51. Chapter 51
Chapter 51
T wo hours later, Aurelia's boots crunched on frozen ground.
Dusk had fallen across the Shades, the snow-crusted mountains sparkling with indigo and magenta as the iridescent spires of the Crystal City glimmered ahead.
Ven’s hard chest brushed against her back as he wrapped his arms around her, shadows curling at their feet.
A moment later, darkness plumed beside them, Seth’s beautifully carved face appearing for only an instant before he was gone again, scouting ahead.
It was the compromise all of them had agreed to.
Karro had demanded to come—but Ven reasoned he needed to remain to claim the crown should their visit go south. Nira had stepped in as Commander of the Wraiths since Ven’s ascension to the throne, and Seth had offered himself as the obvious choice.
Ven's pine and citrus scent enveloped her as the silk of his shadows doused everything in black. They were plunged into weightlessness as he cast them further up into the peaks of the Shades into Allokin territory.
“Can we trust them?” she asked, wondering how much or how little it was safe to divulge.
His voice rumbled through her as their feet touched solid ground once more, ahead—the sparkling bridge leading into Eisenea. “That’s up to you to decide.”
He wasn’t brushing her question aside, he was giving her the space to reveal as little or as much as she wanted to in this place full of cold, beautiful beings.
The Allokin had remained tenuous allies to the Blood Folk, but she wasn’t so certain they could be trusted with the kind of weight she bore. Especially after the way they'd left this place.
Ven’s father had accused Roheer of making alliances with the Triarchy, but it was impossible to say how accurate the information was.
If she told them that the King of the Void hunted her, if they knew of the rare power she possessed—would they give her up to avoid another war?
One life for thousands hardly seemed like a choice.
Winter gripped the mountain pass leading into the Crystal City, but it was far icier inside the throne room of the Triarchy.
The last time they’d been in this place, they’d been thrown into the cells beneath the palace. Only managing to escape with the help of the Allokin Spellmaster—and one of the Wraiths' oldest friends—Lanthius. Though outwardly, it seemed no one dared to acknowledge the insult on either side.
The prince had taken them hostage without the explicit approval of the kings and queen. They’d left the city with minimal destruction.
It seemed an even exchange.
When the silver guard of Eisenea had greeted them at the bridge, for a brief moment, Aurelia wondered if they intended to take them prisoner once more. And based on the way Ven angled his body in front of her, he’d considered the same.
Even now, it didn’t seem completely out of the question as she and Ven stood before the lofty, sparkling thrones of the Triarchy.
The stone guardians stood vigil over the room—their marble faces impassive, crystal swords clasped between their lifeless fingers.
The red-haired queen tapped slender blue-grey fingers against the faceted arm of her chair, the two Allokin kings at her sides. Prince Celius stood off to their right, his slender frame clad in a set of armor that looked extremely expensive—and completely unscarred. Too shiny to have seen any real use. His brother, Prince Agius, stood at the edge of the hall, bright hair the same vibrant red as his mother. A heavy silver cloak was pinned to his shoulder, marking him Captain of the city watch.
Glancing between the two males that sat on either side of their queen, she’d never considered until now how the arrangement between all three of them worked exactly. By whom the princes had been sired.
Shadowskin gear, black from head to boots, was what all of them had chosen for today. Minimal blades. This was a meeting to reaffirm their alliance, after all, but they were not entirely without weapons.
The queen cleared her throat, impatience sharpening the female’s quartz-colored eyes. “You asked for audience.”
“I did,” Ven answered succinctly. The missing Your Majesty obvious in the following silence. Because he wasn’t just the Wraith Commander anymore. He was a king.
The matching wrought iron crowns glittering darkly with ravenstone were the only concession they’d made for today’s appearance. Otherwise—they were dressed for war.
“Very well,” the queen waved a hand impatiently as Prince Celius scoffed.
Ven’s eyes slid to her. This was off to a bad start.
“We’ve come to reaffirm our alliance,” he said, a glimmer of the courtier he hid so well beneath his hard exterior.
Prince Celius stood off to the side with a self-righteous smirk on his face. “You dare ask this after the very public threat you made the last time you set foot in this Kingdom? You laid hands on an Allokin prince —”
Ven cast a look at him that was enough to cut off the words. “And you said some very disrespectful things to my claimed,” he answered with quiet menace. "My Queen."
The prince’s lip lifted in a sneer, bolstered by the presence of two dozen guards flanking either side of the throne room. “Had I known she belonged to you—”
“She belongs —to no one,” Ven answered, the violent promise glinting in his eyes enough to make the male take an involuntary step back. “I will not remind you again to speak of my wife with respect.”
The blond-haired king gave a rebuking look at his son, enough that Celius ground his teeth and swallowed back whatever else was poised on his tongue.
“Magick is returning, growing unpredictable and wild,” Ven continued, addressing the Triarchy once more. “The Dark King has used it to his advantage, exploiting rifts in the wards to amass an army—an army that will march on Ravenstone.”
She had been the cause of the rift. It was an effort to keep her gaze from falling—to show weakness now would doom them, she could smell it in the air.
The queen shifted in her seat. “Impossible,” she spat. “He remains trapped within his realm—thanks to our magick.”
Irritation sent a prickle of heat down her neck. Indignation that the Triarchy could remain so ignorant to what threatened their entire world.
“We were attacked by demons just outside of your wards,” Aurelia uttered. Her voice unwavering as three pairs of quartz-colored eyes fell to the crown she wore. “Whatever is happening to magick is threatening the protections around every kingdom—”
“Our magick is a whisper of what it once was. As much as I wish it to return, it does not make it true,” the queen replied coldly.
