“This is not the Victoriad, and I am not introducing a contestant fighting to be a retainer, so I will skip over the flagrant compliments and unnecessary list of achievements.” Seris paused for a moment, letting the collection of highbloods look around at each other suspiciously. “Although known in Alacrya as Grey, the truth is this: I introduce to you Arthur Leywin, Lance of the country of Elenoir on the continent of Dicathen.”

The room didn’t so much erupt into noise as it simmered, the highbloods’ sense of decorum fracturing only enough to allow some suppressed exclamations and half-whispered exchanges between neighbors. The attitude was all over the place, with some people leaning back in their chairs wide-eyed and flabbergasted, while others wore smug looks like they’d just won a bet. The reaction from most, though, indicated that they’d at least suspected the possibility of my being Dicathian.

Kayden was sitting at the foot of the stairs across the room, a glass in his one remaining hand. Slowly, he looked up from the glass and stared at me, our eyes locking. “You’ve got to be shitting me,” he burst out, then laughed long and loud, silencing everyone else. “So you were…at the academy…and the students…” Kayden broke into heedless chuckling again as the others looked at him with thinly veiled annoyance.

“So our savior is Dicathian,” one of the ascenders, a man named Djimon, said with a hint of disbelief.

Next to him, Sulla was shaking his head. “I heard the rumors, but…” He looked me hard in the eye for a long moment, then shifted to Seris, his expression weakening. “Scythe Seris…what’s all this really been for?”

Several other attendees echoed this question, some nodding along, a couple rapping their knuckles on the table to show their support.

“Enough,” Highlord Frost said. His voice wasn’t loud, there was no harsh command in his tone, and yet the word carried like the sound of distant thunder, quieting everyone else.

Seris looked around for a few seconds, taking the time to meet each highbloods’ eye in turn. “The question isn’t what this was all for, because each of you know the answer already. We fight for ourselves and our bloods, to shape our world so it is fit for those of us with ‘lesser’ blood and not just the asura who have marked it and claimed it as theirs.”

She paused for a moment to let these words settle. “No, I’m certain each of you understands all too well why you’re here. And because of this, you also know that this is not a war between two continents. The Dicathians are as much the victims of the Vritra clan’s hubris and self-righteous apotheosis as we are. They are our allies in this struggle, not our enemies.”

“So, are you the leader of your continent?” Matron Tremblay, the Vritra-blooded woman with blue-black hair, asked me. “What gives you the right to treat with this body on Dicathen’s behalf?”

I returned her unflinching gaze. “That’s not why I’m here.”

“Then why exactly are you here?” Highlord Frost asked. “I’ve heard quite a lot about you from my granddaughter. And more still from my soldiers in Dicathen who were unfortunate enough to cross paths with you. A Dicathian who teaches our children and spares our soldiers? You’ll have to forgive me, Lord Leywin, if I don’t fully understand what connects you to Alacrya.”

A number of the others murmured their agreement.

I sensed Chul shift his stance behind me, his mana billowing as he instinctively called on it. Sylvie, feeling my attention on him, took a step back to whisper in his ear, urging him to be patient.

“My time as an ascender and professor wasn’t intentional,” I said after taking a moment to collect my thoughts. “I didn’t come here to spy on you, infiltrate your institutions, or harm you, but I did consider you my enemy. Seris—and Lady Caera of Highblood Denoir—had done their best to convince me otherwise, but it was your children—kids like Enola—that really showed me the truth. I have enemies on this continent, many of them, but not everyone.”

Uriel smiled, a calculating expression. “Forgive me, but that doesn’t really answer my question. Why are you here now?”

I nodded, appreciating the man’s attention to detail. “Seris helped me protect my people, and so, I am here now to help protect hers.”

The bald ascender named Anvald grunted. “Then why don’t you go through those portals and kill Dragoth and all his soldiers?”

“I could,” I admitted, “but more would replace them, and then even more after that. You and I both know Agrona doesn’t mind spending lives. Besides, you can’t survive in here forever. I don’t know what Seris has planned, but I doubt it includes hiding in the Relictombs until you’ve all starved to death.”

“No, it does not,” Seris cut in firmly. “But this does bring us a step closer to the question we’re actually here to discuss today. Which is, of course, what comes next.”

Corbett Denoir took his wife’s hand and exchanged a brief look with her. “I think that’s a question on all our minds, Scythe—Lady Seris. Many of us have sacrificed everything to get to this point. Each time it seemed as though our situation had become unnavigable, you have seen us through, but…” He paused, his gaze tracking across the table. When he resumed, he spoke very carefully. “I think it is well past time that we have some understanding of the goal in all this. Not grand designs of self-governance and the ousting of the Vritra clan but real, tangible results. Even if we understand why Grey here can help us, I, at least, do not see how.”

