Born of Blood and Ash

“I promise.”

“I wasn’t finished.”

I frowned.

His lips quirked. “And you also have to promise me you will step out the first moment you’re even remotely injured. Get to safety.”

I opened my mouth.

“You’re not just doing that for me. You’re doing it for our children,” he said, the eather retreating from his pupils. “But you also need to promise me one more thing.”

“There’s more?”

He ignored that. “You have to promise me you won’t hold back when it comes to fighting Kolis—fighting anyone.”

I frowned. “Didn’t you just tell me to hold back?”

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” he said. “I asked you not to rush into battles. What we are talking about now is not holding back when there is a battle.”

Getting what he meant, I nodded. “Holding back in battle has never been a real concern.”

“Before? I would agree. But after what happened in Lasania…” His hand curved over my shoulder as I moved to step back. “You made me swear to you I would put you in the ground if you lost control.”

My stomach hollowed. “That hasn’t changed.”

“I didn’t say it had.” His chest rose deeply. “You need to promise me that your fear of losing control will not stop you from using everything you have in you. That it won’t stop you from being a little monstrous.”

My lips parted as I stared up at him. All at once, I understood his concern and why he’d asked this.

“Do you trust me?” he inquired.

“Of course.” Surprise swept through me.

“Then trust that I will always be by your side to pull you back from the brink,” he said. “Okay?”

I nodded.

“Do we have a deal? One you agree to and won’t secretly be angry about.”

“Are you not going to be secretly angry about it?”

“Eventually,” he muttered, brushing his lips over my forehead.

I exhaled heavily. “I agree as long as we both make another promise.”

“I am forever wary of making you promises now,” he said.

“This isn’t a hard one,” I assured him. “We promise that our children will grow with both of us by their sides. That we absolutely refuse to allow them to experience what we have.”

The eather in Ash’s eyes turned luminous. “I swear to you, meyaah Liessa. They will have two loving, living parents, and nothing—absolutely fucking nothing—will prevent us from ensuring that.”

I believed him.

But my mind flashed to his promise to always be there to pull me back from the brink of disaster. I buried my face against his chest, breathing him in. A tiny part of me feared a time would come when not even he could stop me. My hand went to my lower stomach as I focused on my breathing. If they were ever threatened or harmed? Ash wouldn’t be able to stop me.

He’d have to put me in the ground.

The Thyia Plains’ guards were somber in their bows as Ash and I, followed by Nektas, walked the hall they lined.

Keella was waiting for us in the same room we had met her in the last time. She stood in a simple white sheath and smiled. “I was begi

“Something came up,” Ash answered, squeezing my hand. “We would’ve been here sooner.”

“It’s okay.” She inclined her head regally toward Nektas, where he hung back. “I enjoyed these last minutes here. This is one of my favorite spots. I will miss it.”

A pang of sorrow lanced my chest. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“You could sit this out,” Ash offered.

“That’s what I told her,” a steady voice came, drawing our attention to the veranda. A tall, slim figure with chin-length, reddish-brown hair came into view. The goddess Ione stopped just inside the chamber and bowed her head to us. “None of us is eager for her to pass on.”

Seeing the goddess again brought forth mixed emotions—relief and also unease. The latter had nothing to do with her and everything to do with what had come after meeting her in Dalos.

“She has said this a time or a hundred,” Keella said with a fond smile.

“Apparently, I haven’t said it enough,” Ione replied. “Because here we are.”

“Yes,” the Primal goddess said. “Here we are. Both more than ready to begin the next chapter of our stories, but only one willing to say it.”

Ione crossed her arms over her fitted, light gray tunic, sighing heavily before her gaze met mine. “I am glad to see you again.”

“The feeling is mutual.” I slipped my hand free of Ash’s and walked toward the goddess. “I didn’t get a chance to thank you for the risk you took.”

“No need to thank me.” She clasped my wrist with a hand. “I couldn’t have been happier to fuck with Kolis.”

“Ione,” sighed Keella.

“Sorry,” Ione was quick to say. “I meant I was honored to fuck with Kolis on your behalf.”

“Happier wasn’t the word I had a problem with,” murmured Keella.

A small grin appeared on Ione’s face, and I had a feeling I was going to get along quite well with her. “You are still owed my thanks,” I insisted. “You saved my life and did so at great risk to yours.”

Ash spoke then. “You did. And you will forever have my gratitude.”

Ione’s gaze moved between us, and then she nodded. “I suppose I will graciously accept this u

My lips twitched as I met her eyes. “Is this what you want for yourself?”

