Page 122 of Fate of the Sun King

Cloris pauses, and I can see her weighing how much she wants to reveal to us.

“You asked what I wanted from your grandmother,” she says, and I nod, perching on the edge of my seat. “Your family had a powerful object called an ark. In exchange for my help, I asked that she relinquish it to me.”

“What is it?” I ask.

An ark. It’s then I remember the Staff mentioned an ark too, but another memory is sticking in the back of my head.

“It’s an object used to channel and amplify magic.”

“Did my grandmother know what it was?”

“At the time, I didn’t believe so.”

“So you were trying to manipulate her?” I accuse.

Cloris presses her lips together, her eyes dimming.

“Your grandmother was the manipulator, Lor. Don’t act like I was the only one who was wrong here.”

“So why did you tell Atlas and the Aurora King about me?” I ask. “What was the purpose?”

“Because I still seek the ark, and your magic is tied to it.” She says the words swiftly, like she doesn’t really want me to hear them.

“What does that mean?” Nadir asks. “Be specific. None of these evasive answers. What are they?”

“Each Artefact has a corresponding ark,” Cloris says, though I can tell it guts her to admit that to us. “And their magic is bound together.”

“So you want to use me to find it,” I say, my voice devoid of emotion. All I am is a pawn in everyone’s fucking schemes.

“Would the ark have saved Serce and Wolf?” Nadir asks, already one step ahead of me. “Was that what they needed to complete their bond?”

Cloris laughs, surprising me with the sound.

“Oh, Aurora Prince. I will not be revealing all of my secrets today.”

Again, I exchange a look with him. Was that a yes or a no?

“Why are you telling us any of this?” Nadir asks. “None of this explains why you revealed Lor to Atlas and my father.”

Cloris taps her bottom lip.

“Well, that is all a very good story,” she says. “Shall I tell it?”

“If you want my help, then you will tell me everything,” I say.

Next to her is a small table with a decanter of bourbon and a crystal tumbler. She pours herself a measure and takes a long sip. She doesn’t offer us any as she refills her glass, acting like we’re not even here. I wonder just how much she was pretending to go crazy to fool my grandmother or if it was a short walk off that cliff.

“I searched the castle after the explosion. Sorted through the rubble for days, keeping myself hidden from those who came to search for survivors, but the ark was nowhere to be found. I suspected Serce had known all along what it was. She had double-crossed me in ways I didn’t even realize. Or maybe something else happened. I couldn’t be sure.

“At any rate, I continued searching. Not just in and around Heart—because I had no true way of knowing if it had ever been there—but all over the continent, lying low. I had to stay hidden. No one could know that I had survived. They cursed me nearly as much as they did her for a long time, and it suited my purpose to let everyone think I was dead.”

“Why did you want it?” I ask. “For what purpose?”

“For Zerra,” she said. “I was tasked with finding it centuries ago and have been hunting for it most of my life.”

“Why? What does she need it for?”

“I will tell you anything that pertains directly to you,” she says. “However, my relationship with my goddess is private.”