“Let’s get down to business. As you know, Nobus has demanded our presence two nights from now.” A groan resounds in the space, its source unknown but its meaning echoed by all. “I know, I know. I am usually a fan of the elaborate parties my brother forces us to attend in his honor, but I don’t relish in celebrating the birthday of his little princeling any more than you do.”
“Be that as it may, the required bestowing of blessings to the Prince of the Gods affords us an opportunity that we cannot pass up.” Nina’s red hair glows as she joins in sharing the plan that sheclearly influenced. “While we are on bended knee and every eye is trained on the little heir, we will put phase one into motion.”
“The attendance of every god is required at the ceremony,” Mikais continues. “Every god but one.”
The god beside me tenses. Shadows hover in my peripheral as every eye turns in our direction. I sit up, spine stiffening in preparation for Mikais’ next words.
“Once we have given our gifts to the child, Death will make his grand entrance.”
Murmurs fill the room, their faces ranging from delight to disgust. Drayven, ever stoic, doesn’t speak. Something unexpected bubbles up inside of me, something I can’t tamper down quickly enough. The sconces on the wall illuminate unexpectedly, the conspiring gods flinching as their eyes adjust.
Nina glares at me, a nasty rebuke forming on her tongue, but I cut her off before she has the chance to voice it. “If we harm the child, we are no better than Nobus.”
“I would never harm a child, Selene.” Mikais laughs off my concern, the rest of the gods joining him. “We have much bigger plans for him.”
Bigger plans.Nausea rolls in my gut.
Taura looks at me, her eyes shifting hues again, and I know she’s reading a truth. She lets out a sigh and nods, silently confirming the Wolf God’s words. They will not physically harm him, at least not yet.
He is a baby, a prince, and yet he is nothing more than a pawn to them. The Prince of the Gods has a powerful role to play in this game—and these gods plan to use him as leverage against his father.
“Consider what will be necessary for our young prince to be successful and craft your blessings appropriately. Remember, my brother shouldn’t be aware of the weapon we are creating until Death appears.”
Weapon. The word lingers heavily in the air.
“Still want to join us?” Drayven asks as the other gods go back to their conversations, each theorizing the ways they might word their gifts.
“At what point do we become worse than Nobus?” I ask. “Are we simply the lesser of the inevitable evils? Are we so far removed from humanity that we’ve forgotten how to be good?”
“Gods do not have humanity. We were made from the raw matter of Creation, not of the fragile fabric of mortality. Eternal life is not our gift; it is our curse. And to be eternal, you must be ruthless.”
“And what if I wish to be something else?” The whispered question pains me to say aloud.
Shadows form around the dark god as he starts to fade from view. “Then I would be very, very clear with the blessing you bestow.”
CHAPTER 5
SELENE
Every corner of Nobus’ palace is decorated for the event. From the foyer of the grand entrance to the golden throne room, every surface drips with opulence. Gods from across the pantheon were ordered to the palace days ago to begin the preparations, offering their gifts to ensure a celebration fit for a king.
But only time will tell which king we celebrate. Will it be the vengeful one that sits the throne now, the babe in line to take his place, or the wolf plotting rebellion?
All eyes are on the dais as the royal family makes their way from behind the curtain that conceals the entrance to their chambers. From his towering height to his broad build, Nobus’ presence commands attention—so much so that it would be easy not to notice the dark-haired goddess who sulks in his shadow.
Downtrodden, there is no spark in Arcasia’s gray eyes, only the blank expression of someone who would rather be anywhere else than here. Unlike her husband, the goddess’ presence has waned during her seclusion. Whispers flit between the gods as we catch our first glimpse of the goddess in two years.
The orchestra’s song reaches a crescendo as Nobus jerks the swaddled babe from the Goddess of Protection’s arms and raises him over his head. All heads bow and knees bend in the presence of the young prince.
Peering up from under my lashes, I sneak a glimpse at the child and instantly understand why the king has kept him hidden for the first year of his life.
The child held aloft in front of kneeling gods has hair as dark as night and glimmering gray eyes—traits entirely from his mother and not from the supposedly all-powerful deity who sired him.
It is a rare trait for a god’s eyes to not be the signature golden hue of our pantheon’s namesake, and those gods are always fated for something tremendous. It’s widely believed that Arcasia’s eyes destined her to be our queen, much in the same way Drayven’s determined his right to rule the Under Realm over his twin sister, Drayca.
If the son of Nobus does not have his father’s eyes, then the target on his back is even greater than we realized.
“Arise and offer your powers to Calaedon, Prince of the Gods.”
