Page 107 of Consort of the Dragon King

“I have several protective spirits who watch over a chosen few. Hibiki is one of them,” Sophina explained. “He helps ensure I can keep you safe.”

“But why me?” Auslin wanted to know.

She smiled at Auslin with a fondness he didn’t understand. “Because you are the one who has been chosen to stay by Kitsuki’s side.”

Kizoshi laughed. “You say as if you were not the one who chose him to stay by Kitsuki’s side.”

“Eh, semantics,” Sophina dismissively said with a wave of her hand before the two women laughed again.

“I still don’t understand why you picked me out of everyone else in the Living Realm,” Auslin said.

“Because Kitsuki deserves only the best, and you are all things good and pure in the world,” Sophina replied. “I would rather have been stripped of my powers and position than allow Kitsuki to suffer through an eternal life of suffering with Nasume when I knew I had a chance of saving him.”

Auslin bowed his head. “I’ll never stop being grateful for what you did.”

“All I ask in return is that you love Kitsuki the way he deserves,” Sophina requested. “His happiness is all I have ever wanted for him.”

“Thankfully, Fate’s Gate made it possible,” Kizoshi added. “If Sophina had rewritten your fates, Shaleia would have been the first to demand you be sentenced to a miserable life in the Beyond Realm.”

Sophina scowled at the reminder. “My twin is a huge stickler about following the rules because our mother is so infamous for breaking them,” Sophina complained. “How she can bear to live such an austere life with no joy is beyond me.”

“That is not entirely fair to say when she thoroughly enjoys torturing you,” Kizoshi joked. “It has been that way since we were children.”

Sophina laughed. “It is certainly true criticizing me and my occasional creative enforcement of my duties has always been one of Shaleia’s favorite pastimes.”

“At least she is not the one in charge of punishing you for transgressions.” Kizoshi ruefully shook her head. “The only person she despises more than you would be me.”

“Oh, yeah, shehatesyou with the fiery passion of a thousand suns.” Sophina leaned over to hug her best friend. “Thankfully, I love you, which is what truly matters.”

Kizoshi’s tone was teasing as she returned the show of affection. “Yes, you love me almost as much as my brother.”

Auslin thought their interactions were adorable, but he still didn’t entirely understand what they were talking about. “Why would Shaleia hate you, Kizoshi?”

“Because she disapproves of me nudging fate into better directions from time to time,” Kizoshi answered with a wicked grin.

“Your brother is a great example of that,” Sophina told Auslin. “He was always destined to fall in love with Reskin, which would eventually lead him to Kisano. However, it was supposed to happen when Sephen was an old man.”

“I may have suggested Kisano send his collected works to the Fate’s Gate Templemuchearlier than he was supposed to, so Sephen would have access to them at a younger age,” Kizoshi explained.

It seemed incredibly risky from everything Auslin knew about the Powers. “But wouldn’t doing that get you into trouble?”

“They were always meant to be together, sotechnically, we did not rewrite their fates,” Sophina replied. “We merely took a chance at speeding the timeline since your passing through Fate’s Gate rewrote your fate and thus affected the lives of everyone near you.”

“I believed it would be in your best interests because it would allow Sephen to stay close to you, and Kisano would not live such a long and lonely life believing he was worth nothing,” Kizoshi told Auslin. “Shaleia almost had my head over that one.”

“Why would she care?” Auslin wondered. It startled him when Kiribi raced over to jump on his lap. He petted the cat spirit, which was even softer than Liros’s cloud owl. Kiribi stayed for a few moments before pouncing on Hibiki when he came to investigate.

“Fate and destiny are always intertwined,” Sophina replied. “Destiny is all about making choices, but the events are predetermined. Fate is unchanging and will happen regardless of your action or inaction.”

“That has always been my understanding of it,” Auslin said with a nod.

“Fate’s Gate was made with ancient, powerful magic,” Sophina continued. “As the legends say, it can rewrite someone’s fate if they walk through the gate if the Fate Power deems them worthy enough. I took a gamble in guiding you to stop in front of the monument that night, hoping you would make the choice to go through Fate’s Gate.”

Auslin scratched his head. “But why would that upset your sister so much?”

“Because when that ancient magic touched you, it rewrote your fate, which then changed everyone’s connected to you. Doing that affected their destinies as well,” Sophina told him. “Fate is supposed to be an unalterable constant that happens regardless of anything you do. Thus, Shaleia accused me of undermining her authority as the Destiny Power in having so many lives permanently rewritten.”

From the sounds of it, Sophina had massively overstepped the boundaries of what was allowed. “Then how did you not get in trouble with the council?”

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