“Only one bargain tonight. No more questions.”
“I lift the curse and give you free reign, all so you can fulfill the oath you were supposed to in the first place,” I said, my hands clenching into fists. I shouldn’t have even had to bargain. But here we were. “If I unleash you on Lumeria,” I said slowly, “I want something in return.”
“The shard to save your love, yourmekarim, isn’t enough for you?” she asked sweetly. Then smirked. “Oh but it is … I can smell it. But, as I am a gracious queen, I will offer you a gift. After you lift the curse, all Afeya in the Moon Court may be summoned to fight on your behalf. We shall,” her eyes sparkled, “become your soturi.”
I balked. “You’ll fight for me? In battle?”
“Once. You may call upon us once. One battle. Choose wisely. Many lay ahead for you.”
My pulse pounded, my mind reeling. “I can command you as my army for one fight, and you’ll fulfill your end of the bargain with Auriel—tonight?”
“We shall begin proceedings, and I shall invite you inside, along with him. What you do next will determine the outcome.But without our bargain, we won’t even begin negotiations. Not tonight.”
“H-How do I lift the curse?” I asked. It was a thousand years old. I didn’t even know it could be undone. “I know it’s a question, but if you want me to do this—I need to know how.”
“Why don’t you ask Auriel, hmmm?”
“Ask Auriel?” I frowned.
“You see,” she continued, “Auriel is more than just the God who fell from Heaven. The God who stole the Valalumir from the sky. He is the God,” she spat, “who cursed our kind. Who sentenced us to exile, to immortality, and to an eternity of making petty bargains in exchange for power. He is the God who exiled us for a thousand years, forcing us to hold all knowledge of the universe in our hands, but to only access and touch it when asked.” Her eyes glittered with something in between venom, and pride. “Canturiel may have created the Valalumir. But after the War of Light, it was Auriel who cursed and thereby created the Afeya.”
My mouth dropped open as I turned, stunned, to Auriel. “You,” I whispered. “You were the one who cursed them? You made it so they could only do magic if asked?”
“And therefore binding us,” the Queen hissed, “to an eternity of fulfilling favors. Without release. Without death.” Some of the Afeya watching us began to yell, cursing at him, and booing.
Auriel blew out a sharp breath and nodded slowly. “Turns out … Yes. That was me.”
By the Gods. He hadn’t just written the Valya. He’d written the curse of the Afeya. No wonder we weren’t being greeted warmly, or allowed inside. And while I knew I’d never forgive Mercurial, his bursts of anger around Rhyan were starting to make more sense.
A sudden rush of magic forced me to face the Queen again.
“Now are we in agreement?” she asked. “I can send you both away and Auriel can try to claw his way back and bargain with me, find another water dragon willing to carry him here, seek another of my daughters who may offer him her favor. Or, you can agree to finish what he started, agree to free us from his curse, and we can begin negotiations.”
My heart slammed into my throat. A shadow of a warning settled inside of me. If I freed them of their curse, they’d be like Lumerians. But more. They’d become Lumerians who held all knowledge of the universe. The danger they’d pose to Lumeria unrestricted, free to do whatever magic they wanted, and when they wanted—the idea terrified me.
But not as much as walking out of here without my shard.
I took a deep breath. “You will fulfill your end of the bargain with him. All of your terms with Auriel will be fulfilled. I will find a way to break the curse. And I will call upon your army for a battle of my choosing,” I said.
“Yes.”
“Then we are in agreement,” I said and squeezed my eyes shut.
Blinding silver light filled my eyelids as a sharp pain of ice so cold it was hot—like the silver rings in the habibellum pierced through my chest.
Fire and ice were dancing inside my heart and I gasped, feeling faint, my knees buckling.
Ramia grabbed my arm, shaking her head. “I told you to let me do talking.” But she brought me stumbling back to Auriel’s side. He wrapped an arm around me at once, pulling me against him.
The Moon Queen laughed. “Asherah would have known better.” She shook her head. “You see,” she continued, “I was bound to fulfill my agreement with Auriel, however distasteful I find him. However unwelcome he and you remain, and willalways remain in my court. Not after what you two have done.” Her head tilted to the side, in an agitated twitch.
“You didn’t have to trick her,” Auriel shouted. “You didn’t have to do any of this! We had an agreement. We had a bargain!”
“I know,” she said. “We did. But you cannot blame me for trying. After all, when someone can give you what you want, why not take it?” Her gaze settled on me, condescending and full of disdain. “I heard you were easy to bargain with. But I had no idea you’d fold so quickly.” She raised her arms high. “I should have asked for more.”
I snarled. Fuck. I didn’t even have to bargain in the first place. And now, I’d be unleashing Afeya into the Empire— all so the Queen could do what she’d always sworn she would. Having her army on my side for a battle was good— but the fact that I could only use them once? And who was to say they wouldn’t join the other side the moment the battle was done?
The Queen grinned widely, knowing she’d won. Knowing that whatever we walked out of here with, she’d taken something more.
