Chapter 52 Theon
THEON
The conference room was silent when Theon finished explaining what they planned to do by transferring Dagian’s power to him.
The Ladies stared back, seemingly at a loss for words, and the tension in the air was so thick, it was oppressive.
Luka was rigid on Tessa’s other side, and Tessa appeared almost…
bored. A far cry from what she’d been last night.
He knew she wasn’t bored. She was waiting to see which argument they were going to face first. Just like he was.
But he’d meant what he’d said. This was happening whether or not the Ladies agreed to it.
Mainly because Dagian was not only offering but insistent.
The male hadn’t been the same since Sasha’s death.
He wasn’t surprised that the Falein Lady spoke first, nor was he surprised by her question.
“I need to clarify what you are requesting,” Lady Farhan said, her palms flat on the table.
“Not requesting,” Theon corrected. “Simply informing you of what’s to come.”
Her eyes narrowed, her words terse as she said, “You want us to approve of you taking power from the Achaz Heir?”
“That he is willingly giving,” Theon amended.
“That is not the point,” the Celeste Lady interjected. “The point is you will be more powerful than any of us.”
“But not more powerful than Tessa,” he said with a shrug. “She will still be the Arius Lady.”
“Whom you are married to,” she retorted. “You have already deceived us once. We will not stand for this.”
“If she is the Arius Lady, why are you speaking for her?” Lady Farhan asked.
“He is not speaking for me,” Tessa cut in. “He tends to be far less…dramatic than I am.” Her point was accentuated as she drummed her fingers on the table, a single flicker of lightning appearing and bouncing along the table. “But if you’d rather deal with me, then so be it.”
All the Ladies, save for Kyra, sat up straighter. “You have two husbands,” the Celeste blurted.
“Yes, yes,” Tessa muttered, waving her hand dismissively. “That’s already been established and not why we are here today. I do not have time for such trivial matters.”
“Trivial matters? What is stopping us from taking second Matches?” Lady Candra scoffed.
Tessa widened her eyes. “Nothing. Take another husband. Take a wife. Take five. As long as they are not forced, I don’t care.”
Now they were blinking back at her, clearly uncertain what to do or say.
“That is not how things are done,” Lady Farhan finally said.
Tessa paused the drumming of her fingers. “Forgive me for not really caring how things are done when, for most of my life, I was forced to bow, and for the last year, everyone has been trying to use me and decide my destiny for me.”
“I still don’t understand why all these other people are here,” the Serafina Lady interjected, although her voice was monotone. As if even she didn’t wish to be here.
“They are my…advisors,” Tessa said, settling on a word.
“No one needs that many advisors,” the Celeste Lady argued. “Fae? Sargon Legacy? A vampyre? We do not even know them all.”
“Perhaps if you had more, and they were more diverse, we wouldn’t be facing our current reality,” Tessa replied, her hand leaving the table and moving to her hair. But Luka caught it, guiding her fingers to rest on his thigh.
“We need to stay focused on the subject of this meeting,” Theon interjected.
“The answer is no,” the Celeste Lady said. She turned to the Anala Lady. “I cannot believe you summoned us here for this.”
“I thought we should hear them out,” Kyra mused, settling back in her chair and taking everything in.
“This is utter nonsense. It will change everything.”
“That is the entire point,” Tessa drawled, and Theon had to work to hide his smirk.
Gone were the insecurities and nerves of last night.
He’d like to say they fucked it out of her, but her trepidation was still there.
He could feel it lingering beneath other emotions, but he was so godsdamn proud of her in this moment.
“Theon is right,” she continued. “This is a courtesy to you all. We are not asking permission. Arrangements have already been made, and this is Dagian’s request.”
The Serafina Lady turned to the Achaz Heir. Dagian was seated down the table, quiet and haunted. “Is this true, Dagian?”
He nodded, looking them each in the eye. “I came to Theon weeks ago and asked for this.”
“Weeks ago?” the Falein Lady questioned. “Why not come to us?”
“Why not come to you?” he repeated derisively.
“You, who have served with my father for decades? You, who work to uphold the ludicrous traditions of this realm? You, who twist and scheme and plot with the rest of them? No, Lady Farhan, I would not bring these concerns to any of you only to have one of you whisper them to my father. Your own heirs aren’t even in this room to discuss matters that will affect them when they take their seats.
