Impatience tightened her chest. Or was it curiosity? Excitement, even? Whatever the case, she needed to know what the hell he was getting at. It took no small effort to maintain an air of nonchalance. “You mean as Queen of Lela?”
“Exactly. My son abandoned his mission to find El’Ara for me and sought to become Morkaius of the human world instead. I never would have approved, for his success would have meant the end of the fae realm. Drawing on that much magic—claiming it, using it in the human world—would have drained El’Ara. As much as I resent the Elvyn for their closed-minded ways, I treasure the fae realm. So believe me when I say I don’t condone anything my son did in his efforts to control fae magic for his own selfish aims.”
“And that matters to me why?”
He smirked. “It matters because it will allow you to give me the benefit of the doubt when I say this next part. You will take on a role similar to the Morkaius of Lela. No, hear me out. Your husband remains in the line of succession for Vera, and should he inherit the kingdom, the two of you could reforge Lela and rule the land as a whole.”
Cora’s pulse kicked up, but she hoped he was too busy talking to notice. It was true that Teryn remained in the line of succession for Vera. As Larylis’ brother, Teryn had a claim to the throne. A weaker one compared to Noah, but a claim nonetheless. But Darius hadn’t mentioned Noah. Or Mareleau, for that matter. Had he not learned their significance? He knew the Morkara had been born, but had he not figured out who that was?
Hope sparked inside her. They’d kept Noah’s birth a secret and had spread the rumor that Mareleau had returned home before Cora’s wedding. In truth, Darius, Mareleau, and Noah had all been under the same roof for a handful of days. Did he not know?
Of course he didn’t.
If he’d known, her friend would be dead, and her newborn son too.
Unless…
Unless Darius wasn’t the monster he’d been painted as.
A heavy weight settled over her chest—a clairsentient warning not to give in to that line of reasoning just yet.
Darius spoke again. “You will fulfill every condition to become the Morkaius, the very conditions my son had tried to fulfill. You’ll rule over Lela, a crown given not taken. As monarch of El’Ara’s heart, themorawill flow to you. Should you want, you could harness it.”
She barked a cold laugh. “Are you trying to get me killed? I know what the prophecy said about becoming Morkaius of this world.He who harnesses the magic will be destroyed by it.”
His face split with a wide smile, too maniacal to be comforting. “Yes, but you won’t harness themora. You are going to push it back into El’Ara. And I, as Morkaius of El’Ara, will tear down the Veil, but only after you’ve returned themorato El’Ara. Without the forced connection between our worlds caused by themoraand the Veil, our worlds will separate once more. Do you see? It isn’t the land itself that is El’Ara’s heart; it’s themora. The convergence of those magic veins. Once inside the Veil, they will collide once more and forge a new heart.”
She tried to imagine it, tried to picture what he was explaining. If the true Heart of El’Ara was the magic and not simply the land, the fae realm would have a new heart should the lines ofmorabe forced to recede behind the Veil.
And yet…
“I don’t understand,” she said. “If I don’t harness themora, then how will I have the ability to push it back?”
“Like I said, it’s written in the prophecy itself. By becoming Lela’s monarch, you becomeMorkai, King of Magic. You will have access to themora, and it will flow to you. Yet you aren’t going to keep it or harness it or do anything that will make you the Morkaius.”
Was he correct?
She fought to recall everything Emylia had channeled. Everything Teryn had learned from her.
To gain the power of the Morkaius, one must first become King of Magic, a crown given, not taken, and reign over El’Ara’s abandoned heart.
To become Morkaius of El’Ara’s heart, harness the magic that seeps from its center.
Mother Goddess, it really was hidden in the lines of the prophecy. One didn’t become Morkaius unless they tried to harness the magic. The prophecy didn’t say what one could do with themorasimply by being King of Magic—or Queen of Lela, in her case—but what he was saying might be possible.
“You see?” His voice quavered with fervor. “We’ll work together, and we’ll both get what we want. You’ll protect your people and keep the land that has become their home. I’ll rule El’Ara and make it a better place.”
A better place…by his standards.
Cora hated how prejudiced the Elvyn were toward humans, but did that give Darius the right to change them? Just because he decided their morals were wrong? Did anyone have the right to override another society’s values, just because they thought they knew better? To conquer them, change them, all for that people’s supposedown good? It was a question that had plagued humanity for centuries. Those who answered yes often used such convictions to justify the subjugation of people under the banner ofcivilization. She’d seen hints of it in her own kingdom when her former council members had wanted to hunt down the Forest People and force them to integrate with society.
She couldn’t condone that.
She couldnevercondone that.
Darius stepped closer. “What I’ve created in Syrus—a fair kingdom that values one’s merit, not their bloodline—can happen in El’Ara too.”
“And what of Syrus?” she asked. “Will you just abandon it for El’Ara?”
