They all smiled. Different expressions — a cruel dragon, a hungry wolf, a sad bear, a knowing phoenix — but all equally dangerous.
"The pretty story they tell you," the dragon prince said, moving closer still. In the Threshold, distance was negotiable, and suddenly he stood near enough that I could see the gold flecks in his dark hair, smell something like smoke and spice and ancient power. "That we're the monsters who tried to conquer your realm. That Pandora saved you all by locking us away."
"That's not a story. That's history."
"History written by victors who needed justification for their betrayal." His hand rose, not touching but almost, fingers tracing the air near my face. "Tell me, little Keeper, if we were such monsters, why did Pandora weep as she locked us away?"
"She didn't?—"
"She did." The wolf prince prowled closer from the other side, and suddenly I stood bracketed between dragon and wolf. "We were there. We saw her tears. Heard her beg our forgiveness even as she spoke the binding words."
"You're lying."
"We can't lie here," Thane said quietly. "The Threshold won't allow it. Only truth exists in this space, however much it hurts."
I wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go. The Threshold extended infinitely in all directions, or maybe existed in no direction at all.
"If you weren't conquerors," I said, voice steadier than I felt, "then what were you?"
"Ambassadors," Elias answered, drifting closer like smoke. "Come to negotiate the joining of realms. To marry mortal and divine bloodlines. To create something new."
"Pandora was to be my bride," the dragon prince said, and something in his voice made my chest tight. "Chosen to bridge our worlds. Blessed by your people and mine alike. Until your ancestors decided they preferred their daughters as chains rather than queens."
The Threshold shuddered, responding to his emotion, to the rage that lived beneath his controlled surface. Images flashed through the chaos, glimpses of something that might have been memory or truth or beautiful lies.
A woman who looked almost like me, dressed in wedding gold instead of keeper grey. Four princes offering gifts of power and protection. A ceremony interrupted by violence. Betrayal wearing the face of trust.
"Stop," I gasped, overwhelmed by the images, by their presence, by the way the Threshold pressed against my mind. "Just stop."
They did. All four stepping back, or seeming to, space was strange here, giving me room to breathe.
"You wanted an assessment," the dragon prince said, his voice now carefully neutral. "Here it is. The Gate is dying. Each time you bleed for it, you accelerate its decay. Each time you speak the binding words, you weaken the seals."
"That's not possible. The ritual maintains?—"
"The ritual maintains nothing. It feeds us." The wolf's grin showed too many teeth. "Your blood doesn't strengthen our prison. It streams directly to us. Every drop. Every day. Making us stronger while making the Gate weaker."
"Five years of your blood," the bear prince added softly. "Twenty-three of your mother's. Thirty-seven of your grandmother's. We know each Keeper intimately. We've tasted your lives, your fears, your secret hopes."
"You're lying." But even as I said it, I knew they weren't. Couldn't. Not here.
"The Gate will fall," the phoenix prince said, his voice shifting into prophecy. "Whether in days or years, it will fall. The only choice is what happens when it does."
"And what happens depends," the dragon stepped forward again, those golden eyes burning into mine, "on you."
"Me?"
"You're not just a Keeper, little one. You're Pandora's heir. Her blood runs truest in you. That makes you the key." He smiled, sharp and dangerous. "The question is whether you'll unlock our prison or forge new chains."
"I won't?—"
"Won't what?" the wolf prince interrupted. "Won't free the monsters? Won't betray your duty? Won't question the lies you've been fed since birth?"
"Or won't admit," Thane said gently, "that you already are?"
The golden light in my palm flared with heat, visible even in the Threshold's chaotic light. All four princes focused on it immediately.
"Already marked," Kaelen murmured. "Already choosing, even if you don't know it yet."
