Chapter 11
SELENE
It’s not hard to locate the Goddess of Truth. Ever since the command came down—from Mikais or Nina, I can’t be sure—Taura has been exhausting her power. The final phase of the rebellion commences, and by the time the sun rises tomorrow, we will find ourselves as victors or exiles.
Drayven leads us down the marble halls of Nobus’ palace swiftly.
His entire body is tense, resisting the urge to sprint.
Despite his urgency, he doesn’t summon his shadows to transport us in his signature wispy cloud.
They flit around us, swirling over his arms and skating across the barely-there swell of my belly, eager to be called upon by the master who ignores them.
Black and red carvings come into view as we round the corner. If the gaudy ornaments weren’t enough to denote that the room belongs to Mikais, the Wolf God lounging against the door certainly does.
“Death!” Mikais exclaims with surprise at the sight of the Dark God. “You have finally seen the light.”
Drayven glares at the god before cutting his eyes swiftly to me and back again. He most definitely has seen the light…just not the one Mikais is referring to.
“I am not here to join your war.”
Mikais chuckles, pushing off the door and stepping into Drayven’s space.
The God of Death squares his shoulders, slightly angling himself between me and the Wolf God.
It’s a barely perceptible motion, a movement easily written off as simply adjusting his stance, but I notice it for what it really is.
“I have information that may change your mind.” Mikais, ignoring Drayven’s cues, places both hands on the Dark God’s shoulders. “Come, Death. Let’s talk.”
Drayven opens his mouth to speak, but the Wolf God cuts him off. “That wasn’t a request.”
“I need to speak with Taura. Is she inside?” I ask.
Mikais turns his head and stares blankly at me for a moment, seemingly noticing my presence for the first time. I push past him, bored of waiting for an answer from the self-centered god. The closer we get to war, the less he seems to care about how anyone else but himself fares.
I shut the door behind me loudly, a sigh of relief slipping past my lips when the gods don’t follow.
“Finally,” Nina sighs. “Do you have it, Selene?”
The Goddess of Flame leans over the table, her arms bracketed atop a map of the palace. Her eyes burn with the promise of fire as she glares at me from across the room.
She sent me to the library hours ago to retrieve a book—an old tome with tales and sketches of Creation.
No one knows how the divine legends of the supreme being’s creation of the human realms will aid us in overthrowing the God King, but when the Goddess of Truth saw it in a vision, my sister ordered me to fetch it.
“Where’s the book?” my sister asks again.
“I couldn’t find it,” I lie. The title flashes in my mind—the gold foil lettering on the worn brown leather. I had just pulled the book from the shelf when I felt Drayen’s presence.
Taura cuts her eyes to me, the irises shifting hues as she narrows them. The corner of her lip tilts up in a smile confirming my suspicion. She knows exactly what I found in the library—and that’s why she sent me there in the first place.
“Do I have to do everything myself?” Nina snaps, pushing off the table.
“Mikais goes for a walk. You can’t find a simple book.
Meanwhile, I’m planning an entire fucking battle.
” She curses forcefully under her breath as she storms past me in a rush.
“Just stay here, Light. I’ll give you your orders when I return. ”
The door slams shut behind her.
“She’ll be back in twelve minutes.” The Goddess of Truth steps beside me, her shoulder brushing mine.
“I thought your power wasn’t precise?” I bump her playfully on the shoulder.
She returns the nudge with a chuckle. “It’s not. I just know her.”
“Taura.” I turn to face my oldest friend and watch her mouth pinch into a tight line at my tone. “I know I told you that I wouldn’t ask about your vision, but—”
“Things have changed,” she interrupts. “And you want to know how much of this I foresaw?”
I nod and she motions for me to sit. We each take one of the gray velvet wingback chairs that face the fireplace. Alabaster wolves flank the fire that roars within, their diamond eyes glimmering in the flames.
My hand drops instinctively to my lap, my finger grazing the place where Death’s child secretly grows. “Start at the beginning. What did you see at the bestowing?”
Taura reaches across the space that separates us and takes my hand in hers. Emotions war on her expression.
“It’s okay. You can tell me.” I squeeze her hand, urging her to continue.
“I saw you in another realm with the Prince of the Gods on your hip.” Of all the things I expected Truth to say, that was not on the list. Surely she’s mistaken. Surely she saw the babe in my belly instead.
“You’re sure it was the prince?” I ask, skeptically.
“Black hair. Silver eyes,” Taura confirms. There’s no denying the child-god in question is Prince Calaedon—the mirror image of Arcasia.
