Chapter 9 #2
The powers inside me lurch to life all at once, causing me to gasp and stumble back a bit, as if someone has lassoed an invisible rope around my hips and yanked.
Jax is behind me, steadying me, before nodding to Axl.
Shhh. I mentally hush the powers, doing my best to stroke them, calm them. The bonds and their assigned powers feel like four ever-moving rivers of energy, thick, powerful, and with no bottom in sight.
“Ahh,” Baydel says as Axl opens the door. “Having a reunion, are we, little bug?”
Ugh, I hate that nickname.
I bow to him as my friends do, lower than the princes.
“We need to see you and our sons,” Baydel says, not bothering to step inside. “My study,” he continues. “Now.” He turns without another word.
Such a power move.
I resist the urge to scoop up buckets from the powerful rivers inside me, in case I need to drown Baydel with their contents.
I clench my fists in an effort to get a grip.
He’s not threatening me or them.
He may have detested me in the beginning, done everything he could to get me to not choose them in the end, but he failed. I’m theirs now. Immortal and slated to be queen.
He’ll have to respect that now.
Then why do I feel chilled to the bone as we silently say goodbye to my friends and head up to Baydel’s study? The sensation is so much, it’s hard to put the powers to sleep. They’re begging to rise, to consume, to fill me so much there won’t be room for fear.
But I stop it, slam door after door closed inside me.
I can’t let the kings know I house their sons’ powers.
Not until we have a plan.
So, I remain quiet, chin held high as we find the four kings in Baydel’s study.
“What’s going on?” Kal asks his father, Jullian, the most approachable of all the kings.
We all naturally gravitate to the side of the study Jullian is on. Baydel and Lucas, Axl’s father, are near Baydel’s desk. Pierce’s father, Brooks, lounges in an armchair across the room.
Baydel grins expectantly. Renewed dread trickles down my spine. He’s up to something.
“Now that your Chosen is awake and able, we’re here to explain the terms of the Kings’ List,” Baydel says, his smile stretching.
“The what?” Jax snaps.
Baydel takes a seat in the massive throne-like chair behind his desk.
“Honestly, son,” Baydel says. “Do you think the Choosing ceremony and the Athanry are all that is required for ascension?”
My blood runs cold.
“What are you talking about?” Jax asks.
Baydel brings his hands together in a point, drawing out the moment because he can.
Because he loves to be the center of attention.
Loves being the one with all the information.
“The goddesses made their Choosing list, their requirements. Did you honestly believe we would abdicate our thrones to you without making a list of our own?” He shuffles through the contents of an opened drawer, pulling out a Choosing invitation and flipping it over to the back.
I glance at it, eyes wide at the shimmering golden script etched into the black cardstock. Writing that most certainly hadn’t been on Ivy’s real invitation, so definitely not on my forged one.
The world shifts under my feet. My head swims, the bonds crackling to life inside me, the powers pounding on the flimsy wooden doors I’ve constructed to keep them contained.
Pierce points at the writing on the back of the invitation. “This wasn’t here before.”
“Because it didn’t need to be,” Baydel explains. “We magically imbued these terms, ensuring they only appear if the Athanry is successfully completed by a Chosen.” He huffs a laugh. “We were starting to wonder if it ever would occur.”
I swallow hard.
“You’re joking,” Axl practically snarls, snatching up the invitation. He squints, reading the lines there. “Another list?”
“Gotta be done, son,” Lucas says to Axl, his tone casual like he’s chatting about tonight’s dinner menu.
Brooks nods slowly from where he sits.
“Of course, we want to give you the thrones,” Jullian adds. “The list is more a formality. You deserve the roles of kings, and we’ve done this a long, long time.” He huffs an exhausted sigh. “Too long.”
“Truly,” Baydel adds, shocking me. “You four will make great kings. Like Jullian said, it’s more a precaution than anything.
A few tasks to ensure you’re ready. Unless, of course, the four of you would like to challenge us for the thrones right now?
” He cocks a brow, excitement flitting in his eyes as if that’s exactly what he wants.
A fight between father and son, a battle for the thrones only won through death.
That would make us ruthless rulers and more than untrustworthy. Not to mention, none of my mates could pose such a challenge. Not when I have their powers.
“Let me see the list,” Kal says, reaching out for the invitation. Axl drops it into his hand, a muscle in his jaw flexing.
“Wonderful,” Baydel says with a clap of his hands. “Don’t look so worried, little bug,” he says as Kal hands me the invitation. “This will be fun.”
The Kings’ List
In the event a mate is Chosen and survives the Athanry, becoming immortal and unlocking full powers within the princes of Lumathyst, there will henceforth be a season of the Kings’ List wherein tasks must be completed to secure the princes’ ascension.
These tasks are created to prove to the Royal Authority Council, beyond any doubt, that the princes and their Chosen are fit to rule.
Tasks will include but are not limited to: Winning the people’s approval through common meetings, training the Chosen in a variety of defensive techniques of historical importance to prepare her to rule at their sides, and more.
The Royal Authority Council shall determine over the season if tasks have been met and will cast their votes on Voting Day.
Should the princes and their mate not earn the majority vote, a hold will be placed on their ascension, and the current kings will continue to rule Lumathyst until the kings abdicate or are deemed unfit to rule.
Tiny black dots sparkle in the corners of my vision, the entire room feeling unstable as I finish reading. My breath comes in too-short bursts.
Pierce’s hand smooths over mine, a casual caress that keeps me from spiraling out of control.
I thought the trials were over when I survived the Athanry.
But they’ve only just begun.