Sunlight bathed the rocky hill that Cauldra sat upon, reflecting off the bronze armor of the guards who patrolled the land around the manor. Unlike Wayfair, no inner walls separated the royal estate from the farmlands and those who tended the swaying cornstalks and other crops. As we climbed the hill, as yet unnoticed, I looked down at the sweeping valleys dotted with modest, stone homes and the fields full of those working at the end of harvest. Irelone was a part of a vital shipping chain with its capital serving as the port, but my mother and King Ernald had also sought a union with Irelone for the lands full of rich soil, untouched by the Rot.
Cauldra Manor came into view, the gently swaying ivy clinging to the ivory stone stilling as we crested the top of the hill. From the nearby stables, horses whinnied nervously.
“Halt!” a guard near an open set of doors shouted, striding forward, steel sword drawn. Several guards at the stables turned, and I imagined it wasn’t often they came across people strolling out of the Pinelands. “Announce yourselves!”
I glanced at Ash.
One side of his lips curved up as he continued several more steps, something the guards coming from the stables didn’t appreciate. They, too, drew their swords. “I am the Asher, the One who is Blessed. The Guardian of Souls,” Ash said, and I swore even the clouds above stopped moving. “The Primal God of Common Men and Endings, the ruler of the Shadowlands. I am Nyktos, the Primal of Death, and this is my Consort.”
Silence.
About half a dozen guards stared in utter silence.
Then the one who’d spoken first laughed. “And I’m the fucking King of Irelone,” he scoffed, his declaration met with raucous laughter.
“Well,” I said under my breath. The guards were too far away to notice anything off about his eyes. “That didn’t go as expected.”
Ash smirked as he turned his attention on the guards. The embers in my chest suddenly vibrated, responding to the charge of power hitting the air around us.
Behind us, a rush of birds took flight from the pines in a flurry of wings. They flew over in a wave of black, startling the guards. Tiny bumps spread across my skin as I glanced at the Primal. In the distance, from the valley below, dogs howled, and the horses’ whinnying increased.
Ash’s chin dipped as his skin thinned. Shadows blossomed beneath its surface, spreading and churning as eather-laced midnight poured out into the space around him, billowing above the grass.
The air near his shoulders thickened and sparked. A rush of wind tossed tendrils of hair across my face as the faint outline of wings arced high above us. “Then you must be the King of Irelone,” Ash said, eyes filling with churning wisps of eather. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
The guard had gone slack-jawed and as pale as a corpse. I would’ve laughed, except he and the others looked close to passing out. Several of them stepped back. None ran, though. Or screamed.
They dropped to their knees like dominoes. Swords clattered off rock and earth as heads bowed, and they pressed shaking hands to the ground and against their chests.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness.” One spoke above the murmurs of…prayers. “We didn’t know. Please—”
“There is nothing to apologize for,” Ash interrupted. The charge of energy faded from the air as the rippling shadows vanished around us. The howling stopped. Horses quieted. Ash’s grin had spread to a smile. “Rise.”
The guards clumsily stood, eyes wide with fear and bodies trembling. I couldn’t blame those whose lips still moved in silent prayers, but it struck me—what had been said about how mortals felt when near Kolis, the true Primal of Death. How they reacted to him.
How Sotoria had reacted to him.
It was the same as those who stood before Ash now—those who would have likely wept with joyous tears if it had been Kolis who’d walked out of the Pinelands. They would have rushed to greet him and worship at his feet. They’d welcome a monster who presented himself as a savior, all because they believed him to be the Primal of Life.
A label. A title. A belief regarding what was good and what was bad changed everything. And it shouldn’t be that way.
“We’re here to speak with Princess Kayleigh.” I spoke then, drawing the guards’ stares. I had no idea what they thought when they looked upon me, if they believed me to be a god or not. “Is she in residence?”
“S-she is,” a guard said. “She a-always is. Prefers t-the manor over Castle Redrock.”
“Good.” Ash smiled, and I wasn’t sure if that put any of the guards at ease. “Will one of you take us to her?”
Ash displayed a new Primal power I hadn’t known him to be capable of.
Coin didn’t fall from trees as I’d once heard King Ernald tell Tavius, but coin did spring forth from the soil beneath Ash’s boots as we followed a stunned guard into the manor. He left behind enough riches for the guards to feed themselves and their families for several years.
He said nothing as I glanced at him questioningly, but I knew he’d done it to make amends for the fright he’d given them.
Just as he had done for the guard who led us past the banners of green and yellow bearing the emblem of a ship that adorned the hall of Cauldra Manor. The pouch at the guard’s hip had swollen with the quiet jingle of coins the man had remained unaware of. He stopped in front of a small receiving chamber.
Inside the sunlit-drenched space, the Princess sat on a couch, her legs tucked beneath the hem of a lilac day gown. She was reading from a book in her lap as she idly ran her hand down the back of a black and white cat curled up beside her, Kayleigh’s mass of brown hair piled into a knot atop her bowed head.
The cat noticed us first, lifting its furry head to give us a sleepy-eyed glare. The look gave the distinct impression that it was annoyed by our interruption.
The guard cleared his throat, bowing deeply. “Princess Kayleigh, you have visitors.”
Kayleigh gave a little jerk at the sound of his voice, her head snapping up. The vision I had seen of her in the Pools of Divanash had been accurate. She looked healthy. Happy. Nothing like the last time I’d seen her in person.
And she looked right at me. Surprise widened her eyes. “My gods, is that you, Seraphena?” she said, her chest rising sharply as she closed the book in her lap.
I nodded. “It is.”
“How did you…?” She trailed off as she glanced at Ash. Blood drained rapidly from her heart-shaped face. “My gods, you’re a…” She rose so quickly the book fell from her lap to flop against the thick carpet. The cat gave an irritated thump of his tail off the now-vacant cushion. She started to lower herself—
“That’s unnecessary.” Ash stopped her, much to my relief and her and the guard’s surprise. “You do not need to bow.”
Her forest green eyes were bright. “But—”
“It’s all right,” I jumped in. “He’s not the bow-to-me type of Primal.”
“Well, sometimes I am,” he murmured.
I shot him a look as Kayleigh stared in confusion. “We need to speak with you.” I flicked a glance at the guard. “In private.”
She nodded, swallowing. “Thank you for bringing them here, Rolio.”