A Soul Like Glass (Kingdom of Betrayal #4)

Epilogue

GALEIA

The ocean wind whips at my black hair as I stand at the edge of the platform high above the waves.

Far below me, in the clearing outside the tower, there is a bustle of activity. More than this tower might ever have seen.

I tug at the neckline of the black dress I’m wearing. It’s made of silken material that’s fit for this occasion, but I’d rather be dressed in leather and hunting in the forest than staring down at what will soon be a wedding ceremony for the oldest of my brothers.

Aksel is a small figure from this high up, where he stands next to Father and Mother, but he surpassed me in height years ago, now matching Father in stature and strength.

So, too, do all my brothers.

All five of them.

They are so fierce, and their black, metal claws are so renowned that some of the humans have started calling them the Iron Wolves. They shun the name, but it isn’t their reputation that matters today.

Today, peace will finally be forged.

Aksel will marry Charlotte, the daughter of the human Queen Rachel Exalted, solidifying an alliance between the human Queendom and my family.

If I were cynical, I would think it was arranged purely for political purposes, to finally put to rest the fear the humans have of my mother.

But Aksel loves Charlotte.

He would have claimed her as his mate years ago if it weren’t for all the human customs he had to navigate, which matter even more because she’s the heir to the human throne.

He’s had to be careful.

Today is the culmination of years of cautious, patient steps.

For a moment, I teeter on the edge of the platform overlooking the clearing, my balance perfectly placed to keep me from falling.

It’s the kind of balance that only winged creatures have.

Not surprising since I was born to be one.

Sometimes, I catch Mother glancing at me as if she expects me to ask her questions about my origins.

I don’t remember much. My mind seems to have blocked out much of it and I’ve never tried to open those doors, but I know that I was born as a Valkyrie. I remember the uncomfortable stumps on my back and the single deformed feather that itched horribly. Sometimes, I remember the scent of fire but nothing else to give that memory context.

I do know that I chose to be a wolf, and I have never, not even for a heartbeat, regretted my choice.

I also know that if I ask for more information, Mother and Father will tell me everything.

But I won’t ask.

Because then I will know my full name, and names have power.

I will not tie my life to the past.

I’m about to step back from the edge of the platform when there’s a stir in the clearing below.

A man approaches from the eastern side, fully visible to me from where I stand. He steps out of the forest as if he might have walked all the way here.

At his appearance, the nearby guests already gathered in the clearing immediately hush and veer away from him.

A path quickly opens up for him, but the tension I sense in the air tells me the guests are avoiding him out of caution, not reverence.

Who is he?

I peer down across the distance, wishing I could get a sense of his scent, but the wind keeps whipping it away.

He has black hair and a tall, muscular physique similar to Father’s. His jaw is strong, his cheekbones high, and he has light brown skin. He might have blue eyes but it’s difficult to tell from so far away and with the sun shining on his face.

He’s wearing simple clothing, certainly nothing so fancy as the garments worn by the other guests, but what’s no doubt concerning them is the weapon he carries in his right hand.

It consists of two sharp blades that sit on opposite sides of a pole that’s as tall as he is. One of the blades is curved, while the other is a solid spike that could be used like a dagger. Interestingly, rather than brandishing the weapon, he’s using it like a staff as he walks in Mother’s direction.

She, Father, and Aksel remain where they are near the tower’s base while he proceeds slowly toward them. They’re facing away from me, so I can’t see their expressions, but their posture indicates that they’re far more relaxed about the newcomer’s appearance than their guests are.

When the man reaches them, he takes a knee and lowers the weapon to the ground, but Mother quickly drops into a crouch opposite him.

I’m surprised when she throws her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

By the way he stiffens, her gestures seem to have startled him too, but he relaxes into it, his arms slowly rising to hug her back.

As hard as I can, I listen for their voices, determined to isolate their speech from the wind.

“Thaden,” she says. “I’m glad you came.”

“I wasn’t sure if I should.”

The wind is against me. As powerful as my hearing is, their speech is like whispers, and I can’t be certain of their emotional states.