“Want is a strange word.” The narrow bridge of her nose scrunched. “Feels kind of selfish to want this, but it is what I have been preparing for.”

I nodded, turning back to Keella and Ash. I saw the Primal look at the goddess before saying, “I would like to do this on the veranda, under the skies.”

“We can do this wherever you’d like,” Ash assured her.

She smiled at him and came forward. “Come.” She looped her arm around mine as Ione passed us. “Walk outside with me.”

I went along, glancing back at Ash to see that Ione had stopped him with a question about what Keella had shared with her regarding our plans in dealing with Kolis. Nektas had come to the opening but did not follow Keella and me outside, giving us space while he kept a watchful eye.

Arching a brow, I said nothing until we were under the purple and violet clouds of the Thyia Plains. “I’m guessing you wanted to speak to me in private?”

“Whatever could have given you that impression?” she said with a laugh far lighter than someone who had come to the end of their…journey. “There is something I wanted to tell you that I wasn’t sure if I could or should the last time we spoke.”

“I think I know what it is.” I followed her to the divan that I may have once laid upon, having a feeling I did know what she was about to mention. The lives I carried within me. After all, she was the Primal Goddess of Rebirth. “You know about my…?” What had Ash called it? “My condition?”

“If by condition, you mean that you’re with child—two of them?” Keella laughed. “Yes, I know. Congratulations are in order. This is such a blessing,” she said sincerely. “I didn’t say anything before since I wasn’t sure you were aware, but that’s not what I wanted to discuss.”

“Did you know when I was brought here before?” I asked, even though I was curious about what else she had to say.

“That’s a complicated question to answer.” She gazed up at the clouds. “Sensing the souls of unborn babes is not always easy and it varies from soul to soul, but with you, you were carrying Sotoria’s soul. That acted almost as a shield. And afterward, well, there wasn’t much time.”

“No, there wasn’t.” I looked over at her. “I’m not going to make Sotoria be reborn again. Once Kolis is entombed, we want to give Sotoria a choice. Either to be reborn or to cross into the Vale. I’m hoping that will be something Ione will be able to assist us with.”

“She will be able to.” Keella was still looking at the sky. “I’m not surprised to hear you say that. I didn’t think the idea of forcing her to be reborn with the sole purpose of destroying Kolis would sit well with you.”

I nodded. “So, what was it you wanted to discuss?”

Her gaze lowered to mine. “It is Sotoria I actually wanted to speak with you about—her and the prophecy.” She glanced back at the chamber. “It’s something I didn’t say when you two were here last—something Eythos told me, and my…my impressions of what he pla

Curiosity rose. “What is it?”

Keella was silent for several moments. “Eythos spent a long time trying to decipher the prophecy and its true meaning. He even managed to speak to Delfai. I imagine the God of Divination didn’t share that with you and Nyktos.”

“No,” I stated. “He did not.”

A wry grin appeared. “When Eythos spoke with Delfai, it was when Etris Balfour—the last oracle—was still alive.”

My brows shot up. I wasn’t expecting her to say that.

“I don’t know exactly what Etris or Delfai said to Eythos, but whatever was shared led Eythos to place the embers and Sotoria’s soul into your bloodline. That was no random chance of opportunity.”

I frowned. “But Roderick Mierel summoned him to save his people.”

Keella nodded. “And Eythos was waiting for that moment. He knew Roderick would do so. You see, this prophecy had begun to fulfill itself before Sotoria was born. It started with the Silver Knight.”

“The warrior Queen,” I said, immediately thinking about what Ward had told me. “I’m named after her. Ward—the first viktor—saved who turned out to be my ancestor.”

“She was, as one would say, promised by the Fates,” she said. “Just like you.”

Tiny bumps pimpled my skin. “So, you’re basically saying Etris, or possibly even Delfai, told Eythos Roderick would summon him? It makes sense. The prophecy spoke of the desperation of golden crowns, but this really doesn’t tell us anything new.”

“No, but it does remind us how much needed to happen for us to be right here, right now,” she said, pausing to inhale deeply. “What Eythos did was never just about stopping his brother. Yes, the prophecy spoke of Kolis, but also of greater dangers.”

“The awakening of the Primal of Blood and Bone,” I surmised.

“Yes, and what Eythos learned convinced him of who that Primal would be.”

My fingers dug into my knees. “Do I even want to know?”

A wan smile appeared. “Sotoria.”

“What?” I half-laughed. “How? She was mortal.”

“So were you.”

“Yeah, the moment that came out of my mouth, I realized how unwise it sounded,” I admitted. “But this is different. I don’t understand how that’s possible.”