he beast that stood behind the twin thrones, the eruption of darkness taking shape—that was the Aubarios. All along it had been that crooning, cawing swirl of powers that seemed frozen as it leaped skyward. That hissing, churning presence that threatened to annihilate all aspects of life.

"It feeds the entirety of this place,'' Aedis whispered as he leaned forward, now sitting at the edge of the bed next to me, all of us forming a small circle. "Its magic throbs through the very fabric of the continent, feeding it. Shielding it.''

Find the Aubarios. Take its heart. Leave.

What exactly did Ha-ámej anticipate me to do?

My gazes slid from the gaunt faces of my court to my bare feet, thoughts spinning and tangling. "What does it contain?" I barely peered at my mate—at anyone—as I ripped previous plans apart. "The heart."

Leon fell silent for a heartbeat, eyes heavy as they met mine. "Nothing. It is just that: a mass of indestructible darkness.''

I swore under my breath, images of the Unknown Prince flashing behind my eyes, his voice—his words—so loud in my ears it was deafening.

Take its heart. Leave.

There was nothing to steal.

I pinched the bridge of my nose so hard it hurt. "Anything else?"

A faint shake of the head. "This is all that has been recorded about it. They protect it, they worship it, and the common bloods are mortified of the mere whisper of its strength.''

"Why search it up?" Veidor—Luthian—asked as he leaned back in his seat, long legs stretching, one ankle falling over the other.

"I've been guided to it. See what I could do with.''

Liam cracked a few knuckles as he breathed, voice going so low it almost couldn't be heard, "The imprisoned guard?"

My silence was enough answer.

He'd been there. He'd seen how Ha-ámej had ripped through every layer of my magic, how he'd held me.

"And you trust him.''

I didn't know what to make out of the look on his face, the sharpness of his stares. Frustrated—angered, perhaps.

"He was there when you were chained. He locked us out.'' A quick flare of his hand toward Yesar.

''And he is an enemy to the Crown.'' I didn't feel like having to explain it to him—I couldn't even if I willed. He wouldn't understand that gut feeling, the utter quietness of my powers around him. He wouldn't understand the steadiness that crept within me whenever he was near, the clarity of my senses.

"It doesn't mean he is on our side of this war.'' A hand ran over the dark, green scales on the side of his neck, the grayness of his eyes seeming to simmer. The girl in the inn—he still stared at me as though I had not changed. Had not grown up and battled and bled.

He was about to turn to his brother in law when I spoke, ''I know that.''

"And if he turns on us?"

"He'll deal with the sharp edge of the sword."

"You truly are taking this risk, aren't you?"

I did not reply, not verbally at least. The only thing I had bothered with was that long, hard stare, and for the first time, Liam met my eyes. He read them clear. Understood, and fell silent.

Heavy winds crashed on the transparent dome of the room as I pressed my knuckles to my temples, howling, trashing, roaring as though it saw us through the barrier of magic. As though it had been the only thing holding him back from being free.

I tilted my head, finding my mate's piercing eyes unfocused on the carpeted floor. His thoughts were spinning and tangling over each other, over mine, too. My voice was low—empty—as I took another breath to ask, "And?"

He didn't look up as his chest heaved, a mighty exhale curling out of his mouth and nose that did nothing to relieve the crushing weight on all of our shoulders.

"There are no records on where he is held.'' His fingers intertwined, rubbing on the place where his ring used to be before giving it to me. "But there's been details about how he is imprisoned, and how he rises.''

Barely a sound—his voice almost lost amongst the loudness of the world. This power rippling outside, it was a piece of Apocalys, and if he could hear us through the enchantments guarding the place, he might fairly well shatter through every layer of existence to kill us.

Leon's eyes were hard as they traced every feature of Elayda's disarming face. "He was put asleep on levels. His consciousness, his powers—all of him held in chains. They were fashioned as though a circle containing another circle, and another, going smaller until he'd been divided into eight parts.''

