Page 114 of The Royal Gauntlet

“A new blade in addition to the two that are already floating around? That’s a winning idea,” Finn grumbles.

“What we need is the blood of the God and Goddess Supreme in order to shift the veil back into place and to forge a new weapon,” Estelle says solemnly, and my anger spikes. My conversation with Esmaray was short but loaded with new information that I haven’t had time to utilize, but now is the time for that.

“Too bad we’re fresh out of blood from the God Supreme, what with him being dead,” Finn snarks. If he still had eyes, I bet he would roll them. With how vocal he’s being I can’t help but think it was a good idea to have Bria stay. She’s helping him even if it goes against what Dion thinks is best.

“You mean, you need the blood of Titans,” I state dryly.

Sybil has the decency to look chastened as they glance up the table in my direction.

“Titans?” Helene asks, confused.

“Titans. As in the creators of our universe. As in your parents aren’t the only ones.” I level my glare at Octavia, who doesn’t look the least bit ashamed, even though she won’t meet my eye. I already revealed to her that I knew this, but it’s the first time her other children are hearing it.

“I’m so lost,” Helene says, glancing from me to her mother to the Fates.

“Why don’t you give us a history lesson, oh ‘Goddess Supreme?’”

Essos squeezes my knee under the table, and I wonder if my sarcasm is too much.

Octavia huffs before starting, “We were born from a kernel of the universe. There were six of us, but only three remain. We were Titans of the world, and we created the universe to be what we wanted. We added birds to the skies and water to the lakes. We created Solarem to be the safe haven that it is for people of our kind, and we molded more and more types so as to give the world magic.

“When the two other Titans chose to flood the world with their magic and become one with the realm, it left the remaining four with a question of what to do. We had nymphs and sea creatures. Out of necessity to serve the mortal realm, gods were being born. Werner, the God of Mischief. Gisella, the Goddess of Knowledge and Truth. I had Essos, then the twins. The other two Titans continued their lives happily.”

I glare at Octavia, waiting for her to admit her indiscretion.

She continues. “I fell in love with the God of the Sun and bore him a son, and I was happy. I wanted to live the life I wanted with the man I loved, but Titus told me that I had to choose between my son and my lover. He didn’t want me, but he didn’t want anyone else to have me either. If I chose my lover, I would never see any of my children again, including Lairus’s child. I would have been cast out and ruined. So, I chose the life I did, and I’m not mad that I did.”

Octavia folds her hands on the table. It’s not the whole story, and I trust it a lot less than I trust Esmaray’s story. I can’t say why. It’s clear I don’t know Esmaray better, but I know Octavia’s character, and I know I can’t trust her. I open my mouth to question her further, but Cat beats me to the punch.

“Who are the other Titans? You said three remain. You and who else? Can we get them to help?” I love Cat’s impassioned plea. She hasn’t been one of us for long, but she fits right in.

Estelle is tight-lipped before she finally speaks. “In the absence of the blood of the God Supreme, perhaps we can try with the next best thing. As children of Titans, blood from Essos, Xavier, Helene, and Galen should satisfy that requirement. The stronger the blood we have, the better.”

“Mother, who are the other Titans?” Xavier pushes.

Cat turns her head in his reaction, still careful not to make eye contact. I stay silent, wondering if Octavia will come clean about everything.

“Could you use that blood to imbue another weapon to make it a God Killer also?” Essos asks, his train of thought on a totally different path.

“The bloodisthe metal of the God Killer blade. Using your blood is imperfect, but we will have to make do,” Estelle answers.

I can practically see the gears turning in Essos’s head as he rubs his thumb over his lower lip. I want to bite his thumb and lower lip and be anywhere but here.

“What about the blood of a fifth child?” My question causes Essos to frown. More blood drawn from my body. I lift one shoulder to him in apology but wait for an answer. My obvious preference would be to avoid that. I don’t want to spill my blood any more than Essos wants me to, but if that will make it stronger, I will.

Essos pinches the bridge of his nose. “Why is bleeding my wife one of the first options? Why shouldn’t a Fate bleed for once?” I don’t think Essos really means it when he mutters that under his breath, but it raises an interesting question of using the blood of two Fates against once. “If the blood is the metal, then we can make another weapon.”

Sybil must realize that I’m talking about me. Everyone else is exchanging confused glances. Sybil does what their sister is unwilling to do–they answer Cat. For whatever reason, Estelle has chosen to stick with perpetuating the lie of the God and Goddess Supreme, even if all the cards are on the table. “Lairus and Esmaray are the other two Titans. The sun and the moon. It’s been a closely guarded secret that we’ve held for eons.” Estelle looks at Sybil with censure in her eyes. “What’s the saying, sister? In for a penny, in for a pound? Clearly, the way things were working aren’t any longer. It’s time to try something new.”

Essos tips his head at them in thanks while squeezing my knee under the table again.

Helene turns her attention on her baby brother, pointing a finger in his face. “Great. Galen, ask your daddy for some blood. I imagine it’s going to take some time for this weapon to actually be forged, so chop-fucking-chop. It would be nice for all of us to be armed against Posey.”

Finn cuts in. “I repeat, why do we want a third blade floating around?”

Sybil ignores him and addresses Helene’s comments first. “She’s right. This will take time. It requires the blood of two Titans to work. If we can get Lairus’s blood to mix with Octavia’s instead of the blood of the children, the blade will be stronger for it. We don’t know that your blood will even work for a weapon or the veil.” Whatever silent accord Estelle and Sybil had about information or the Titans or whatever, Sybil is done with it. They rise to their feet, ready to jump into action. This is the person I remember from the Calling.

“Why should Lairus bleed for the woman who murdered his son? You haven’t evenaskedif I’m willing,” Octavia spits, getting to her feet. She stares down her only daughter, waiting for a good enough response. She just doesn’t expect it to come from the man sitting beside her.

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