Lanthius stepped forward, their only ally in this place—palms raised in placation. “In this very kingdom, children have been conceived.” He stretched a hand toward the spotless windows, to the glittering spires of Eisenea beyond them. “New magick—” His voice dropped to a whisper, as if speaking it too loudly might shatter the fragile hope that hovered over their kingdom. “How could you deny it’s return?”
The queen gave a dismissive wave, her frozen gaze falling on Ven once more. “I have yet to see this threat with my own eyes. Forgive me, for being skeptical of the Blood King and his army of hammers looking for rusted nails to feel useful once more.”
“Your majesties,” Lanthius interrupted again, steel in his voice as the kings turned to look at him. “I witnessed the threat myself at the borders of the human realm only months ago.”
The kings exchanged a look, but the queen dismissed him entirely, her dusk-colored mouth thinning into a line. “So let the humans deal with the threat.”
“They cannot face him alone—" Ven pushed, "none of us can.”
The queen’s eyes narrowed, her slender fingers gripping the crystal throne beneath her palms. “So they will fall.”
Ven took a step forward, shadows rippling in his wake.
The guards lining the hall placed hands on the hilts of their swords—as if that would be enough to stop him if he truly meant her harm.
Seth hadn’t so much as moved from where his hands were loose at his sides—Aurelia knew that the casual stance was anything but.
“And where do you think his eye will roam once he’s taken the human realm? The Blood Kingdom?” Venom blazed behind Ven’s eyes, frustration leaking through his words. “We have seen thousands—and we believe he’ll bring ten times that to Ravenstone’s gates. We don’t have the numbers to defend against so many—not by ourselves.”
“He cannot break free from the spells that contain him unless he gains possession of a relic,”The pale-haired king contended.
“What he seeks is far more powerful than a relic.” Ven countered.
“And this— thing —of great power?” The queen drawled.
Aurelia stepped forward, Ven's shoulders dropping as she placed a hand on his arm. His expression softened, searching hers.
If there was any chance of help from the Triarchy, they needed to offer the truth.
“Me.”
The room was silent as the kings and queen studied her.
She already knew what they saw. A female who did not belong to any kingdom. A newcomer in this world they had all occupied for centuries—millennia. She was no one.
The queen’s mouth lifted in a cruel smile as she looked down the narrow bridge of her nose.
“You?” She leaned back in her chair once more. “We are to send our forces to Ravenstone—leave our own city with less protection—to defend you ?”
Prince Celius chortled, a murmur rising up through the rest of the Allokin nobility as they tittered behind blue-grey hands.
They thought her delusional. It was apparent in every smirk.
Her blood simmered with rage as she swallowed back the bitter taste of frustration in her mouth.
Prince Agius was the only one whose expression remained unreadable as he looked between her and his parents.
“What is so special about you that we are to believe the King of the Void is attempting to break free of his confines to find you?” the queen asked, thinly veiled derision lacing her voice.
Dark clouds gathered outside the windows spanning the throne room.
Thunder shook the palace as white heat coursed through Aurelia's veins, singing and winding through her body until she was inseparable from her magick.
White and gold flashed.
And every gleaming, beautiful window in the Triarchy's throne room shattered in an explosion of glass.
A chorus of shrieks and cries rose as fragments rained down on the court.
The blinding haze cleared, debris settling on the destroyed throne room and revealing the Allokin nobility huddled at its edges.
"My magick can kill a prince of the Void," Aurelia uttered, lifting her eyes to the queen. "I intend to kill the rest, including their king—but I need the relic in your possession to do so."
Quartz-colored eyes watched Aurelia warily.
Fury leaked from the queen’s expression as she picked a fleck of glass from her skin. Prince Celius scrabbled to find his footing once more, eyes wide as if he’d cornered a housecat only to discover it was a lion.
This had been a mistake—the entire thing. And her temper had probably just cost them the alliance they so desperately needed.
She glanced beside her to where Ven stood tall and proud—he hadn’t moved an inch, never flinching from her power.
And as his gaze met hers—it was not disappointment that shone in his eyes.
It was pride.
Darkness fell across the hushed room, darkening the pale crystal floors to storm gray. Aurelia turned toward the shattered windows as the sun was covered once more—but not from the lightning she’d conjured—not from Ven’s shadows.
A swirling mass of black descended upon Eisenea. The cacophony of croaks and caws so loud that the Allokin nobility were crouching in their silks and satins, covering their ears from the deafening sound.
A heavy weight alighted on Aurelia’s shoulder, the sharp sting of talons—and she choked back her sob of relief at seeing the familiar scarred face.
The beast knew how to make an entrance.
She scratched Cog's black feathered neck as he gave her a playful nudge with his beak in return, a low purr rumbling through her chest as she turned to look at the Triarchy once more.
Fear—true terror—was behind their eyes as they beheld the ravens, lining every roof of their sparkling city until every bit of sunlight had been blotted out.
“We call on you for aid,” Ven’s words rang through the hall, its gleaming floors now littered with splinters of glass. “Will you answer?”
“We will do what we must to protect our own people,” the red queen responded. "Our forces will remain here—" She didn't deign to look at Aurelia. "As will the relic."
“Hide behind your wards, your walls—but eventually the Dark King's eye will turn to the Crystal City." Ven uttered. "And there will be no one left to stand between him and your people.”