I went to the kingdom who loathed him. I went to the one who has the means to end him.
I went to the ones who could make a difference, not the ones content to watch the world crumble as long as their thrones remained intact. ”
“You understand you will no longer be able to hold your seat?” the Serafina Lady asked. “Once your father is dealt with, you will not be the Achaz Lord?”
Dagian’s lips tilted in a sardonic smile. “I am not the most powerful Achaz blood at this table, Lady Isleen.”
All eyes slid back to Tessa.
After several seconds of tense silence, the Celeste Lady said, “Fine. We transfer power, but we should decide together who will take it.”
“No,” Dagian said firmly. “It is my power. I will only transfer it to Theon. If anyone else tries, I rescind the offer, and you can face my father as you are.”
“He cannot be stronger than all of us together. Not if Tessa is fighting on our side,” Lady Farhan argued.
“It will take all of Tessa’s power to defeat Rordan, and even then, she could be weakened to the point of being overpowered by the seraphs that serve Achaz,” Luka said. “That is not an option on the table.”
“It’s more than Rordan,” Theon added. “Tessa is…not a Legacy. She’s not a god. She’s…more. She’s something more, and while we’ve been trying to figure it out, others have been looking for her. Others who will come for her.”
“Like who?” Lady Farhan demanded.
“Achaz,” Tessa said simply.
“The gods can’t come here.”
“Not right now,” Tessa agreed. “But if they can find a way to create an entire world and then abandon it, I assure you, there is a way to break the Accords of old.”
“Achaz is one threat,” Theon agreed. “The Fates are another. There is no agreement keeping them from coming here.”
“The Fates?” Kyra asked, her brow arching. “This is new information, Theon.”
“Since we’re all here, and for the sake of transparency, we want to share everything we know. This isn’t some grand effort to overtake the kingdoms, but it is a desperate attempt to save this realm and all the people in it.”
“By putting her in power?” the Celeste Lady sneered.
Theon’s lips curled up. “I told her to leave us all and let the Fates destroy the realm. She chose to stay and fight for us. Doesn’t get more benevolent than that, does it?”
“But she is not the one who will gain more power,” the Falein Lady argued. “You will.”
“To become her balance,” Theon said. “The Fates are looking for her because she is an imbalance. Beginnings and Endings. As we all know, her power is extensive. Something needs to balance it out.”
“And that something is you?”
Theon’s brow arched. “You’re welcome to try.”
Tessa’s power had already been growing, chaotic embers and sparks of light drifting around her.
He could feel her working to keep it under control.
There was lots of power in this room. It was the reason Xan and Akira weren’t in here with them.
Because Tessa’s power was seeking; he couldn’t imagine Akira in here.
But at his words, Luka’s dragonfire wound around one of her arms while Theon’s darkness fluttered along her jaw. She visibly relaxed, but the power in her eyes didn’t bank.
“The two of us help her control it, but the Fates will require more,” Theon said. “Rordan has been stealing power for decades. Even the added expanse of Dagian’s gifts likely won’t be enough to offset it, but it will give Tessa more to draw from.”
“As her Source?” Kyra asked, her head tilting with interest.
“As her Source. As her lover. As her equal. As her balance,” he replied. “I’m whatever she needs me to be.”
“And you don’t believe it will be enough to keep Devram from ruin?”
Theon glanced at Tessa, and her lips pursed at the question.
“Rordan’s goal is to bring Achaz here. He believes if he is successful, Achaz will give him this world to rule as a reward for his faithfulness,” Tessa said.
“I’ve never seen the true depth of his power, but I’ve felt it.
My Chaos seeks more. It knows who is the most powerful in a room, and when he is in it, it is always him,” Tessa said.
“As for the Fates, I suppose they will require an equal power. I am the grandchild of three First gods. No, one power being transferred to Theon will not be enough.”
Kyra nodded, toying with flames in her palm. “But the power of another ruler would help.”
“What?” Tessa asked, but it wasn’t in confusion. It was shock. The same shock Theon was feeling. The same thing Luka was processing, because Kyra couldn’t mean what it sounded like.