Briefly, I consider racing down the stairs to the base of the tower, but even at my quickest, it will take me a minute to reach the bottom, and there’s no telling what I’ll miss in the meantime.

“I can’t stay,” the man called Thaden says.

Mother pulls back a little. “Are you sure? It’s been so long.”

Her back is to me. I still can’t see her expression.

But the way he focuses on her tells me she must be searching his eyes, the same method she uses to pull the truth even from a dark creature like me.

For some reason, he breaks her gaze, his head tipping back a little.

He looks all the way up to the tower’s ledge, and for a moment, I’m certain he’s looking directly at me.

“I came to give Aksel and Charlotte a gift,” he says, even though his focus remains on me.

He does have blue eyes. I can see them now. They seem to shine with sadness and then, more powerfully, with peace.

He exhales deeply before his focus lowers to my mother again.

Slowly, he rises, drawing Mother to her feet at the same time.

Then he picks up the staff, carefully turning it horizontal before he holds it out to her.

“This halberd’s handle is made from the first tree that grew in my village after you banished the darkness,” he says. “Its blades are fashioned from steel that I honed for years. It will never rust, and with a little care, it will always remain sharp.”

“And this emblem?” Mother asks, a little more loudly this time, as if she wants the onlookers to hear her now.

I crane to see what she’s pointing at.

Thaden turns the weapon, the light catches the steel, and I can see what’s carved into the curved blade.

It’s a circular symbol. One side is a crescent moon, while the other side is splayed like the rays of the sun. I immediately recognize the two halves of the symbol—and I’m sure Mother did, too—even before Thaden explains.

“This crescent moon represents the Silverspun family,” he says. “And these are the rays of the sun, which is the symbol of the Solas family. Together, they are united. This is my wish for your family, Asha.”

Mother turns to Aksel, and I can finally see tears glistening on her cheeks. She presses her lips together as if she’s having trouble speaking.

Aksel’s voice is a deep rumble. “You have honored us with this gift, Thaden Kane Ironmeld.”

Thaden Kane Ironmeld.

My eyes widen. The dragons whisper about him. How he once killed a dragon and how Mother punished him by making him human.

Mother and Father rarely speak of the time before the darkness was banished, but Mother certainly didn’t greet Thaden like an enemy just now. He certainly doesn’t seem to view her as one, either.

“Thank you for accepting my gift,” he says, and that’s all before he turns away.

Mother jolts forward as if she’ll stop him, but then her hand drops back to her side.

She lets him go, her head tilted to the side, watching him as he makes his way carefully along the path the other guests have cleared for him.

Within minutes, he disappears once more into the forest.

I’m left with an oddly hollow feeling in my chest. A pang in my heart, which I can only put down to what today’s event means for my family.

Aksel will start a new life today.

Change is happening.

Stepping back toward the opening into the tower, I enter a large alcove that’s large enough for a thunderbird to shelter inside if the weather is bad.

At the rear of the alcove, a long, wide corridor provides a direct line of sight to the second platform situated on the other side of the tower.

Now that I’m inside, I’m sheltered from the wind, and I attempt to pat my hair back into place as I quickly descend the stone staircase to the next level.

Torches spring to life around me before I enter the next corridor down. At the far end is the next staircase, but I pause halfway along.

I stop at the doorway to the room where Mother keeps the eternal flame. It burns in the middle of the floor, casting light all around it.

The walls in this room are white, but one side of them is covered with golden lettering that flows across the surface as if it were alive.

It’s the rule of law.

At Graviter’s request, Mother has started writing the laws that will allow supernaturals and humans to live in peace.

The first law they wrote together was the Law of Champions so that a fight to the death can never again be used as a ploy and only ever employed as a last resort.

Reading the laws written on the wall is like trying to catch one’s own thoughts. They’re designed so that the law someone might need is the one they will first see when they enter the room.

I haven’t dared step foot beyond the door.

I’m fully aware of the darkness in my heart and I’m not sure that any of these laws would ever help me.

