Chapter 18
VELENTHA
Ican’t hear anything except the rush of blood pounding in my ears, and my heart hammering so hard it feels like it could break free from my chest and fall to the floor.
I don’t dare look up. I keep my hood low, shielding my face from the leaders in the room until Aran tells me otherwise. I focus on the way his hand holds mine, bruising yet reassuring. The way both of our palms are slick with sweat, anxiety building with every breath that leaves my lungs.
“Make no mistake,” Aran growls, his voice a low, dangerous snarl that fills the chamber. “I may not be a leader or a god, but if anyone so much as threatens my mate, I will spill blood. You will hear her out before you make any decisions. And only then, will you speak.”
I’ve never heard him speak like this before.
And gods help me, even though my life could be ended here with a flick of someone’s wrist, a traitorous part of me finds the way my husband commands the room…
intoxicating. I squeeze my thighs together to try and alleviate the ache building at the way he is dominating the room right now.
“My aeshira,” Aran murmurs, drawing me to his side. His hand squeezes mine, warm and reassuring. “Remove your hood.”
I take a long, shaky breath. My free hand rises shakily and pushes the fabric back.
I have stood in rooms with the Divine for centuries, stared into the eyes of beings who could destroy worlds, but I have never felt this unsettled.
The leaders of the realms despise the Six, and likely despise me for standing at their side, even if my only role was to reveal possibilities, and be a secret spy.
I was never cruel to any leader. I just offered truth and stood in the shadows as they taunted.
Soft gasps ripple through the chamber. A sudden sound of a chair scraping harshly across the floor draws my attention to Vor’Khar, standing abruptly.
His massive frame crackles with lightening as his pure white eyes stare into mine with nothing short of pure hatred.
The distant sound of thunder rolling through the realm fills the room, his unstable power taking over the atmosphere almost instantly.
“Vor’Khar!” Elyistria snaps, her voice sharper than I’ve ever heard it. White light blooms at her palms, power spilling from her fingers. “Sit down and let her speak.”
He snarls, his fists curling so tightly I can hear the faint crack of his bones.
The sound is sharp—a physical manifestation of the fury coiled inside him to match the thunderous booms outside.
For a moment, I think he might ignore the command entirely.
That he might unleash the storm I can see raging beneath his skin.
I suddenly feel like the thunder might be the least concerning part of this man’s power.
I know he’s the ruler responsible for natural disasters.
I know everything about every ruler here.
This man could effectively ruin this realm without breaking a sweat.
But, with visible effort, he forces himself still.
The tension in his shoulders remains, rigid as iron, but he obeys.
Relief loosens my spine just a fraction, a quiet breath escaping my lungs as the weight of the room shifts ever so slightly. Knowing that someone still has control here, steadies the fragile thumping inside my chest.
“You bring a traitor among us and expect us to hear her out?” Kaelith sneers, the constellations in his eyes flickering wildly as he looks over me like I’m nothing but pure filth.
“You will listen, Duskwalker,” Aran growls, “or I’ll end you where you sit.”
Kaelith scoffs, rising to his feet. He plants his palms against the table, his lip curling back to reveal too white teeth. “I’d love to see you try, guard dog. You’re nothing but a serving bitch to a dead king.”
Aran moves fast. I don’t catch what he’s done until a sharp sound of wood splintering sounds through the room. I blink, stunned, my gaze following the sound. A silver dagger glints from the back of Kaelith’s chair, pinning his heavy fur-lined cloak to the now splintered wood.
“Next time, it will be in your chest. Do not underestimate what I am willing to do in order to protect my wife. It will be your funeral, Duskwalker.”
“Enough of this. Kaelith, sit down. Velentha, speak,” Sariya demands, slamming her palm against the table.
It’s strange seeing the sun goddess like this.
No soft warmth, no serene composure, only irritation and tightly-leashed anger.
I admired her before. But somehow, seeing her steel, only deepens those feelings.
She inclines her head to me in a silent command to speak, her honey eyes offering a sparkle of encouragement.
I clear my throat and slip my hand from Aran’s.
I need stand on my own. He’s risked so much for me already.
If today is my end, then so be it—but I will meet it standing strong on my own two feet.
