I turned slightly in my seat to get a better view.
The prince’s face was elegant and sculpted, every line sharpened by confidence and power. His crimson hair, tied loosely at the nape, caught the early light. Even sitting still, he radiated heat. He didn’t smile. His eyes scanned the room like he already owned it. And they kept returning to me.
“He’s quite striking,” I said.
Blake raised an eyebrow at me.
“You should not speak about him, Azure yin,” Ire growled. His upper lip curled like he wanted to bare teeth. “He was meant to be Malissa’s intended.”
So that’s how those two knew each other. I didn’t know Malissa had come so close to being in a society where women had power.
My eyes glanced at her then; her face might as well have been forged from steel. Her voice came out cold and flat. “That was before the Wedding of Flame and Sky, and the Annihilation.”
It had been an apparent love match between the Red crown princess and the Azure prince, which set off a panic in the other dominions. That kind of union would have shifted the balance of power overnight. With fire and wood aligned, they would have held the advantage in both military strength and magical reach.
So, the royals and their loyal nobility had scrambled behindclosed palace doors: rushed alliances, secret negotiations, new betrothals arranged before sunrise.
It made sense. Malissa, princess of the Silver Tyger Dominion, and Auron, prince of the Red Phoenix. It would have given King Uzar leverage. Only then came the Annihilation, ushering in a new age of hatred, prejudice, and distrust.
“What about the Azure crown princess?” I asked. “She must have been the biggest prize of all?”
Ire let out a short, cruel laugh. “Our Twin Blade here wassupposedto be engaged to the Azure Dragon crown princess, but he refused to even consider her, or anyone else. The king was not pleased. But now everyone is dead anyway.” He yanked on the heavy silver chain around his neck like a noose.
My throat tightened.
I had no memories of her, but she had been my princess. I knew I had no right, but a sharp pang struck low in my chest at the thought of Blake with someone else. Another Azure. I didn’t even know if she’d been kind or cruel, but the thought of her standing beside him, touching him, beinghis, made my stomach twist.
It felt wrong to feel relief that she was gone. That Blake wasn’t married. Even though the king clearly had plans now for him and Malissa.
“Axefire would never marry outside the Silver Dominion,” she said, eyes flickering to Blake, who gave her an inscrutable look back. “The Octagon wouldn’t allow it.”
Jace shrugged. “Unless her power was off their precious charts. Which they said it was.”
My body tensed. I wanted to reach for Blake, to claim him. But we’d never talked about the future. There might be none at all if we failed at the Raveling. Sealing the Anchors had to come first.
Jace cleared his throat, breaking the tension. “Anyway, magicwould have been united across the dominions, through the alliances that those marriages formed…. Now—” He gestured to the tense atmosphere between warriors who were once betrothed. “You can see how well that’s working.”
“The Annihilation was more than just the deaths and terror of that one day,” Blake said. “It was the utter destruction of hope.”
“What about the Onyx Tortoise royalty?” I asked. “No one wanted to make an alliance with them?”
“They’re a rusted mess,” Ire said with a snort, waving the last strip of pork before sliding it into his mouth. “Even before their king died in the Annihilation, no one could figure out who was supposed to rule next. Too many sons. Too much water. Not enough daylight in winter—it makes them crazy.”
Jace leaned toward me, ignoring Blake’s glare.
“Their king never has a queen. Just the High Concubine, who rules over a very large harem. And his son with the High Concubine was raised in secrecy before he disappeared,” he said. “Now there are dozens of children, all vying for power.”
“Their court is drowning in blood,” Blake said, his tone full of disgust. “Someone rises in power, only to be killed by another. It’s been that way for generations.”
“Then who is their royal now?”
“A regent rules now, to hold things together while the true heir is supposedly being decided,” Jace answered me, seeming to frustrate Blake.
“Their yins hold no power at all,” Ire said, his eyes hard. “Perhaps Silver Tyger will eventually follow.”
Malissa sneered, shoving her half-eaten plate away. “Choke on iron, Ire.”
I snorted a laugh. Though I knew she didn’t like me, we at least had this in common.
