Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Menkar appeared out of thin air in a swirl of flame at the bottom of the rough-hewn steps before the Seat and patiently waited for his master.
The cold gray walls of the throne room were a stark contrast to the refined extravagance of the Senate halls, which had gotten tiring to Menkar.
He was the representative of the House of Aries while his newly minted Primary adjusted and tried to salvage the remnants of their constellation.
It’s not even his constellation though, is it?
That was a dangerous thought. One Menkar immediately regretted. No one knew the full extent of his Primary’s abilities. While Menkar himself was blessed by more than one God, he had yet to uncover the full scope of Eros’ power.
Ruthless, cunning, and a natural-born leader, it wasn’t a shock Eros had risen to power quickly and taken the Primary position from Hamal, whom Menkar had served faithfully for his entire mature life.
The change in power didn’t disturb him, though.
In a realm where power was paramount, Menkar respected the shift when it became clear that Hamal had bitten off more than he could chew.
Eros seemed formidable enough to lead Aries.
For now.
Another dangerous thought. Menkar tsked under his breath and focused his attention on the Seat.
The once vibrant, pulsating selenite throne had dulled under Hamal’s greed.
Menkar tilted his head to the side, studying the glorified specimen less like the charging crystal it had been and more like the over-dressed chair it had taken the likeness of.
Many mistook Aries stars for being devoid of feeling, as their city and fortress were crafted first for practicality rather than the opulence and beauty found in other Houses.
What non-Arieans thought was raffish or an absence of appreciation for finery was really a hyper-focused purpose, a vigilance to their task that the other Houses lacked.
Menkar preferred the plain, bluff-faced buildings that were impregnable.
What good was beauty or art if it could be stripped away by someone more powerful?
“Where is Eros?” he wondered aloud into the cavernous room. The subject of his thoughts stalked into the throne room, dragging a near-corpse behind him, tethered by a rope of flame.
“Primary,” Menkar bowed his head. “You… brought a guest?”
Eros grunted as he whipped the flaming rope around, sending the body smacking against the base of the Seat with a squelch.
“He is not a guest. I took him from Taurus.”
Menkar pursed his lips. “Will he be staying…?”
“That remains to be seen.”
The body coughed and spewed dark blood over the polished gray stone floor. Beyond the overall crisped husk, Menkar noted wounds that looked like they were opened under a knife and… bite marks? Whoever the Taureon celestial was, his offense must have been grave indeed for Eros to leave him alive.
“Who is he, if I may ask?”
“Someone who touched something that he shouldn’t have.”
“I see. And is the possession he should not have touched secured?”
“No.”
The Primary of Aries strode up the steps to the Seat. The selenite throne managed to hold the last of its sheen as it reflected the all-around gloomy light of the room. Eros didn’t address Menkar further as he took the Seat. Only waited.
As the silence stretched on, Menkar aimed to fill it. “Primary—” he began, seeking to relay his report despite the charred prisoner between them.
Eros’ gaze stayed trained on the burned celestial as he lifted a finger to silence Menkar. “I understand Elnath sent him on an errand.” Though he spoke softly, his voice filled the chamber.
Menkar processed his shock internally. He had coordinated with Elnath, the Regent of Taurus, plenty of times from their work within the Senate.
This is going to be a nightmare to deal with.
“How?” Eros demanded of the near-corpse.
When the male on the ground didn’t answer, whatever dark power Eros wielded was not purely of Arieset, the God of House of Aries.
Menkar looked on, unfazed, as a scream tore from the male’s ruined throat as his body was jerked up by an invisible force.
His already charred flesh began to glow as his core power was pulled to the surface of his being.
Menkar swallowed. He had seen plenty of fracturing in his time.
Hamal himself had consumed stars right in front of him.
And if he were truthful, Menkar had consumed stars alongside his former Primary when the situation called for it.
But to be this close to a celestial fracturing when his own status wasn’t certain after the restructuring of the Aries Line…
Eros withdrew his power, and the male fell face first onto the stone steps of the Seat. Menkar unwittingly brought a hand to his teeth.