Adaenn of Highblood Umburter, the young man I’d spared at Xyrus, sputtered indignantly. “Did you not see what he did at the Victoriad? I wasn’t even there, and still I’ve heard it recounted dozens of times. He single-handedly retook the Dicathian cities of Vildorial, Blackbend, Xyrus, and Etistin, defeating entire armies. Even the Scythes, I’m told, bowed before his superior might.”

I cleared my throat and gestured for Adaenn to settle down.

“But it wasn’t just Scythes,” Caera said unexpectedly.

The room's attention sharpened. They all knew Caera had been traveling with me, and from the change in atmosphere, it was obvious they had been waiting for her to speak. Additionally, her horns, now proudly displayed without her pendant, had quickly drawn the attention of nearly everyone present. When she spoke, it was like she gave them permission to stare.

She raised her chin and sat a little straighter. “The High Sovereign sent a battle group of Wraiths to track down Arthur in Dicathen. He killed them all.”

Kayden whistled. Matron Tremblay frowned down at her hands.

“The Wraiths…I thought they were a myth.” Sulla rubbed a hand down his face. Shaken, he glanced in my direction. “And you…?”

An older woman, who had been introduced as Matron Amelie of Highblood Bellerose, scoffed. “Fantastical poppycock. Lady Seris, surely you haven’t brought us here only to insult us with bedtime tales.”

Cylrit went rigid, but Seris remained passive as she said, “Matron Bellerose, perhaps my current weakened state has given you the wrong impression. I am not, in fact, so weary yet that I will accept being spoken to in such a manner.”

Matron Bellerose paled, folding her hands in her lap and looking just past Seris to avoid meeting her eye. “I apologize, Lady Seris, you are right of course. My tone was unbecoming my station. Forgive me.”

Seris inclined her head slightly in acknowledgement. “I do not blame you for your skepticism, which is healthy, but it is equally true that none of you would be here if you didn’t have the capacity to see beyond the rigid structure of our society and culture. The Wraiths are quite real, and what Lady Caera has said is true. I tell you this to reinforce one essential point: Arthur has the strength to help us break free of this prison we’ve built around ourselves.”

The room was silent for a long moment after this statement. I caught Highlords Frost and Ainsworth sharing an uncertain look. Matron Tremblay’s eyes never left me, while Kayden seemed lost in thought as he swirled his drink. The others all displayed some similar combination of outward expressions, but no one voiced their thoughts.

‘This isn’t what they were expecting.’ There was a tense edge to Sylvie’s thoughts. ‘They’re terrified.’

They have relied on Seris for all their hope of change throughout this uprising, I sent back, allowing the silence to linger. To be told that she, in turn, is relying on someone else—and an outsider—will be difficult for some of them to accept.

“And so we move on to our next steps,” Seris continued after a long pause. “We have in Arthur an ally capable of striking Agrona’s forces in a way no one else can. In order to build public support, it is essential that we continue to erode the people’s faith in Agrona’s divine infallibility. My publicized execution of Sovereign Orlaeth was the first step. By showing this continent that the asura aren’t in fact immortal, we also reveal to them a potential future where the asura are gone entirely. But one quickly projected image isn’t enough. No, we need a decisive victory, and in plain view.”

“You mean to send Arthur after the Sovereigns,” Sylvie said, moving to stand behind me once again, her hands on the back of my chair.

“Yes!” Chul burst out, making everyone jump. He thrust his fist up in the air and grinned. “It is about time.”

Next to me, Ellie let out a deep breath, trying to relax from the fright Chul had given her. “Fighting asuras…” she whispered, picking at the edge of the table nervously.

“I was expecting more than a show of force,” Highlord Ainsworth noted as he stroked his goatee.

Lord Lars Isenhaert, a wiry blond man with a draping mustache, slapped his palm on the table. “Indeed. My thoughts exactly, Ector.”

Seris regarded them both impassionately. “Destroying the Sovereigns may not weaken Agrona’s power, but it will weaken his image with the public. And, more importantly, such a bold strike against him will draw his greatest weapon into the field.” Seris was facing the highbloods as she spoke, but I knew she was speaking directly to me as she said, “His entire mind has been consumed with the Legacy for decades. Its removal is now our highest priority.”

My fists clenched and my jaw tightened. Despite these physical reactions, though, I wasn’t really sure what I was feeling.

