84 | ACT VI, SCENE I

P R E V I O U S L Y

"The ceasefire starts tomorrow afternoon. If Endollon unites as one, we might have the slimmest chance of survival."

I fainted. Again.

HARTINGTON CASTLE, ALNWICK, STORMHOLT.

EDWINA

THREE LETTERS HAD GONE OUT at once after Leora had disappeared with the ring.

Three letters asking for help in the war that was coming.

The first to Vezort Island, to the Dessari bound to it by Pandora's curse.

The second to the twin armies of the Grendel, the race that depended on the very water of the Derwent for survival.

The third to the elusive Valkyrie of Cesterfield, the bloodthirsty people who had supported Helios in the first Titanomachy.

It had taken hours and hours of the previous evening and the entire night for the arguing immortals of Endollon to finally agree to meet and listen to us. They had finally given in after Tristan and Eric had both lost their tempers. The six great Houses of Endollon were wild, angry beasts - and I shuddered at the mere thought of even trying to convince the likes of Deimos and Emerick to side with us. It was a fool's errand to try, but it was the only way out we had.

Because when the Titans came back, they would not discriminate.

They would kill each and every one of us, regardless of whether we were Tremayne, Valmont, Rotavelle or Everly.

The gods had grudgingly agreed to call a short truce over their own battles. Agreed to put aside their differences for half a day, only to listen once. They agreed to a meeting in the neutral territory of Steffith, for tensions still ran sharper than a knife. It was Tristan who told - commanded - Sarette Rotavelle to cast a binding spell on Calchester Citadel. It would force all of us into ceasefire, one that would have dire consequences if any of us dared to use our power.

He had not come to bed that night - no. I could barely remember what had happened after I had fainted, I didn't even register him carrying me to our bedroom in the middle of the night. It was in the early hours before dawn when I woke from the uneasy sleep. The sky had still been grey when I found him asleep on the couch, worn out from exhaustion. A stack of unread letters was scattered across the floor, the replies we had been waiting for. I had gently shaken him, and he had opened a bleary eye hazed with sleep. With some coaxing and persuasion I had managed to get him to bed, softly pressing a light kiss on his brow before settling him under the warm covers.

Tristan in the morning was a sight to behold - so devastatingly glorious, silky hair mussed with sleep. He beckoned to me with a finger, his eyes oh so soft, his touches oh so gentle as he slowly trailed marble kisses down my neck. I wrapped myself around him, admiring his muscled arms as he buried himself in my warmth with a powerful stroke. His lips pressed against my ear, murmuring my name sweeter than morning hymns in the holy temples. We moved and moved under the covers, holding and kissing and loving each other - as I shattered in his arms with a cry loud enough to wake the castle. His lips gently silenced mine before he, too, found his release with a deep growl.

We made love for hours.

The water was stone cold after we both got out of the huge bathtub, our bodies still raw from all that busy lovemaking in the hot water.

He filled me in on what had happened after I fainted while we dressed. I pushed open the doors to the enormous walk in closet, brushing aside the elegant, colourful silks I once used to wear. Those were for the woman I used to be, but the woman I was now was different.

Something had died inside of me.

We both ended up selecting black.

Me a gown of crushed velvet, him a set of robes slashed with gold. I swept my hair open and let the curled ends tumble down my shoulders. Sitting down on the couch, I hitched up my skirts and slipped two daggers down my stockings.

"Those might get you in trouble, you know," Tristan looked up from the letters he'd been reading in the balcony, raising an eyebrow.

I only gave him an alluring smile before sliding another knife inside my sleeves.

"Half the fun, darling."

He only smirked at me, fastening the cufflinks on his shirt.

"That's the spirit," he gave me a smirk, tipping his wineglass to me.

• • • • •

CALCHESTER CITADEL, STEFFITH.

The gardens around the Citadel were filled with fresh blackthorn.

We will come for you the day the blackthorns of Steffith start to wither, Leora had warned. It was hard not to look too long at the gardens, to inspect the plants. They seemed fresh and dewy from whatever magic thrummed in the Citadel as we entered through the gilded gates.

