Liam was going to discover exactly how effective his little ambush had been.