“Uncle Gareth!” Orenda shouted as she rushed across the drawbridge.

She had called out to him first, not because of her familial attachment, though she could no longer deny that she had that, but because he was the most obvious issue at hand. He was in the air, on his carpet again, and he seemed much less frail than he had the last time she had seen him, though she knew that he could put on a show and there was no telling how badly he was hurting. The snow alone had to do something to him, and with his injuries she didn’t know how he was standing, let alone casting well enough to fly and fire.

“Uncle Gareth!” She shouted again as she ran, “Stop burning down my kingdom!”

He turned to look at her, and she saw the glint of the sunlight on his mask, more reflective than even the snow. The fireball in his good hand dissipated midcast when he saw her, saw the crown on her head. He changed position instantly, threw his hand up as high as he could, and shot into the sky. The column of fire there burned brightly enough that she was sure it could be seen for miles.

Then the carpet descended, and he was in front of her, scooping her into his arms, and she hugged him back for all she was worth.

“I did it,” She told him.

“The monster is dead?” He asked, “You killed the Emerald Knight?”

“No,” Orenda said, “I killed Xandra. Klin defeated the Emerald Knight.”

“Who the hell is Klin?” Gareth asked.

“I’ll tell you in a moment- can I please borrow your carpet? I need the high ground. You may not want to stay on it with me. I guarantee someone will try to shoot me.”

“Take your time, love,” Gareth said, “The Knights have seen my signal. They’ll make their way here.”

Orenda stepped onto the carpet, took out her staff, and rose over the city.

She realized that the Knights had somehow breached the walls while she was inside the castle, and the higher she went, the more the wind and snow whipped at her cloak. She looked down at the chaos, at the fires that had been set, at the army she had not known she had. The Brigaddons were obvious because they were all shifted and all sterilite- but she had not known Barbra Allen could work a bow, and had forgotten that music was a weapon until she saw Sarya with her fidddle beside her. She saw Adam with his wand out, and apparently he could control the snow and ice as well as flowing water, and Orenda thought of how when the ice he shattered through Urillian soldiers melted it would leave no trace of a weapon. She saw Bella with her wand high, covered in blood that Orenda could not tell whether or not belonged to her, because as a shifter she recovered so quickly.

“Aunty Bella!” Orenda yelled, and Bella looked up at her, “Can you do something about the storm?”

For a moment, Orenda thought she hadn’t heard her, but Bella had seen her, had caught the new crown on her head, and she understood what it meant. She raised her wand high, and the winds slowed to breezes, and suddenly the snow was a soft, fluffy, drifting thing. The people below her took notice of the difference, and Orenda raised her staff to the sky.

“My name is Orenda Nochdifache-Firefist!” Orenda shouted, “And I have bested the tyrant Xandra! I am the Chosen Avatar of Thesis upon Xren who wields the power of a god, and have staked my claim by Divine Right! I am the granddaughter of the High Priestess of the Sacred Mountain Temple, and stake my claim by Birthright! And I am a citizen of the Urillian Empire who has killed the empress, and now I am claiming my Right by Combat! If anyone wishes to contest that,” She closed her eyes, and when she opened them she was surrounded by the armor of a god, “Now would be the time!”

The crowd stared up at her in awe, and slowly the Urillian soldiers began to stand at attention, to click their heels together, to put away their weapons and fold one hand in the small of their backs, with their other hand fisted over their hearts.

Orenda had not expected them to give up so easily. She had expected to be attacked when she made this announcement. She did not understand that when a people have lived in fear for so long, have lived under threat for entire lifetimes, that a change in their master did not create a change in their mindset. She did not understand what it was like to look upon the avatar of a god and know fear. She did not understand what she was, not from the outside.

Orenda had never been able to believe legends, so she did not even believe it now. She did not believe that she was something legendary.

