Chapter 25

Chapter

Twenty-Five

SELENE

E mbers danced before me, shifting and shaping in the frosty night as we sat just outside the Southern Border of Menodore. So many morbid thoughts raced through my mind, my appetite completely nonexistent as Ric placed a piece of smoked meat on my lap. Our late dinner smelled salty and truthfully mouth-watering but that nausea didn't quell.

Not when the heady fog loomed expectantly just yards away. It wasn't a beckoning or a pull but more of a taunting leer.

When my powers were restored and the Gods returned, the land of Menodore and Atrium became prosperous once again, except for the places that Medies and the High King had infected, of course. All across the nations the soil became fertile, trees and bushes and greenery sprouting with Ragnar's foliage magic present in our realm.

All except for Menodore.

The land was still cursed, thick and cloudy fog obscuring our vision right along the border, like a veil of darkness. According to Haco, my homeland needed my blood to bless the soil in order to lift the curse caused by Radha binding my powers. Then Menodore would be released but none of us knew how the land would react to the sudden change.

It could be a flimsy reversal of the curse where the fog drops, the land still morbid and dying and in need of attention. Or the whole northern country could transform, completely shift into something new, or back into what it once was, causing a ripple of changes across the nation.

So the Gods needed time to prepare the border, to set up a shield of sorts to protect the other neighboring countries from the possible changes. I immediately volunteered to assist but was shut down by Aither, the Goddess of Winds, and told to stay at camp like a sitting duck.

It was the dead of winter, just a few days away from Bruma—the Winter Solstice—and the solar eclipse. The nights had already grown longer and darker, the days shorter, but lately, they felt like mere seconds with how quickly time passed.

Minka and Cordelia sat shoulder to shoulder across from me, their forms almost hazy from the blazing fire between us. Igor sat with Jude and Ausra, his short legs propped up on a crate of supplies as they picked at their own plates of food. Nobody was in a rush off to bed despite the late hour and day of hard traveling.

We were all sitting… Almost waiting in a way, but not for the evening to end.

Ausra mechanically ate her plate with grace and efficiency, staring at the fire with her brown eyes cold and lifeless. Her short blonde hair was pulled back by a strap of leather, completely pristine and shiny. Just like her twin sister Evia, she kept a cold and hard exterior now instead of the usual sunshiny warmth that made her a phenomenal healer. Her face was expressionless but through my power blessed by Bomris, I could feel the sadness and sorrow wafting off of her, so heady and downtrodden.

I wanted to hold her, to help her through this but right now, Ausra needed more time and space to grieve her lost wife. Her loss continuously put this war into perspective for me, how quickly one could be here and then lost.

Looking around the fire, I stared at the people who'd followed me here. At Keva and Ric whispering into each other's ears, the latter's cheeks reddening. At Jude stealing Igor's cup of wine when he turned his head to look at Crodic, who was studying his own piece of fatty meat. I watched how Minka's body melted into Cordelia's, a sigh effortlessly leaving her rosebud lips.

I looked at the people who had given so much of themselves, who chose to follow the Rebellion in hopes of a better world for all. The High King remained along with the Crown of Daemonium and Emrys in his grasp. Evil prevailed even when surrounded by all this love and light and it made me question everything.

Every decision, every choice, and every life I had taken in the pursuit of this better world. Was every wicked and calculated choice I made truly for that better world, or for my own selfish need to have Emrys back?

Was I really willing to sacrifice that world that we'd all fought for, in exchange for Emrys' life?

Was I willing to sacrifice these people, my family, for my Mate?

Or was I willing to sacrifice my Mate, my light and love, to fulfill the Fates' wishes?

It was harrowing question after question as I looked at the ones willing to sacrifice themselves for the world we all hoped for. And beyond them was tent after tent, filled with all manners of people willing to make those same sacrifices. Mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, friends and family. High Fae, druid, ogre, human, even Godsdamned pixies.

Every manner of being gathered within our encampment, within the Rebellion.

We all fought for the same thing, all wanted that freedom, and that made the sacrificial question all the more heart-wrenching—to follow fate or my heart.

The slab of meat continued to warm my lap through my clothes, Keva nudging my shoulder with her own, "You need to eat, Sel."

Usually, I'd roll my eyes at her and her motherly coddling but I couldn't seem to even muster that up. With a heavy hand, I took a hearty bite out of the steak and forced myself to swallow as I watched my loved ones and debated the Fates and their precarious webs.