Walking on, I pause again, this time at the room to the left of the staircase.

The air inside this room always feels heavy.

Four statues stand at intervals in a circle. Their backs are to each other.

Mother didn’t use her power to make the materials from which they are carved. She spent years looking for the right white stone, the darkest crimson wood, the heaviest gold, and the smoothest black onyx.

Then, she spent years carving and molding them.

One statue to honor each keeper.

Cailey is white stone, her young form appearing almost to float above her statue’s base.

Crimson wood for Dusana, depicted with her head held high and flowers cascading through her hair.

The gold for Mother Solas, who is dressed in armor and carries a curved blade strapped to her back.

And finally, from the black onyx, Mother carved the statue of a man whose face is partially obscured by a black crown. The crown’s wide band sits around his eyes while its sharp peaks extend up past his head. He is cloaked in a long, black robe that conceals his body, making him almost figureless.

I may have shunned my own past, but I’ve tried to find out who he was.

Each community—the fae, humans, and dragons—has kept alive the memories of Dusana, Mother Solas, and Cailey, but around the dark keeper, there is only silence.

Nobody knows his identity.

I don’t want to stop searching, but at some point, I might be forced to.

Now, I consider carefully what each statue is holding.

Their arms are upraised, each supporting a book.

The books are closed.

Mother gave no explanation for the books, and my brothers didn’t ask her. Neither did Father.

But I know what they’re for.

Blame it on my dark nature, but I don’t respect boundaries.

When I was supposed to be out hunting with Father and my brothers, I crept back to witness the pact made between Mother, her brother and sister, and the two dragons Graviter Rex and Vargo Vanem.

At a time of their choosing, Tamra and Gallium will bring their tools to the eternal flame and burn them.

Neither of them has children, and it’s caused them both deep sadness.

For Gallium, in particular, it’s problematic since he and Elowynn don’t have a daughter to whom Elowynn can pass her crown, and the fae’s future is more tenuous because of it.

Regardless, soon the Blacksmith race will come to an end.

Tamra and Gallium have vowed that their tools will be destroyed.

As for Mother’s tools, the eternal flame can’t burn them—no flame can—so she asked Graviter Rex to ensure that the dragons take possession of her metal when she passes.

Graviter will store her hammer and medallion with his dragon’s gold, which will be inherited by his twin sons.

His sons will believe only that the tools are powerful dragon’s gold.

Vargo has vowed, since he will live longer than Graviter, that he will ensure that the tools’ true nature is never revealed.

Both Tamra and Gallium were concerned about the risk of Mother’s tools being misused, but Mother was adamant it was the only way.

“Dragons guard their gold jealously,” she said. “They are best placed to protect these tools. There is no other choice.”

I sensed Tamra and Gallium’s reluctance, but they finally agreed.

When the others left, Mother asked Vargo Vanem to stay back for a moment.

He remained with her on the platform on which I was balancing only moments ago, and I will never forget what they spoke about.

“It’s the end of the beginning.” Mother’s voice was strained. “Supernaturals won’t be able to walk in plain sight forever. And dragons, well… You aren’t exactly going to be able to hide in small spaces.”

Vargo gave her a nod, his shoulders hunched. “We feel our mortality more keenly than ever.”

She took a deep breath and I heard the determination in her voice. “I left a thread of dragon within my medallion,” she said, holding it up to the light. “When I pass, and Graviter is gone, please use this medallion. Protect all dragons. Give them the ability to hide among humans.”

Vargo’s eyes had widened. “The gravity of your gift is not lost on me,” he said. “But without a Blacksmith’s heart to power this metal—and one as powerful as yours—it may as well be a trinket.”

Mother gave him a soft smile. “Perhaps, one day, there will be a heart strong enough to overcome that difficulty.”

Vargo gave her a nod, his expression deeply contemplative as he flew away.

As for the books, there’s a part of me that vehemently disagrees with Mother’s decision to create them, but I can’t do a damn thing about it.

Those books can only be opened for the first time by a Blacksmith.

She and her siblings will make that choice.

