Ereshkigal watched him as he replied, frowning as she attempted to understand. He had fought the guardians to get into Irkalla. Killed them. He'd killed her guards and now stood before her, clothed. Armed. And his heart beat strongly under the hand she pressed to his chest. He was alive, and here, and...
And it was impossible. This should not have happened. She couldn't imagine how he'd managed this, but still...
He was here.
He was armed.
He was alive.
A slow smile spread across her face as she began to understand the implications of what that could mean. But it would require a test, to see if what she hoped was true.
"Leave," she commanded. "Go out, and come back in. Not out of the throne room, out of Irkalla. Leave. And return."
If she was right, Nergal had just tipped the scales enough that he'd broken the balance. The things that once were true may no longer apply to him. Ereshkigal hoped this meant that Nergal would be able to travel in and out of Irkalla as she did. But first, he had to leave so she could be certain. She wasn't sure her heart could take the disappointment if she let her expectations get out of hand.
"Go." She tempered the staccato statements with a tentative but sweet smile. It was an expression no one had seen but her beloved. Not even her first husband. Only Nergal. And only for him would she dare to hope. "And then come home again."