#this whole post is just 'here's how durgetash can still win-' but with galemance drama thrown in

[veilkeeper]

ive had a sort of wild concept in my head since i saw how mad gale gets when durge's past is revealed at the inauguration so bear with me here.

gale walking into the throne room and having to realize that not only does this Obviously Evil Guy know his lover, but that he knew them well. and from how durge is talking to him, part of them remembers, even if it isn't the conscious part of them.

and what's worse, they don't seem nearly as put off as they should be by everything they're learning. in fact, they're mad at gale for being mad at them! as if he isn't completely justified in being upset, learning that they were one of the orchestrators of all this chaos.

and im imagining once tempers cool, durge pitches the idea of allying with gortash with little stars in their eyes, we can be gods, gale, both of us. and gale just watching them with horror, because how could they possibly be on board with this?

so durge spits an ultimatum. both of us or neither of us. equals, one way or another.

but that makes no sense! they were completely fine with gale taking the crown before! and it's not like he's going to just abandon them once he has the crown, they'll be equals not in power but in affection, which is basically the same thing, right? so he takes a breath to argue his side, to convince them to just go back to the old plan and ignore whatever gortash had offered them (why do they trust him so much, anyway?). he tries to convince them to see sense, but before he can, durge just hears "no" and cuts him off.

fine. we could have shared, you know.

and they leave. worse, they leave him, and they go back to the person offering them a chance to be equals above the rest, accepted wholly as they are, at the cost of the entire world.