by Eva Brandt
“It’s a new development.”
It was also something I wasn’t prepared for at all. The changes in Tis Ánoixis had surprised me, but I’d adapted to them with ease. Despite the damage it had suffered, the land still held distinctive similarities to my various homes.
That was no longer the case. The clouds vanished, and the next thing we knew, we were flying into the blinding light of a scorching sun. I flinched. For the most part, I was immune to the effects of sunlight, but that didn’t mean I found it pleasant.
“I think ‘changes’ is the understatement of the century,” I said. “There’s a lot of magic here that is very different from yours, Eranthe.”
“Tarasia must be shielding Chronikos from the undead with her power.” Eranthe stared out into the distance, where a bright, golden glow was now visible. “If she’s resorted to that, things must be worse than we thought.”
She started flying faster and we rushed after her, both alarmed and determined. I’d already known things were likely to get worse before they got better, and this was just a confirmation of that fact.
I expected us to arrive in the middle of a battle. We didn’t. When we reached the shores of Chronikos, the very edge of the wards, I knew we were too late and more lives had uselessly been lost today.
As Eranthe flew down, we joined her, and the breeze protecting us from the heat made ash swirl around us. Some of it got into my mouth, and I jerked, understanding very well what it was.
“Grand Lich help us...” Cezar murmured. “What happened here?”
Mentioning the Grand Lich was probably not the best plan considering the circumstances, but I couldn’t blame Cezar for his lapse. It was just as obvious to me as it was to him that a bloody confrontation had taken place, one that had resulted in serious losses for The Voievodat.
The ashes I’d just tasted had a distinctive magical feel, and the traces of vampiric essence still lingered within them. A shiver coursed down my spine. Maybe we’d been the ones to display too much optimism. The Grand Lich hadn’t thrown only disposable minions into the war against Chronikos. These were the remains of an actual person, someone I’d known and perhaps even liked.
I had no way to figure out who had died in this useless battle, and that just made the whole thing worse. I hadn’t been born a vampire, and my closest friends were Baltasar and Cezar, who had obviously not been in danger. Even so, the two of them had families. They’d been raised in covens, surrounded by others of their kind. Some of those people might have perished today, burnt into ash by the magic of the avatar of summer.
Eranthe didn’t blame us for our shock and panic. “Come,” she said, her voice filled with sorrow and compassion. “If we find my sister, we’ll undoubtedly be able to figure out who she actually fought.”
As it turned out, we didn’t have to look for the queen of The Realm of Eternal Sunlight at all. She was already waiting for us on the beach, surrounded by a small group of Cat Sìth.
At first, she didn’t seem to realize we’d arrived. She was on her knees, with her hands buried in the sand, her eyes closed and her blond hair shining in the sunlight like a halo. The power she emanated through her every pore made her gown look like molten gold. The air around her seemed blurry due to the naturally heat she emanated. I could’ve sworn that the sand beneath her had turned into glass.
She appeared to be completely focused on her spellwork, but that changed the moment Eranthe’s feet made contact with the sand. Tarasia jerked, the magic around her flickering and starting to fade away. She got up and turned toward us, instantly zeroing in on Eranthe’s presence.
Eranthe greeted her with an uncertain, but warm smile. “Tarasia, I’m—”
Tarasia shot into action before Eranthe could finish the phrase. In a flurry of golden magic and fabric, she rushed toward Eranthe and hugged her tightly. “Ery! Oh, Ery, you’re all right. I can’t believe it.”
“I keep telling you that I’m not as breakable as you think I am,” Eranthe replied, hugging her sister back. The words might have sounded chastising, but her heart obviously wasn’t in the reprimand.
Tarasia scoffed. “Well, excuse me for being worries when my baby sister is kidnapped and taken into the Underworld.”
“I think we have bigger concerns than just me, don’t we? What’s this I hear about a war?”
“A war with The Voievodat.” Tarasia pressed her lips together in displeasure. “Yes, it’s true. But you already knew that and we already know who is to blame.”
