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“Then the mantle is yours.”
Chapter VI
Awave crashed intome. I slammed my eyes shut, bracing. The lava turned searing, but it didn’t hurt me. Not in the typical way pain worked. No longer did the heat of the lava burn me. The raw power itself seared me. The lake imbued magic into every ounce of my being, soaking me in ancient power.
It was a fraction of a second. It was a year.
New clarity rolled into my mind. A fog lifted. My magic wasmore. More abundant. More controlled. More dangerous. More healing.
I opened my eyes. The lake looked different, yet I knew it wasn’t. The resting place of the mantle was unchanged; it had been here for thousands of years and would lie unaltered for thousands more. But I was changed.
I walked out of the lake as if it were nothing more than an empty pit. I stayed in my human shape. On a whim, I tested the magic. Once, it had been hard to call forward. Now, it buzzed under the top layer of my skin as if eager to come out and play.
I conjured the vines that had become so familiar, yet instead of brandishing them like bulky weapons, I pulled one in front of me and split it, over and over, growing each new strand and splitting it again. With a flick of my wrist, the strands braided together, knitting themselves into a sheet. Another flick, and I had styled somethingresembling the clothing I’d seen Persephone in.
This is kind of handy.
It wasn’t as skilled. Instead of a dress, I made a simple top and skirt. Pants were beyond me.
It was effortless topoofmyself back to the palace. It was as simple and instinctive as turning into a wolf. One step, I was in front of the lake. The next, I stepped through to the throne room.
It had come a long way from the nearly crumbling room I’d stood in from the aftermath of the pits. Walls were repaired, banners lining the stone behind the thrones I’d materialized in front of.
The castle felt different. Like another layer on my skin. Not unpleasant, but present all the same. I twisted around, trying to pinpoint the change.
But it wasn’t the castle that had changed, just as it hadn’t been the lake. It was all me. The mantle seemed to have dialed me into the capital, not just the physical space but its very life force. And the souls of those in it.
There could be no other explanation for how I sensed the guard a moment before he turned into the room.
Hector saw me, eyes flaring wide with surprise as he nearly stumbled.
Then he knelt.
And kept kneeling.
For a solid minute.
Finally, it dawned on me he was waiting for some sort of acknowledgment. How strange, to have someone waiting for my command.
“You can stand,” I told him, and instantly the soldier lifted himself from the ground.
He’d regained his composure but there was shining reverence in his eyes that made me shift on my feet.
I hope I’m worthy of the mantle.
“Soteria. You’ve returned.”
I waved him off. “I’ve been gone all of a day. What’s the most that could’ve happened?”
Hector frowned.
Oh.
“How long?”
“Six months. Lady Hecate insisted you would return,” he added quickly, to cover the weariness those months must have left in their wake.
Bile filled my throat. Cole had been in Tartarus forsix months.
