Chapter 74
Stained glass windows painted the rising morning light with shades of orange and pink.
Gemstone chandeliers lined the Venian high courtroom, illuminating the panel of Venian council members that watched in their wingback velvet thrones.
Tethys’s gaze connected with Lord Kalos as she approached the dais.
His lips thinned when he noticed the wiggling infant bundled in her arms.
The partially reconstructed manor had greeted her upon their return to Venia the night prior.
Tethys’s chest ached as she looked upon the skeletal frame of the east wing, but with her son snuggled tightly against her breast, she knew they’d rebuild together.
The memories of her trauma were ash. It was time she made new ones.
Ones filled with soft smiles and the patter of little feet.
Now, Obscuros and Phosphora sat center in the line of hardened, expressionless faces.
Their aura of primordial reign radiated about them like translucent beams of power washing over their marble-like skin.
The primordials refused to meet her gaze, keeping their eyes fixed on the stained glass mural behind her.
“Lords and ladies of the High Court,” Lord Drakon croaked. “We’ve been called upon today to discuss these revoltingly treasonous actions.”
The audience, both Canissaen and Venian nobility, turned to face the spring queen and her babe. A door behind the council members swung open. Procyon, with his head held high, entered the courtroom. He approached the dais, his long, braided beard swinging from his chin with each stride.
Tethys trembled in his presence, flashes of his abuse scattering her thoughts. She took a step back, keeping distance between them.
“Nice to see you again, little bird.” Procyon smirked, his cruel gaze like a brand upon her.
The shimmering current of Altair’s ward encapsulated her.
She glanced behind her and whispered a breathless thank you to her brother.
He nodded in response and the ward rippled like coastal sunlight.
Polaris stood beside him, her complexion whiter than northern snowfall.
Eos’s edition of the progeny clenched tightly in her left hand.
“Procyon, since you’ve summoned this court, care to elaborate on these accusations?” Obscuros boomed, his voice sending tremors through the cavernous marble walls.
“Tethys has been adulterous throughout our union. She has violated the marital vows, and as a result has given birth to a bastard,” he said, keeping his tone smooth.
Procyon glared at Tethys, a vicious rage flashing in his sharp irises.
She swallowed the bile rising in her throat.
Altair’s ward would protect her. She had the force of their two older siblings behind her.
He couldn’t hurt her. Not physically, at least.
“Tethys, dearest, tell them,” Procyon hissed.
The goddess’s breath caught in her throat. She’d expected her brother to waiver under Obscuros’s vicious bark, just as he had every time before, but the rage coursing through the autumn king thickened the air with a current so electric, its hum seeped through even Altair’s strongest protection.
“Did you truly believe the babe to be of full immortal descent, Father?” Procyon asked, jutting an index finger in her direction. Obscuros’s obsidian eyes flicked to Tethys and the sleeping infant in her arms.
“Tethys?” he asked. She shifted beneath the weight of his scrutiny. “Tell us the truth”
Phosphora’s cloudy eyes blinked, and for a moment sparkled a deep, glittering turquoise. She shook her head, panic woven through each strand of curly white hair, then faded away.
Tethys opened her mouth to speak, but only silence crept from her throat.
“Father, please. Enough of this,” Polaris cried, her midnight skirts pooling around her as she took a step forward. Obscuros raised his palm, silencing her protests before they could echo through the court.
“I have prepared testimonials. If you’ll allow me,” Procyon said, his lips curling into a cruel smile. Obscuros arched a brow. Somewhere behind Tethys, Crucis growled deep in his throat.
“Fine,” Obscuros replied, the impatient tap of his fingers filling the all too silent chamber.
“Bring in the testimonials!” Drakon squeaked. The door opened once more. A face appeared from the shadowy corridor. One Tethys hadn’t seen in months. One she’d nearly erased from her memory.
Jaide approached the dais, her body trembling in the presence of every immortal being in the realms. Tethys’s tongue soured.
Her lady-in-waiting, her closest confidante, now stood on the opposing side of the courtroom.
By the expression carved across Obscuros’s bleach white face, she knew Procyon had already won.
“Explain mortal. Tell us everything you know,” the primordial commanded.
Procyon leaned against a marble column and crossed his arms, the smirk of a confident celebration stretched over his full lips.