Her gaze shot past Eranthe and fell on us, so fierce we might’ve burst into flames if not for Eranthe’s magic. “If it isn’t the vampires who claimed they could free my sister from a deity. That didn’t go well, did it?”
No, it hadn’t. We’d fallen into Hades’s trap and made it possible for him to start this horrible war. But this conversation wasn’t about our failures. We might have made mistakes, but that wasn’t what mattered right now.
Eranthe must’ve realized this as well, because she grabbed her sister’s arm and squeezed it tightly. Thorny vines bloomed around them, keeping Tarasia from turning away from Eranthe. “Tarasia, this isn’t about them. The war isn’t their fault. What is going on? What happened here, on this beach?”
The scent of blood filled the air as the thorns dug deep into Tarasia’s flesh. Eranthe didn’t seem aware of it. She met her sister’s gaze unflinchingly. Magic crackled between them, so powerful I felt it vibrating against my skin, through Eranthe’s ward of protection.
Tarasia looked down at her now bleeding arm and back up at Eranthe’s face. “Oh, little sister... This was just a skirmish. We have bigger problems. What did you do, Eranthe? What did you when you were down there?”
“I don’t understand.” Eranthe frowned, still not realizing that she was hurting her sister. “What do you mean?”
Snegurka took a step back. Her demeanor made me even more alarmed than I’d already been. I walked up to Eranthe and pressed my hand to her shoulder. “Your Majesty, it may be presumptuous of me to make this suggestion, but maybe it would be better if you released Queen Theros.”
My words snapped Eranthe out of her trance. She glanced down at her sister’s arm and paled when she saw the bloody gouges caused by the thorns. “Oh, gods, Tarasia. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”
Tarasia smiled weakly and opened her mouth. For a few seconds, it looked she was going to say something to reassure Eranthe. She never got the chance. The aura of heat around her flared like a halo and out of nowhere, a phoenix manifested by her side.
Tarasia stepped away from her sister. “It looks like we’ll have to finish this conversation later, Eranthe. Thank you for coming so quickly, my dear Horus.”
“Your Majesty, I live and die to serve you,” the phoenix—apparently named Horus—replied. “Tell me your wishes and I will comply.”
“I need you to give the Grand Lich and my sisters a message. Everything has gone as planned, or as expected, at least. We need to hold a meeting, posthaste. Eranthe and I will be waiting for them in The Gardens of Edenia.”
The phoenix bowed, his majestic wings blazing even more brightly than before. “Yes, Your Majesty. Your wish is my command.”
With a musical cry, the beautiful bird launched himself into the air and flew past us, crossing the wards and disappearing into the distance. Eranthe waited until the phoenix was gone to address the problem that had brought us here, to begin with.
“What was that all about, Tarasia? I thought we were fighting a war.”
“And we are. We’re also trying to stop it.”
“Stop it?” Eranthe repeated. “Wasn’t my return intended to help with that?”
“Yes, of course,” Tarasia answered. “But... It’s complicated. Not everyone in The Immortuos Voievodat has the same opinion on how to handle this conflict and the disappearance of your pet vampires. They were warned to not meddle with powers beyond their ability to handle. They were warned, and they still broke the
rules.”
I felt a shiver rush down my spine. The conversation we’d had with the Grand Lich before we’d left Aeternum had completely left my mind. It was very odd that Eranthe’s sister would mention it.
Eranthe was supposed to be Tarasia’s priority, not us and our choices. Tarasia was supposed to rejoice at Eranthe having managed to escape Fufluns, not question it and chastise her over the method she had used.
“With respect, Your Majesty, I don’t see why you’d care about the rules we broke,” I said, frowning. “I admit we were somewhat more reckless in our behavior than the Grand Lich recommended, but we had good reasons, and Eranthe’s lieutenants supported our approach. Some risks are worth taking. Would you have preferred for us to ignore Eranthe’s kidnapping and leave her at Fufluns’s mercy?”
Tarasia glowered at me, not appreciating my defiant reply. “Obviously not. But this isn’t about me and what I prefer.”
