REALIZATION

30

By the time Aria found her parents and shared the tentative good news about Shara's reaction, they were late to the meeting room. Everyone—the Legion Council, Luka's squad, Taren, Clem, Hyla, and even Professor Embris—were already gathered around the room, with the leaders seated at the table and everyone else in chairs against the wall.

It was a tight squeeze, all of them in there at once, with the room really only intended to hold small groups. But as Aria took her seat, she couldn't help but beam at Luka. They had been the ones to get all of these people in the same room together successfully. Even if it was cramped.

Once again, Selene was the last one to enter, taking her seat at the head of the table, her silver locs swept up in an ample bun on the top of her head and adorned with silver cuffs throughout. She really was the most elegant woman Aria had ever seen, but her admiration was cut off by Selene's usual brusque entry, at odds with the casual demeanor they'd seen from her in her office.

"As I told Luka and Aria, I must say, I'm happy to see you all here in agreement to work together. As I also informed them, I'm unable to assist you when it comes to finding a solution. But I'll do my best to answer any questions I can."

"I do have a question, actually, before we begin," Aria spoke softly. Everyone looked to her as Selene urged her to continue. Since none of them had gotten in trouble for their snooping the other day, she assumed it had gone unnoticed. Perhaps it was not wise to bring it up here, but she had to know… "We came across some information in our search," she started. Selene didn't need to know where they had been searching. "To be honest, I don't even know if it has anything to do with why we're gathered here today. But it's on all our minds. There were some writings that may have suggested that fae are descendants of a bat shifter race…" she treaded carefully, assessing Selene's reaction. She was grateful everyone else had been filled in on the revelation, in one way or another, the rest of the room like stone as she spoke. "Could you… Could you confirm if that's true?"

Selene's eyes darkened. "Where did you see this?"

Aria thanked Mallium for the fact that seers could only see into the future and not the past. Selene's question confirmed no one had suspected their wrongdoing. But before she could conjure a lie, Shara spoke for her.

"There are some old journals in our archives and a few of our librarians put it together. It has long been rumored, but we wish to know if it is true," Shara met Aria's eyes with kindness. Perhaps this was the first outstretched hand. Whatever General Glacius's reason for supporting Aria in this moment, she was unspeakably grateful.

Selene looked between them, suspicious. "Much of the knowledge of Wren's creation is protected by our oath," she began. "The fae's origins, however, are something that are still speculated about, even by me. But if you want to know what I've learned in my time here, I believe you are correct." Aria's heart skipped a beat, though she wasn't sure if it was from excitement or dismay. She heard her father sigh a bit at Selene's confirmation, while General Acasia glanced at him smugly. "From what we've discerned, the fae have slowly evolved from a bat race of shifters. I cannot confirm this for sure, and we don't know why or how they evolved differently than other shifter races. But that is what we suspect. That is, unfortunately, all I know. And I request that you keep that information to the people in this room, considering the implications if it were to spread across the continent."

The room was heavy, silent. Most people had discussed the matter separately ahead of the meeting, but no one dared be the first one to make a public statement about the realization. Aria raised her head in surprise when it was Luka who finally spoke. "This should change nothing for us. If anything, it should unite us further," his low voice carried through the room.

"Absolutely," Aria's father agreed a little too quickly. "We were committed to working together before, but knowing we are all the same only amplifies that commitment. We can explore what that might mean in more detail should we make it past the equinox." Small, muttered words of affirmation sounded through the room. It was far more than she'd expected, coming from her father, but she didn't dare question it.

"Any other major suspicions you'd like to address, while we're at it?" Selene raised a skeptical eyebrow at Aria who only shook her head.

Shara's voice rang from across the table. "I think we've all debriefed about most of the things we've learned during our separation, but there is something I'd like to share regarding the Unifier problem, before we get into Mallium's threat. I received word from my spies stationed at Vera's estate." The entire Royal Assembly's eyes went wide at this admission. "One of them overheard a meeting she had with her head guard. Their voices were muffled, but they reported Vera mentioned something about Mallium granting her more of something each day. They couldn't tell what she was talking about, but they also reported her looking younger than she had the last time they'd been there, which wasn't that long ago—maybe a few weeks at most. Have you heard from her? Any word on when she's planning to make her move? What Mallium might be giving her?" Shara looked to Joyen. "If we need to be prepared for a strike, I'd like to know as soon as possible. It concerns me that she seems to have Mallium's ear."

"No," the queen replied, worry spreading across her face. "I believe you've already heard about the last time we spoke. I don't anticipate hearing from her again. At least not until she's executed whatever it is she's planning."

Aria glanced at Selene, whose forehead crinkled deeply with concern at the mention of Mallium, she assumed.

"Aria," Luka got her attention. "Didn't you say Vera was in better health when you saw her?" When she nodded, he continued. "Then our spies have provided confirmation that she's aging in reverse somehow. That doesn't just happen naturally. Even the best healers can't make you younger. That kind of magic, it could only come from—"

"Mallium." Selene finished the sentence gravely. Oh gods , Aria thought with a gulp.

