I shake my head, not wanting to talk about what I’d done. “They died in my trial. I assumed it was an illusion, but since you’re here, I wanted to be sure.”
Then my father wraps his arms around me. “They’re both fine, Fiona. Why couldn’t I see them? There were periods when you stopped, when your actions didn’t make sense. Nyxthos must have been altering what you saw.”
I lean into the hug, letting it last longer than most, and I let go of so much of the pain I’ve held onto. I told my father that I wantedto be sure, but in reality, Ineededto be sure. Their imagined deaths weighed on me more than I’d like to admit.
He pulls away first, and I let him go. “As I was saying. Cedric and I have thought long and hard about what’s coming in your second trial. We think it will have something to do with secrets. Everyone talks about Nyxthos being the God of Darkness, but he is also the God of Secrets. He’ll test everyone on that prior to allowing them to compete in the third and fourth trials.”
“How do I prepare for that?” I ask.
My father shakes his head. “I don’t think you’ll need to. You’ve spent your entire life preparing to keep secrets. I doubt anyone has held as many secrets in such a tiny mind as you did when you were seven years old. You’re built for this, and I am confident that you’re as prepared as you can be.”
He smiles at me then, and says, “But you probably still need to refill your Infusion supplies. What are you missing?”
I run through the Infusions I’ve used, and my father frowns. “That’s all? You’ve been in the viper’s nest for nearly a week, and you’ve barely used any. That’s impressive.”
I shrug. “I thought these would have to last for two months.”
He shakes his head. “If you start to run low, tell Ainslee you need to see me. I’ll get you more. It may take time, so don’t wait until you’re desperate.”
There’s a pause, and I know what comes next. I walk away, back to the prison cell where I’ll wait until the next trial. I’ll sit in numb silence while I wait for the next time I’m tested to see if I’m worthy, where a literal god tries to kill me.
I’m not ready to go back to that. “Will you sit with me for a while?” I ask.
My father looks out at the bridge that the rising sun has just moved past. An entourage of nobles dressed in blue and silver, the goddess Rivena’s colors, cross on winged horses. Sidon flies high overhead, his silver scales glittering in the morning light. “I’ll sit with you, Daughter.”
He turns back, a soft smile on his lips, and he sits beside me on the ledge. His very presence comforts me. He’s always been safety in my eyes. No, it’s deeper than that. In my very soul, the man who’s raised me for as long as I can remember has been the walls that keep the monsters out. He, not the castle at Stormhaven, protected me against the evils of the world, and just being beside him gives me a kind of peace I’d never find within Castle Lachlan.
“Did I ever tell you about the time that I had to fight Vyran?” he asks.
He’s been telling me that story since my first memories. “Maybe a time or two, but it’s a good one.”
He nods and begins the tale, which somehow has become grander as I’ve gotten older. Maybe it’s because he’s learned to embellish a little more, or maybe it’s because I’ve come to understand just how terrifying a dragon would be.
Either way, I lean my head against his strong shoulder, just as I did when I was seven. In this moment, everything seems right again. Even as we sit in the heart of one of our enemies’ strongholds, I feel just as at home as if I were sitting across from my father at his desk.
It’s too bad that I know it can only last so long.
Interlude 4
Thegodswatchedasthe armies lined up below them. Lysara had challenged Marek, the God of Storms and Births, for the first time in the forty-nine years since the Pact. He stood beside her at the top of the mountain known as Skycrest, his red hair blowing in the wind that always gusted across this neutral meeting place. His blue-steel armor sparked with lightning as he crossed his arms.
He had accepted the Goddess of Death and Beauty’s challenge without fear. She had no champion, and his needed experience fighting Lysara’s Undying. “What are you willing to wager on this battle?” he asked, his voice like rumbling thunder.
The goddess best known for her cruelty and beauty turned to the warrior and did something unexpected, even for a god. “I’ll wager the Godhood of Endings.”
It was far more than any that’d been made before, but Marek was slow to react, as was his way. He had been a king when he’d obtained his godhood, unlike the rest of them. He would thinkand plan, but when it was time to act, he moved with a speed and surety that none could match.
“And what would I offer as its equal?” was his only response.
“A favor,” the goddess answered without looking at him. Her eyes were focused on the two figures who stood at the front of her army of the Undying. Maeve Arden and Cole Cyrus. The Queen of Earth had started all of this, and she owed the goddess a debt, but it was one she’d done everything in her power to prevent paying.
“What kind of favor?” he asked. “And what could be so important you’d be willing to wager the Godhood of Endings on it?”
She turned to him, seriousness etched across her face, and said, “I need a child to be born.”
Calyr the Gold had foreseen this moment. He and the rest of the dragons knew of Maeve Arden’s debt to Lysara. His powers of foresight had shown him that the goddess would find a way to force the Queen to bear a child.
He also knew what that would mean for the child and the world. Wielding the strength of all four Great Houses would make him the strongest warrior in Nyth, and when the time came to fight the Hunters, he would lead them. If the wrong soul were chosen, it would ruin any chance they had of winning.
