Demir had heard it too, and as we descended back to the ground, the flame receding, we realised everyone else had as well.
Panic covered every face in the hall, but Demir and I felt like the eye of a hurricane—calm and steady, holding each other’s hands.
Viv stepped forward first, uncertainty on her features. Acheron stepped partially in front of her, trying to shield her from me, an unknown.
‘What the fuck was that—’ she stammered out. I cocked a brow until she finished, ‘—my Queen.’
‘The soul bonding snapping into place,’ I explained as I sent Demir a mental image of his new blue eyes. He was shocked but also amused and sent a joke down the link about how he had been jealous of my new eye colour after seeing me at the ball. I couldn’t help the smile that graced my features.
‘Are they talking to each other?’ Acheron whispered to Viv, loud enough for everyone to hear.
‘Yes,’ Demir said matter-of-factly as he wrapped himself around me, inhaling my scent at the crook of my neck.I want nothing more than to send these people home and fuck you until the Mrak comes for us all.
As my thighs clutched and body melted into his at his devious thoughts, the people around us took a step back, fearingwhat we now were. Stories of soul bondings never mentioned this. This was new, and change was always scary for people who had never experienced stability.
King Emory of Nereteva and his wife, Queen Celeste of Suncela, stepped forward. ‘Who spoke to you? We all heard it.’ Emory asked.
Celeste continued, ‘What does it even mean?’
‘It was the first Dragon God, the one that created the power of the eternal flame. It means we have less time than we thought. It’s time to move our armies and prevent the end of life as we know it. Morgad is going to be unleashing the Mrak—it’s a black sickness that infects the land, pure evil. It is a dark magic that cannot be controlled. Of course, King Sebastian believes he can, but nothing can. We can’t even rid our lands of it for good, but we may be able to trap it for another thousand years.’
‘How?’ Jade asked as Cain stepped forwards, now in his human form, almost guarding her. His eyes sung with the things he wanted to say.
‘A sacrifice,’ I said, meeting Demir’s gaze as his eyes shuttered and anguish flooded into me.
‘That’s convenient. And I suppose that is the real agenda of this meeting? Finding a pig for slaughter?’ Lejla remarked.
King Tiberias shot her a scathing look as she slunk back into herself. She was royalty, but she had no place in this discussion as she was not a leader of her people.
Cain stepped towards me in that moment, dropping a note into my hand. I gave him a sad smile as I flipped it over and read the words.
Let me. Don’t do this Sky.
‘I can’t accept that, my friend. The sacrifice is my burden to bear. Those with the sight have shown us that the only path forward is for me to sacrifice that which I love and to be the vessel to trap it. There is no other outcome; my bloodline is the key and no one else can take my place. Now, who is going to answer the call and stopwhat is to come? Or will you hide like cowards, because if you do, then you deserve to die, and I hope your people are merciless as they rip you limb from limb for abandoning them and their futures.’
Demir couldn’t stifle the chuckle that escaped his lips, digging his nails into the palm of my hand as the bond filtered through just how attractive he found me in this moment, speaking down to a room full of powerful rulers, some of whom had been in charge longer than I had been alive.
Jade stepped forward, the first to speak in favour. ‘It’s what Raleigh would have done. I will send a message now and mobilise my armies. Where do you want them?’ Cain’s fingers brushed her back reassuringly. It was intimate—too intimate for a moment like this, surrounded by these people. Something truly had happened between them in Voldina.
Viv stepped forward, and I nodded that it was okay for her to relay the information. ‘We need every able body at the Ancient Forest along the border with Morgad. We need to hold them off for as long as possible while Queen Skylar Azdaja of Maureia puts this darkness to bed?—’
King Tiberias interrupted. ‘You have not shown us a shred of evidence that what you’re saying is true. How can we lead our people to slaughter on your whim?’
‘Did you not just hear the warning of the first dragon?’ Demir responded.
Queen Celeste looked away from both Emory and me. ‘It could have been a well-crafted trick. We all know she has a Wiccan in her council,’ she said.
Sienna snorted at the accusation. King Emory slunk away from his wife with a face that resembled disgust, and in a show of defiance, stood before me. ‘Skylar has never been one for parlour tricks and she wouldn’t start now. You have my fighters, and you have me. I will not send them to a battlefield I do not deign to grace myself. We can arrive in three days. If you weren’t aware, my water party tricks can come in handy from time totime, too,’ he said with a wink. Celeste looked panicked but still did not answer the call.
Speaking to Celeste and Tiberias, I rounded on them. ‘What proof do you need? You won’t get it until you step foot on that battlefield and see for yourself. I cannot call on the darkness. What I can do is tell you what’s at stake. This darkness is a consumer of worlds. Everything we know, everyone we love, will be gone. This will be a cataclysmic event. The land will die, all the trees, food and animals. It will become barren, and only the darkness will remain until it moves on to the next world; all that will be left are rocks and dust. If you do not have the integrity to stand for what is right, then let your fear drive you.’
Celeste looked at her husband as they had engaged in a silent conversation with their eyes. Emory saw something I didn’t as his face cracked into a smile. ‘We will be there alongside the fighters of Neretva. We do this together,’ she finished, still looking at Emory.
King Tiberias shook his head. ‘I will not march into war with Morgad over a scary story. We have long been allies. I will not cross King Sebastian. I was already uncomfortable coming here knowing he would not be privy.’
Prince Acheron moved forward, drawing his sword and pointing it at his father’s throat. The guards in the room, tasked with protecting each ruler while in foreign lands, pulled their swords simultaneously. But instead of directing their blades towards the prince, who was currently committing treason, they stood behind him. Viv’s gaze heated; she was unsurprised by the turn of events, instead turned on by the rebellion and display of power.
‘Son, what are you doing?’ his father demanded.