“And you? What good have you done for me, Menkar?”
“I tracked down the Aries Heirs as you requested, Primary. They are being held in a cell.”
Eros clicked his tongue behind his teeth. “Well, that just won’t do. Have them sent to me—alone. And take him away. Find out the details of this errand Elnath sent him on.”
“It will be as you say,” Menkar said with a bow of his head.
He grabbed the crusted celestial by the least charred portion of his body and dragged his twitching form across the polished stone floor and out of the throne room.
Eros watched Menkar depart, dragging Kaitos behind him, and only once he was alone in the cavernous chamber, did he rise from the selenite throne.
Eros turned and stared down at the vacant Seat behind him.
The sight made him sick. Made him remember what Hamal had done to his House.
What lengths his predecessor went to in order to maintain his power.
Chest heaving, Eros raised his fist and cleaved the selenite throne in half, imagining it was Hamal all over again or, better yet, Elnath, for who she put at risk by her own ambition.
The sound of the broken throne splintered the silence.
“Your father drained his constellation, his Line, and his throne to remain in power,” Eros said without turning.
He sensed Mes and Bharani enter before he cleaved the Seat. Hamal had not spared his Heirs from his hunger. Eros could feel their power—emanating far less than it should for stars of their class.
“I will not keep you as prisoners within your own House under two conditions. One, you denounce your father and his actions, and two, you bind yourselves to me.”
Eros looked over his broad shoulder at the Heirs of Aries.
“Follow in your father’s way, and I will burn you without name.
There won’t be anything left of you for the shell of your House to mourn or gain.
Hamal’s acts have been rectified as much as possible, and I won’t have disobedience.
Now more than ever, we must be strong. Aries has one last chance. ”
Eros descended the Seat steps and stopped before the twins.
Mes and Bharani were Hamal’s only Heirs.
The family likeness between the siblings was unmistakable, yet they looked nothing like their father, with their reddish hair shorn close to their scalps, tan skin, and up-tilted copper eyes.
Bharani’s features were darker than her brother’s, and both of their lean frames had seen better days.
It had once been rare for so many constellations to produce twins other than Gemini.
Perhaps the other Gods had sought to uncover the importance of familial bonds that Gemun had capitalized on for his constellation, or perhaps the Fates were meddling.
“If it is fear that grips your tongues, so be it. Remember who came to destroy you and who spared you. Follow me or burn. It’s that simple.”
Mes glanced at his sister, who hadn’t taken her angled copper gaze off Eros. “I live to serve,” Mes said as he sank to his knees. Bharani was slower to kneel, but she followed suit.
“I live to serve,” she whispered, her tan face blanched.
“You will need a binding stone—you do still have those, don’t you? Or did your father consume them too?”
Bharani flinched.
“Yes, Primary, we still have a binding stone,” Mes answered.
“Good. You’re both to be raised to joint-Adjacent,” Eros said to Mes. “We will need a conjunction with the other Primaries, but something tells me raising the two of you will be an easy agreement with what else the Senate has been murmuring about.”
Mes straightened his spine. “If I may, Primary?”
Eros turned his attention back to Mes from where it had shifted to the cleaved throne. “Let me make one thing clear about my new Asterism. I expect you to challenge me. If you have information that benefits our House, withholding that serves no purpose other than your own downfall.”
Mes stammered he understood before launching into the story of what he heard in the time he and his sister had been hiding out among the Geminis.
“So Tarek claims to have found a silenced Line then? Interesting. The other Primaries—”
“I’m sure they know, as Pollux and Castor weren’t quiet when they let it slip. You know how Geminis are. Everything is intentional; they didn’t let that piece of information go by mistake. They likely have already summoned Tarek.”
Mes’ eyes grew wide as he realized he had interrupted the being who had ended his father.
Eros narrowed his golden gaze infinitesimally.