We were not the only ones who'd dressed well. After all, there were foreign strangers to be impressed today.

Helios and Nyx were already waiting in the throne room, blazing in all their glory and splendour. Eric and his family had arrived as well, the LeVanes all resplendent in pearl and sea blue. Behind us, the Emmersons trooped in through the doors, where Llewellyn and Celinette seemed to be in a deep discussion.

"The rest?" Cymbeline inquired, clad in golden chiffon.

"Arriving soon," Helios said with a shrug, the tension apparent on his face.

"And our foreign guests?" Eric asked quietly. Beside him, Amphitrite quivered as she looked at me, and I only gave her a glare in return.

"They said they would come."

"And who, precisely, are those guests?" a voice behind me twitched with what could only be cold disdain. We turned to find Deimos dressed in deep black robes that matched the tendrils of darkness rippling off him.

"The Valkyrie. The Grendel. And... the Dessari," Nyx said pointedly, looking over his shoulder in distaste as the rest of his family and entourage entered, coming to a stop near us.

Fayette was only her usual, simpering self. Drusilla had found herself a dress of deep indigo, pure loathing shining in her eyes as they lingered over me. Aeneas and Alaric were back to the fighting leathers.

"You invited those filthy half breeds?" Deimos barked. My fists curled as I resisted the urge to slap him.

"The same could be said of you, Lord Everly."

It was only a second as Drusilla lunged right at me, hate dripping off her, her hand coming up to grab my neck. I gave her a sugar coated smile and smoothly moved out of the way as Eric shoved her off me, his eyes blazing.

"Do not," he hissed, "forget why you are here."

She flicked a flake of ice in his face before striding away. Tristan tightly held my hand, glaring at Deimos. His grip tightened as I contemplated pouncing on Drusilla again, and sensing it - he tugged me away from the group as we watched my father and Aidon talk with Helios. Irina nervously lingered at my brother's side, her baby chewing on his thumb and occasionally letting out a string of babbles whenever someone new entered the Citadel.

A very loud wail from him turned our attention back to the doors.

Emerick Rotavelle stormed in, his eyes gleaming. Justaline only regarded the child with a cool, vengeful gaze as she stalked in beside him. The rest of the Rotavelles poured in at their heels.

"They are not here yet," he announced with a hiss, the only greeting we were bound to get.

"They have to travel a long way," Tristan countered, clenching his jaw tight.

"Those grovelling mongrels must be powerful indeed if their High King vouches for them," Emerick mocked bitterly, curling his lip.

This time, I lunged.

Three sets of hands pulled me back as I lept at him and wrapped both my hands around that white neck of his, setting his robe aflame.

"Don't you fucking dare," I snarled blackly. "Do not condescend to him-"

His eyes darkened as Helios pried my fingers off, Tristan quietly making me pull back. Eric gripped me as I bucked. Behind us, I heard Fayette's quiet laughter, and a snake of Hellfyre curled and bloomed at my wrist, singeing all of them and throwing them aside.

"Say that again," I dared him, my voice a burning smolder, "and I'll burn off your tiny cock."

My husband let out a dry chuckle, silver in the silence.

"Tremayne bitch," Emerick spat, eyes mirthful. "I should have known."

Tristan's face turned to a deadly shade of white as his eyes blazed like burning coals, gripping his sword so tightly that I wondered why the handle did not break.

"Say that again," his voice was a silent threat. "I'll chop your balls off myself before shoving them down your filthy throat."

At the power stirring in his words, the entire hall fell silent. Working with these people - these enemies - it was going to be impossible.

"May I ask who is doing the chopping here?" a distant voice called out.

The voice was ringed with heavily disguised threat, a medley of venom seasoned with honey, the diplomatic, deceiving voice of Reynald.

Each and every person in the hall stopped talking, turning around.