“I…I don’t know where you’d like me to start,” Jaide replied, her quivering voice meeker than a child. “There were multiple instances of adultery.”
Tethys’s blood turned to ice as Jaide recounted every secret whisper. Every dark admittance she shared with Jaide now flooded into the courtroom. The mortal audience muttered words of disgust, tossing their queen shameful glances.
“She requested I take her to a pleasure house. There she offered me alcohol, and when I requested to return to the manor, she suggested we get another round and insinuated that we would need the courage for what was to come later that night.”
“That isn’t true!” Tethys cried, horror flooding her vision. “Jaide please, tell them the truth.”
Jaide didn’t acknowledge the goddess’s outcry. Instead, she continued.
“She began her relationship with Lieutenant Araes shortly after. I tried calling on the queen in the weeks to follow. However, her staff said she was indisposed. What I came to find out, however, was that she and the lieutenant had left the city together.”
“They weren’t unattended,” Polaris growled, stepping beside Tethys. “Tethys traveled to Ursae to visit me during Festival. She needed time away from Venia.”
“And she stayed with you for the entirety of your journey?” Obscuros asked, his voice softening slightly as Polaris approached.
“Well no, but—”
“After the goddess returned, she admitted her adultery with Lieutenant Araes to me directly. Claiming it was just a one time occurrence,” Jaide cut in, her voice monotone and dry.
“I didn’t believe that to be true, especially in their company.
It was clear the affair was much deeper than a single incident. ”
Tethys’s blood boiled through her veins, but she took a breath.
Losing control is what Procyon wanted. She wouldn’t give him that satisfaction.
Not while he stood there, staring with a smug smile curled across his face.
Tethys pulled Aryx tighter into her chest, feeling his slumbering breath against her heart.
“Thank you, mortal. You may take a seat,” Obscuros said.
He tapped an impatient finger on the armrest of his throne as Jaide scurried to an empty chair in the audience.
Tethys made to catch her eyes as she passed, but the lady-in-waiting simply fixed her gaze on the cold white tile beneath her feet.
“Father, please. If you just let me explain. There’s so much left unsaid,” Tethys begged, risking a step closer to the dais. Obscuros eyed her with blazing, depthless eyes.
“Your one responsibility in this world, daughter, was to be the queen your people needed. You’ve failed.
The treaties are no longer valid with the gross violation of your union.
Let us pray the fighting comes to an end without our aid,” Obscuros snipped.
Before he could rise from his throne, Phosphora laced her fingers through his, ripping his burning gaze from their youngest daughter.
“Dearest, when will he arrive?” Phosphora asked, her words laced with ethereal grace.
“Who, my light?” Obscuros turned to her. Tethys gathered her courage through gritted teeth. She wouldn’t let Procyon’s abuse go without punishment. Not this time. Never again.
“Rubies and darkness, rubies and dust,” Phosphora whispered, her gaze vacant and unfocused.
“I may have been adulterous in my marriage, but ask me why, every time Procyon came to Venia, I wore long sleeve dresses. Ask me why, even now, I’m terrified to be in his presence. Or why Altair shields me behind his wards.”
Obscuros’s eyes simmered as she spoke, and the court fell silent. Tethys felt Procyon’s furious stare bore into her, but she summoned the strength to keep going.
“You want to discuss the violations of marital vows?” She took another step forward, feeling the ward strengthen around her.
“Ask me what Procyon did after he found out about Lord Ophis’s party.
There are parts of me, both physically and mentally, that will never recover from him.
Parts of my body that hurt just standing before you now.
He held me down even when I begged for him to stop. ”
“Daughter, I—” Obscuros winced.
“Throughout my entire life, not once have you heard me. Not once have you truly looked at me. I know why, and I don’t blame you.
I’ve learned the truth of my lineage. But please, I’m begging you to understand who the real enemy is.
” Tethys threw the primordial a knowing look.
His sleek black hair hung loose down his jaw.
“You’re treading into dangerous matters, daughter.” Obscuros stiffened on his throne.
“I know of the gate. Of the Rift,” Tethys sucked in a breath, “of Vorthal. You’ve kept everything from us—altered our great histories to wipe it clean. Tell the court the truth, Father. Tell them all what lurks just beyond our world.”
“Enough!” Obscuros slammed his fist on his throne, “You know nothing, daughter. Nothing.”
“I know everything,” she spat.