I didn’t respond. I didn’t have to. The proof was standing behind me, larger than life, and I was done hiding who she was. Who we were.
Zander stepped up beside me, his shoulders squared. “Then it’s time to figure out what this means, for all of us.”
And across the Ascension Grounds, I saw it in the eyes of the riders, the commanders, even the distant palace guards.
Everything had just changed.
The horn blasted through the air—sharp, discordant, final.
Every rider stiffened. Dragons turned their heads, nostrils flaring at the sudden call. And then, like a slow-moving shadow bleeding into sunlight, Theron exited the castle.
His robes were darker than usual, trimmed in glinting gold thread, but his eyes—his eyes locked straight on Kaelith’s twin tails. I saw the way his jaw clenched, how the muscles in his neck pulled taut with every step.
He slowed as he reached the edge of the Ascension Grounds. Kaelith’s scythes gleamed in the sun, twin crescents of death coiled behind her, her wings only partially folded. Hein stood beside her, a silent wall of muscle and gleaming silver scale, as if daring Theron to make the wrong move.
Without a word, Theron lifted a hand and motioned toward Zander.
Zander’s shoulders tensed beside me, but he exhaled through his nose and strode forward.
I watched them, my heart thudding with every step Zander took toward his brother. Theron leaned in when he reached him, and the two began to speak in clipped tones. I couldn’t hear the words, but I didn’t need to. Zander’s head shook. Theron’s hands sliced through the air, impatient, furious. And when Zander stepped closer, his voice raising just enough that I could catch the edge of a syllable, Theron snapped his mouth shut and spun on his heel.
He didn’t look back.
He stalked toward the podium, cloak flaring behind him like a warning banner. Every rider fell silent as he ascended the steps and turned to face us. His eyes were hard. Calculated.
Kaelith growled beside me, her heat rising up like a tide.
I finally stood, my knees protesting, but my spine straightened. Whatever this was… it wasn’t going to be good.
ChapterThirty-Three
Theron stood at the podium, robes immaculate, crownless but exuding a kind of command that had nothing to do with virtue and everything to do with venom polished into charm. His gaze roamed over Kaelith, lingering, tinged with something that made my stomach twist.
Envy.
“Riders,” he said, spreading his arms like he was offering a gift. “The Shiftling has returned.”
Kaelith’s twin tails flicked behind her, both tipped with crescent scythes. Her body shimmered like twilight wrapped in flame. Even the air around her seemed to bend to her power.
“Isn’t she magnificent?”
A ripple of clapping followed, uneven and uncertain. Some riders raised their hands out of habit. Others hesitated with wariness etched in every tight-lipped face. Kaelith didn’t care. Her wings arched slightly, catching the light as if to remind them what magnificence truly was.
Theron’s voice cut through again. “There was a prophecy of such an event, but we assumed it meant the Unifier would return. Perhaps we were wrong.” His eyes slid to me like a dagger sheathed in silk. “Ashe Rebec will play a key role in the upcoming war.”
The crowd shifted. Several riders turned toward me. I didn’t flinch. Let them look. Kaelith lifted her head higher, the proud gleam of starlight and sovereignty in her eyes.
But Zander didn’t move. He still stood like a statue near the base of the podium, the cords in his neck tight, his hands fisted at his sides. He didn’t look at Theron.
He looked at me.
Theron noticed. His lips curved, not quite a smile, more a performance.
“It is with a heavy heart that I report my brother Zander is not the son of King Emlem Rayne.”
The world tipped. A storm of murmurs broke out across the Ascension Grounds, loud and immediate.
“What did he say?”