Like the Grand Lich, she didn’t elaborate on what she meant by that. Instead, she glanced at her sister once again. “I’m sorry about this, Ery. I am being a little brusque with you today.” She cupped Eranthe’s cheek with a gentle, glowing hand. “Come. We need to return to The Gardens of Edenia. We will find a solution to this, I promise. None of it is your fault, and we’ll get everyone to understand that, no matter what.”
“You do realize you should probably start by telling your sister what the problem is,” Snegurka pointed out.
The temperature in the air increased once again in response to Snegurka’s comment. Even so, Tarasia did provide an actual explanation. “Let’s just say it’s not a good idea to drink water from one of the rivers of the dead and use that power to make your escape from the underworld. Eranthe, I’m afraid the story might be repeating itself. I’m afraid that once again, we’ve claimed a power we were never supposed to have.”
Two
The Queen of Life and Death
Eranthe
Many years ago, when I’d been only fifteen, I’d been forced to face a choice. I’d watched my eldest sister Cassia shoulder a burden she should’ve never had to bear and I’d known that we couldn’t leave her alone to carry that weight.
To this end, my sisters and I had decided to claim the powers of the avatars of the seasons. In time, we’d adjusted to them, and although the actual process of leading our realms wasn’t always smooth, the magic itself obeyed me with ease.
That magic was the reason why I’d drunk from the Lethe while in Hades. During my stay there, my powers as the avatar of spring had been denied to me. My soulmates had provided me with the anchor I’d needed to fight the liquid oblivion in the water, and the Lethe had allowed me to remove the binding Fufluns had cast on my original skills.
It had never occurred to me that, by channeling the energies of the river of the dead, I’d fundamentally changed my own nature. I’d told Orthrus that I was a queen of life and death, but I’d never understood just how true it was, not until I walked into The Gardens of Edenia once again.
At first, I didn’t notice anything different. The palace had been well-preserved in my absence. Tarasia had clearly taken care of it, and my subjects had not been left abandoned. The flowers were a little droopy and the magic of The Realm of Eternal Youth not quite as in sync with the core of Chronikos as it was supposed to be, but for the most part, no one here had suffered. The armies of Chronikos had kept the undead from reaching the capital.
I landed in the courtyard, with my sister, Snegurka, and my soulmates, by my side. My lieutenants were nowhere to be seen, but like Tarasia had said, my other sisters were already waiting for me. Cassia had come accompanied by one of her dragons—the wyvern, if I remembered well. Surprisingly, Pandora had brought Jack along.
They all took one look at me and went rigid. “We were too late,” Pandora whispered. The last time I’d seen her look so pale was when we’d learned of February’s betrayal and the murder attempt on Cassia. No, even then it hadn’t been that bad.
“Not now, Pandora,” Cassia said tightly. She shared a look with Snegurka and offered her a nod. “Thank you for retrieving my sister. We appreciate the help.”
“I’d say it was my pleasure, little half-breed, but that would be a lie. Besides, I get the feeling I should’ve been a little faster.”
“I’m sure you tried your best,” Cassia replied.
Just the fact that Cassia was willingly socializing with her nemesis was enough to make me wonder if I’d fallen in some kind of strange hallucination. Perhaps I was still in Hades, imagining this whole thing. Maybe I’d failed in my attempt to control the power of the river and my memories were now lashing out against me in this twisted illusion.
My thoughts and fear must’ve been pretty obvious, because Cassia immediately tried to reassure me. “I know what you’re thinking right now, Eranthe, but I assure you, this is very real. Snegurka and I have reached an agreement, for the well-being of Chronikos.”
“And for your well-being,” another, much too familiar voice added. A different figure emerged from the palace, one I would’ve preferred to not see today.
It was my mother. I hadn’t seen her in at least two centuries. She’d long ago stopped coming to The Realm of Eternal Youth on a regular basis, too busy with her new life in the realm of the gods to care about the children she’d left behind.
