Page 136 of By the Flames of Her Fury

Dom nodded. “The originals eventually died, but their children—the High Elders—took up their legacy. They rewrote history to paint their parents as martyrs and the Fates as the cruel, unjust oppressors, all while continuing the hunt for immortality. They’ve spent centuries searching, but have only found loopholes.”

“Like the stasis,” I said. “The ritual they used to put our friend into a frozen sleep. Maeve told me how the originals would perform it on themselves to stay alive for the next one hundred years, when they could wake up and look for the Lightbringer again.”

Sloane nodded. “That same ritual allowed the High Elders to live on and off for centuries, as well.”

“How has nobody noticed? Or done something about it?” Tessa cut in.

“It’s an endless cycle,” Dom explained. “They pretend to die so they can create new identities for the next generation. They wake themselves up and do it over and over again. Once one generation dies out, they use magic to trick the next one into thinking they’ve been elected as new leaders.”

I shook my head. “Surely that doesn’t work on everyone. Haven’t some people lived long enough to remember who they really are?”

Sloane’s brow furrowed. “What people?”

A sense of foreboding filled the air. “The Pyraethis,” I said.

“The Pyraethis?” Dom echoed carefully.

“The people here,” I said, voice sharpening. “The ones in the streets, the villages, the staff at the palace. Your people.”

There was silence. Sloane dragged her eyes to Dom, and the look they exchanged made my blood chill. “Vera,” Dom said quietly, deliberately.

Dread spiked in my chest. I had a bad feeling about this. “No.”

“Those people you’ve seen…” Sloane started. “They aren’t real. There’s nobody left. The rest of the kingdom is dead.”

65

Vera

Iplaced a hand on the wall to brace myself, then instantly jumped back when I realized I was touching the memorial. “I—I don’t understand,” I stammered. “I’ve seen people everywhere.”

“Did you ever see them when the Elders weren’t with you?” Sloane asked.

I blinked rapidly, thinking back over the last couple of days. One of the Elders had always insisted on accompanying me everywhere, and I assumed that was because I didn’t know the city. But then I remembered the morning I roamed the palace alone, how empty it seemed before Arcadia showed up, how Everett sensed something off in the quietness of the library…

“Did you ever actually talk to anyone?” Sloane pushed. “Have a real conversation?”

The truth sank into me. I never truly spoke with any of them. The strangers we saw always said the same things, over and over. Thanking me, praising me, calling me the Lightbringer. The smiles, the waves, the whispers…it all started to blend together.

“It’s all just a powerful illusion,” Dom said. “There are a handful of people still loyal to the Elders that they’ve allowed to work in the palace or other jobs required to keep the kingdom’s infrastructure running. Sloane, for example, kept her cover as one of the only servants.”

Sloane sighed. “That’s probably out the window now.”

“But everything else…” Dom shook his head. “It’s all a lie. An illusion woven to win you over to their side. Those of us who managed to escape the latest massacre ten years ago live down here. It’s all we can do with our combined magic to keep them unaware of this place. We’re barely surviving, simply staying alive in the hope that one day, the Lightbringer would come.”

“And raise the kingdom,” I murmured.

“No.” Sloane crossed her arms. “To kill the Elders.”

I took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and slowly released it. The High Elders had been so genuine, at first. They helped Odessa when they could’ve let her die. They answered our questions. Arcadia even saved me from the shadow wraith. They were supposed to be like me. What had gone so horribly wrong?

“Why did they do this?” I asked. “Why kill your people?”

“To get closer to immortality,” Dom said, brushing his hair from his forehead. “That stasis they put themselves in only worked for so long, and they weren’t really living. But a couple centuries ago, they found an alternative.” His face paled. “The Elders realized they could feed off the magic inside all of us.”

Tessa’s face twisted in disgust. “Feed?”

“It’s like they suck the power out of you until you’re dead,” Sloane said. “They used their own people’s life force to give themselves more. The Elders lived longer and grew more powerful, but it was temporary. Once the vessel ran out of life, they had to find someone new.”