“You don’t have to risk your secrets, Rhaskar. I have spoken with Azric about what happens when one of the other Champions is created. The god they pledge their loyalty to does not own their mind. All the Champions hold thoughts and secrets from their gods. Granted, if Nyxthos went to war with Sylvantia, your Priest would know how to counter many of your defenses, but the gods are done fighting with you, Rhaskar.”
She grinds her teeth in frustration as my father turns to leave. “Wait,” she says. “Saelira has spoken again. For the first time since Azric’s birth, she’s come back from her world. She told the gods one of them would die soon. It will be the first god’s death since Lysara killed Eldrin. They’re afraid. They’re…hiding. Whoever you send will have much more control over an entire kingdom. They’ll be Godforged, themselves.”
At this, my father stops and looks down at Ainslee. “You were right to bring this to me, but the risks are too great. I have protected my people thus far. Sylvantia is a kingdom where humanity still thrives. We have held back the storm of this war for eighty years, and while I took risks when I was a young man, they were necessary. This isn’t. I’m sorry, Ainslee. I cannot give you what you ask.”
I look from my father to Ainslee and back at him as they stare at each other. “The man that is not willing to risk his safety to become more powerful, more capable of protecting his people, is not a man worthy of the Priesthood.”I say the words slowly and softly, but they carry a weight that no argument from me ever could.
He turns to me, deciding that his conversation with the Countess is done. “This is why women are not allowed within the Order, Fiona. You are thinking with your heart, not with your head. Now, we were having a discussion before Countess Ainslee brought us this news. Let’s return to it.”
The way my father talked to me only moments before Ainslee arrived told me everything I needed to know about my future. I will never become a Priest. I will never lead soldiers into battle to protect my people. My place will be that of aprincesswho will never leave her mark on the world, who will never matter. I will never be the person I’m sure I was meant to be.
I smile at him and stand up, but instead of following him, I turn to Ainslee. “I will become the ally you need, Countess. I will join Nyxthos’s trials and do my best to take control over the Kingdom of Dunloch.”
A snarl comes from Rhaskar. “You will not. I command you to go back to your quarters, Fiona Thorne.”
I turn my head to look at him and smile cruelly. “I am not a Priest, as you’ve said so many times, and you are not a king. Your commands are that of a father to his daughter, and I am twenty-five. They mean nothing.”
The shock and pain on his face hurt more than I’d like to admit, but after the conversation I just had with him, I know that this will probably be my only chance to matter. I saw what it was like on the border. I may not be able to stop Azric’s Mindless, but the demons that roam the borders of Dunloch are far worse. How many livescould be saved by reducing the number that hunt humans along that border?
And even more importantly, as Ainslee said, what else could I do to help the world? I may not be able to stop everything, but I could certainly dosomething.
“I will take part in the trials, Countess Ainslee.”
“Fiona,” she says slowly, her eyes going back to my father for a moment before continuing, “you need to understand what you’re agreeing to. The trials won’t be between humans. Your abilities won’t give you a leg up. In fact, they may not even level the playing field. I’ve fought beside Rhaskar. I know what you can do when you need to, but the abilities of the people who will be vying for this position aren’t something to scoff at. These trials will likely end with nearly all the competitors dying.”
I’ve spent my life preparing for something, if not to become a Priest. I won’t let my life go to waste as just Rhaskar Thorne’s daughter. “I’m not afraid of death, Countess. I’m afraid to live without making a difference. Nyxthos is the God of Secrets and Darkness, and while I may be human, my life has revolved around secrets. I’m not afraid of the dark, nor of what hides within it.”
“It’s okay, Ainslee,” Darian says with a grin. “She won’t be going alone. I’ll be entering with her. I’d considered it before, but I’d been a little worried that it’d be too boring. With little Fi at my side, I’m sure we’ll find a way to make it enjoyable.”
Ainslee looks at her brother for a long moment before nodding. Then she looks at my father, who hasn’t said a word since I defiedhim. “I’m sorry, Rhaskar. I can’t refuse her, even though she’s your daughter. This is too important.”
He says nothing, but I can feel his eyes burning into my back. “How do we enter this thing?” I finally say, breaking the silence.
She gives me a smile and pulls a small mirror from a hip pouch. Barely bigger than her palm, it’s covered in strange sigils. “Touch the mirror, and my husband will be on the other side. He’ll show you what to do, and then he’ll send you back here so you can prepare for the next two weeks.”
I take a deep breath to center myself before pressing shaking fingers against the glass of the mirror, and it feels like when I use the Mark of the Cloak. Except, instead of ending up in the place I’d held in my mind, I appear in a small room I immediately recognize as part of the Keep of Steel. What have I gotten myself into? I thought I was brave when I’d snuck into Averna. The Keep of Steel is in Draenyth, the heart of everything happening in this war. It’s the last place a human should be, and it’s even more dangerous for a Priest.
Chapter 5
“Why doesn’t he simply choose another?”
“Darling, he can’t. The rules of the Pact are explicit, and every precaution has been taken to ensure the choice is based on strength and skill rather than preference.”
“And if he ignores the rules?”
“Then another will become the God of Darkness and Secrets.”
~Conversations between Lysara and the Prince of Bones
Fiona
“Fiona? What are you doing here?” King Rhion asks as soon as I appear. “Ainslee was supposed…” Then Darian’s beside me, and I look up at the mountain of a man who controls a quarter of the capital city of the Fae, the only truly neutral location in Nyth.
Ainslee’s husband is probably the tallest man I’ve ever met with a body meant to crush boulders. His short blonde hair is a littleunkempt, yet he still looks like he belongs on a throne. He’s wearing a strange amalgamation of court apparel and armor. It’s a long, fitted tunic, and yet it moves like it’s heavy, like it’s steel made of the smallest interwoven links imaginable. At his sides are two longswords, an unwieldy weapon combination, but it’s obvious that if anyone could dual-wield two longswords, it’s this giant of a man.
“She was supposed to find a Priest who would compete in Nyxthos’s trials. Well, you’re looking at her.”
“And him,” Darian says with a smirk at Rhion. “Finally, you’ll have to admit I’m not just my sister’s court jester when I win this thing.”
