It was a momentous scene, the Dark Elves standing proud upon their towering castle bowing down to the demon queen at the bottom of their steps. She stood on the land she once knew while they perched upon their self-made legacy. The demons knew nothing of architecture, they had left no structures for the elves to occupy. All of this the shadow people had hewed from the mountainside themselves long after the demons had been cast out, forging the land as they saw fit, claiming it firmly as their own with the stubborn permanence of walls and garrisons.<br/><br/>The King magnamiously welcomed them as if he spoke for the broken mountain himself (and it would always be a singular mountain, no matter its twin peaks) and Minas could not stop her sharp toothed grin from curling her maw, dreadfully amused by his careful wording. She spared a sly glance at Ranuk, her tails curling in lazy spirals.<br/><br/><i>Do you hear that? </i>Her glinting eyes seemed to say,<i>we are <u>celebrated</u>. <br/>
</i><br/>Ranuk's returning huff was sardonic.<i>Some party, indeed. <br/>
</i><br/>Minas did not return the bow before ascending the stairs, Ranuk and Goshnar flanking behind. Her fox-like feet were silent as she stepped along the carpet but the clawed feet of her husband and son were loud and scraping against the stone, Goshnar's heavy tail grating in the tremendous silence around them.<br/><br/>Minas eventually came to stand before the four royals and though she stood a few steps lower they did not have to look down to gaze upon her face. She did not know a single one of them other than their names, as the mothers had never fought or parlayed with their enemy. Ranuk though recognized a stone grey face, carved with his own mark.<br/><br/>The rage of the Dark Elf prince was palpable in the air, the burning metal smell of a forge honing a blade of pure malice. Ranuk remembered that battle, even remembered his name. Naviin, grandson of the elf that had killed Ranuk's sire, and so very determined to honor his grandfather's legacy by killing Ranuk. The battle had been vigorous and the elf proved himself skilled but he had been no match for the white demon.<br/><br/>Ranuk had not wanted to kill the prince as he was beloved by his people and at the time, the war was over. The demons were defeated and they only had plans of escape. To kill Naviin would only renew the hunt, so Ranuk had waylaid the prince to give the lesser demons time to retreat. It took nearly maiming the prince to get him to stop his pursuit and Ranuk had left him bleeding in the grass, face flayed open.<br/><br/>He had thought he had broken the prince's jaw but apparently not. It was a surprise to see that his injury had healed so well. Ranuk's wintery gaze was appraising as he eyed his old adversary, idly curios if the prince had improved since last they met. He was sure Naviin would dearly love to show him if not for the diplomacy of this meeting.<br/><br/>As the two regarded each other, one murderous, the other bemused, Minas turned her head to the queen and smiled, squarely ignoring the presence of the king entirely.<br/><br/>"Love what you've done with the place," she said in accented elvish, her tone sly and slippery but so strangely charming one didnt know whether to be insulted or not.