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The following is a transcription of King Aidon Heureux’s historic speech in Trahir during the Second Great War. His address to his people is credited with changing the tide of the war and ensuring the legacy of Trahir.
People of Trahir…the truth of my affinity has long since reached you. And for that, I can only tell you how sorry I am that you did not hear it directly from me. And while I cannot undo the damage done by such whispers…allow me the chance to tell you directly. It is true. I am an Incend.
I can only imagine the betrayal you must feel. In accepting my crown, I have broken a covenant with the gods, who once decreed no Visya should rule. But today, I would like to speak with you not as your king, but as a citizen of this realm.
War has arrived in Eteryium. Kakos has revived the Decachiré and are intent on destroying all we hold dear. Kakos is moving on Tala, and they plan to tear down the veil between the realm and the Beyond and kill the gods in retribution for killing the Original Saint, Evie.
She has returned. And she is not the savior we once believed she was. She was born of one of the two forgotten goddesses hidden in this realm by Sage. The gods murdered her for it, and she is intent on enacting her vengeance with no regard for what it costs innocents.
I know because I have seen her myself. I faced her in battle in Sitya, while rescuing Aya Veliri. Evie has been using the Second Saint to mask her own crimes against our realm.
I have witnessed Evie’s immense power firsthand, and I know she will destroy all we hold dear if we do not fight.
Now is not the time to stand idly by. There is no safety in inaction, no matter how far removed from Tala we may be. If the Southern Kingdom succeeds in their endeavors in the Northern Kingdom…it won’t just be Tala that will perish. It will be us all.
I understand you may not accept me as your king. But I have served as your general for years. I have seen battle and I have witnessed the strength of the Kakos. And so today, I make a plea not as a monarch, but as a soldier.
As a brother, a son, a friend.
Join me in this fight. Help me save our realm.
—Milo Verina,Historical Accounts of the Great Second War
***
In the end, it wasn’t just the Royal Army’s ships that followed them out to sea. It was the merchant vessels, and the barges, and the skiffs, too.
Every boat that had the ability to make the journey took to the waters, full to capacity not just with soldiers, but with citizens as well. Visya and human sailing together, ready to fight.
And at the head of the fleet stood Aidon, that golden crown left behind in the palace of Trahir.
It would be there when he returned.
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It was Mathias who cleared the throne room. The crime lord’s silver tongue was far more effective at persuading people than Aya, her born affinity be damned.
Though it seemed the appearance of the Midlandian and Milsaion delegates was enough to convince those who had come to watch the executions to change their minds. Aya couldn’t—wouldn’t—speculate on their hearts. It was too painful. If she looked too closely at those hisses that had been spat her way when she’d entered the room—if she reflected too long on how the nobles’ and upper merchants’ allegiances changed like the tides—she feared it would embitter her to a point she could not come back from.
“Now, we simply let news travel as it loves to do,” Mathias said as the Dyminara ushered the last of the onlookers from the throne room. Even the Royal Guard had not dared interfere as the crime lord said his piece, and they stood by now, silent and waiting for orders.
In the lingering quiet, Aya’s focus turned not to Hyacinth, but to her father. Adrenaline still coursed through her veins, and it trapped her tears behind her eyes as she stared upon his face.
Pa fixed her with a gentle smile, his long stride closing the distance between them quickly as he scooped her up in his arms.
“Mi couera,” he murmured, voice low and warm andhim. She could hardly believe it. Her hands trembled as she pulled away so she could see his face again, her hands squeezing his arms tightly.
“How?” The question lingered in her throat, her eyes burning as her tears fought to be seen.
“Mathias,” Pa said, his dark eyes sparkling with mischief. Aya whipped her head to the crime lord. Mathias slid his hands into his pockets, his shrug loose.
“I perhaps felt…guilty, about our overzealous punishment of Callias,” Mathias admitted. “When it became clear the citizens were out for blood, I had your father relocated and his death staged. My crew began the burning—a punishment that was earned by the man, I assure you—and by the time the crowd gathered, no one questioned whether it was truly your father. Two birds, one stone.”
It was repulsive and genius and—
“You never believed it was me. The rumors in Sitya,” Aya remarked as she finally freed Pa from her grip. She stayed close, though. She wasn’t fully convinced this wasn’t some elaborate dream her grief-soaked mind had conjured.