At the time, a part of me had understood it. My sisters and I had taken up the crowns of the realms of the seasons, and my parents had needed to remove themselves, to give us room to grow as independent rulers.
I would have still appreciated her showing some interest, some sign that she still cared about what happened to us beyond ensuring the stability of Chronikos. She never had.
All I had to do was look at her and those past hurts came rushing back. The palace responded to my anger and vines erupted from the wood, zeroing in on my mother like sharp daggers.
Nobody seemed to have expected this to happen—nobody except my soulmates, at least. Baltasar stepped in front of the vines, shielding my mother with his own body. I hadn’t even noticed him move.
The vines stopped inches away from his chest. I froze as I realized what I’d almost done. “I... What... What just happened?”
Cezar wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead. “Nothing happened. Just breathe and calm down. You’ve had an overwhelming day, and you’re responding to the strain. That’s all there is to it.”
I appreciated the words of comfort, although I wasn’t sure I believed them. I’d just attempted to kill my mother, for gods’ sake. How had that happened? I was not a violent person. Even when I was angry or upset, I tried to resort to other methods, like the ambrosia I’d used against the vampires.
Snegurka’s reaction didn’t help my state of mind. She actually started to laugh. “Well, that brings back memories,” she said between chuckles. “It’s good to know you half-breeds like skewering your family as well as your foes.”
“Don’t push your luck, Snegurka,” Tarasia snapped at her. “This isn’t funny.”
“It is a little funny. Don’t get me wrong. I might be on your side when it comes to protecting Chronikos, but that doesn’t mean I won’t enjoy your misery.”
Pandora was about as happy with that remark as she was with everything else. Her eyes flashed and she glowered at Snegurka with a fire that reminded me that out of all of us, she was the one who’d taken the attack on Cassia hardest. She might not always show it, but I suspected she still saw her original inability to help Cassia as a personal failure. Like Tarasia had said earlier, it was happening again, except this time, it was because of me.
“I’ll advise you to enjoy it elsewhere, demon,” Pandora said to the former queen. “We won’t allow you to mock our efforts.”
“I’m not mocking anything. I’m merely pointing out a fact. Ignoring a reality you don’t like doesn’t make it any less true.”
“Like you decided to ignore the fact that you didn’t have a soulmate?” Cassia asked, the almos
t sweet smile on her face doing nothing to disguise the venom in her words.
It was a low blow and I could tell Snegurka was seconds away from attacking Cassia. It should have worried me, but oddly, it didn’t. Instead, the whole exchange reassured me, helping me to acknowledge that this was actually happening.
I took a deep breath and smiled as well, although in my case, the expression was genuine. “We’re not ignoring anything and there’s no need to attack one another. I think we’re all aware that I’m not exactly myself. But there’s no reason to make a bigger deal out of it than it already is.
“I apologize for my outburst, Mother. I’ve had a bit of a long day. A six-month day, if what Snegurka says is to be believed. Thank you for coming all the way from Olympus to provide us with insight.”
She arched a brow at me, as if intrigued by my polite demeanor. “Of course I came, dearest. How could I not, when you needed my help? I’m afraid the insight I can offer is a little limited, though. This isn’t my field of expertise. It’s his.”
She nodded in Cezar’s direction and I turned toward my soulmate, confused on what my mother wanted with him.
As it turned out, it wasn’t Cezar at all my mother was looking at. At one point when none of us had been paying attention, a cloaked man had appeared by Cezar’s side. He just stood there, in Cezar’s shadow, as quiet as the grave. I had no idea if he’d been there all along, just waiting to be introduced, or if my mother had helped him appear. I supposed it didn’t really matter, because either way, I instantly deemed him a danger to me, my land, and my soulmates.
I’d heard a lot about the famous Grand Lich, the secondary ruler of The Immortuos Voievodat. He was the equivalent of a religious figure, whereas the emperor was the political leader. Together, they were able to keep a tight hold on a nation of individuals who were naturally not very prone to submitting, and who often used magic with a huge potential for destruction.