Once opened, the books will take on lives of their own.

They will become powerful receptacles of magic, recording history as it happens, but their real purpose…

Within generations, the books will extinguish all knowledge about Blacksmiths.

Not too quickly. A little at a time. Until everything about my mother and her family and their ancestors is forgotten.

It will be as if they never existed.

I shake off my foreboding, turning away from the room with the statues, and slip down the staircase, heading for the back of the tower.

I’m meant to be joining my brothers already, but I don’t follow the rules, so if I changed my behavior today, it would only alarm them.

Well, that’s my reasoning.

I slip through a concealed door at the back of the tower that sits close to the cliff’s edge, only to find Mother staring out across the ocean.

Her hands are folded in front of her, her golden medallion catching the light, while her forehead is lightly creased.

It isn’t the first time I’ve found her standing here like this, as if she’s trying to remember something.

She senses my presence right away and flashes me a smile, her eyes lighting up. “Daughter.”

I slip one arm around her waist. For a moment, I consider asking her about Thaden Kane Ironmeld, but I want to focus on her.

She looks so… lost.

“You needed to escape?” I ask her.

She sighs. “No blood can be spilled while I’m here; I’ve made that very clear. I created every safety precaution I could think of, and still?—”

“They look at you as if you’re going to eat them.” I bare my teeth dramatically.

Oh, those humans and supernaturals have no idea.

I’m the one they should be afraid of.

It doesn’t escape me that Mother takes the brunt of their fear, bearing the weight of it so that I can live free of it. Well, mostly.

“This alliance will make things better,” I say. A hopeful statement more than a certain one.

She presses a kiss to my forehead. “I hope so.”

“I know so.” Aksel’s deep rumble meets my ears a second before his body casts us both into shadow.

He stands tall, wearing the confidence of an alpha, but his protectiveness of us shines through in his concerned gaze. “Everything okay?”

“No,” I grumble. “This dress itches. Can’t I get changed?”

He shakes his head with a laugh. “Into your smelly hunting clothes?”

Our wolfish noses are particularly sensitive, but I’m certain the humans wouldn’t notice.

Still, I give an exaggerated sigh. “Fine. I’ll stay in the dress.”

Mother drops another kiss on my forehead. She looks beautiful in her violet-colored dress, her silver hair flowing around her face and shoulders.

As we make our way around the base of the tower, Father meets us there, holding his hand out for her.

The love between them is a tangible force that hits me hard.

Their connection will never break. No matter what battles they face.

I hang back a little, and when Aksel glances at me, I say, “I’ll be there in a minute.”

He catches up with Mother and Father, joining my brothers and the other guests at the front of the tower.

Charlotte will arrive soon, and then everything will change.

I find myself wishing it wouldn’t.

As fiercely as Mother and Father have watched over me and protected me, I’ve also protected them.

My family is my world.

If my brothers have a problem, then I have a problem. If they need help, I’m there.

After today… it all starts to change.

It doesn’t take me long to slip into the forest, finding a shadowed spot out of the light where I can take deep breaths and fix an expression on my face that says, I’m happy for you.

When I’m certain I’ve managed it, I prepare to head out into the light again.

Before I can take a step, my senses prickle.

I consider the nearby shadows, inhaling deeply, trying to pick out the various scents. Musky air, moss, a rabbit, and also?—

A woman steps forward through the shadows.

She has green eyes, auburn hair, and a dusting of freckles across her nose, along with a slight cleft in her chin.

She looks about Mother’s age, but she’s very thin, practically a whisp. She’s wearing a short-sleeved, leafy-green dress that stops at her knees and skims the tops of her brown boots.

Her appearance is extremely disarming, which only makes me distrustful, my eyes narrowing at her.

I’m certain I’ve never seen her before, but there’s something so damn familiar about her…

“Hello, Galeia,” she says. “Do you remember me?”

I remember her scent.

But the face I associate with that scent was much older than she now appears.

Carefully, I say, “You told me not to eat the mouse.”

“Indeed.” She breaks into a smile. “Precious thing, you let it run away without taking even a nibble of its tail.”

