How do I know she’s not lying?I asked.
Kitten, is this not proof enough of her visions? You’ve seen the possibilities. Seen the potential outcomes. Your sister remains in grave danger. She plans to take the shard for herself. When she combines that with the light already inside her, the light she can’t control, it will be too much. You’ve seen it. Seen her fall. If you do not claim the shard yourself, she will die.
Andromeny is sure she plans to use it?I thought.
Why ask me questions you already know the answer to. You’ve seen in her mind. Lyr will go after it, and use it for herself. And it will kill her.
And Jules and Meera?I asked.
We can make them safe. But we need to work together.
I turned around, staring back at the Palace, rubbing my hands up and down my arms.
The visions Andromeny had replayed in my mind. The outcomes, the potential threads of fate. There were some still uncertain. But she’d never doubted this, even though I had. How could the God Moriel kill the Emperor? How was it possible, when Moriel didn’t exist in his original form anymore? When his current incarnation had been nowhere near the Palace?
And yet, the Emperor was dead, by Moriel’s hand. Even if it was merely someone dressed up as Moriel.
My heart pounded, and I looked at the sleeping gryphon off to the side, his body nestled between the trees. My private carriage was attached to his back. And inside was the indigo shard, glowing even more powerfully than before.
If Jules is freed from the Palace, and Meera escapes from Imperator Hart, I thought,if those are guaranteed, we can work together.
You won’t bargain for Lyr?Aemon asked. He sounded amused.
But I remembered what Andromeny had shown me. The danger she faced. And the threat she posed. Not just to herself. But to all of us.
I took a deep breath, and headed for my gryphon. I was growing tired after flying all night. And being back in the world, beyond the caves, the voices were returning, my vorakh reactivated, even with the power of the shard at my side. I wanted to sleep for a few more hours, to cultivate my strength. Lissa gestured to me that my bed was ready.
Lyr sealed her own fate, I thought.And I won’t follow.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
TRISTAN
Galen had killed the Emperor. Galen had killed the Godsdamned Emperor.
Fuck. FUCK! I was trying to save him, to protect him. What the hell had he been thinking?
I paced back and forth across my room, replaying it over and over in my mind. Why was he so fucking stubborn? So sure that this was the right thing to do? It was just going to get him killed, like I’d known it would. I didn’t think he’d succeed. I never imagined.
But I should have. There was a reason he’d kept winning the trials, kept moving through to the next level.
I wasn’t surprised he’d made it to the Valabellum. That he’d gotten a role. But Moriel—Moriel always died. And no matter what happened now, whether they went through with the games, and placed him in there to seal his fate, or they tried him for murder, he’d die. And not just die, he’d be tortured.
My best fucking friend in the world, and he wouldn’t listen, wouldn’t let me save him.
I had to figure something out. Find a way to help him. But how? Fuck. How could he fucking do this?
There was a loud banging on my door. And then another that came with so much force, my room shook.
Eric and Bellamy were at the door at once. They’d been allowed to remain and guard me, but they were weaponless, their staves gone since we were sent into lockdown. Our true guards now were the Emperor’s, or Numeria’s I supposed. We had no Emperor now.
“Who’s there?” Bellamy asked.
“By Order of the Senate, and Emperor, High Lord of Lumeria Nutavia, you will open this door at once.”
I paled. I knew that voice. The Bastardmaker.
Throat constricting, I nodded, and straightened, pushing my hair back, willing my breath to even.
