Epilogue

EPILOGUE

ELVI ILROTH, QUEEN OF THE SPIRIT COURT

The world is real, warm, and brighter than it’s been for so many years. The damp, dim dungeons I’ve called home for thousands of days, with only Ares as company, are gone. Instead, I can smell laundry, flowers, and embers of a fire. A soft, gentle hand strokes my cheek, and a woman is humming a familiar song I remember from my childhood. I’d know this small, cosy room anywhere. It was my home, from my childhood, a place I thought I’d never get to see again. The woman keeps singing, lulling me back from the spell, from the magic latched around my soul like a chain.

I sang the same song to my baby, but she always preferred the haunting music of the song of the fifth court, a song made of shadows and darkness. A song which the castle knew was made for her. I remember the day she was born, almost like it was only yesterday. It was such a long labour, over four days, and by the end, I thought time would end before she came into the world. Then she was there, pink and screaming her lungs off, telling the Spirit Court they had a new ruler. The castle played the song over and over as I touched her sweet face, gazed into her eyes, and watched her father fall in love in a heartbeat. It was the single greatest day of my entire life. It is the memory I sink into when I need strength, a comfort for me. I promised that day to protect her forever, to be her watcher, to be the hand on her shoulder, guiding her through her darkest days…but Ares stole that promise and crushed it.

I saw her. My Ellelin. She is so grown up, a woman now, and she is the image of her father. Her hair was once as black as ravens’ wings, but now it’s the deepest purple that reminds me of a twilight sunset in the Fire Court…but she was hurt. I couldn’t help her. I couldn’t stop him.

“Ellelin?” I gasp, my voice cracking with every word, like talking is forbidden to me now.

My husband is gone. Dead. The court is destroyed, and I’m…where am I?

“Oh, thank the skies and heavens. You’re awake. The spell worked. I thought I might have to sacrifice some humans or even the cursed cat to wake you,” my mother exclaims in relief, and a strange cat meows in protest, its bell ringing as it runs away.

My mother, Hera, is here. It feels like just yesterday I begged the castle to open a portal and send Ellelin to my mother. I knew she would keep her safe, bring her up with love, and teach her to fight. I kissed my husband goodbye for the last time and vowed to protect his child with every inch of magic I had left. We both gave up everything to stop Ares, protect our people, and give Ellelin a real chance at a life. “Where is she? Where is my daughter?”

“Calm down, Elvi. Breathe,” my mother commands, her voice sharp as a knife. I widen my eyes, pushing off the thin blanket, searching for my powers only to find nothing. Ares might not have me in his grasp, but he took my powers. He made sure I wouldn’t be able to escape. Locking him down there took everything from me.

Anger fuels me as I face my mother. “Where is my daughter?”

She sighs, picking up my thin hand and patting it. “Ellelin is strong, powerful, and able to fight her own battles. I trained her myself, loved her like my own. Phobos taught her to defend herself, and I taught her magic. She’s…okay.”

“My Ellelin will never be safe so long as there are gods in Ayiolyn,” I snap, and my mother winces. My shoulders drop. “I’m sorry, Mother. Thank you for loving her, for teaching her to fight… I just need to see my daughter.”

My mother cups my cheek. “I know the feeling. I thought you were lost to me… I could not sense your soul in this world or any.”

“I did what was needed,” I hoarsely whisper. “And paid for it. Ellelin…let’s go to her.”

“We can’t.” My mother shakes her head. “She’s gone after Ares and Aphrodite to save the other court kings. There is much I need…”

The rest of her words blur away as pure terror lances through my chest. “She can’t kill him! No one can! We have to stop her!” I scramble to my feet. “NOW!”

“Calm down,” my mother gently coaxes me, touching my hands.

“No, you don’t understand why I’ve been trapped for so many years with him. We didn’t kill him for a reason,” I all but shout at her, like she might be able to warn my daughter. “We found out something during our research on the gods. My king, he knew Ares would come for us, so he searched every court, every inch of our world for a way to kill him, and that’s when he found out the truth. He cannot be killed. It’s why we did everything back then, why I used the last of my magic to lock him in the castle with me. That’s why we trapped him. He can’t be killed. Ares can’t be killed, not by anybody. The person who kills Ares will become Ares, and he will take their power. He transports himself from body to body like that, absorbing power as he goes.” My mother’s eyes widen, fear flashing in the depths. “If Ellelin kills him, she will become him, and he will get the power of the Spirit Court like he always wanted. There is nothing in this world that would be able to save her!”

My mother looks out the window, her tanned skin draining of colour. The night sky is bright with a thousand stars, but one is faded. I felt it too, the shake felt across all worlds as I woke and he died. A feeling the stars themselves share across the worlds. A god has been killed.

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