“Set the House in order. I will go alone to meet the Primaries when the summons come through. We can’t spare anyone else from the city in my absence.
You and your sister will remain here as your first official task in your new position—don’t make me regret it.
” With that, Eros stalked out, leaving behind a bewildered Mes and a mute Bharani.
“It will be as you say, Primary,” Mes said to Eros' retreating form.
“Well. That was unexpected. I thought we’d be ash, sister.”
Glowering up at her twin brother, Bharani’s features gained back some warmth in Eros' absence. “Joint-Adjacent? Have you ever heard of such a thing?” Bharani said. Her first words since they had sworn themselves to their new Primary.
“No, but I’m not complaining. It’s our birthright after all. And who knows? But maybe in time—”
Bharani hissed as she slapped a tan hand over her brother’s mouth. “Are you insane? Keep those thoughts to yourself. Better off, don’t think them at all.”
Mes rolled his eyes, already moving on and shifting to the preparations Eros asked of them. Ever the tactician, her brother would do well in the role of Adjacent. Bharani wasn’t so sure of herself. She wasn’t sure of anything.
“Don’t worry, Rani, everything will be alright. We’re home now. What could go wrong?”
“Clearly more than you’re willing to consider,” Bharani mumbled.
Their late father had depleted Neser’s crystal stores before turning his insatiable appetite to his own Line.
Both she and her brother had been drained slowly, as if it had pained Hamal to consume his own children. Bharani knew that wasn’t the case.
She held her palm out in front of her as she and Mes walked through the throne room into the fortress proper, leaving the cleaved Seat behind. A weak flame danced over her palm.
Mes noted the element and asked softly, “Is that all you can manage now?”
“There’s more if I push myself, but without crystals to recharge…”
To balance their near omnipotent power, the Gods had made celestials dependent on crystals to replenish their magic.
A star’s power eventually refilled over long periods of time, but using crystals was much more efficient.
It ought to have been a beautiful partnership where stars stewarded the human planets, and in turn, humans tended to the crystals that celestials needed.
Mes crushed his sister in an embrace as she cried into his chest. “Whatever it takes, we will defend Aries. We’ll get our power back,” her brother vowed.
If their father’s reign of terror wasn’t enough, the next threat Aries had to endure was being the closest constellation to what lay in wait in the center of the realm.
The pull toward oblivion grew subtly stronger every day.
Bharani had never been thankful to her father for anything in her life.
Least of all how he had single-handedly destroyed their House.
Yet with their numbers reduced, it was a sick mercy that most of her Line would be spared the infernal fate they faced.
Bharani sighed, wiping tears from her eyes. “You know where you have to go for the binding stone.”
The Aries Heirs strode through the empty fortress. Bleak gray walls surrounded them. A far cry from their original numbers remained in the castle. Still, they had enough sentinels to defend the impregnable fortress if needed.
“No way,” Mes retorted. “It’s your turn to see her.”
“Not after the last time. You’re going, Mes. You either see the priestess and come back with a binding stone so we can be raised, or don’t bother coming back at all.”
“Ouch, Rani. That hurt.”
“Oh, drift off. Somehow you have a way with her. Just slip in and out before she notices.”
Neser used to have a bustling metropolis like all the other constellation capitals.
What remained was a landscape ravaged to desolation.
A few landmarks of old still stood, one of them being the Temple of Arieset where a lone priestess lived.
Not quite an oracle, but something akin to one—the Gods were known to speak through their priesthood at times, offering blessings, judgments, or, when feeling benevolent, opening the Trial of the Gods.
Mes grimaced. “Whatever possessed father to hide the few crystals he had at the end with the ‘ol demon, I’ll never know.”
“Madness, Mes. He was mad.”
No matter how insane their father had gotten near the end of his life, consuming his court, their friends, their mother—that didn’t excuse him from his actions.
Renouncing their father was the first thing Bharani would do to prove her worth to Eros.
She may not like that he was Primary, but she would fight for her House, to the very end.