He was still in those impeccable robes of olive and oak, his eyes the blue of a warm ocean, yet the winter gleaming in them could have frozen an entire city. Beside him, a flamboyant contrast of colour, waited his sister - Remora. Her locks were cinnamon, her dress a sparkling amethyst, her gaze that of a summer sky. She simpered and looked at all of us coolly, daintily holding a lilac coloured fan that hid her mutilated mouth behind it.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Deimos cut out sharply, his eyes blazing like coals.

"We explained it to you last night, Everly," Eric said tightly, striding past us to hold out his hand and shake theirs. "The Duke and Duchess of Vezort - Reynald and Remora."

Reynald only nodded, his jaw tight. Remora was busy scrutinizing each woman in the room, and I saw my sister shudder slightly out of the corner of my eye. Vanessa held Llewellyn tightly as he put an arm around her shoulders.

"These are your esteemed guests?" Emerick let out a harsh, keening laugh, his gaze drifting to Remora, who returned it with a glare of her own. "She? She's no more than a mere Ghail."

"She is much more than that," Tristan cut him off, before turning back to her. "Thank you for coming."

"Am I beautiful?" Remora asked Emerick softly, her voice a melodic lilt. Helios exhaled sharply as she began her deceiving riddle - a trap, she was luring him in a trap-

"I've seen better looking whores."

"And now?" she came closer, gliding on the floor in her smooth robes. "Am I beautiful now?" she took the fan away from her face, revealing the torn mouth, the slashed skin, the perfect white teeth stained with blood.

Amphitrite fainted. The rest of the women screamed. Lunette ran out of the door.

"What trickery is this?" Drusilla demanded, seething.

"One that is far older than you, you Everly bastard," Reynald let out a low snarl, his eyes lit with ancient fire. "My sister drinks the blood of gods like you for supper."

"Must be quite the supper!" a hearty female voice spoke out loud from the other end of the room, breaking the tight knot of tension hanging in the air.

Standing at the doors was an entourage of glittering gold.

Nyx immediately ran to embrace a tall, slender woman in robes of pale ivory and cloth of gold. Her skin was a warm, sun kissed shade, made even more apparent by the diamonds gleaming on her spear, her staff, and all the handsome weapons hanging at her belt. Behind her stepped in a bronze skinned male, just as breathtakingly beautiful as her.

The tall woman had pulled Nyx into a tight embrace, kissing her fully on each cheek. Beside me, Helios chuckled and graciously sauntered over to them, his arms wide open.

"You came."

"Of course we did," the woman replied, her eyes a bright, vivid gold. Both of them had lush hair, like rich mahogany. "We are much better behaved than our other... friends," her lips pulled back in a sneer as her bright gaze lingered over the Rotavelles.

"Hungry dogs are never loyal," the man let out a chortle, stepping further into the hall, his gaze shining with an old familiarity of coming back to a place after a long time. He swept into a bow. "At your service, your Graces. I am Everard, lord of Cesterfield and leader of the Valkyrie. This is my mate, Rowan."

The Valkyrie were an ancient race that had been by Cosmo and Helios's side during the first Titanomachy. They had been there when the Titans had been locked to Seattoria. They had been there when Cosmo rose to power. They were perhaps one of the oldest beings in the room, with the exception of Emerick and Justaline, Cosmo's very own siblings. About Reynald and Remora we had not the slightest idea, but they were creatures who lived on flesh and blood of immortals. The Valkyrie were loyal bannermen to Helios and Nyx - gold hoarders and mighty warriors who possessed brute strength.

"It is true, then. You are indeed as beautiful as they say you are," Rowan glanced at me with admiration, her eyes gleaming with mirth as she shook my hand and Everard kissed my palm.

"A beauty that comes at a cost, I'm afraid," I said quietly, my lips curling in a smile. There was just something about the outspoken, handsome female that pulled at me.

"Indeed. We heard you were gravely injured," Everard spoke with a tilt of his head.

"Thanks to my dear cousins," I let out a hiss when I glanced at the Everly children. "But I intend to return what they offered to me. With interest."