One of the highbloods spoke, asked a question, but my thoughts were plunging inward, and I didn’t process the words.

Tessia…

‘She’s right, Arthur,’ Sylvie said, projecting her thoughts into mine. ‘I’m sorry, but you’ve been putting this off for too long. Cecilia needs to be dealt with.’

But how do we do that?

“Why let the girl live long enough to grow into a threat, then?”

Uriel’s words took a moment to sink it, but once they did, I forced my mind back to the conversation happening around me.

“It would have been more prudent, it seems, to kill her months ago, even if that would have meant losing the opportunity for our current act of rebellion,” Corbett added, speaking carefully.

Seris’s dark eyes flicked to me for half a heartbeat before she responded. “Perhaps, but there were many reasons not to as well, not least of which was my own curiosity. I had to know if this power was real and what it was capable of. Additionally, the vessel in which the Legacy resides is the princess of Elenoir, Tessia Eralith. I was not ready to consign her to death.”

“But you are now?” I asked, trying to sound curious and nonchalant. The words came out hollow.

She tilted her head slightly to the side, regarding me intently. “The Legacy needs to be removed from this war. Her control over mana has grown to be absolute, and I believe you are the only one capable of facing her headon.”

Before I could respond, Ellie leaned forward on her elbows and stared hard at Seris. “We’re not going to kill Tessia.”

I felt the bittersweet sting of pride and regret as I looked at Ellie’s fierce expression.

Seris leaned back in her chair, unphased. “I haven’t asked for your presence to tell you what to do. This isn’t an order, but a plea. We lack the strength, either in magic or numbers, to defeat Agrona. From the beginning, this has been about eroding the base of his power. Sehz-Clar, Orlaeth, the Relictombs, each a new crack in that foundation. Without working together, however, neither of us can topple him entirely.”

I knew there was another layer to Seris’s plans. Lyra had told me that Seris’s rebellion was in part to keep Agrona occupied while I fought to retake my continent. She would lose face with her followers if she said it out loud here, but I couldn’t ignore that our success had been, at least in part, at the cost of her people.

Maylis stood, her hands woven into her hair behind her head as she faced away from the table. “But even weakening his foundations, Agrona is too powerful to attack directly.” She spun around, her hands lowering and curling into fists. “I’m sorry, but I don’t see how one Dicathian can match him.”

“Take your seat,” Seris said with the command of one who knows she’ll be obeyed.

Maylis bit her lip and did as she’d been told.

Addressing the table at large, Seris said, “As Matron Tremblay has noted, even with his hold over this continent weakened, Agrona is not someone anyone in this world can defeat. But my goal has never been to engage with him directly.” Seris’s dark eyes swept across the highbloods. “The way to Epheotus is finally open, and dragons have arrived in Dicathen. My plan is and has always been to simply set the playing field properly so that when Agrona and Kezess eventually battle, the outcome can only be in their mutual destruction.”

The room was utterly silent at this proclamation. Only Kayden wasn’t openly staring at Seris, instead gazing gloomily into his drink.

“You are wrong,” Chul said, his deep voice shattering the silence like glass.

Seris’s frown was almost cartoonishly amusing as she regarded my half-asuran companion, clearly at a loss for words.

“Agrona can be defeated by someone in this world. My brother in vengeance and I will prove it when the coward basilisk finally leaves his hole in the mountains.”

“I need time to think about this,” I said, pushing away from the table and standing before the conversation devolved further. Ellie quickly followed my example.

After several seconds, Seris dragged her focus away from Chul and back to me. It was a testament to her fatigue that Seris didn’t stand. “I have a number of other things to discuss with my council. You will find plenty of room upstairs to accommodate your party, and my staff will bring you anything you need.”

I nodded and started to turn away.

“But Arthur,” Seris said, her tone taking on a new urgency. “Time is only one of many resources that we are lacking.”

I only nodded again before circling around the table and heading for the stairs, the watchful eyes of the many Alacryan highbloods burning into my back.

Kayden moved out of the way, listing slightly as he kept the weight off his bad leg. “A Dicathian. It’s strange, Grey. I should hate you, but the whole reason I liked you is that you seemed immune to the blood mania of our culture. And now I know why.” He held out his hand, and I took it. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Arthur Leywin.”

“I’m surprised to see you here,” I admitted, my gaze inadvertently traveling past him to the stairs, which I longed to ascend. “It seemed like you’d had enough of war.”

His smile faltered, and he bit his top lip, frowning. “I’m not much good in a fight nowadays, but my blood has resources that are useful to Seris. After what I saw at the Victoriad…” He searched my eyes for a long moment. “I knew things weren’t ever going to be the same, and I knew which side I wanted to be on.”

