“So it turns out he didn’t just want the seal for this ritual of his,” Will says grimly.
Nearly a thousand of General Becane’s soldiers—my army—are gathered on the outskirts of Elmere. But we wait in the palace war room, processing the news of Caledon’s march on Agathyre. So much has happened in the last twenty-four hours, I can hardly wrap my head around it. My heart swells every time I think about Leon proposing to me last night, but that joy dims when my thoughts return to Harman’s news.
We were planning to take the fight to Caledon, but as always, he’s one step ahead of us—leaving us scrambling to react.
“Normally, the Miravow would protect the Agathyrians from intruders,” I say, glancing at Leon and Tira. “We’ve seen it firsthand. But with the seal of Ethira, Caledon has safe passage through the forest.”
“Will that work for his forces too?” General Becane frowns.
“We’re not sure,” Leon says. “But we know this isn’t the first time someone’s had the idea to use the seal to invade Agathyre.”He gives me a meaningful look, and I know we’re both thinking about Respen. “They must have some reason to think the army will be protected too.”
Sophos raises his finger to address Leon’s last point. “In legend, Firesta rewarded Ethira with the seal for defending a group of travelers,” Sophos says. “It would be logical that the seal’s protection extended beyond the person carrying it. However, it was never intended to keep whole armies from harm, and I suspect there are limits to who it will shield.”
I nod. That’s a small relief. We wouldn’t want to go after Caledon only to find supernatural forces preventing us from fighting any of his clerics.
“But why Agathyre?” Vostani, Becane’s lieutenant, asks. She’s a broad-shouldered woman with a stubborn look about her, but I liked her as soon as I met her.
“The only possible reason is that it gets him closer to the final token.”
“So the cup is in Agathyre,” I deduce.
“Ethira traveled to all three nations, remember?” Tira says. “It makes sense that he left at least one token in each country.”
“Do you think the dryads knew and kept it from us?” Alastor asks.
“They’re a pretty secretive bunch,” I admit. “Maybe they thought it safer no one else knew about it. I suppose I don’t blame them if that’s the case. But it hasn’t stopped Caledon tracking it down.”
“And if he finds the cup?” General Becane tugs at the neat end of his beard. “What exactly are we looking at here?”
I exhale, meeting Leon’s eye.
“Caledon believes that if he combines all the tokens, he will become a god.”
Lieutenant Vostani frowns. “I don’t understand what that means.”
“None of us do,” Alastor says to her.
“A literal god? As in an all-powerful, can’t-die, lives-in-the-Eternal-Realm divine being?” Vostani clarifies.
“Maybe,” Phaia shrugs, but Damia makes a dismissive chuff.
“It’s all religious nonsense,” she tuts.
“Perhaps,” General Becane continues, “but I still need to know what we’re up against if we’re going to have any hope of an effective strategy.”
“What they mean is we’re in over our heads,” a third member of the Trovian military, Captain Wicklow, says. “Man wasn’t meant to mess with something as powerful as the tokens. If we don’t reach the Grand Bearer in time to stop him, we’re doomed—with Ethira’s power, he could smite us down with just a look.” He shudders, despite Damia rolling her eyes at his superstition.
“Ask Sophos,”Leon prompts across the bond. He could speak to the bearer himself, of course, but he’s very aware this is my meeting, my court, and I love that he respects my role as queen.
“Bearer Sophos, you must have some insight for us on this matter,” I say to the tall man.
Sophos clears his throat. “I can only say what legend suggests, and what the Grand Bearer believes.”
“That’d be better than nothing,” Alastor prompts.
“I suspect that combining the tokens will make the Grand Bearer more powerful than any person alive. It’s likely they will grant him a kind of invincibility—not a true immunity to death, since I don’t know if they’ll stop him aging entirely—but it’s likely his body would be strong enough to withstand most attacks. That is because he will trade a mortal form for an immortal one, as Ethira did.”
He pauses, tugging his sleeve over his missing hand as he thinks. “He is very powerful already, after absorbing large amounts of celestial power, but I think he will become more so. It’s possible the use of the tokens won’t make him a god, but it will connect him to other sources of power in our world, removing all limits on his supply of magic.”