"Now that's the sort of recreational activity I enjoy," Rowan let out a short burst of warm laughter. I could not help but smile at the woman, at the way she tipped back her head and laughed, carefree and confident, not in the least bit perturbed by being in the same room as the most lethal killers of Endollon. The weapons at her belt were a testament to the dexterous skill she would no doubt possess.

A fanfare of trumpets rang at the doors, joined by a ring of bitter, staccato laughter as the Grendel leaders stood at the entrance.

The Grendel were a race that survived solely on the waters of the river Derwentwater. When Cosmo had killed Uranus, his blood formed the river. But three drops of it had fallen on the shore, and from it rose the very first Grendel.

There were two brothers, each leading an army. Two large, mighty forces that lived on either side of the Derwentwater after the Houses of Tremayne and Everly had both claimed one half each of the river. The elder brother, Leonard, resided on the western banks, right along Deimos's kingdom, Normount.

The younger brother, Theodore, built himself a home on the eastern side, right along the side of my kingdom, Dracnesse. He had a consort, Emeline - a quiet, diplomatic negotiator who had often helped even out quarrels over deciding who would draw the waters of the river which turned everything to gold.

My father had often had his spats with them, but when I rose to power, I had turned over a greater portion of the waters to the Grendel - after all, they needed the water to survive, whereas we just needed it for gold. House Tremayne now held greater favour with the race, and I knew they would not ha1ve failed us in our time of need.

"Your Graces," the two brothers paused right in front of us. All Grendel were silver haired and silver eyed due to the waters they drank. Theodore held out his hands and embraced me warmly. The elder brother only gave me a wan smile, but it was hard not to notice his sickly pallor. Emeline was as graceful as ever, a slim woman with delicate features, her cheeks a faint, rosy pink.

"Looking as lovely as ever," she tinkled merrily, wrapping her arms around me. She was dressed in fine silver brocade and pale green, a colour that matched her pale, delicate form.

"You too," I laughed, kissing her on the cheek.

"If you are quite done with the pleasantries," Alaric's voice cut in, "the rest of us have better things to do than stand here gawking at the lot of you."

"Cut her some slack," Tristan growled, "before she cuts off your tongue."

He placed a hand on the small of my back, quietly steering me towards the doors of the meeting chamber. Everyone stood up and followed as we made our way further in. I could still hear Lunette's frantic sighs as Edmund firmly guided her to a seat. The chamber was lavishly furnished with comfortable chairs and couches with tasseled cushions and rich silk curtains. A fire sprang up in the sconces and the grate at a snap of my fingers, spreading dancing lights over the coloured shadows cast by the paint stained glass windows.

Two minutes passed as everyone found themselves a place to sit. I watched the Dessari find a carved bench to sulk on, suspiciously glaring at Emerick, who glared right back before claiming an entire couch for himself. Justaline perched herself on the armrest beside him. Rowan and Everard settled themselves near Helios and Nyx, their gazes cool, hands ready to draw out weapons. Amphitrite had sunk into an armchair, still pale. The Grendel were busy giving Deimos looks that could kill, their gazes like daggers.

Tristan and I did not sit. I leaned back against a marble pillar, my arms crossed. He was watching them all with a wary eye lined with caution, body rigid.

'The Grendel won't agree to help if Deimos sides with us,' his words rang in my mind. 'An entire half of their army depended on him for the water of the river. He couldn't protect it before someone burned it off.'

'Then I suppose we have to find the person who ruined the river and let them have their vengeance if that's what it takes,' I muttered back. 'What do you think of the Valkyrie?'

'They've already faced those horrors once. I doubt they would back out now. But if you don't stop giving Rowan such looks, I suppose I will have to invite her to spend the night with us,' his voice was smug.

'Hmm... you never know what you like until you try it.'

'Uranus help me. Into women now, are we?' he turned back to look at me, raising an eyebrow, lip twitching to hide back a chuckle. I shot him an annoyed look, inwardly bursting into laughter as well.