Unsure what else to say, I clapped him on the shoulder and headed up the stairs, my mind full of a thousand possible outcomes to a confrontation with Cecilia, all of them negative. A servant met us at the top of the stairs and showed us to a row of comfortable rooms. Everyone piled into the first behind me.

“This is a good plan,” Chul said as the door closed behind us. He stretched his shoulders and let out a deep breath. “I like this plan.”

I threw myself into a plush chair in the corner and ran my hands through my hair, looking up at Sylvie with growing desperation. I’m not ready to face this.

She sat on the bed, looking out of place. The relic armor was now largely obscured beneath a set of flowing jet-black robes made of tiny interlocking scales, but that didn’t hide the fierce half-helm or the second set of horns following the line of her jaw. ‘Have we ever been ready for the things this life has thrown at us?’

I closed my eyes and let my head loll back, frustrated with myself.

From across the zone, Regis’s voice jumped into my thoughts. ‘Should you have seen this coming? Yes. Should you have spent more than a passing mental nod here and there considering how to reverse whatever Agrona did to your waifu? Also yes. Haven’t we always basically just pulled the solution out of our collective butts when faced with seemingly impossible situations? Yet again, yes.’

Ellie moved to sit next to Sylvie, resting her head on my bond’s shoulder. Sylvie took Ellie’s hand—the one not attached to a broken arm—in her own and gave it a familial squeeze.

“We know Tessia’s mind is still in her body,” I said aloud for Ellie and Chul’s benefit. “Maybe Aroa’s Requiem could be used to remove Cecilia…”

“Perhaps,” Sylvie said, her eyes downcast. “But your insight into that power is incomplete, you said. And, being an aevum technique, you are not naturally aligned to it. I don’t want to—”

“But maybe you could use it,” I said, seizing on a sudden idea. “If you could take the rune from me like Regis did with Destruction, perhaps you could make full use of it.”

She looked up apologetically. “But how would we do that, Arthur? Regis was a part of you, capable of manifesting within your body and transferring the rune while it was still forming…”

Chul’s face was marred by a deep frown. “If this Legacy is such a threat, would it not be safer just to kill her?”

Ellie jumped to her feet and rounded on Chul, pointing her finger like a dagger. “What is it with you and your incessant need to fight and kill? There are other factors to weigh, and not everything can be solved by smashing it.”

“But this can,” Chul answered with a shrug.

Groaning, Ellie threw herself back down on the bed.

“We’ll find a—” I bit the words off, unable to finish the sentence. No matter how much I wanted to reassure Ellie, I couldn’t bring myself to give her that kind of hope.

‘Why not take her to Mordain?’ Regis suggested. ‘He's a bit of a hippy, but he's also one of the oldest and most secretive asura that we know.’

I felt my brows knit together. “That's…actually not a terrible idea.”

“Wait, was that Regis?” Ellie asked, sitting up again. “What did he say?”

Sylvie quickly explained the suggestion.

“This, too, is a good plan,” Chul agreed. “Mordain has great insight into matters of reincarnation, and he worked beside djinn like my father for many years. Then, if there is no solution, we can still kill her.”

“We shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. Even assuming we’re able to defeat the Sovereign, we really don’t know what we’ll be walking into regarding a fight with Cecilia.” I shifted uncomfortably in the cushioned chair. “But one way to figure it out is to face her directly.”

“Yes,” Chul said, hammering his clenched fist into his chest. “The best way to understand someone is to fight them.”

“We shouldn’t be so set on fighting her,” Sylvie countered. “What reason does Cecilia have to fight for Agrona, really? Maybe we can talk to her, convince her to leave him. Honestly, we’re more likely to want to help her than he is. There is no way he’s not using her talents as the Legacy for something awful.”

Ellie wrapped Sylvie up in a big hug, squeezing her. “I’m…not going to go with you this time, am I?”

Looking at my sister’s bandaged wounds, I felt some of the tension ease from me, realizing I’d already made up my mind on this topic. “To fight an asura and the Legacy? No, sis, sorry. You’re going to stay here with Regis and heal up.”

‘You really want to go into this fight without the Destruction rune?’ he asked from his jarred head.

I pictured the Wraiths being unmade one by one at my hand, Destruction devouring my enemies and myself side by side. I didn’t let the thought leak through to Regis, but it was actually a relief to be leaving the Destruction godrune behind. It was too great a temptation, and only increased the likelihood of something happening to Tessia during the battle.

