I didn’t contemplate it too much. Hart needed me, and the proof of my devotion was plain enough in my inability to separate from him. That was the problem with Rodric. He couldn’t see what was before his eyes if it didn’t fit a narrative that suited him. I glanced again at Elias. Had he made the same mistakes with the prince?
“What else does Themis have to say, Father?” Hart asked, adding a note of swagger in his voice as he twisted his sword with a flourish. “Seems she hasn’t made you her Champion yet.”
Rodric leaned forward in his chair. “It’s only a matter of time, son. You know that.”
If Rodric stalled to try to accomplish something similar to what we were, I didn’t want to let that happen. He was seated on the throne. If he became Themis’s Champion now, there was nothing we could do.
I desperately wished I knew what Rodric needed to make the switch.
“You make it easy, coming to me. The failed Championshall bear witness to the new Champion’s ascension,” Rodric drawled.
Icy cold fear shot down my spine. The words sounded like a riddle, like some of Mother’s predictions from Champions of Kavios. I knew that book backward and forward, though. There was no mention of Themis having a second Champion in it. It had only ever been the Cursed King. This had to be from Themis’s book,What Makes a Champion of Order.
My stomach churned. Did they need Hart here?
Was this why Elias shared the information with us?
I wasn’t sure it mattered. We needed to be here for our final trial—for our choice. The dragon and the throne were the end of our trials. Everything had brought us here. If it also happened to be the necessary pieces for whatever path Rodric chased, then so be it.
“Once again, you need me,” Hart said. “Haven’t you always? You needed me to grow the kingdom. You needed me to find Charon and learn that adamas could be created. You even needed me to legitimize your hold on the city once you created the Blessed. You’ve never really done anything for yourself.”
Vaddon’s face flushed on Rodric’s behalf, and he took a step back toward his king. “You know nothing of what you speak, boy.”
It was then that I saw movement on Rodric’s left side. His arm. He struggled with something in his chair. “No need to defend me, Vaddon. We’ll watch him fall together.”
This time, Elias did roll his eyes, and he shifted ever so slightly away from his father.
Anticipation buzzed between Hart and me. I swore I could sense our connection, even without his touch. I felt it the same way Eris’s curse tethered us with distance, alerting us to the other’s presence. Yet he stood beside me now.
The palpable magic built, but the guards before us didn’t move to attack. They only stood between their king and us.
What did Rodric need besides Hart to bear witness?
Vaddon returned to Rodric’s side. “Now, my king. Let him watch his failure.” The advisor’s gaze moved to Elias.
Rodric gave Vaddon a pitying look. Then the blue of the gem flashed brighter as he whispered, “It was never going to be my heir, Vaddon. You had to know that.”
The king lifted his left hand, holding a gleaming dagger. “Themis, I offer you this sacrifice. My oldest friend.”
Then Rodric drove the dagger toward Vaddon’s chest. Vaddon must have run out of youngleaf, or perhaps he simply wasn’t prepared; either way, he didn’t move to avoid the strike.
I didn’t see the blade pierce its target—because the moment Rodric moved, loud clomps reverberated and hard nails scraped against marble, drawing my attention to the doors.
A scaled claw flung a row of chairs against the wall, and Charon’s voice was clear in my head as he entered. “Let’s get this over with, Champions. I have business to finish with Rodric when you’re done.”
40
To replace a Champion, you must be cunning. You must put this goal above all others.
— WHAT MAKES A CHAMPION OF ORDER
HART
Icouldn’t even marvel at how long Father’s adamas worked. Yes, the gem was huge, but it hadn’t yet flickered out, even though his calming magic had held the majority of the room in a kind of stasis since we entered.
Then, everything happened at once, testing the gem’s hold even further.
Charon’s roar shook the room. The next slash of his claws felled another row of chairs, sending them clattering across the marble surface. He overwhelmed thespace with anger. The sheer size of him barely fit through the huge double doors. His tail curled and flicked, sending another group of seats on the opposite side of the aisle slamming into the far wall.