When the last of the talk and chatter died out, the room fell silent, the tension thick enough to stifle me. There was a faint click in the air as the spells Sarette had placed here finally locked into place.

"Well?" Theodore finally spoke at last, his voice clear as he looked at Tristan, Eric and I. "Your letter urged us to come as soon as we could. What could possibly be so urgent that you would gather every god and race in this one room?"

We only looked at each other, and I nodded.

"We have gathered you all here," Tristan began at last, his voice quiet but powerful, "to ask you to listen."

"Listen to what, pray tell me?" Deimos lazily drawled, spinning a coin in his white fingers.

It was then that the entire story poured out. Every inch, every facet of it.

He told them of how Pandora had once lived here in the Citadel. How she had been insecure that House Tytos would fall one day, how she created the Goldberg Logogram to be her failsafe. She had ensured to scatter the three pieces of the device across all three realms, one in Endollon, one in Seattoria, one in the mortal world. Only a true Titan could complete it, making it emit a sound of a frequency that would kill every last being on this ground.

He told them of how she had been captured in the Titanomachy, and her blood had fallen on the Island of Vezort - giving life to the Dessari who protected the Logogram for her. When Drusilla had performed the Ritual to become Queen, it had backfired, loosening Pandora's eldest daughter, Leora, from the chains of Seattoria. She'd haunted and possessed me day and night before finally settling in my brother's body, hunting the pieces on her own.

He told them of how Erida, Atherton and Cymbeline had gone to Vezort and found the first piece by mistake, how the Dessari had skinned them and drunk their blood to prevent them from escaping with it. We had found the piece and retrieved the cube with the Logogram, unlocked the cube with our brains.

My father went pale at the part we mentioned how I had been human for years in the mortal world, and how I had been able to find the second piece after Leora had tortured me, accidentally revealing the location. Nyx's eyes were gleaming with tears by the time we came to the part about how we had seen Cosmo and Titania again, breathing and alive and mortal.

He told them how we had figured out that the river Derwentwater had been the key to reversing the Logogram's nature and kill the Titans at last - how close we had been to it. But when Loera had finally stepped out of Aidon's body, she had taken the rings with her. And now, we were utterly doomed, because we needed the ring to get the third piece. And without the third piece, we would die. Leora had gone back to Seattoria and would no doubt free the remaining Titans and come back leading an army of death.

The entire room was so silent by the time we finished that one could have heard a pin drop.

The colour had drained from nearly half the faces gathered, the rest going pale as well. Tristan and I were quiet as we let the immortals process what they had just heard.

It was Atherton who spoke first, his voice breaking at the end.

"You are telling me... that mother and father - they're alive?"

"Yes," Eric answered, silent.

"What do you expect us to do after hearing that wondrous tale?" Remora asked, her tone carrying the slightest hint of a sneer.

"We ask you to fight beside us," I said softly.

They all went stiller than death. A low crack sounded in the air as someone tested the shielding spells, trying to coax it to break.

It stayed in place.

"That's not possible," Deimos said coldly. Beside him, I watched Thanatos clench his fist, lips pulled in a thin line. Indeed, I saw signs of restlessness around the room at the mention of war. Suddenly, everyone was more busy glaring at their enemies.

"You cannot kill them," Rowan said at last, eyes flashing.

"Even Cosmo couldn't, all those centuries ago. You cannot destroy them with weapons," Everard murmured, tracing a finger over the tip of his knife.

"If we become one - if we could agree - we might have the slimmest chance at defeating them," Tristan pressed, his voice heavy with desperation. "Only Cosmo, Titania, Helios and Nyx fought in the first Titanomachy - and yet they could bind the Titans to Seattoria. If four gods could do that, we are what? Forty? Fifty?"

"You try to fight them," Ambrosine let out a low hiss, "you'll die. They are immortal as long as even a single drop of that unholy blood flows in their veins," she glared right at me.

"Might as well be easier convincing the people that the sun rises in the west than raising a unified army," Eric muttered to us both.