They need you here for now, I sent back, pouring my appreciation for his efforts into the thought. We’ll figure out how to get you out of that jar when I get back.

Regis and the others were all quiet, which suited my stirring thoughts just fine.

Despite what I’d said, I wasn’t sure that trying to capture Cecilia and take her to Mordain was the best option. My fear was that, rather, it was a selfish one. If she was so dangerous, could I in good conscience bring her into the phoenixes’ home? It wasn’t entirely unlike carrying around an unstable explosive and hoping it didn’t go off and hurt someone.

But the other option was just as unacceptable.

Was I wrong not to kill her at the Victoriad? I asked myself, careful to keep my thoughts from Sylvie and Regis.

I would have to deal with Nico either way. Thinking back to the pure hatred he had exhibited when we’d fought, when I learned who Elijah had really been the entire time I’d known him, I couldn’t imagine not having to kill him to get to her. But he took Tessia, I reminded myself, trying to conjure up my rage toward Nico, but it had long since gone cold in my guts.

I couldn’t hate either of them, not the way they hated me. It was too complicated.

A vision of Virion’s face twisted with hatred and despair popped up in my mind’s eye. Could he ever forgive me if I killed his granddaughter, no matter the reason?

Could I ever forgive myself?

A mana signature broke away from those gathered in the tavern below and ascended the stairs. I could immediately tell it was Caera. The lull in our conversation lasted until she reached the outside of our door, where she hesitated a moment before knocking lightly.

I rose and crossed to the door, opening it and standing aside. Her eyes tracked across my face before settling on the others behind me. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t sure where I’d be needed most, but the conversation downstairs has devolved into arguments about provisions and the division of each blood's stores, so…”

I waved her in, then focused on the others. “Pick a room and try to get some rest.”

Sylvie stood, pulling Ellie up with her. “Bunk with me?” she asked, her arm around Ellie’s shoulder.

“Actually, Lady Sylvie, I was hoping to speak with you as well as Arthur,” Caera said, looking down and tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear.

Sylvie’s brows rose, but she recovered quickly, releasing my sister and easing back into her seat. “Of course.”

Ellie high-fived Caera on her way past. “I’m going to sleep for like a whole week, I swear.”

“I do not need sleep,” Chul said as he reached the door in Ellie’s wake, not looking at me. “I think I will explore this place.”

“That’s probably not a”—the door closed behind him—“good idea…”

Caera settled into the chair I’d vacated. “Vritra’s horns but it’s been a long day…days? I pity anyone who gets stuck in a convergence zone with you three. Ascenders will die by the dozens.” She blanched, sitting up straight and correcting her posture. “My apologies, I don’t mean…”

I gave her a wry smile. “I haven’t seen you this stressed in a while. I think you were more relaxed coming out of Vajrakor’s prison. This highblood lifestyle really doesn’t suit you.”

Caera straightened her clothes. The effect was minimal considering all the bloodstains, tears, and bandages. “It never really has.”

“What do you need to tell us?” Sylvie asked, a hint of a frown creasing her brows. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes, thank you. This…will be easier to show you, I think.”

Caera undid the laces of her left boot and pulled it off, then the bloody sock beneath it. She fiddled with something around her pinky toe, struggling with it momentarily before it slid free. In her hand was a thin, plain ring with a subtle aura of mana around it.

I couldn’t help but chuckle. “You managed to keep a dimension ring hidden from everyone in Vildorial.”

“Like that old cloak of yours, it is runed so that a casual look will slip right past it. No one inspected me close enough to discover it, thankfully. They’d already found my normal dimension ring, after all.” She rotated her wrist, letting the plain band catch the light so I could just see the markings etched into its surface. “Quite expensive, actually, especially considering the size of the extradimensional space contained within.”

“And what is stored inside that space?” Sylvie asked, her eyes never leaving the ring.

“Just one thing.” Caera swallowed hard, then channeled mana into the artifact. “It’s a message. From Scythe Nico. He said—well, he said to tell you that you have to save her. That you…owe her a life.”

A rough sphere appeared in her other hand. It was white, and too large for her to comfortably hold in one hand. The outer shell was very slightly transparent, revealing a hint of purple within. My heart began to beat rapidly at the sight of it, and my throat went dry.

It was a dragon’s core. Sylvia’s core.

I carefully accepted it from Caera, holding it as if it were made of brittle glass. It was empty, nothing more than a relic full of painful memories. Nico must have known that, and yet he had risked sending it anyway, and with that message…

No, it wasn’t just an empty organ. It did bring with it painful memories, but also, it brought hope.