If thou openest not the gate to let me enter,
I will break the door, I will wrench the lock,
I will smash the door-posts, I will force the doors.
I will bring up the dead to eat the living.
And the dead will outnumber the living.

Ishtar was exhausted from the dreams she did not control nor remember. All that remained was an unsettled feeling within her chest. She's pleased that Paldor lowers his voice even if it was not in reverence to her sleeping son. She wraps her tail around her legs, stifling a yawn against the brightening lights. Ishtar's yellow-gold eyes turn to Ruvindra for a moment, listening as the former Queen pleaded with her to listen and to believe. If she could raise an eyebrow in curiosity she would of instead she licked her lips and settled herself before returning her gaze to the pupiless white wolf that had seemed such a reluctant pack member. She wasn't even convinced that he could be completely trusted and that if Ruvindra ever left her court, that Paldor would be following along quickly.

She reminded herself that they were not Demon, though it seemed that they adhered to their codes so well. Ah, even the Fallen were to be elevated weren't they? He explains that he was a Seer. She understood then why Ruvindra had said that she birthed one. One of the supposed heirs to Iromar proclaimed herself to be as such but had not produced anything to support such a claim. Ishtar had heard of such, and she had seen Demonic rulers that kept one close to them but it seemed to Ishtar more of a crutch to an unfit ruler than a real asset. Then again, the rulers that had used them feared their own death. Ishtar did not fear anything and she only hoped that she went against a greater adversary than herself. To die in battle, with blood drawn on both sides. That would be the sort of death she could live with, if there was such a thing. She nodded, accepting Paldor at his word but curious to see what else he had to discuss with her. If he expected to be elevated simply on his word, she would quickly remind him that in Demonic culture everyone earned their status.

He then speaks of Baphomet. Her expression becomes stone hard, and the hair upon her ruff stands up as she feels the anger rise up. She tries so hard not to lash out and let him finish the sentences that resonated in her brain like a howl into a cavern. He had seen it. He had seen her equal die in a way that no Demon was meant to die. Without her even realizing it, her lip curls up and exposes the yellowed teeth that had slaughtered dozens without any thought. And then he apologizes it. He apologizes like that would somehow heal over the hole in her heart that Baphomet left in his wake. She lunges, losing control and pins him to the ground, her teeth snapping in his ear and considers tearing his throat out and eating his flesh for his trespasses against her kind. "You apologize? You're sorry? You could of saved your KING, and my equal. The father of my children. You could of saved him and instead you're sorry." She snarled at him, a foam developing around the jaws that had ripped life from this world several times over. "AND THEN, you think you can simply offer your services to me as a consolation prize? How could I trust you? How would I know that you would not foresee my death and help it along?" She stands over him, but she doesn't break his skin. No, she did not go so far but there was the threat. "Be careful with your next words Paldor, for I swear on Baphomet's watery grave that they may be your last." She warned him and this time it was not a idle threat.

It was perhaps the first time that her true emotions about the loss of her equal and the love of her life. She had taken the throne of Iromar seriously, and had acted more than she had felt. She would rebuild from the muck and mud of Iromar into a land that she could pass down to her children and leave a legacy worth having. But for now, now the anger of being left alone and the knowledge that it could of been prevented opened wounds that were only beginning to heal. Perhaps it would of been better for everyone involved if Paldor did not reclaim his dreams and his purpose in life and continued to be Ruvindra's ghostly shadow.

ISHTAR.