"He's in one place, then,'' added Rhiannon—Leyath—as she assessed every word coming out of her brother, looking as though she was trying to find any forgotten memories from some of her previous studies.

The Shadow barely nodded. "In one place, and whole, only the chains prohibiting him from being free.''

Mayra tucked a strand of silky, black hair away from her eyes, the arm she wrapped around her middle slacking slightly to the side. "How much of him do you think woke up?"

I leaned furthermore, head dipping, hair cascading over my face. "Six.'' No one commented on the grunt that followed, no one had words to make it easier to all of us. "And the seventh ritual is coming soon.''

Leon swore under his breath and I felt it, the crashing weight atop his throat, the pounding of thoughts and plans in his mind. War was coming, and so much faster than we ever braced ourselves for.

My huntress fixed her stares on the hilt of the dagger strapped to her boots for a long moment, before turning up to Leon. "Have there been any accounts on how the first king managed to trap him?"

"Not a word.''

Sédil remained silent, but her face went dark. There had been no records on our side either, and not in fear that anyone would lay hand on them.

"It wasn't the first king who took him out.''

Not a response. Not a word to what I just said, almost as though they hadn't heard. But the shock was etched and carved into their features, inked in their eyes, forged in the sudden tension of their muscles.

Yesar had been the first to speak—and for the first time this night. "What."

So I told them then about what I'd found earlier on, about the gods and the reincarnation cycle and the Nirikh and Drahayá. And I truly didn't know how to read their thoughts, didn't know how to split the rage of memories, all the lies, all that we believed. Lies—they were all lies.

Carter groaned, rubbed at his temples, and blinked more than once as his gazes brushed over our faces. The waves of thoughts and emotions—it was overwhelming. Like being tossed into a whirlwind, unable to stabilize.

"Six,'' Rhiannon whispered, every letter laced with exasperation. "Six gods against one, damn it. How can six gods loose?"

I was looking for that answer myself as I gazed at my palm, at where my mark and the prophecy had manifested before. It was foolish to beg some answers would show up. Foolish and useless.

"Six?"

We all turned to Yesar and Liam who stared at us with shock, terror, and a heavy sense of being lost. Mayra took the responsibility to brief them on what we knew about the fallen goddess, keeping her words low as much as possible.

The Whisperer had been wordless as he allowed the truth to sink in, to take in all that we'd previously discovered. All the ugly sides of it, the hidden meaning.

More lies.

"Has it been confirmed?"

Louder—the thundering of the winds, the wailing of the skies. It all seemed to keep on getting louder and louder and louder…

"I've seen her once.''

The spinning thoughts, the loud ideas, the whispers of doubts, they all silenced as my court focused on me. On what I had just admitted, and only Leon's mind kept churning. He knew, I'd already told him, unlike the rest to whom I didn’t dare put in such dangers disclosing this matter.

"She was a shadow, a faceless fragment so ruined I'm not sure it truly had been her or if it was some of The King's heavenly powers.'' I rubbed the bridge of my nose once again. "She was in there when I retrieved the book after I'd provoked her father.''

''Provoked?"

I barely winced as the word echoed in my ears. It sounded worse when heard than spoken. "It was a last, desperate move.''

Liam traced his jaw with his fingers, taking in every word, analyzing. "The Gods couldn’t bring her back?"

"Celestial beings don't die, they vanish from the world. If they had enough power to bring her back they would have killed him already.''

"We're doomed then.''

I was compelled to agree, to nod, but I couldn't. This was my court and I was their queen-to-be. I was their well of hope. I was the one who should tell them that we would win even when I was the one needing to hear these words the most.

And so I remained silent as I pointed to the desk at the other side of the room before standing up, Leon a mirror to my movements. I heard the wooden table being moved as I picked the maps we'd inked from where they'd been hidden; some were in the crack of the closest, some under a protective layer of magic hidden beneath the ashes in the fireplace, some melted into the walls with a quick charm. All of them magically sealed to decay instantly should they land in other hands.

