Chapter 28
Morgana
“So it turns out he didn’t just want the seal for this ritual of his,” Will says grimly.
Nearly a thousand of General Becane’s soldiers—my army—are gathered on the outskirts of Elmere.
But we wait in the palace war room, processing the news of Caledon’s march on Agathyre.
So much has happened in the last twenty-four hours, I can hardly wrap my head around it.
My heart swells every time I think about Leon proposing to me last night, but that joy dims when my thoughts return to Harman’s news.
We were planning to take the fight to Caledon, but as always, he’s one step ahead of us—leaving us scrambling to react.
“Normally, the Miravow would protect the Agathyrians from intruders,” I say, glancing at Leon and Tira. “We’ve seen it firsthand. But with the seal of Ethira, Caledon has safe passage through the forest.”
“Will that work for his forces too?” General Becane frowns.
“We’re not sure,” Leon says. “But we know this isn’t the first time someone’s had the idea to use the seal to invade Agathyre.” He gives me a meaningful look, and I know we’re both thinking about Respen. “They must have some reason to think the army will be protected too.”
Sophos raises his finger to address Leon’s last point.
“In legend, Firesta rewarded Ethira with the seal for defending a group of travelers,” Sophos says.
“It would be logical that the seal’s protection extended beyond the person carrying it.
However, it was never intended to keep whole armies from harm, and I suspect there are limits to who it will shield. ”
I nod. That’s a small relief. We wouldn’t want to go after Caledon only to find supernatural forces preventing us from fighting any of his clerics.
“But why Agathyre?” Vostani, Becane’s lieutenant, asks. She’s a broad-shouldered woman with a stubborn look about her, but I liked her as soon as I met her.
“The only possible reason is that it gets him closer to the final token.”
“So the cup is in Agathyre,” I deduce.
“Ethira traveled to all three nations, remember?” Tira says. “It makes sense that he left at least one token in each country.”
“Do you think the dryads knew and kept it from us?” Alastor asks.
“They’re a pretty secretive bunch,” I admit. “Maybe they thought it safer no one else knew about it. I suppose I don’t blame them if that’s the case. But it hasn’t stopped Caledon tracking it down.”
“And if he finds the cup?” General Becane tugs at the neat end of his beard. “What exactly are we looking at here?”
I exhale, meeting Leon’s eye.
“Caledon believes that if he combines all the tokens, he will become a god.”
Lieutenant Vostani frowns. “I don’t understand what that means.”
“None of us do,” Alastor says to her.
“A literal god? As in an all-powerful, can’t-die, lives-in-the-Eternal-Realm divine being?” Vostani clarifies.
“Maybe,” Phaia shrugs, but Damia makes a dismissive chuff.
“It’s all religious nonsense,” she tuts.
“Perhaps,” General Becane continues, “but I still need to know what we’re up against if we’re going to have any hope of an effective strategy.”
“What they mean is we’re in over our heads,” a third member of the Trovian military, Captain Wicklow, says.
“Man wasn’t meant to mess with something as powerful as the tokens.
If we don’t reach the Grand Bearer in time to stop him, we’re doomed—with Ethira’s power, he could smite us down with just a look.
” He shudders, despite Damia rolling her eyes at his superstition.
“Ask Sophos,” Leon prompts across the bond. He could speak to the bearer himself, of course, but he’s very aware this is my meeting, my court, and I love that he respects my role as queen.
“Bearer Sophos, you must have some insight for us on this matter,” I say to the tall man.
Sophos clears his throat. “I can only say what legend suggests, and what the Grand Bearer believes.”
“That’d be better than nothing,” Alastor prompts.
“I suspect that combining the tokens will make the Grand Bearer more powerful than any person alive. It’s likely they will grant him a kind of invincibility—not a true immunity to death, since I don’t know if they’ll stop him aging entirely—but it’s likely his body would be strong enough to withstand most attacks.
That is because he will trade a mortal form for an immortal one, as Ethira did. ”
He pauses, tugging his sleeve over his missing hand as he thinks.
“He is very powerful already, after absorbing large amounts of celestial power, but I think he will become more so. It’s possible the use of the tokens won’t make him a god, but it will connect him to other sources of power in our world, removing all limits on his supply of magic. ”
“Oh, so nothing major to worry about then,” Alastor says, making Harman’s lips twitch.
