Page 197 of The Eye of the Fifth
The visions disappeared as Empress Azar’s tendrils retracted back into her body. Her voice was a wisp in the silent air. ‘Do you see now, Gedeon? Do you see how important you are? You, and this female beside you, will bring about the beginning of a new age.’ Her excitement was mounting. Those foul, peculiar shadows writhed from her skin like smoke in response to it.
Kyra’s pulse was a drum. ‘You killed every Earth Warden that came before me, didn’t you? There is no curse on the line. You were just waiting for me.’
‘The eclipse and quake happening on the day of your birth was no mere coincidence, Kyraena Daeiros,’ the Empress said. ‘I knew then that you were the one the prophecy eluded to. It was a sign from the Gods. Not those once-mortal pretenders who call themselvesMothers,but the divines of all creation.’ She gestured to the ceiling. A depiction of Xados and Xusyn glowered down at the scene below with acute dominance. As though they were the orchestrators of every moment. ‘I answered the call of duty bestowed upon me. I will be the hand that restores Them to glory. I will ensure Their deliverance. I will unite Droria as one as Their mortal consort. The Four Mothers will fall. Dohra will return. And the Old Gods will rise again.’
Betrayal rang true in Gedeon’s voice as he asked, ‘When was this prophesied?’
‘Not long before you were born,’ Empress Azar said softly. Sadness etched itself into the lines of her face. ‘I wanted you beside me, Gedeon, when the Four Mothers fell. I wanted you to stand proudly by to witness the dawning of the new world. It is not too late to still take that place at my side. All will be forgiven, my son, once what needs to be done is done.’
She turned her attention to Kyra. ‘You have been the long-awaited key, Kyraena. The key to Droria’s salvation from these false Goddesses. Do you not feel it now, pulling you to fulfil your fate? Have you not guessed?’ She recited one line from the prophecy, one line that nearly made Kyra’s legs buckle beneath her: ‘“Bonded must Earth and Fire be, for Light and Dark to once more be free.’”Azar’s eyes gleamed. ‘Yes,yes,my dear girl… you understand, don’t you?’
Kyra’s breaths were shallow now. There was no air in the room, no space in her mind, no fucking sense left in the world.
She looked at Gedeon.
And saw her own despair staring back at her in those midnight eyes.
Her bottom lip quivered as she watched Gedeon open his mouth then close it again. Words failing him as much as they were her.
Bonded.
Her mate.
He was her mate.
Fated lovers. The divine pairing of two souls.
Mate. Mate. Mate.
‘You knew,’ Kyra whispered, not caring who heard her. ‘You knew… didn’t you?’
She understood then the pain she’d witnessed beneath the fury on his face just minutes before. Slowly, Gedeon nodded.
A shard of ice pierced her heart. ‘About the prophecy too?’
‘No,’ he said in a low voice, and Kyra saw only truth in his eyes. ‘I never knew about the prophecy. I swear it.’
Empress Azar drawled, ‘How lucky you both are to have found each other in this lifetime. To find one's mate… I am told there is no greater feeling, no greater power in the world.’
There was nothing but black rage in Gedeon’s eyes as he glowered at his mother. ‘This was your plan all along? Wait for my mate to be born, then use us both in your bid to destroy this world as we know it?’
‘Destroy?’the Empress hissed. ‘I seek not to destroy this world, but to restore it, Gedeon! You -both of you- have been chosen by the Gods! There is no greater honour. You are Night and Day incarnate, such a thing has never been seen! United in your mortal bodies, youare conduits for the Gods to rule again! ThetrueGods. Once you accept what lies between you, Their former power will be restored. Dohra will be freed. The false Goddesses will lose their divinity and everything I have worked for will finally unfold.’
‘And if we don’t?’ Kyra demanded. Her voice shook. ‘If we refuse to make the bond?’
Azar gave a truly frightening smile. ‘Your friend’s presence here has more than one use, Kyraena Daeiros.Hossean, bring the girl before me.’
Kyra could do nothing but watch as the High Wielder dragged Rosary by the arm, forcing her to her knees at the Empress’ feet.
A sentry pressed a sword into her hand. Her delicate, porcelain fingers deliberately wrapped around its golden hilt, and she inhaled as though she savoured every second. ‘I present to you a choice. Accept the bond that tethers you to my son, or watch your dearest friend die.’
‘Don’t, Kyra,’Rosary said, her voice level. She held her chin high, and her eyes blazed with conviction. As if she had already resigned to death.
Blood pounded in Kyra’s ears. ‘That’s not a choice,’ she seethed through her terror. ‘It’s an ultimatum.’
‘Just like your grandmother before you,’ Empress Azar agreed. ‘A full circle of irony. She relinquished the magic of her people to spare their lives. What willyougive up, Kyraena, to spare Rosary’s?’ She stood, placing the tip of her sword under Rosary’s chin. Still Rosary’s resolve did not waver. ‘Decide your friend’s fate, or I will decide it for you.’
Kyra surged forward with a snarl.