There were many scrolls, and all of the ones inked in blue and red remained on the bed, only the black-inked ones being spread on the desk we circled. The final rendering, the exact, detailed map of this castle, its hidden passages, and underground tunnels after months' worth of discovering them. A small, scentless drop of magic altered the lines so it became compatible with what I'd covered with Blake as we went underground this evening.

My court studied it for long, taking in every single line, every alley and hall. Everything.

"It has drastically changed from the last mapping we did,'' noted my spy as she eyed the many pinned down scrolls.

I took my seat on the edge of the bed again, stared one more time at the map, and started planning with my court.

"The ritual will take place in remote lands. In his most glorious strengths, it will take the king three minutes before arriving upon sensing what we are planning.'' Leon then pointed at the areas we'd already discussed, and I left him do the talking for the greatest part.

Leader of Ardoria's armies, a sharp mind in politics and military plans, he'd already won so many victories with his mind and strategies alone it was terrifying. It had been one more reason why Blake had wanted him dead—to strip me from such a strong ally.

He'd been aware of the spy Blake had sent down to kill him, thankfully believing that he truly was still in Vemor. I didn't know if I should have been relieved when the prince told me of his failed plans or even more scared.

My mate spoke and everyone listened, sharp attention leaving no detail go unnoticed. This—it was our last move. It was the scale. It was either winning or dying.

The posts were given, the weapons, the sort of magic, the rotations—every single bloody detail displayed in front of us being studied for minutes that bled into many, many hours.

And when the greatest, on-land part was done and over with, I gave my orders.

''Arelesia is a far shot from our fleeing point, but it is the only choice we have. When in battle, there will be no portals but small, necessary ones, none of them more distant than a few feet unless I create them.''

I traced another map, resting a small, red weight on each place I needed them to memorize by heart. My fingers dragged lines through the ocean.

A nod of the chin to Carter. "Your only worry will be the sea and the monsters in it. You keep the waters steady for us, you fight, you do whatever it takes but use no other shred of power.'' My voice went lower. ''They don't know about you yet and I want to keep it this way.''

He barely nodded, but his silence was more than enough.

Mayra and Rhiannon were next. "You'll be on the front lines, with—''a gesture to Luthian and Liam. ''I'll be opening the paths, you go through them, take down the remaining enemies.''

Yesar. "I want the might of the Whisperers to be kept secret. You fight, but you don't step out of line. Your water elemental will stand with Dier's.''

I turned then to my husband. "Not a wild card. Not a new shocking display of powers. At my sides until told otherwise.'' He raised a brow as I went on. ''If new orders are given, you obey, all of you. Not a heartbeat of trepidation, not a lick of a doubt. And whatever happens, no matter how things unfold, you do not come for me—''

He'd been silent, alright, until that last point. "Not a chance.''

"This no choice.''

His features became rock hard, but I didn't falter. Couldn't do so. One by one, I eyed them, took into these foreign faces despite all this time in these skins. "It applies to all of you.''

"But—''

"All of you.'' I couldn't remember cutting Carter off as he spoke, but there was no exception. The stakes were too high, and the danger, the death already looming on us…I would never take that risk.

"Understood?"

Silence again.

"Any questions?"

"One actually.'' Mayra pointed at the tomb room. "It aligns with the Aubarios, even when there are several levels in between. What is their connection?"

I blinked, mind slipping back to that cold, buried room. Cold…the icy winds that clawed at my skin, they were born out of nothing in the very middle of the place. They kept birthing, the older ones not magically disappearing as I first thought but seeping into the earth, snaking away.

The silent pain that had stretched in my limbs, the shivering that still accompanied me out of that room, the heavy darkness I'd sensed there—not only because of who were buried there, but because of the Aubarios's diffusing powers.

I vomited blood afterwards.

Oh damn.

