The high queen didn’t consider anyone who didn’t share a bloodline with her, worthy of living. Kings and queens often became monsters from the small taste of having a realm bow before them. But those who held dominion over every realm as one? They were corrupted the most by the desire for the world to bow before them, uncaring if it meant slaughtering those who refused to bend the knee.
I had constructed the counsel exclusively for that reason. One entity should never hold all the power or influence. They’d kept the balance of power even throughout the land, which forced me to abide by their laws. Not because I feared being rebuked or overshadowed by their laws. It kept me in check because I allowed it. Well, I had until they’d become Aurora’s mouthpiece. Now, they were being hunted down like prey by order of the queen who they’d chosen to crown in my place.
Did I care they were feeling the same travesty they’d forced Aria to feel when they’d allowed others to hunt her down? Not necessarily. Should I have fought to keep the high throne? Maybe, maybe I could’ve pretended I cared a little about the title. But I didn’t. I couldn’t even drum up enough to give a fuck to bother myself with it right now.
Aria’s absence, and the hole she’d left within me had distracted me. A hole so deep and vacant without her here to fill it, that I’d walked away from Laveran and hadn’t looked back. Not even once. Not until news of the witches overthrowing the council, then declaring one of their own as the newly appointed high queen reached Dorcha. That was something I couldn’t ignore, even though I was doing just that.
My stare slid from Laveran to the Dark Mountains, and my stomach plummeted. If the witches continued forward, they’d reach the mountain passes, which was the last place Aria was inside of the Nine Realms. If they marched through the edge of the forest, then veered northeast, they’d be at the kingdom where Aria’s people remained, hidden and protected by magic both she and I had placed to prevent their discovery.
“They’re making their way toward Vraegary, which means they’re now marching to the pass within the Dark Mountains.” I pondered as my mind was fueled by worry. “If they’ve been scrying for Aria’s location, that’s where it would take them. It would hit on the last place she was within the Nine Realms. They’re hunting my girl.”
“That’s a fucking problem,” Killian muttered, before scrubbing his palm over his face.
Nodding my head, I agreed with his sentiment on the matter. Turning toward the crackling flame, I studied the delicate features of the woman dominating my mind. So much had happened since the night that she’d walked right into the engagement party, terrified I’d turn against her. As if I’d ever chance losing her again? Not fucking likely.
Aria had changed me so profoundly, that I no longer cared to think of a world where she didn’t exist. She’d healed the wounds I’d allowed to control my direction, shifting the course until it aligned our paths together as one.
“That’s a huge fucking problem.” Sitting up, I slid my regard between both men, even as the crease in my forehead deepened. “If the realm spits her out where she went in, Aria will end up falling right into their laps.”
“I can dispatch men to the passes to defend it from them accessing it, or being there when Aria returns,” Brander offered.
“We can’t afford to be spread that thin.”
As it stood, I had deployed men to guard the castle where Aria’s people were hiding. Unfortunately, I couldn’t afford to be spread thin with Hecate making waves with her needless murdering sprees. Not without Aria being here to access her power to deflect the attacks occurring frequently throughout the realms.
“Hecate and Aurora are both making moves to prevent Aria from rising to power. Aurora is afraid of what Griffon will do once he’s aware of his daughter’s existence. I don’t share her fear. I think he knew about her long before anyone else did. In fact, I think he knew what she’d become, but also knew the part she’d play in preventing Hecate from total domination of the realms.”
“Lore said you’d discovered a book written in the first language?” Brander inquired as he leaned back, placing his booted foot on the table. My gaze lowered to it, even as he removed it from my table.
“I did,” I admitted after a moment of silence passed between the room. “I think Scylla Prometheus died when she used the magic of seidr to manipulate the future. It spoke of a savior, one born in the darkest hour, to deliver salvation to the Nine Realms. At one time, Scylla was friends with Draghana Karnavious, or as close as two warring queens could be. In the tome I found, it claimed that in order to change the fate of the realms, each queen was forced to sacrifice something deemed worthy in the eyes of the Fates to forge two parts of one prophecy.”
Killian whistled before standing and moving to the decanter of whiskey. “You’re saying that both queens agreed in order to forge Aria?” Returning with glasses, he placed them on the table before pouring two fingers of brandy into them. “How would that even be possible? They couldn’t have known she would ever exist. Both died long before she was ever born.”
“Seidr magic is used to sway outcomes, or the future. It was widely known that Scylla could use it to wage battle. I think she used it to save her people. If I’m right, Scylla forged an alliance with our lines, one which forced both of our people to unite. The only time our people have been at peace with the Kingdom of Fire, was right before the beginning of the Last War of Fire. Scylla Prometheus died in a skirmish according to the tome. Though, they blamed us even though we’d been at peace with them.”
“You’re saying Scylla forced the Fates to create a savior, which is Aria?”
“Seidr doesn’t offer a timeline for when something unfolds.” I rubbed my temples. “It gives the user a price which must be paid, then throughout time, it weaves the fibers until the perfect solution is brought into existence.”
“That’s a lot of fucking weaving.”
Leaning forward, I accepted the glass he offered, then continued explaining what I’d stumbled upon. “No, Aria is merely one aspect of the prophecy and it doesn’t mention her defeating Hecate alone. She is one piece on a board, which has many other pieces already set into motion. The book stated that in order to find a savior, Scylla and a person from the Kingdom of Fire had to make sacrifices. A son born of the first people through a Hecate witch’s womb. We know without a doubt that Aria’s the one Scylla forged through the means of seidr magic. The question is, who was the second being forged through Draghana’s sacrifice?”
“You’re saying Aria isn’t the only one prophesied to end Hecate?” Brander pondered out loud, his finger causing his glass to whistle as he slowly rubbed it over the rim.