I turn to face them all—Virena, Kaelith, Sariya, Elyistria, Vor’Khar, Maelkar and Lucifer. I notice Vailith is missing, but she rarely leaves the children alone unless absolutely necessary. Every single person is staring at me with gazes so intense my body involuntarily shudders.
“I know many of you would like to stick a blade in my throat right now,” I begin, my voice much steadier than I feel. “And I understand why. But hear me when I say: I am not your enemy.”
Lucifer scoffs and I clench my fists beneath my cloak.
“Fifty thousand years ago, I was approached by a queen of another world. While I can’t reveal everything, I can tell you that she is Korithax’s mother.
She was sent to this world by her gods to create the Child of Ruin. ” Soft gasps echo through the room.
I tell them how I was given a purpose, a meaning to life.
My centuries of silence, the visions I fed to the Six to make them arrogant, the hidden war I’ve been fighting to help take down the dictators who rule with iron fists.
As I speak, disgust shifts in some faces to pity, and to something almost like sorrow.
“That is why I’m here now,” I finish. “I do not know how they discovered that I’m a traitor to them.
But my mission has, and will remain to be, to watch the Divine fall.
They are nothing but power-hungry cowards, who are using stolen magic to try seize a universe that does not belong to them.
Daisy needs us united. And whilst you may not trust me, I can give you my word, that I despise those controlling bastards just as much as you do.
And I will stop at nothing to watch them suffer. ”
I nod once to Sariya and Elyistria, my throat bone dry and my palms slick with sweat. Aran steps behind me, arm encircling my waist as he presses a soft kiss to my hair.
The goddesses rise to their feet in unison and look around the table. “Questions?”
Virena’s mis-matched stormy eyes narrow as she speaks. “We’re supposed to just… believe her?”
“Yes,” Elyistria responds calmly. “We have seen more than enough evidence that Velentha and Aran are telling the truth. They have no malicious intent towards this universe.”
“Why are we only just learning this now?” Lucifer asks, leaning back in his chair with his hands entwined behind his head.
“Because the attacks show The Divine are starting to make their move,” Sariya replies, voice even again. “You needed to know the gravity of the situation. The magic they have stolen, the strength of their armies. You needed to hear it from them,” she gestures to Aran and I, “not us.”
The room falls quiet again, and the tension is a living thing. Something feels, wrong. Like how the atmosphere feels just before a brutal storm strikes.
“I don’t believe her,” Kaelith mutters. “It’s suspicious that she’s here and we’ve had two attacks on Hell in one day.” Murmurs break out, heads nodding in agreement.
“She was locked in her chambers,” Aran snaps.
“And you can prove that?” Kaelith fires back. “Because last I checked, you were with Daisy when the attacks happened, not your wife.”
My body stiffens involuntarily at the way he spits the word wife, the syllable twisted with open disgust. The reaction is instinctive; I brace myself for the inevitable eruption, muscles tightening as the air in the room grows thick with brewing violence.
But before it can break, another voice slices through the noise.
“She was in her room,” Maelkar speaks, his deep voice rumbling through the space.
Every gaze shifts to him. Lucifer’s especially. Something dark flickers in his expression. “And how the fuck would you know?” he asks, raising a brow.
“I was watching her,” Maelkar responds simply. There’s a glint to his eyes as he winks at Lucifer.
“Excuse me?” Aran and I blurt in unison.
“What do you mean, watching me?” I ask, my cheeks heating.
He lets out a low chuckle. “Not like that, Time Witch. I followed Daisy when she was summoned from our sparring lesson. Being the nosy bastard that I am, I wanted to see what was so urgent. I hid within my shadows as she was brought down to you and lover-boy in the cells.”
“Spying on the Queen is an act of treason,” Sariya warns. “This admittance might have you hung, Maelkar.”
“That won’t happen,” he laughs, leaning back and propping his boots on the table, shadows writhing around his ankles. “You need me. Daisy needs me. If I’m going to train your Queen, I want to ensure she’s not up to any shady business.” He shrugs lazily.
“So, why were you watching me in my room?” I ask, my tone a little more demanding than I meant it to.
“Because I noticed you’d been left by yourself, and I didn’t trust you.
So, when I knew you’d be left alone, I kept an eye on you.
” He places his hands behind his head, grinning at me.
“Think what you want, but I’ve just saved your ass from a pretty big accusation.
You’re welcome.” He blows me a kiss, and I feel Aran stiffen.