General Brune broke the silence. "But what would he have to gain from assisting the Unifiers? Why would he want to fuel the fire between our realms when he quite literally just gave us an ultimatum to try and bring us together?"

His question lingered in the air. They all looked to Selene, hoping she could provide an answer, but the old woman sat still, her eyes dancing along the table in front of her, deep in thought .

Aria clasped her hands in front of her, brow furrowed, when finally—something clicked in her mind. The timing, the threats…

"It's Vera," she said under her breath.

Her mother looked at her confused. "What—"

"Vera. It's Vera. She's what we'll face on the equinox. Her and the rest of the Unifiers," she choked out the words. When she spoke, the realization began to take form around the room, the puzzle pieces finally falling into place.

"Mother of Mallium," Acasia muttered.

Aria spoke quietly, almost to herself. "Somehow she's been growing in power. I don't understand it, but this must be what she's been planning—to strike on the equinox. Maybe she wants to take advantage of a time when so many are distracted by the ball. When our attentions are elsewhere." She shook her head incredulously, unadulterated rage growing roots deep inside her.

"But why would Mallium be giving her all this power?" Joyen asked. "Making her younger, stronger? What does he gain?" Her question was intended to be rhetorical, but from across the room, Finn—of all people—cleared his throat.

"What if… What if she was the visitor to the Sanctum that day? The one who left better than they came? Could she have visited on the solstice and somehow convinced Mallium to heal her? To make her young again?"

Selene remained quiet, but Aria could see the wheels turning in her mind, wracking her own brain for answers. "It's possible," she said finally, unable to offer them more than that.

"What do you mean ‘it's possible,'" Arach chided haughtily. "You're Head Seer, don't you know all the people who come and go from these gates? Wouldn't she have had to get past you and your acolytes? "

"If she visited on the solstice, we would have been preoccupied with our own sacrifice," Selene gave him a look of warning. "As I mentioned to your daughter, the sacrifice that day didn't go quite as planned. So all I know is that it's possible she may have snuck in and interrupted our usual ritual for her own benefit."

"It has to be her," Aria confirmed. "There is too much overlapping here for her to not be the common denominator."

"That woman never could leave well enough alone," General Brune scoffed from his seat.

Evelyn's voice came from the corner. "Why don't we just kill her and solve all of our problems? Before she can do whatever she's planning to do? If we can get spies into her estate, it shouldn't be that hard to have them assassinate her at the first opportunity." The room pondered that for a moment, considering the consequences.

"Any attempt at killing her would fail," Selene finally spoke, her voice slow and even. "Mallium refuses to show me much, but I do know that whatever he has in store for you is inevitable. And if that is indeed Vera and her army, then she is protected by Mallium himself, just as the Sanctum is."

"You don't think it's worth a shot?" Evelyn asked.

"I think you'd be better served preparing in other ways," Selene replied, itching at her neck. "And that is all I will say. I can already feel him tugging me away from you for saying as much."

"Besides, if we killed her, wouldn't she just become a martyr?" Taren asked, their usually boisterous voice dulled. "My parents have succumbed to her influence. I know for a fact they would just become more devoted to the cause if something happened to her. It would just fuel their hatred. "

The debate raged on like that for hours, back and forth, about how they should deal with Vera and the rest of the Unifier forces. Tensions rose and fell in waves as they continued their discussion, many of them standing and pacing as much as they could in the compact space. But at the end of the day, they still hadn't settled on a plan. Nor did they know what powers Vera had been granted, or what to expect from her.

Afternoon turned into early evening before Selene adjourned the meeting for the day, urging them all to rest and regroup tomorrow. Aria was grateful, her stomach growling fiercely by that point.

As she left the room, she hung back and waited for Luka, who approached her with Evelyn by his side. "I think that went okay," she said, hesitant.

"It went about as well as we could have hoped," he replied.

"At least we figured out what we're facing," Evelyn said. "Or whom, I guess."

"I'm fucking hungry, hurry up!" Taren yelled at them from across the courtyard.

"Yeah, yeah," Aria laughed and quickened her pace, Evelyn and Luka right behind her.

***

When Aria made it back to her room, she could feel herself fighting off sleep. A full day of thinking strategically and arguing about it had exhausted her. And without her magic, her energy level was already low to start with.

By the time she slipped off her shoes and trudged into the bathing room, she felt like a shell of a person, her brain turned to mush. All she really wanted was a bath, but she would have had to haul buckets of heated water to her tub and the idea of that had her settling for a sponge bath instead, bumps grazing her skin from the chilled water as she dried off.

But despite being so tired, the bags that had formed under her eyes were starting to disappear. She'd been sleeping better this week, her usual nightmares replaced by much more pleasant dreams, usually involving Luka or Evelyn. Sometimes a combination of the two.

Her skin warmed instantly, remembering Luka's lips on her neck the night before. As much as she wanted to visit his room again tonight, she was already fantasizing about the rest that awaited her.

She straightened out her sheets before climbing into bed, thoughts of her grandmother's threats looming over her. How had it taken them so long to put two and two together? Why was Mallium rewarding the hatred that boiled inside of Vera? And what exactly was she planning? A million more questions queued in her mind, but sleep claimed her before she had time to acknowledge them.