I’m not sure if I should be offended that she called me a ‘thing,’ although it’s somewhat unclear if she was referring to me or the mouse.

“You were much older,” I say, standing my ground as she takes another step toward me.

I have no fear of her.

My claws are ready.

“That face suited my needs at the time.” Her focus slips past me to the tower. “Oh my, that is a very impressive tower.”

“People call it the Spire ,” I reply, gauging her reaction.

This place is well known in the supernatural community. If she’s heard of it, then she will also know who lives here and that a single wrong move will get her hunted down and killed. My mother may be misjudged, but I have no boundaries when it comes to protecting my family.

The woman arches her eyebrows. “I can see why it has that name.” Then she waves her hand at the gathering in front of it. “But it looks like we’ve come at a bad time.”

“We?”

“My two brothers and I.” She turns slightly and points in the direction of the shadows behind her.

Two men stand in the darkness, neither fully visible.

Their scents are strange to me. Magical. Certainly supernatural. But of a kind I haven’t encountered before.

I peer harder at her. “Who are you?”

“I like to be called Halle. But my brothers, when they’re being cruel, call me Hel. You can meet them if you like?”

I scoff. “With an introduction like that, I don’t think so.”

One corner of her mouth hitches up. “Let me try again. My eldest brother was born in the cave where you once let a mouse go free.”

Now she’s the one peering at me, and she doesn’t have to say more.

Even if I didn’t remember that cave and all the runes etched into the side of it, Father has told me all the stories of his people.

I take another deep breath, pulling in the scent of the most darkly shadowed man.

Fuck me.

Is he the Wolf of War?

“My other brother, also older than me,” Halle continues, gesturing to the other man, “well, he slithered his way out of a similar cavern. Right after he decided it would be more interesting to explore the world than to encircle it for all eternity.”

I gasp. “The World Serpent.”

Of course, she could be lying to me, but the energy I’m now sensing around all three of them tells me that, even if these supernaturals aren’t the gods they claim to be, they’re fucking powerful.

Halle gives me another smile, and for the first time since she arrived, the twist of her lips isn’t shrewd or conniving. She considers me openly. “We’ve waited decades for you, Galeia.”

“Why?”

She gestures to the clearing. “You don’t belong here, tucked away in that tower. Not when you have such a long life ahead of you and the power to do anything you want.”

She takes another step toward me, startling me when she says, “Come with us.”

I should tell her an emphatic and immediate No .

But my senses are exploding with the increasing energy surrounding her and the two men standing nearby.

It calls to me, drawing me toward them.

I make myself stop. “My family…”

“I understand,” Halle says. “They’re your pack.” She searches my eyes. “But are they your future?”

I look back.

At my brothers. At Mother and Father. At the life I’ve lived.

I tell myself they need me, but…

I have needed them more.

I needed their love, their support, their understanding, and their determination to bring peace to this land.

Halle doesn’t seem to miss the way I angle in their direction.

“Your pack is important,” she says. “We don’t expect you to leave with us right now. But I hope you will understand, we can’t linger here beyond tomorrow morning. Our presence may be seen as a threat.”

My eyes burn with tears as I consider the choice I now face. Even as I think of leaving, I feel the tug of my future.

My destiny.

Of all the things Father taught me, destiny is not to be denied. He will understand my decision, perhaps even more than Mother or my brothers will.

“It’s the end of the beginning,” Halle says, her expression grim. “Will you stay in the past or step into your future?” She tilts her head, her eyes filling with power. “Will you come with us?”

With my heart in my throat, I say, “I will.”

I won’t leave without saying goodbye. I would never vanish on my family without explaining my reasons and ensuring they understand my choice. And, no matter how much I may hate this scratchy dress, nothing could drag me away from my brother’s wedding.

Today, I will celebrate with my family.

Tomorrow, I will explain my decision.

Then, I will forge my destiny.

I will never forget the love I’ve been given or the battles that were fought to keep me safe. My destiny may claim my path, but my family will always be part of my heart.