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As Bele’s brows lifted, my cheeks caught fire. I plopped into the chair with the grace of a tree bear, and then everyone else sat. Ash moved to my right, taking his seat there. The subtle shift in positioning—in power—didn’t pass me by.
Once again, the shock of how real this was hit me as Ash placed a glass of whiskey on the table for me. It felt like a cloth had been shoved into my throat. My hands tightened around the arms of the chair as my mind sort of emptied. Or maybe there was just so much going on in my head that it felt like there was nothing.
Rhain cleared his throat. “I’m not sure who is aware of what, but many gods have been arriving in the Shadowlands the last several days, coming from many Courts.”
The cloth doubled in size as I spoke around it. “Nyktos mentioned something.”
“They are being vetted to the best of our abilities and then temporarily placed in our insulas—” He stopped himself, noting the confusion surely creeping into my expression. “You haven’t been to Lethe other than the night of your coronation. Right.” A faint pink stained his cheeks. “Insulas are homes several stories tall that house many people—up to forty or so. When you see the lights of Lethe, you’re likely seeing those buildings. I believe mortals would call them tenements, but they’re not as…”
“Poorly outfitted?” I suggested. The tenements in Croft’s Cross, the poorest district of Lasania, had these so-called apartments. They were dark, cramped dwellings not even suitable for rodents. Ezra would change what our parents should have done ages ago. “Are we providing housing because they are pla
“Probably, since many of them will have no Court to return to,” Rhain said.
“Not all the Primals allow their subjects to leave their Courts without permission, and I doubt most would’ve sought that,” Bele spoke up. “When I left Hanan’s, it was considered treasonous. They could be imprisoned or killed upon their return.”
“Gods,” I breathed. “How many have arrived?”
“Hundreds,” Rhain answered. “Dozens more with each passing hour.”
My stomach dipped. “And we have enough housing for them?”
“For now,” Ash said. “We do.”
But would we later, if more and more continued to come? Obviously, not. I didn’t know the details of how food had been provided all these many centuries, but it took no leap of logic to assume that the goods had been imported. “What about food—?” I cut myself off. “Crops can grow here now.”
“Yes,” Saion confirmed. “And once we get some really good rainfall and the rivers return, we’ll be able to use them as a source of irrigation, allowing us to plant more. I’ve already begun to survey which areas would be best suited for such.”
“That’s a relief to hear,” I said, ceasing my wiggling in my chair. “I want everyone who comes here to have a home, whether it be temporary or long-term, and for there to be food on their plates. But it’s going to be rough until the crops can grow.” My head cocked. Could I assist with that? I was the true Primal of Life. Did that not extend to plant life? I believed so, but… “There will still be a length of time before we can comfortably provide for everyone.” Worry grew. As someone who had lived a life of limited basic essentials with an ever-increasing populace, I knew how quickly that could take its toll.
“That’s tomorrow’s problem,” Ash spoke softly, snapping me from what was sure to become a spiral of worst-case what-ifs. “One we’re already working on fixing. But we have to get to tomorrow.”
I nodded slowly, getting what he was saying. None of us would go the route of my mother and the former King of Lasania by putting off dealing with dwindling supplies. The Shadowlands wouldn’t do that. But we also had to get to the point where it could be a problem.
Meaning Lethe had to survive until then.
As silence fell around me once more, my tongue felt heavy and unusable. I truly wasn’t suited to leading meetings. Weight pressed down upon my shoulders and chest as seconds ticked by, becoming what felt like hours. My panicked gaze swiveled toward Ash—
“We all know why we’re here,” Ash said, picking up Jadis and placing her on his lap. “To talk about Kolis and what we’re going to do.”
“I already have a suggestion,” Bele said, sliding a slim shadowstone dagger free from its sheath. “Hunt him down.”
Rhahar nodded. “I second that.”
“That’s part of the plan,” Ash replied as Bele tossed the dagger into the air. “But we have to get to that part first.”
As I glanced around the table, no one seemed to care that it had been Ash who’d started the meeting. Or maybe they hadn’t even noticed my inability to speak because it hadn’t actually been minutes or hours that had passed in awkward silence.
Letting out a long, slow breath, the pressure started to lift. I loosened my grip on the arms of the chair and picked up my glass of whiskey.
“And we can’t skip to that part?” Bele asked, throwing the dagger up again. This time, Jadis’s head followed the movement. “Because I know what Kolis will do once he’s done licking his wounds.”
“And what is that?” I asked, finding my voice as I sat back, glass in hand. The moment the whiskey hit my tongue, my stomach churned. I had to force myself to swallow like I was drinking the utter trash often served at some of the gambling dens in Lower Town, a district in Lasania, which made no sense. The Shadowlands had the finest whiskey I’d ever tasted. Weird. I placed the glass on the table.
