Page 121 of Fate of the Sun King

“It’s curious,” Cloris says. “How events can transpire. How schemes you set into motion can fail, and yet, somehow fate serves to orchestrate a favorable outcome you don’t foresee until one day the Primary of Heart, herself, comes knocking on your door.”

I chew the inside of my cheek, baffled and afraid and waiting for her to continue.

“I told them, yes,” she says. “Did I do it because I loathed your bitch of a grandmother? If I were to examine my motivations, that might have been part of it, but anything her family suffered was collateral damage. It just happened to make the outcome all that much more satisfying.”

Her lips stretch into a thin, brittle smile. She’s enjoying this.

“Please,” I say, noticing Nadir shift as though he wants to reach out to me. I keep my gaze focused on Cloris, determined not to allow her any information she can use as leverage. Of course, it’s suspicious that I’d show up here with the Aurora Prince, but she doesn’t need to know the full extent of it.

“Your grandmother came to me,” Cloris says, “because she needed me to perform the bonding between her and Wolf. She had discovered that joining two Primaries requires additional precautions compared with a regular bonding.”

My nails dig into my palms as I try to keep my breaths even, knowing another hurdle has just been thrown into our path. My earlier hunch was right.

“I knew how to do it,” Cloris continues. “She promised me something I sought in exchange, but I did not trust her.”

She pauses and picks a piece of lint off her skirt. “So, I went behind her back and told the Aurora King of her plans to double-cross him. You see, the two of them were conspiring to take your great-grandmother’s crown from Heart, and then Serce claimed she would help Rion conquer all of the realms and hand Ouranos over, save her queendom and The Woodlands.”

My breath catches on that revelation. I recall the conversation with Nadir in The Aurora when he reminded me that everything Rion claimed about past events was up against the word of a dead queen. I’m not surprised to hear he massaged the truth to make himself look better.

“Why go to my father?” Nadir asks.

“Because I didn’t like her, and I didn’t trust her. I wanted to keep my options open,” she replies. “And Serce had no intention of honoring her agreement and planned to use the bonding with Wolf to overpower Rion and take everything for herself. I gave the Aurora King everything I knew, and my instincts proved correct because she imprisoned me the moment I assured her I understood how to perform the ritual.”

Cloris pauses; her expression is almost dispassionate, but stifled rage flickers in the depths of her eyes.

“So I pretended to descend into madness to the point she no longer believed me capable of performing the task. Her short-sightedness and her impatience proved to be her downfall. She attempted to perform the ritual herself…”

Cloris stops as if for dramatic effect.

“And you all know how that turned out.”

The room falls silent as my chest twists. I have so many questions that I’m not sure where to begin. My grandmother didn’t just try to take the magic of Heart, she tried to conquer all of Ouranos. She was a monster. A tyrant. A power-hungry murderer.

“Why do that? Surely you knew letting her do it herself might kill everyone, including you?” Nadir asks, and I shoot him a grateful look because I’m not sure I can speak.

Cloris scoffs. “I am one of Zerra’s blessed. The people of this ungrateful continent may have forgotten. They may have let her temples fall into disrepair. They may use her name only in vain, but Zerra lives, and she protects those who serve in her name.”

Cloris’s eyes glaze over with something that feels like it’s hovering just on the fine edge of sanity. Her words stirred from ancient grudges and possibly a less-than-firm grasp on reality.

“I see,” Nadir finally says, and she tapers her gaze as if reading the insincerity in his words. It’s hard to argue with her statement entirely. I saw the blast. Saw the destruction it caused, and she had gotten up and walked out of there almost no worse for wear. Divine intervention might be the only reasonable explanation.

Cloris gives us both a patronizing smile. “Oh, I know what you think of me. These are just the ramblings of a crazy woman, but soon enough, all of you will see that you are wrong. That Zerra lives and grows weary of being ignored.”

Though her words are confident, I sense something hesitant buried within them.

“But?” I ask, hoping my instincts are correct. “Something is not right? What did you want from my grandmother?”

Cloris sniffs, looking down her nose at me.

“The goddess is weakening. Her power fades. Do you think all these stories of the trembling earth, plagued forests, and droughts are mere coincidences? You think there isn’t some bigger purpose at hand?”

Nadir shifts next to me, no doubt thinking about the mine collapse that killed all those low fae. I think about the blackened forests of The Woodlands. The talk in Aphelion of low fish counts and the constant rumbles we’ve felt beneath our feet. Though it was impossible to say why, I felt these events had to be connected. To hear it confirmed sends a prickle of alarm down my neck.

“That’s because of Zerra?” I ask carefully.

“It’s not because of her,” Cloris snaps. “It’s because of all of you. You use your magic with impunity, draining the land and the goddess. It was never meant to be this way.”

“How was it meant to be?” I ask.