“He thinks it will be enough for him to conquer Tiearland,” Sophos says, ignoring Alastor’s sarcasm. “And that’s his mission. After that, he believes he will ascend to the Eternal Realm.”
Harman shakes his head. “It’s insane.”
“I agree,” Sophos says. “Not that it really matters, if our goal is to stop him long before he gets a chance to find out how deranged his ideas are. The realm of the gods isn’t open to anyone with enough power in their hands and greed in their hearts.”
“You’re sure about that?” I ask.
Sophos tilts his long neck, thinking. He’s clever enough to have risen through—and survived—the ranks of the Temple. He also believes in the gods, deeply. He must have spent some time pondering this question.
“I think brute strength, invulnerability, and power cannot be the only things that divide people from the gods,” he says. “True divine power is the ability to give life and create from nothingness. The Grand Bearer has never expressed any interest in those.”
Because he only wants to kill and destroy, I think to myself. If that’s the only limit on the godlike powers Caledon will gain, it’s not much of a silver lining.
“If Caledon finds the cup, he will be practically unstoppable,” I say. “So we need to prevent him invading Agathyre.”
“His forces have been mobilizing longer than ours, Your Majesty,” General Becane points out. “And most of the Temple’s so-called soldiers are already closer to the Agathyrian border than us to begin with.”
“Then we must move quickly,” I say. “And if we’re too late, we must do our best to drive them out of Agathyre before they can make real progress. Harman, what about the Hand?”
“Those who are willing to fight will meet us at the border,” Harman says. “I have my spies watching. They should be able to warn us if Caledon breaches the Miravow.”
“We have our own spies who can do that,” General Becane says, his chin twitching. The two men stare at each other, and I sense I might have a battle for territory on my hands.
“I’m sure we do, General,” I say. “But the Hand’s spies are longtime experts at avoiding Temple detection. Whereas, as far as I know, your intelligence networks have been happily working alongside the Temple under Oclanna’s reign. Am I wrong?”
The general’s mouth drops.
“We had to obey the queen’s orders,” Lieutenant Vostani points out, defending her superior. “No matter how counterproductive they seemed.”
“And I am queen now,” I say. “And I’m ordering you to work with the Hand’s intelligence contacts so we’re all on the same page. Does that seem possible?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” the general agrees as Harman also murmurs his assent. Will gives me a proud smile from over the general’s shoulder. It’s the same expression he’d make whenever I managed a clever move in chess.
My eyes fall to the map, and worry creeps back over me. We can make all these plans and even then be doomed before we begin.
“What’s wrong, my love?” Leon asks, sensing my fear.
“Caledon could still have taken Starfall before all our forces reach Agathyre,” I reply.
“Trova isn’t the only nation to share a border with the dryads,” Leon points out.
I meet his gaze. “Do you think we could ask him?”
“He swore to be your ally, Ana. He knows you wouldn’t drag us into this war if it wasn’t necessary.”
“We’ll also send a message to King Fairon, asking Filusia for aid,” I say.
General Becane looks to Leon. “Will he agree?”
“After Agathyre and Trova, my brother is well aware that Filusia will be next on Caledon’s list. He’ll agree, alright,” he says firmly.
Becane and Vostani hurry off to relay messages to their forces, while Leon goes to compose the message to Fairon. Meanwhile, the rest of us rush to finish our preparations. We must leave Elmere today, then we still have about two weeks of travel ahead of us.
And when we get there, the real battle will begin. If we can combine our forces, and if we can arrive in time, then we stand a good shot. Our soldiers outnumber the Temple’s forces, even if they have cleavers and other twin-blessed clerics on their side.
But I’m still no match for Caledon.
Nothing in my arsenal can hurt him—not even my death power. Not when Caledon’s a vast black hole, swallowing up any celestial magic sent his way. I’ve learned by now I can’t fight his darkness with my own; he only feeds off it.
An idea comes to me then, smacking me in the face so hard I stop walking altogether. After I assure Tira I’m not about to faint, I reach out across the mooring.
“Leon,” I call.
“Yes, my love?”
“There’s something I want you to add to your message to Fairon.”