I swallowed whatever I meant to say. The women of K’seer didn’t need Kallias’ name whispered in their halls.
It was delaying the inevitable.
Mother swept past, already striding down the corridor. I had to jog to catch up.
“Where is he?” she hissed as I matched her pace.
Somehow, she knew. Dread curled deep in my belly.
“Father’s bringing him for trial.” I panted, pressing a fist over my hammering heart.
She stopped cold and pressed her eyes shut, tension rippling off her like waves crashing against stone.
“He came here to die.” Her whisper splintered something inside me.
Tears burned, demanding release. My breath shuddered. If she didn’t see a way out—there wasn’t one. She knew Father’s mind better than anyone. His flaws. His oaths. The cracks in his logic. She might have shielded me before, but not now. Not with a king’s life at stake.
No.
I wouldn’t accept that. He came for me. He crossed the sea, knowing the cost—and still, he came.
I lifted my chin, spine rigid. “I can’t let that happen.”
Mother yanked me into a spare chamber and slammed the door. Dust-veiled sheets cloaked the furniture. A single shaft of sunlight pierced the gloom.
She faced the window, voice cold. “Remember your place.”
Her words struck like a slap. Ice spread in my veins.
“Your father warned him not to come,” she said.
“Maybe he brought Edith!” My arms wrapped around my ribs, nails digging deep.
“You don’t understand.” She turned, pain carved into the lines of her face. “Your father signed a blood oath. So did Kallias Sunspear. They agreed—you were to be given to Tallon of Radaan. No man would touch you. The king vowed to protect you, to present you to his son. Kallias broke that bond. There’s no twisting it. He took what was promised.”
“We never—nothing happened!”
“Ronan says otherwise. And his presence here proves it.”
“Does it?” I snapped, fury flaring hot enough to scorch away fear. “He came because he’shonorable.He cannot let a lie stand. Elohios wouldn’t bless a liar.”
“And this god blesses him for defiling the future bride of his son?” Her voice struck like a whip. “His honesty means nothing now.” She shook her head, the sunlight catching the silver threading her hair. “He broke an oath signed in blood. Our oaths are not empty vows—they bind life and magic. The power in your father’s soul has gnawed at him for weeks, demanding retribution. The lie you told—the one youthoughtprotected him—only delayed the eruption.”
I flinched, shame burning across my cheeks. “You don’tknowI lied.”
Her glare hardened. “Your father is a Well. You think he didn’tfeelyour deception? Magic ancient as the bones of this kingdom flows through him. The only thing that stopped him from burning Radaan to the ground was his love foryou. That restraint will vanish the moment Kallias stands before him.”
She paused. “A dove arrived days ago. Kallias begged for safe harbor. We denied him, and Nereus gave fair warning that if they set foot on our shores, they’d be slaughtered as traitors.”
The message. The one I thought came from the Innaku—it had beenhis.
My throat closed tight.
Father wasn’t just a Vessel. He was an abyss. A Well with no bottom. His power built over years, calm on the surface—but beneath, a molten fury.
And I was the exact opposite. I couldn’t hold magic in. It seared through me and left nothing behind.
There were tales of my father holding off an entire whirlstorm, shielding Draconia in his youth—and his skill had only deepened with age. If themagic tied to the oath was unraveling, fraying his control and demanding release, it was a volcano sealed by will alone.
