Chapter Forty-Six
Reign
In the quiet hours before dawn, I stole across the silent chamber where my cuoré still slept, to the armoire in the back of the room.
A faint glow seeped through the doors, pulsing with energy.
Steeling myself, I wrenched the dark timber open for the first time since Ruhl and I’d returned with the cursed artifact.
The Moirai Shard hung shimmering in the air, suspended between the crescent moons, one crafted of the darkest obsidian and the other of the purest alabaster moonstone.
Power thrummed in the air, pushing against the nox and zar slithering over my skin.
How could something so beautiful, so ethereal be the cause of such turmoil?
I’d barely slept last night, too consumed by what the dawn would bring. Would today be the day I’d be forced to use the Shard to sever the blood vow? If I failed, I wouldn’t just lose Aelia. I’d be the blade Tenebris drove through her heart. I winced as the priestess’s words echoed through my mind.
“When the Shard is used to break a bond woven by gods, there is always a sacrifice.”
“What kind of sacrifice?” I rasped, throat tight.
“That is not for me to say. The Moirai choose. But a thread must be cut, so another may be spun.”
Banishing the dismal thoughts, I slipped the shard into my cloak, then carefully closed the doors of the armoire and turned toward the balcony.
The one in which Aelia and I had spent hours upon last night, staring up into the moonlit sky as I claimed her again and again, the cuorem surging with power between us.
But now that time was over. As soon as the sun crested the peaks of the Alucian range in the Court of Ethereal Light, we would move. And I had no idea what we would find on the other end of that Compass.
Aelia had recounted the details of the odd encounter with Heaton and Liora, but still, I refused to believe it.
If Liora had been lying to us from the beginning, then the traitor hadn’t just breached our defenses.
They’d slept beneath our roof. Trained with us.
Fought beside us. That kind of betrayal didn’t just sting, it could cost us the war.
And I couldn’t help but wonder, if it were true, how could I have been so blind to it?
I vowed not to repeat that mistake again today. I’d already assigned Ruhl with the task of keeping an eye on her. Surely, that would keep my half-brother out of trouble, too. Gods knew, alone, they both had the uncanny ability to find trouble, but together? They were trouble.
As I stared out into the sleeping court below us, my thoughts circled back to the last time I’d used the Compass, to bring my Aelia home. Would we be forced to cross through the Nyxian Gate once again as we had last time? Or would the mystical compass require some other sacrifice?
So many ancient artifacts, and every one of them thirsting for blood. The gods certainly did enjoy playing their games.
A rustle of sheets behind me drew my attention.
Aelia stirred in the massive bed, the brilliant moonlight bleeding softly across her bare shoulders, painting her in pale blue and shadow.
My heart clenched at the sight. I would carve entire realms in half to preserve this version of her—safe, whole, and unburdened by the war that waited just beyond our walls.
Her eyes fluttered open, heavy with sleep, and landed on me. “Mmm… you’re brooding again,” she murmured, her voice warm and still husky with dreams.
I managed a small smile and padded back toward the bed, sinking down beside her. “Is it that obvious?”
“To me?” She propped herself up on one elbow, the sheet slipping low along her back. “Always.”
My fingers found hers where they rested on the mattress, curling gently. “We leave soon.”
She nodded, eyes searching mine—for what, I wasn’t sure. “I know.”
The silence that followed wasn’t just heavy, it was reverent. Like we both understood we were standing on the edge of something that could either shatter or save us. And neither of us dared break it just yet.
“I’m ready,” she whispered after a beat, squeezing my hand. “For whatever comes.”
Before I could answer, a pulse of cold wind shivered through the room, followed by the familiar pounding of wings.
It’s time. Phantom’s voice slid through my mind like silk. Her presence rippled along the edge of my thoughts like an icy tide pulling back from the shore.
“I know,” I replied loud enough she could hear through the open window before I rose to my feet, meeting my mate’s eyes. “We’ll be down shortly.”
Aelia sat up fully now, drawing the sheet around her bare form like armor. She stared at me for a long moment before rising too, uncaring of the chill, of the war, of the world.
Just us.
