“I have a son?” Araes whispered, honey eyes glistening with wonder and terror and heartbreak all at once.
“Yes, my love. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I—”
“This is Astraeus’s blade. You’ve…you’ve ripped therealm apart. It doesn’t matter now if the gate’s sealed or not, Tethys.” Obscuros’s booming voice stole the words from her lips. Araes outstretched his arms, letting the goddess fall into an embrace. Tethys unleashed her sobs then, letting his familiar scent cocoon her.
“Tethys, you’ve doomed us all,” Obscuros boomed again. A hush fell over her siblings as they circled them. Polaris, with Aryx now settled into her chest, knelt beside Araes. From her pocket, she produced a silver key and unlocked his shackles.
“Goddess…” Araes tucked a curl behind her ear. Tethys supposed he couldn’t find his words. Maybe they, too, were lost in the carnage.
“We must seal the Rift before Vorthal can escape,” he said. “Phosphora and I will hold the veil, but Vorthal’s power cannot be allowed to grow.”
“Father I—” Tethys started.
“You are no daughter of mine,” he growled. “I no longer recognize you as a daughter of this court. Look at the death…thedestructionyou’ve caused.”
“Please, I’ll do anything. Just spare Araes. Spare my son,” she whispered. Obscuros’s eyes darted from one to the other, from mortal to goddess.
“The Elythera protects him. Your soul intertwines with his. I cannot touch him. Nor will he age like a mortal.” Obscuros shook his head, bitter disgust thinning his lips. “He will die only when you do. Did you know that when you performed the rites? Your lifelines are now one.”
Araes blinked at Tethys, registering the primordial’s words himself. She laced her fingers through his and brought his hand to her lips. While she hadn’t truly known the full extent of their bond, she felt it, deep in her chest. They were together eternally.
She watched Araes through blurred tears and realized he hadn’t yet held their child, hadn’t met him or looked in his little golden eyes. Her heart shattered, but she stitchedit together.
“Polaris…please. Give me the babe.” Tethys outstretched her arms. Polaris brought Aryx, now sleeping peacefully in her arms. Tethys settled him then placed her little light in Araes’s arms.
The lieutenant, with heartbreak and wonder, gazed at his son. Where Tethys expected confusion and caution in his eyes, there was only love—the kind understood by few, but cherished by all.
“This is your son. This is Aryx.”
Araes brushed his nose against the babe’s brow, breathing in his fresh little scent. “He’s perfect, Goddess.”
“Perhaps. But more importantly, he’s the best parts of both of us.” She smiled sadly.
“This realm will never know peace, so long as you’re in it,” Obscuros said, interrupting Tethys’s brief moment of peace. Her magic rippled through her body, sending a reminder of the carnage she’d caused…the destruction she’d created.
Tethys swallowed the grief, tightening her throat.
She wouldn’t allow her son to grow in a world birthed from chaos. Maybe Obscuros was right. So long as she was here, in Venia, on the continent, in this world, Aryx would never truly know peace. Obscuros smoothed back his hair and paced the courtroom.
“Our sole purpose in this world is to protect what we’ve created. To defend our people against the creatures of chaos clawing at the gates. But there are things you cannot understand. The truth of what happened here today must be forgotten. The realm will fall to chaos if they learn what lurks in the void.” Obscuros collapsed into the throne, now split down its center.
“I cannot erase the bond between you and your mortal,” he spat, “but I can glamour it. Humans are a simple race. They find heroes in even the weakest of their kind,but not without villains. Tethys, you are theirvillain.
“This war between Canissa and Venia must end. The fighting between siblings must cease.” His stern eyes flashed from each immortal sibling, landing their blow on Tethys. Procyon, still nursing his burnt brow, grimaced as he rose to his feet.
Tethys’s chest was cold, too cold. She understood what Obscuros meant. Humans craved someone to blame, and so he would frame her as their villain. Let them fear her, hate her, blameher. They were safer to think her evil than the truth of what lurked in the shadows. Her eyes scanned over the slaughtered court, and maybe, perhaps this fate is one she deserved.
She tucked into Araes embrace once more, begging the clock to stop, if only for a moment. Aryx cooed up at her, stirring softly from his slumber.
“Okay,” she whispered. “Please, just let them live.”
“For the sake of our world, the mortals must forget. After today, your people will remember you only as their enemy—their queen who slaughtered her court. Your son will grow to hate you. False memories of this day will root in his mind, and when he comes to adulthood, he will turn his back on you forever. Your lieutenant will remain by your side, but you will feel no love. The bond will be his shackles until the day you both perish.”
“What? Father you can’t do this,” Polaris cried.
“It’s okay, sister,” Tethys whispered, swallowing her heartbreak. For her son, for her people, for the continent, she would do this.
“Obscuros,” Phosphora’s milky eyes glowed. The fog lifted, revealing her familiar brilliant irises. “Enough.”
