Alois’ face paled slightly, his mouth a grim line as he gestured me into the receiving hall. Alois’ throne sat in its usual place, but there was a daintier twin sitting to its right. Small gold circlets rested upon plush black pillows on each of the respective thrones.
Our crowns, our thrones, I realized. Apart from those two small additions, the room was unchanged.
“We’re being crowned here?”
Alois huffed and ran a hand down his face. “Yes, wife. Right now, here is safest. Here I can piece together what information is false and which holds a vein of truth. Out there . . . it’s muddled at best.”
Cold dread filled my veins.
“You’re losing your abilities?” I whispered, the sound still loud in the empty space.
Alois grimaced before turning away from me and fixing his gaze on the twin thrones.
“No, my abilities are still as adept as ever.”
“So what is it then? As your queen, don’t you think I should be privy to this information? As a task force leader for your new cadets, isn’t it my job to have all the information to protect them best?”
Alois made a noise somewhere between a snort and a sigh. “You’ll make a great queen, Ellowyn. Of that I have no doubt.”
“Then what do you doubt?”
Silence hung between us for a moment, and my heart sank when I realized he wasn’t going to trust me with this truth, no matter how much it impacted my life and the lives of others.
“Everything else—every move I’ve made since I was four, every atrocity I’ve orchestrated, every sin I’ve committed in the name of balance and justice. The deaths, the fear, the pain. All of it.”
I frowned slightly. “I thought you acted on visions? That only you could pull the truth from what a Keeper tells you?”
“And tell me, Ellowyn, tell me what happens when those visions were tainted from the very beginning by a despotic and vengeful goddess who wanted nothing more than to escape her prison? What then?”
I stood shocked into silence, unable to answer. The prospect that Solace could have beenlyingto her descendants for generations was almost too nauseating to think about.
If all of Alois’ truths and actions were based on lies, then were we barreling toward a future orchestrated by and for the gods? Would any of it matter?
I had little more time to dwell before the doors creaked open and the dignitaries, followed by a stricken Fay and Rohak, swept into the space. Alois’ face smoothed over, the mask of an unbothered, jubilant king sliding back into place. He gave me one last meaningful look with those eyes that never focused for long before turning to the dignitaries with a smile.
Words and sounds faded into the background as I, too, donned a mask of indifference, one that was drilled into me from a young age. I tried to pay attention, tried to enjoy the moment of my coronation, but as the crown came to rest upon my brow, I felt nothing except for its cold, heavy weight and an overwhelming sense of dread.
Chapter 73
The King
The air in my office suddenly felt heavy, like just before a summer storm unleashes chaos, before I heard the telltale sound of heavy boots stepping toward me. The pressure abated, my ears popping as everything returned to normal, but I kept my front facing my bookshelves. The book I’d stolen from the Valley fifteen years ago still refused to unveil its secrets despite the fact that the line of Matriarchs was eliminated.
Even though it was essentially spare parchment at this point, I refused to remove it from its hiding place behind my shelves, especially with the godly presence in the room.
“You’ve grown more disrespectful lately, descendant. It’s almost as if you’ve let that crown go to your head,” Kaos growled, his otherworldly voice rattling the small trinkets I had spaced between my books and tomes.
I suppressed a sigh, the near-constant tension headache returning with a vengeance as I rubbed the circlet that sat on my brow.
Everything was a mess—every move, decision, plan I’d made over the last few decades; every ounce of blood I’d consumedto try and find a drop of truth that sent me further into the maddening clutches of Kaos’ power, everything was hanging by a thin thread.
The reality that my decisions could have played directly into Solace’s hand rather than combating her efforts to control Elyria and, eventually, the cosmos, was almost too large a pill to swallow. It was better to simply not think about that potential rather than lose myself completely in a spiral of self-loathing and second-guessing.
It’s all done. There is nothing I can do to fix it at this point.
The reality was depressing.
And what did I have to show for it all? A crown I would never be able to use to its full potential, a wife who not only hated me but was sleeping with another man, a reputation as a sadistic maniac, and the loss of friendship from the only person who trusted me implicitly.
