He looked at me, and his eyes flashed to life. Panic. Pain. Terror. But as quickly as it came, it all disappeared again, back to dead eyes.
Baron Taeme was on his feet, as were several of the other Barons. “What have you done?” Baron Taeme roared, and my father smirked.
“Bow to your new king, Taeme. With this weapon at my disposal, Ebrus will not need Barons, nor Lines, nor anything else but full allegiance to me, and to my Heir.”
“This is not an Heir. This is an abomination. A slur against the Goddess,” Baron Lunderov from the Seventh Line growled.
“There are no kings in Ebrus!” someone else shouted, which kicked off more yelling, but my eyes were stuck on the man at the other end of the table. A face that looked like Yaron’s, but not.
How was hehere?Had my father been hiding him all this time? Did my mother know? Did my uncles? His skin was so pale, it looked like he hadn’t seen the sun in years. His eyes were almost milky, like they were unaccustomed to strong light.
Had my father buried him alive? Why did he feel so powerful, but so wrong? I had so many fucking questions, but worse than that was the realization of what I would have to do.
I’d have to kill my own brother. Again. And I might die doing it, because while Yaron had been strong, the weight of the power coming off Dermet was oppressive.
Arthur Hanovan stood tall, his eyes staring at this walking corpse with the same horror I was. Whatever he could see in Dermet’s brain made him pale. Was it the truth, or was Dermet strong enough to keep him out of his head?
Someone slammed their hand on the table. Zier was livid. “You must abdicate, Vylan. And pay for your crimes against this… creature, and against Ebrus as a whole.”
Feodore Vylan, because that man could not be my father, slid his eyes to Zier. He lifted a hand, air reaching out and wrapping around Zier’s throat. “You’re already slated for death. Tried and found guilty of treason. No one can stop me from exacting your sentence now.”
My hand flashed out, pushing back against his magic with my own. My stronger magic. Zier dropped to his knees, the bruises on his throat already blooming again.
But as soon as my magic pushed out, Dermet’s met mine. He was so fucking strong. Stronger than me. Stronger than any other being in Ebrus. If my father could wield him like a weapon, we were all fucked.
He waved a hand at us, and the air was sucked from the room. I threw up a bubble around Hayle and I, but couldn’t expand it any further than that.
“Who the fuckisthat?” Hayle breathed.
“Yaron’s twin. I thought he’d murdered him when we were kids.”
He shook his head. “He doesn’t look dead to me, Vox.” He paused. “No, he does look dead, but the living dead. There’s something wrong. He shouldn’t have that much power.”
I looked over at Hayle. “Not unless he was siphoning it from the rest of the country.”
We didn’t have time to work it out, because Dermet was forcing everyone in the room to their knees.
Father climbed onto the table. “Pledge your fealty to me now, or I’ll eviscerate your whole Lines in retribution.”
“You can’t do this!” I shouted at my father, who just smirked down at me.
“I already have. And if you think your little girlfriend finding thetalwill help, then you’re sadly mistaken.” He looked around the room. “Now, kneel!”
Rovan fell to his knees, and Roman Halhed wasn’t far behind. Dermet curled his hands, forcing everyone else to their knees.
“Avalon,” Hayle breathed, and I knew we’d fucked this up so bad. I could only hope Lierick had her back. Moving my bubble to cover Hayle completely, I pushed my magic out at Dermet. His hold on his magic dropped momentarily in surprise, but he quickly struck back.
Then I was in a fight not just for my life, or for Hayle’s, or for the rest of the people in this room.
I was in a fight for the future of every soul in Ebrus.
Twenty-Three
Avalon
“Avalon, go!” Lierick shouted again, but I couldn’t leave the statue here with Stanlus. It had to be destroyed. I knew it in my soul.
And there was nowhere to run. Where would I go? I couldn’t float my way back up through the water, since I wasn’t from the First Line.