Ash glanced at my glass, a slight frown appearing. He picked up Jadis and handed her off to Lailah. The youngling immediately went for the goddess’s braids.
“Gather his loyalists and hunt us down,” Bele stated, catching the dagger by the hilt. Eather pulsed behind her pupils as her gaze locked with mine. “And attack.”
“I hate always being the cautious one in the room,” Lailah said as Ash rose. “It’s boring. I know.” She shot Bele a look, and the Primal goddess snapped her mouth shut. “But hunting Kolis down and attacking is not a plan. We know we ca
“I agree,” Theon chimed in as Jadis wiggled free of Lailah’s hold and climbed onto the table. “We ca
“Very true,” Rhain remarked as the little draken crept toward Bele, her belly low to the tabletop as if she were in stealth mode. Beside me, Reaver sat up to watch her with a wary eye.
“I get that, but I think it’s safe to assume that Kolis will not disappear quietly into the night,” Bele argued, glancing to where Jadis had placed herself directly in front of her. She frowned. “He knows what her Ascension means to him and Iliseeum. It is not like he’s going to pretend that a true Primal of Life hasn’t Ascended. Nor will any other Primal.”
“I think he will,” I said, remembering how Kolis had nearly glowed as he sat on the throne that belonged to the true Primal of Life—to me. I glanced at Ash. He was at the credenza, picking up a stone pitcher and another glass. “At least for a little while. He will need to remind himself that he’s in charge. He’ll hold court.”
Bele gave the dagger another toss. “Yeah, but he’s only playing King while everyone knows a Queen rules.”
“A King also rules now,” I corrected her as Jadis eyed Bele’s dagger, her thin tail swishing back and forth.
Ash returned to the table, placing a pitcher and a glass of what appeared to be water before me. If there was anything I missed from Dalos, it was the fruity, bubbly water. I made a mental note to ask Ash about it later since his father had apparently created the drink.
“Thank you,” I said, and he smiled in return. “Nyktos is no Consort. He is my equal, so if I’m Queen, then he’s King.”
Surprise flickered across the others’ faces. “There has never been a Queen and a King of the Gods,” Rhahar murmured, sitting straighter. “Then again, there’s never been a Queen at all.”
I reached down to where Reaver sat, scratching him under the chin. He hadn’t taken his eyes off Jadis. He was likely waiting for the same thing I was—for her to make a grab for the dagger. Then again, she also looked like she was close to falling asleep. I was hoping for the second option. “Well, it’s my choice that Nyktos be King, and I’m under the impression that what I say goes.”
“You’ll get no argument from any of us.” Saion gri
“I really didn’t think any of you would have a problem with it,” Ash replied dryly. “But back to Kolis. He’ll attempt to control the narrative and the situation by labeling Sera a usurper and a false Queen, exploiting that she was once mortal, that most do not know her, and that she is now a baby Primal.”
“A baby Primal?” Rhain murmured, his nose scrunching. He shook his head. “Anyway, I expect Kolis will seek to remind all of them exactly who he is in case any are thinking of defecting.”
Bele’s nostrils flared. “Yeah, and by reminding them, you mean by committing some violent, heinous act upon those likely undeserving of it.”
Lailah nodded, her features drawn. “Unfortunately.”
I leaned back, thinking that over. What she said made sense, but… “I think you’re right, but he’ll be careful about who he decides to make an example of.”
“Careful?” Ash raised a brow. “I think we have two different understandings of the word.”
“He’s not some chaotic villain with no control over his actions,” I countered. “Well, most of the time, he’s not. He’s far more calculated.” My thoughts flashed to when Kolis had discussed the Shadowlands’ forces possibly invading Dalos. “And I think he’s aware of just how tenuous his hold on the realm is.”
“Why would you believe that?” Ash asked.
It was hard to answer that when I wasn’t even sure what I believed when it came to Kolis. “The Kolis I met when I was first brought to Dalos was almost completely different than who he was after. Even before he believed I was Sotoria. He went from wanting to see all the Primals burn to claiming that he didn’t want war among them.”
Ash picked up the pitcher, topping off my glass. “I can tell you what claim I believe.”
“You believe he’s the burn-it-all-down version.”
Ash arched a brow as he picked up his glass and sat back. “Exactly.”
“I think we can all agree with Nyktos,” Rhahar commented. “We’ve all seen that side of Kolis more times than we care to think about.”
There were murmurs of agreement from all except Rhain, who then spoke up. “But what do you think, Seraphena?”
I ran my thumb along the delicate rim of the glass as the bob of Jadis’s head slowed, and the time between each blink grew longer. “I think…I think he’s both. He wanted the embers so he could Ascend as the Primal of Life and Death.”