Fala and the male each stopped in front of their respective matriarchs.
The Eternal One stopped Kai at the top of the stairs, her hand loose around Kai’s wrist. “This will work out, Kai Silver Wolf. You have my word.”
Kai hated her. More than anyone or anything, Kai despised this woman. She’d heard Kai’s fears and concerns and had dismissed them entirely. “Then let me give you my word in return.” Kai’s tone came as if scraped across mountain stone. “The line of the Grand Matriarch will end with me. I will bear no children from this union.”
“Kai,” Shadi hissed, eyes flaring.
Kai shouldered past the Eternal One and stood before her mother. “Say the words. Finish this.”
Shadi pulled in a deep breath through her nose, jaw clenching.
“Be glad I’m not walking from this hall right now,” Kai whispered. “Do it, and know you could have stopped this.”
To her right, the male shifted a touch closer—barely anything noteworthy. Enough to remind Kai that she wasn’t alone. His earlier words came back and almost—almost—comforted her.“Sometimes I wish I could be more like your wife; she seems ready.”
Shadi took Kai by the back of the neck and pressed their foreheads together. “Under the watchful eyes of our ancestors and the enduring strength of our people, I unite you, Kai Silver Wolf into the sacred bond of marriage.”
Shadi stepped away, and Inola Rising Moon stepped forward. The male had to bend for their tattooed foreheads to meet. “Under the watchful eyes of our ancestors and the enduring strength of our people, I unite you, Atsadi Rising Moon, into the sacred bond of marriage.”
Hearing his name for the first time, Kai almost missed Fala’s moment as Panola Quiet Rock repeated the vow. She hadn’t known him by sight, but he wasn’t an unknown. Every clan had that one person who rose above all the rest, whether that be in skill or sheer charm—he was Rising Moon’s.
Perfect. Polished.
Palatable.
Once Fala’s vow was finished, Shadi continued. “Kai Silver Wolf, First Daughter, do you vow to honor and protect this union, sharing your life and spirit in unwavering harmony?”
Kai looked past Atsadi. Fala met her gaze, a tear slipping over her high cheekbone.
“I do,” she said, and tasted the bitter lie on her tongue.
Atsadi and Fala made the same vow, and at the end, the two exchanged a smile. Kai fisted her hands and shut her eyes for the final words.
“I now pronounce you,” Shadi said, “bound. May your union be a beacon of hope and strength for us all.”
The words punched through her chest. She stumbled back. The world blurred. She couldn’tbreathe.
“Kai?”
Not even the concern in Fala’s voice could hold her. Stop her from tripping down the dais stairs. Kai fought the rise of her dinner, focusing on the pathway leading to the archway out…out…out.She couldn’t be here anymore, and thanks be to the gods, her presence was no longer required.
Behind her, only silence remained.
Chapter
Nine
The palace corridors had the air of calm after an apocalyptic storm. Peaceful and quiet.
Augustus didn’t trust it. It was as if they’d lost the wind, and now they were stranded at sea with depleting supplies. And in this case, what they were running out of wasn’t food or water. It was time.
The entire world had shifted while he and Selene slept aboard theEntia. They’d gone to sleep in each other’s arms, content and rapturous.
Then they woke to the news. Honestly, Augustus didn’t give afuckabout the dead council. Every minute they stayed here was another step closer to the end. To the line of demarcation. And Selene in Cassia’s clothes, soaked in his mother’s scent, only reminded him that he should have acted sooner. In giving Selene the time she wanted, he’d been sitting on a prophecy that threatened everything.
Prophecies didn’t wait. He was starting to think fate didn’t, either.
Augustus held tight to Selene’s hand as they wound swiftly through the palace corridors, banking the dread filling his chest. Mentally listing everything still to be done until theEntiawas ready. They’d have to sail with a minimal crew—that was fine. They’d figure it out on the way.