"Unified army?" Emerick let out a snarl, his gaze glinting like venom. "Are you asking me to forget what has happened between our families?"

"I do not ask you to forget," I cut him off, my voice curt. "I do not ask you to forgive. I only ask you to put aside our differences for once - for once -"

"Put aside our differences?" Deimos mocked, getting up and knocking the table over, causing the nearby ones to flinch. "Do not forget that you burned down my castle, Edwina Tremayne!"

"Shall I remind you how many times you have tried to kill me?" I snapped back, my spine stiffening. "Shall I remind you how many times you've tried to rape me, steal from me, torture me?"

"That is beside the point!" Emerick bellowed, tossing his wineglass aside with a shatter. "You," he snarled, pointing a death finger to me, "you have killed members of my family. And you expect me to fight beside you?"

"Do not forget your place, Rotavelle!" I shouted right back at him, exhaling sharply.

"It is you who does the forgetting!" Alaric growled, his gaze darkening to pitch black. "I still remember the way you humiliated me at the coronation last year!"

Tristan slapped him.

"Keep your mouth shut or she'll humiliate you again," he hissed right into his ear.

I could hear Rowan let out a throaty chuckle as I pulled Tristan back, cautiously putting a hand on his back as Alaric rubbed his cheek.

"You promised us no blood would be drawn," he spat a glob of blood on the marble.

"I did, but I make no promises for the High King," my voice remained cool as a ghost of a laugh danced on my husband's lips.

"She killed Celestina. You killed Favian. I will not fight beside you!" Emerick shouted.

"Your House broke guest right by trying to kill guests at a wedding. And you murdered my children," Eric gritted his teeth, his eyes flashing like thunder. "We do not forget."

"I am not asking you to forget!" I interrupted them both. "You think I do not have enemies of my own? Each and every person in this room has considered killing me at one point," my voice cracked with deadly fire. "I do not forget. I do not forget how the Rotavelles hunted me like hellhounds. I do not forget how the Everlys nearly tortured me to death. I do not forget how the Tremaynes and LeVanes left me in my time of need. I do not forget how Apollo Valmont threatened to rape me. I remember it all, and yet here I stand asking you to help us."

Wars and battles, so many of them.

If we went at this rate, this would never stop. The bloodshed would never stop. Nearly each of the Houses had tried to kill me. The Rotavelles had murdered Everly children. They'd burned the Fortress of the Emmersons. They'd attacked us at a wedding. The Tremaynes and Valmont had killed members of their families. The Dessari had imprisoned three immortals. The Everlys had starved the Grendel. On and on it went, each and every person only hurling accusations and piling them up in a tower that threatened to reach the skies.

"Forget it," Amphitrite crossed her arms, her jaw tight. "Nothing in this world will move me to side beside the family who killed my children!"

"It will not convince us, either," Reynald said coldly, his nose wrinkled in distaste. "I find allying with pure blooded supremacists to be outside my boundaries of tolerance."

"You don't see it, do you?" Tristan roared, his face whiter than ever. "This is not a game anymore! This is not about one of us. This goes beyond us all. Let's get this straight. You are our enemy. We are your enemy," his voice was firm, detached. "But a greater enemy is now upon us. This is the last stand we have. This is our last chance. If we lose freedom here, we have no place to run to. There is no escape. We can save ourselves from the civil war that has started in Endollon - but the only thing that can save us from the coming war is each other."

Even Emerick looked shaken as the last word tumbled out of Tristan's lips.

And then, from the corner of the room, I heard it.

A slow, mocking clap.

And then that voice which followed in all my nightmares.

"That was quite a speech, son. Perhaps you're not that useless after all."

My blood ran cold when I saw him standing right there on the threshold, a bitter smile on his face.

Apollo.

• • • • •

What's Apollo doing here? And how do y'all think all those stubborn people can reach a conclusion when there's literally no end in sight? Drama gets hype next week because that damned Apollo is back - so...

!!!

See y'all next time, stay curious, stay golden, stay hydrated, lots of love my chicas ❤❤