“But, but that is one of the deadly sins!” a Seer protested from my left.
The Korona whirled on her, eyes narrowing. “For Her good, it can be forgiven.”
“How do you know?” the female challenged, fingers digging into stone. “I have been a loyal, faithful servant for you, Korona. I believe She wants us to win this war. But this? This is extreme.”
Iaoth took a menacing step toward her, white wisps crackling in the air around her. “Shall I erase all memory of your beliefs then? Make you as mindless as many of the people who serve you?”
The female gulped. Adrenaline spiked in my veins. Tension draped the room in a dark shroud.
“I don’t need you to think for yourself. I only need you to See,” Iaoth taunted, magic creeping along the ground and wrapping up the female’s legs.
She flinched at the touch, eyeing it like it was a viper. Once it wrapped around her waist, she blurted out, “Fine! I’ll do it.”
The magic retreated back into its wielder. “That’s better.”The Korona turned her attention to the rest of us in the room. “Does anyone else wish to voice their concern?”
I stuck my tongue in my cheek. Nothing I could say would change the situation.
“Good,” she purred, her mood snapping faster than a punishing whip. “Who wishes to try first?”
“I do,” Heraphia said, rash and reckless as she rose from her chair.
“What? No,” I hissed, trying and failing to catch her. “You’re going to get yourself killed, if it even works.”
Heraphia held my gaze then. Really, really looked at me, as if her power spoke exactly of my soul. “I must. I won’t let us all die.”
We’d always, always protected one another, albeit in different ways.
And mine was ensuring that when Zuriel came home, she would be here to greet him. “I won’t let you,” I protested, using the crystal arms to shove myself upright.
But Iaoth was almost upon us, and our furious, hushed conversation had to come to an end.
“My bravest, most brilliant darling,” the Korona cooed, lifting Heraphia’s hands and guiding her to the center.
She didn’t even glance back at me.
Attendants settled cushions on the ground, and the two sank onto them, sitting cross-legged and facing each other.
“Sylaira, sit down,” Lyriasthe whispered, her hand searing into my skin as she tugged on my arm.
I shrugged her off, body vibrating with an internal battle. To go to Heraphia, to physically stop her from performing a sinful, dangerous act or to hold my tongue and avoid the harsh regard of the Korona?
Stifling a scream, I dropped onto my seat, my focus never leaving my friend. “This is insane,” I told the other Elessarum.
“This is what people do for love,” she murmured like she spoke from experience.
But I was mated, and there was no way I’d go to these lengths to save Vaeron. At the thought of that, the bond seared me, like it was displeased that I didn’t worship the ground he walked on.
We’d been working better together, day by day. The trial by light loomed over us like an executioner’s blade, and a spark of fear that I’d somehow end up beneath the Koron’s heel refused to snuff out.
Vaeron had a plan, but we’d been interrupted every time I’d tried to ask him about it. I rubbed my chest, trying to convince the chain linking our fates to settle down. A silver knife, the hilt adorned with diamonds and sky blue gems, flashed in beneath the canopy of bubble lights. Servants placed a matching bowl between Heraphia and Iaoth.
Horror encased me in ice. I couldn’t breathe. The Korona intended to be the one to share her power with my best friend.
No no no no no no no…
Iaoth’s power was stronger than Heraphia’s. Even if it was possible to channel it, Heraphia couldn’t hold so much at once.
The sharp edge pressed into the Korona’s flesh as she intoned a prayer to the Goddess. “Radiant Mother, creator of all life, hear my prayer. Cleanse this world with Your holy light. I walk in Your truth, illuminated by Your divine will. Let Your justice flow through my hands.”
