Chapter Twenty-Five
Aelia
The Hall of Luce thrummed with excitement, a steady chorus of murmurs filling the grand chamber.
Even the brilliant rays of blessed sun streaming through the skylight seemed more radiant today.
After the past melancholy week of restoration efforts, burying bodies and mourning all those lost in the battle, we were in dire need of some light.
Still, as I sat between Sy and Rue, in the midst of Flare Squad, a hint of unease curled through my innards.
This morning when I awoke, Reign was gone.
Again. I’d barely had a moment to dwell on his absence before I spied the glittering parchment upon my nightstand.
It was the first one that had appeared in weeks.
The instructions were minimal: to convene at the Hall of Luce immediately.
Once I’d ensured my cuoré hadn’t fled campus to murder his father, and potentially start a war with my uncle, I’d woken my roommate.
Rue and I had quickly pulled on our training leathers then hurried into the hallway, where we’d found the rest of the students making their way out of the dormitories.
So here we were, the near three hundred students that remained.
Across all four years. Most of the upperclassmen had already been called to the front, to patrol the borders of the Wilds.
But from everything we’d learned, the Night Fae had gone back into hiding.
What in gods’ name are you waiting for Helroth?
Frustration lanced through my insides with each day that passed without a sign or move indicating their whereabouts.
We were no more than sitting ducks, waiting for my grandsire and his Demon Fae to attack.
The training sessions with our Arcanum counterparts had been going well, but we still hadn’t learned to fight as a team.
The centuries of mistrust were ingrained in our blood, and I hated to admit that unifying the courts might prove more difficult than defeating the Night Fae themselves.
The sharp whine of ancient hinges raised the hair on the back of my neck. I didn’t have to twist around to know who was stalking in. I could feel him. Feel the surge of nox and now zar that accompanied my mate.
Which reminded me… Raysa, I had to find a way to discover more about Reign’s past without him knowing. At least not until I had some answers to give. Only the gods knew if his current emotional state could handle Kaelith’s speculations.
“Where is the zar coming from, Kae?”
“The same place all power stems from, Light Fae. His blood.”
His blood… Stars, who was his mother?
Reign’s power bled through the room, billowing his dark cloak and pushing against me as he passed, drawing my thoughts back to the present.
He took his place beside the other professors on the dais before his eyes met mine.
Raging fury blazed through our bond, the rush of emotion so powerful it stole the air from my lungs.
What’s happened? I sent the question through our mental connection.
Before he could respond, a flood of ethereal light bathed the chamber, and my skin prickled from the familiar intensity.
The grand doors opened, and Elian strode in.
He was dressed in pale robes that shimmered with light glyphs, his golden circlet catching the luminescent glow from the skylight.
His calm smile swept across the room, so reassuring, so practiced, that it took everything in me not to flinch from it.
He glided down the aisle as if floating on a cloud as the students’ hushed whispers filled the space.
“What is he doing here?” Rue whispered.
“I have no idea.” That hint of unease grew more volatile.
Once my uncle stood upon the dais beside the headmaster, he began, his voice clear and warm echoing across the hall. “My dear students of Luce, you have endured much in the past weeks. You have shown courage and resilience, and now, your realm calls upon you to act once more.”
A hush fell, thicker than the smell of smoke that still clung to the rafters. My fingers curled around the hilt of my dagger, the cuorem suddenly pulsing faster.
Elian spread his arms, the light around him seeming to brighten as if Raysa herself favored him in this moment. “Today, I bring news of victory. Our long-time enemy, the tyrant King Tenebris of the Court of Umbral Shadows, has been captured and is now locked away in the dungeons of Ethereal Light.”
A murmur swept through the students, shock and confusion rippling outward like a stone dropped in still water. Heads turned, whispers rose, and questions formed in wide, frightened eyes.
I felt Reign go still atop the dais. Utterly, terrifyingly still.
Elian’s gaze swept the room again, landing briefly on me this time.
It softened for just a fraction of a second before turning hard again.
“Now is the moment, children of Light. With Tenebris captured, the Court of Umbral Shadows is weakened, leaderless, and vulnerable. We will march on the border immediately to secure their lands and bring an end to the darkness that has plagued our realm for far too long.”