My head spins trying to make sense of her truth. Why would I have the prince in a mortal realm? “Do I kidnap him?”
“I can’t be sure. All I know is the prince is with you as a child. The next vision I have of him isn’t until he’s older.” Blue shifts to violet as Taura calls upon her power to reveal more of the truth.
“It’s just snippets,” she laments. “On a battlefield in tears, in a dungeon covered in blood, and…and…in Nobus’ throne room crowned in shadows.” The goddess’ eyes return to normal, the hint of fear still lingering on her features.
She wouldn’t have told Drayven that I was with the Prince without a valid reason.
The rest of her vision—the prince as a man with Death’s magic— that’s public knowledge.
Drayven wouldn’t make a bargain to keep me from knowing what he openly declared in front of the entire pantheon.
He wouldn’t have handed over his realm for that.
There must be something else I’m missing— some reason that he cares about what happens next.
“What else did you tell Death, Taura?”
“Selene.” She shakes her head in dismissal, turning my confusion into intrigue.
“I know it’s about me. Don’t I deserve to know?”
“Of course you do.” The Goddess of Truth shakes her head again as she reluctantly presses on. “I saw you in the mortal realm. You were…”
“With the prince,” I finish when she doesn’t. “You already said that.”
“Dying,” she corrects. “You were dying, Selene. He was there to collect you.”
I scoff in disbelief. We are immortal. We do not die.
But that’s not true, is it? Why else would I have burned my father’s body on a funeral pyre in a mortal realm? His death was his choice, but ours won’t be. If we’re purposefully cut off from this realm, if we’re exiled with no way to ever return here, we will all die.
“Did you see any of the others?”
“I am not certain of the outcome,” Taura says, reading the question I artfully avoid asking. “There’s still something undecided.”
“Taura, I need to ask you for a favor but you cannot tell anyone. Especially not my sisters or Mikais.”
The Goddess of Truth nods. I squeeze her hand tightly and guide it to rest atop my stomach. “I need you to read a fate.”
Her jaw drops at my request. “Are you …” The question dies on her tongue as her indigo eyes shift, transitioning from blue to purple as she uncovers my secret. The violet hue disappears and my best friend drops to the ground in front me.
“Holy Creation.” Her expression flits from panic to awe to excitement in rapid succession. “There was so much I couldn’t see before. But this…this changes everything about the prince’s story. She changes everything.”
“She?” I ask, tears clouding my vision.
Taura gasps as her pupils dilate again. “She has emerald eyes. Her father…”
Water streams down my face as I nod in confirmation. The goddess jumps to her feet, and begins pacing in front of the fireplace. Her hands ball into fists and flex repeatedly as she pieces together the fate of the Prince of the Gods and the daughter of Death.
“She’s with him,” Taura finally says. “In the throne room. They’re covered in blood and wearing crowns made of shadows. She calls him Callan and he calls her…he calls her…holy fucking Creation.”
It’s a rare occurrence for the Goddess of Truth to be rendered speechless, and whatever she’s seen has now done that twice in the nearly twelve minutes since my sister left.
Taura’s violet irises fade into pools of pitch black as a prophecy tumbles from her red lips. “The one with the power to unite them will rise.”
“We don’t dethrone Nobus, they do.” The words have barely left my lips when the door to Mikais’ chamber opens.
Taura quickly turns to face the fire, putting her back to the trio of deities who enter. The Wolf God, the Goddess of Flame, and the Dark God of Death stride into the room, each wearing a different expression.
Nina’s face is hard and determined. The face of a commander preparing for battle.
Mikais wears a grin, a cocky expression fit for a man who believes he’ll be king soon.
Drayven’s face is blank, but his eyes give him away. He’s anxious to hear what I know.
The thud of a book on the table pulls my attention from him. “You left a mess in the library, but I found what you couldn’t.”
“Sorry, Nina. I’m…nervous,” I lie. It couldn't be further from the truth, though. Armed with the knowledge that only Taura and I share, I know exactly what I must do.
“Nothing to be nervous about, Light.” Mikais perches on the table, crossing his ankles with a casual ease that only he feels. “We’ll use our powers, maim a few immortals, and this time tomorrow my brother will be…what’s the word you used, Death? Contained?”
“Not by you.” Taura turns to face the Wolf God.
“Doesn’t matter who does it. It just matters that it happens,” he replies. “Does it happen, Goddess of Truth? Will Nobus be contained.”
A smile blooms across her face, her eyes flitting to me briefly before responding. “He will be.”