I pulled the maps closer as I sucked on my teeth, eyes running over the straight line I inked going from the Aubarios to the center of the room. Perfectly aligned. ''Coming in contact with it will destroy the illusions instantly.''

All the more a reason to leave it to the end. To let it be the last move and so if it failed we could still run away with some worthy damage done.

I pushed the scrolls back for my court to take another deep observation. "Memorize every single detail.''

No one commented as I stood, slipping out of the small circle, and nodded at Yesar to follow me. He was on his feet with no more than a blink, silent even when his eyes spoke loudly.

Before I was out of the bedroom door, I allowed a stare back at the table and the churning mass of darkness devouring the sky outside.

"Burn the papers."

I clicked the door shut behind me.

The General's son followed every step into Aedis's foreroom and did not object when I'd pulled both of us into one of the vaults in the wall ending the massive windows similar to the ones in Blake's room.

We were exposed, every movement clear if Apocalys truly could see us through the magic built into the ceiling, but it felt ever so slightly out of sight in here.

Yesar, the soldier that he was, didn't meet my eyes as I whispered, "I have come here with many names to get rid of. Your father an important one of them.'' A heartbeat of silence. '' Too many people have put that responsibility on my shoulders.''

"I know.'' He still didn't meet my eyes, head tipped down as to not hit the metallic shelves, movements restricted in the crammed place.

"He has hurt many people, destroyed many families. Look at me, Yesar.''

He eyed first the hand I had placed over his arm, going up and up until at last he stared at my face, held my eyes. I wanted him to see, to read every bit. Princess to soldier, yes, but not only that. Spirits, warriors. And he was every bit just that, a man with the strength of a small army by his own.

"I know you've been plotting his death for years.'' My hand remained on his arm. "And this is no order as I would never strip you of that right.''

Yenes had hurt him. Greatly. And Yesar had endured it all to help our people, to infiltrate these monsters. He'd bled in so many horrendous ways to earn their trust…

"But you want that kill.''

I shook my head. Yenes had been behind many atrocities, he'd been the reason for so many countless deaths, and I hated him for every drop of blood, for every tear and pained screams he'd torn out of my people across the continents. But there was someone who deserved that revenge, someone who had broken every boundary, who had become steel under flesh to make him pay.

"I want Mayra to have him.''

Yenes blinked. "Why?"

The question was empty, no prior judgment to it, a true inquiry.

"Because he was the one who killed her mother and brother in Arelesia. Because she'd seen the blade that ended her mother as it went in and out. Because she held her older brother as he died, and held him long after that when his twin arrived too late from his own fight to say goodbye.''

I lifted the hand from his arm to his forehead. "Because she breathed revenge since that day, and fought and fought and fought to avenge their deaths. So that their blood wouldn't go to waste.''

Yenes closed his eyes as I allowed flashes to go into his mind. It wasn't a secret matter; Ramos had told me this part of her story far before she came to my rooms after returning from our journey. All the nobles knew, some of the common blood, too.

But it ended here, on those flashes of war, on the motionless body in her arms. Not a sliver of how broken she was, how voided she'd been that night as she wept, telling me this story. It had been such a bare face, such a naked soul that had curled up in my arms and cried the weight of the years away. And I'd held her, perhaps in the way she hadn't allowed anyone to because she never showed that face. Because not even Némair and Isal had seen that deeply bruised side of her.

Yesar's eyes remained closed for a long moment after I removed my hand, brows creased, thoughts spinning.

"In either ways, once Yenes is dead, I will need you to take his place, use your shifting abilities until we fake a sudden call overseas. I'll manage the schedules so that no one suspects how one of you always disappears.''

I stepped out of the alcove, back to the windows. "I haven't told her of anything yet, as it had been only fit to speak with you first. It is your choice whether it shall be you or her, and only yours.''

"May I speak to her first?"

"Of course.''

He remained in place, staring out the windows as I went back into the bedroom. Mayra was out with nothing more than a nod of the head.