My breath caught, the world narrowing as his words sank in. March on the border… take the Shadow Court…
No. No, he couldn’t. Not like this. We were supposed to fight together. Fight the Night Fae! How could he betray us like this? He was supposed to be family, my gods’ damned uncle.
Rue gripped my wrist, a gasp squeezing past her lips as I shot to my feet. More gasps echoed across the hall, some students cheering faintly, others frozen, eyes darting toward me. Toward Reign.
Reign’s shadows flared, a whirlwind across his shoulders plummeting half the dais into darkness. His jaw was clenched so tight I could feel the crack of tension through the bond.
“You lied to us,” I mouthed, but Elian kept speaking, kept smiling as if he were all righteous and hadn’t just plunged a dagger into my back.
“You will gather your belongings and be ready within the hour. All capable students will join the Royal Guardians at the border to march with us in this momentous push against the dark,” Elian continued, his voice a blade wrapped in silk. “Together, we will bring peace to Aetheria!”
“Peace?” Reign’s voice was low, deadly, echoing like thunder in the hush that followed.
Elian’s eyes flickered to him across the stage, the smile faltering for just a moment. “Professor Darkthorn, surely you understand this is necessary—”
“Necessary?” Shadows erupted around us, the sunlight flickering as the darkness thickened, spreading throughout the room. “You call a slaughter necessary? You call the invasion of my people’s home peace? You are marching against the very Fae you need to destroy the true threat, the Night King!”
Students shrank back, the whispers turning to terrified silence as Reign’s shadows roiled and billowed around us.
“Watch your tone, professor,” the king growled. “You are forgetting your place.”
“And you are risking all of Aetheria,” he bellowed.
“King Elian,” I hissed, stepping forward. My wings flared in a shimmer of light as I felt the cuorem’s pulse grow more frenzied, the storm inside me rising to meet Reign’s fury. “We need the Shadow Fae on our side. To fight against Helroth’s forces. You promised us unity.”
His eyes met mine, cool and calm. “This is unity, Aelia. Light will prevail, and the darkness, Shadow and Night, will fall, once and for all.”
Gods, he thinks he can force the Shadow Fae into submission. My thoughts slipped through the bond.
He can’t. Reign’s voice was a low growl through my mind. He’ll only end up dividing our forces and killing us all.
But what of his vow to protect me?
Technically, he hasn’t broken it, starlight. In his twisted mind, perhaps marching across the Luminoc is protecting you.
“No,” I snapped, my voice shaking with rage. “You’re using us. Using them.” I gestured to the students, to Rue’s pale face, then to Symon’s trembling hands. “The majority of students remaining are only first- and second-years. You’re forcing us to fight your war. A war we cannot win divided.”
A muscle ticked in Elian’s jaw, but he kept his voice soft. “You, of all people, should understand the necessity of this moment.” The veiled threat was clear.
Careful… Reign’s voice surged through my thoughts again.
Still, I took another step forward, shadows and light dancing around me as the bond with Reign burned. “And you, your Ethereal Highness, of all people, should know I won’t stand by and watch you destroy what’s left of this realm for your pride.”
Another round of gasps echoed across the chamber.
My uncle’s eyes hardened, the light around him brightening in warning. “I am your king. How dare you speak to me like this?”
“I am not yours to command,” I spat, wings lifting as the trio of gods’ given powers roared. I was the true heir. But I kept the traitorous thoughts tucked behind my teeth, despite the urge to spill the secret that would change everything.
The hall erupted in whispers again, fear and uncertainty filling every crack as the tension between us grew sharp enough to cut.
Reign disappeared from the dais in a tornado of shadows, reappearing beside me a moment later. His hand brushed mine, shadows coiling protectively around my waist. “If you think we will let you use these students as your soldiers,” he said, his voice a quiet threat, “you are gravely mistaken.”
Elian’s gaze flickered between us, then landed on Draven, who shrank beneath it like a wilting flower. A glint of cold calculation flashed in the king’s eyes as sharp and bright as the light that pulsed around him. “As I understood it, it was Draven that led this academy, not either of you.”
Reign’s glare lanced in Draven’s direction. The headmaster shrank behind the king. Coward.
“You would betray your own court, your own king, to defend the Shadow monsters?” Elian barked at me.
I lifted my chin, my hand closing around Reign’s. “No. We will protect this realm. All of it. Even if we have to protect it from you.”
The silence that followed was deafening.