She stepped into my arms, pressing her forehead to mine as I bent down to her. “We end this today. Do you hear me? We win. For the courts. For us. I will accept nothing else.”
I swallowed hard and nodded, breathing her in like I could bottle her scent to carry with me through the battle. “I love you,” I whispered, my voice low and firm. “No matter what the Moirai demand. That doesn’t change.”
“Then let’s make sure they don’t take anything we aren’t willing to give,” she said fiercely, pulling back.
I nodded, letting my shadows curl gently around her waist in silent agreement.
With my cuoré by my side, I was ready. Ready for whatever waited on the other side of the Compass.
The Shadow courtyard was a hive of motion and energy, the sky streaked with the first rays of sunlight across the Luminoc River as our crew assembled at the base of the obsidian spire.
Armor glinted in the pale light. Wings flapped.
Hooves clattered against stone. Even the wind felt different today, sharper, hungrier.
Phantom landed first from her perch high atop the fortress, her shadow-wreathed wings unfurling with a thunderous beat that shook the entire keep. She lowered her massive head, onyx eyes locking on me with knowing focus.
Ready, my prince? The grin in her voice sailed across our bond. I wasn’t certain I loved my new title.
“Not even close,” I muttered, my shadows flaring into wings, lifting me easily onto her back.
Solanthus landed beside her a moment later with a blast of golden flame and heat, his tremendous sun-kissed form inciting gasps from the surrounding Light and Shadow warriors alike.
Aelia flew onto his back a heartbeat later, flashing me a reassuring smile as she settled between the glittering golden scales of his wing bones.
With only that smile, I felt the steady thrum of the cuorem press into my spine, her strength, her love, her confidence and trust pouring into me like sunlight through storm clouds.
Rue, clad in full golden armor with her braid whipping behind her like a banner, climbed up on Windy next. “You look like you’ve barely slept,” she called up to me, never one for decorum.
“Sleep is for the living,” I replied.
She laughed. “Let’s hope we still qualify come tomorrow.”
Behind her, Symon soared in on Griff, his hippogriff screeching as it banked hard and circled once before landing. The hybrid beast of talons and hooves kicked up dust as it settled, always a little more dramatic than necessary, much like its rider.
“Just went out for a quick hunt this morning,” he explained.
“Someone was a little on edge,” Rue added with a teasing smile.
Then came Liora, crimson wings aglow as her phoenix blazed overhead like a comet, its cry splitting the dawn. Her expression was unreadable, and for a moment, I felt that familiar flicker of unease. Ruhl had promised to keep an eye on her. I prayed he still was.
Speaking of the devil, Mordrin swooped in next, his scales gleaming like steel dipped in moonlight. Ruhl gave a lazy salute from his dragon’s back before landing beside us.
Aidan and Kaelith moved between the troops, confirming each member of our unit had both a skyrider and weapons at the ready.
The small unit of Light and Shadow soldiers assembled quickly, following their inspection, each with a mount of their own; pegasi, hippogriffs, and gryphons from the Conservatory of Luce.
A force small enough to move quickly, but powerful enough to strike with precision.
I reached into my cloak and drew out the Compass.
It pulsed in my hand like a living, breathing thing.
The floating shard at its center spun slowly, drinking in the early morning moonlight.
Whispers curled at the edges of my thoughts, teasing, taunting.
I tuned them out and pressed my palm flat against the crystal.
The Compass flared.
Light and shadow exploded outward in twin rings. The artifact lifted into the air just as it had last time, spinning faster and faster until it suddenly jerked forward. The shard at its core pointed due northeast, into the skies above the Bloodhollow Mountains.
Everyone fell silent as the Compass stilled, the pull undeniable.
“That’s where we go,” I said, voice steady despite every fear, every hope, and every doubt rolling through me. “Helroth’s waiting.”
Phantom rumbled beneath me, her wings shifting in anticipation. Then let’s not make him wait any longer.
Without another word, I dug my heels into her flank, and she launched into the sky with Aelia aboard Solanthus right behind me. Wind screamed past us as the others followed, an entire storm of wings and fury soaring toward the end of this war.
Toward Helroth. Toward fate.