And if I had not done the unthinkable… If I had not deceived the one many called the Master of Lies, breaking every promise I had once made to him…
The Aurea of Fire leaned over the table in his agitation, his face flushed red beneath his thick golden beard, his voice booming through the room. “They are all just waiting for a chance to free their master. As long as he lives, he remains a threat.”
“And the Fallen One has shown time and again how resourceful he can be,” M’tar added with a solemn nod. “How many of our victories has he turned into defeats at the last minute? How many stout hearts has he seduced to his side?”
Like mine. I breathed in deeply as a sudden wave of nausea washed through me.
The Aurea of Earth shook his head, his thin lips pressed into a firm line. “We have not found the Chaoscrown yet. With its help, he might be cunning enough to regain his powers if we let him live. And then we might not secure another victory.” He glanced at his spouse,Tanez, beside him. The goddess of all that grew wore the golden flower crown he had crafted for her in her dark, wavy locks. “We have to cut this evil out root and stem, or it will destroy us all.”
Khiraz remained undaunted by the opposition of two of the most powerful Aurea. She straightened in her seat. “Belekoroz,” she said, deliberately using the Fallen One’s true name, the name he had forsaken with his evil deeds, “is our brother. Destroying him should be our last resort, after we have exhausted all other options.”
“But haven’t we done all that could be asked of us?” Zamani’s melodious voice moved many to tears when the Lady of Fire raised it in song. Today it sizzled with the same unrelenting flame her husband Sha’am had shown. “We gave him a chance,” she said. “Over and over again. And every time, he repaid us with betrayal.”
With the last word, her face contorted in anger, her striking violet eyes ablaze with swirling flames that rivaled the deep red and gold of her dress. The two Aurea of Fire had lost much in the war against the Fallen One, vast areas of their people’s lands forever marred by the poisonous touch of Chaos.
With a visible effort, Zamani regained her composure, her words edged with a sharpness that cut through the room as she fixed her gaze on me. “Some of us were particularly eager to offer those chances.”
The table’s edge dug into my palm as I gripped it tightly. I did not react to the provocation, nor did Aramaz, who remained with his back to us.
“I thought we agreed to let the past rest,” Tanez interjected, her forest-green eyes narrowing at her sister.
“It is no mistake to learn from the past.” The sound of waves crashing filled Ashur’s voice as he spoke, the Lord of the Sea’s tousled gray hair flowing around his shoulders like seaweed swaying inthe ocean’s current. “Imprisoning him for millennia only deepened the Fallen One’s madness. It is cruel to cage one such as him forever. Compared to such a fate, death might be a mercy.”
“And as terrible as this decision is, it might save countless lives,” Namtaz, the second Aurea of Water, added. The Healer, her bright blue eyes filled with compassion, extended her hand toward Khiraz across the table.
Khiraz clasped it and turned to Enlial beside her. “Tell us, my dearest friend—what has the breeze whispered to you? What has your keen gaze perceived beyond the Veil of this world? Is there truly no other way?”
Gleaming feathers rustled as Enlial unfurled their wings. Unlike the rest of us, they had never settled on one preferred body, their form as changeable as the winds they governed. Today, straight black hair framed their ethereal face, giving them a severe look softened only by the arresting golden-blue eyes that were the one constant of their appearance.
“My words have not changed since Yggdrasil’s fall,” the Aurea of Air said, their expression betraying no emotion. “There will be no lasting peace in this world as long as the Adept of Chaos dwells in it. As uncertain as the weaving of the future is, that much is sure.”
I had heard those words many times, yet they still sent a hopeless despair through me that threatened to drown me.
Khiraz pressed her free hand to her chest and closed her vibrant golden eyes. “Fine,” she said, unshed tears tinting her voice. “If you are all in agreement, I will no longer stand against you. Even if it breaks my heart.”
“There is one among us who has not spoken at all.” Sha’am’s sharp tone cut through the tense silence that followed Khiraz’s impassioned declaration. His flaming gaze fixed on me, unwavering, his mouthtwisting with contempt. “I would love to hear what our beloved queen has to say to all of this.”
Before I could answer the renewed taunt, Aramaz intervened, finally turning toward us, his voice carefully controlled. “The queen has asked to be excused from this vote.”
Not that it kept the disbelief of the others at bay. All eyes were on me, the room brimming with a sudden influx of power, fueled by my brethren’s agitated emotions.
“You dare, Baradaz?” Sha’am cried out in open anger, jumping from his seat. “You have the audacity to opt for neutrality?” The Aurea of Fire’s grip on his mortal vessel weakened, his figure blurring like the rippling heat above a blazing furnace. He raised his fist in the air, shaking it. “After everything that has happened? After everything you have done?”
My own magic surged in response to the challenge, causing a radiant wave of Light to flicker and dance across my skin. No matter what the Aurea of Fire thought he knew, I would not allow him to question me. Nor any of the others.
“Be glad, Sha’am,” I said, my hands splayed on the table as I rose from my seat as well, “that it is my neutrality I offer you and not my enmity.”
For a long, tense moment, it seemed he might dare to insult me, his bronze eyes blazing as our gazes remained locked. Would he accuse me of the things he only hinted at with Dhustan, his second-in-command, when they were both deep in their cups?
But then the bearded warrior looked down at the table, too seasoned in the art of war to not recognize when he faced a superior predator. As Sha’am settled back into his seat, grumbling under his breath, Zamani wasted no time in grabbing his arm and leaning in close, urgently whispering in her husband’s ear.
Burn them. Burn them all.An insidious hiss echoed in my mind, a sudden, terrible urge to unleash my power completely, despite his submission to my authority. To watch the Flame consume everything—those who opposed me, this beautiful temple, these light-filled lands. My blood pulsed with magic, responding to my restless thoughts, so intense that it manifested as luminous veins beneath the surface of my hands.
“You can let go with me. I’ve got you.”A half-forgotten memory whispered through my mind.“I want you to.”
A bloody lie. A snarl left my lips—
“Baradaz!”