“My first order,” Orenda said, “Is that we send messengers to alert the troops on the shore and anywhere else they may be- tell them that Xandra is dead, and they are welcome to come see the corpse. Tell them that the Knights of Order have won this war. Whoever is in charge here needs to come meet with me. Someone needs to scry and tell the navy to retreat, because if they hit the coast of the fire continent they’re going to run into a Djinn in mourning who won’t be happy to see them! I won’t keep shouting! I’ll be landing and anyone who wishes to speak to me is welcome to do so.”

“That certainly is a hell of a corpse,” Gareth said as Orenda swooped down for a landing. But she didn’t land next to him, where he stood with Tolith and Anilla, looking down at the dead thing that had once been an empress. She landed, instead, near a greenhouse that had been shattered in the destruction, because Klin was inside, standing silently and looking at the destruction he had wrought.

“Why did you do that?” He asked. He turned, slowly, to look at her, and she hated that he was still covered in blood. “Why didn’t you… why did you… save me? Is that… is that what’s happening?”

“No,” Orenda said, “I didn’t lie for you. I lied for them. They need to think that the Emerald Knight is dead.”

“That… that makes sense,” Klin said. After a beat he said, “This… this greenhouse… I always… I loved plants. And animals. My friend, Alenia was trying to… build a library of seeds for every plant on Xren. We had stuff here that didn’t exist anywhere else. Then I broke it. It’s all gonna die in the snow. I killed it. I kill everything I love.”

“And many things you don’t,” Orenda said.

“I’m sorry,” he said. He turned to her, stood to his full height, clicked his heels together, fisted one hand in the small of his back and the other over the place his heart used to be. “My queen.”

“Don’t patronize me,” Orenda sneered.

“I’m… I don’t… mean… to…” Klin seemed genuinely confused, “I… I’m a knight, in service to the crown. I don’t… I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now.”

“Why doesn’t anyone seem to know you?” Orenda asked. She looked around to make sure no one was evesdropping before she continued, “You’re a prince! You were important!”

“I was never really… I don’t think people… look at me.” Klin said, “I didn’t go to parties and stuff and I always went out in my armor. I didn’t… I don’t like… crowds or… like… I was gonna say that I liked like… maybe two people but… no, I don’t. All my friends are dead. And like… some of them just… Ruvean was… I can’t believe she… he was so good to us and… but it’s like… everyone is… everyone is going to die anyway. I’m… I’m so old and… I’m… stuck. You are too, now. We’re… we’re stuck like this. Forever. They won’t… won’t let you age… won’t let you dye your hair… you can convince them to let you get stuff pierced but if you take it out it grows up… no tattoos… no scarification… it’s… it’s not your body anymore. It’s a vessel. And I think… I think I… we… might be… immortal.”

Orenda noticed that the plants in the greenhouse began to bloom.

“You were supposed to be a savior,” Orenda said as she watched the life spring up around him.

“I tried,” Klin shrugged. “That road of good intentions led… I guess where those roads always lead. I just… I just wanted… to keep her safe. But I did… I…”

“From your perspective,” Orenda said, “My father was an assassin sent to kill your wife for revenge.”

“My queen, there were… I don’t… I barely remember your father. There were so many of them… it’s been… day after day, night after night, of death and fighting and more death, and you would think… you think that… you would get used to it, but you… you don’t so you just… don’t… you can’t… you can’t remember them all or… you would… well, I mean I… I can’t kill myself. I’d like a drink. Can I have a drink?”

“The Urillian Empire,” Orenda said, “Lasted for three centuries. But it fell in a day and night.”

“It wasn’t even that long,” Klin said, “I’m going to see if anything survived from my wine cellar, if… if that’s ok? May I please be dismissed?”

Orenda didn’t know what to make of the question. Servants had always bothered her, and Klin… it wasn’t only that he acted strange. He was strange. She certainly couldn’t trust him. But neither did she know how to kill him.

So she said, “Yes. That will be all. And for the love of god, take a bath.”

“Rendy!” Gareth called, “Everyone is here! Come! Let’s do something about this corpse!”