REVELATION

6

The Allarian rulers, finally arriving from their flight right at dusk, began filing into the room. The leaders of Denover were already seated quietly around the long, white table.

Everything at the Sanctum was made of the same chalky stone—walls, floors, even the furniture. The room felt strangely sterile. Fitting , Aria thought, for the purpose of the Solstice Sanctum as a neutral territory. A supposedly clean slate.

"At least we don't require the protection of guards when we travel. Some of us can protect ourselves," she overheard a feminine voice snide as they entered.

Aria swore she felt Hyla behind her reaching for the sword she'd been forced to turn over before entering the gates, and huff in response. Aria took her seat at the end of the table while trying to find the speaker of the insult but was quickly interrupted.

"I will waste no time with pleasantries," Selene began, bursting into the room behind them, her voice deep and terribly intense. Her silver locs moved gracefully around her face, matching both her eyes and the silver gown she wore—the metallic color reserved only for the head seer role. Her rich brown skin, dark as night, was almost shocking against the contrasting background of the room .

There was no artist in Wren that could capture the leader's beauty, her essence. Selene's power radiated through the room, cutting through the tension that had built steadily since the fae had walked through the door. Originally fae herself, Selene had given up her wings and magic to devote her life to Mallium in exchange for her ability to see the future. Her pointed ears were the only hint at her background.

There had always been seers in Wren, but after the Sanctum was built, Mallium began requiring the trade of power in order to receive his protection and visions. Seering, the act of receiving a vision, was no longer allowed outside of the Sanctum. All seers were beholden to the same exchange: give up your birth-given power and heritage, even your name. And in return, you were given the gift of sight—the ability to receive visions from the god. If they upset him, or failed to complete the sacrifice each solstice, their power—and possibly even their lives—were at risk. Prove yourself worthy, and you can move up in ranks, eventually earning your name back.

Selene had been Head Seer for centuries, and yet the woman didn't look much older than her parents. In fact, Selene may have been the oldest person in Wren as far as Aria knew. She didn't like to think about what Selene had done or promised to the god to keep up her youthful appearance.

"We've already lost precious time." Selene's foreboding eyes wandered to each fae and shifter gathered around the table, all equally confused and alarmed by her unusually frantic demeanor. Selene was known and admired throughout Allar and Denover alike for her steady presence and longing for peace. The urgency she displayed now… Something was wrong.

"Your realms have been at war too long. Mallium is displeased you have ignored his warnings, and you have pushed your limits with his patience. He knows tensions continue to rise and will stand for your petty quarrels no longer."

Aria dared a glance around the room to the shifters, most of whom were staring intently and stoically at Selene, not revealing a hint of emotion. Scanning their faces one-by-one, she came upon Luka's, whose brows were knitted together as he listened. With his lips firmed into a line, his hard features made him look like a statue chiseled from sandy stone.

He must have felt her gaze. Luka turned, his dark eyes piercing into hers from directly across the table, catching her before she could look away. His nose crunched in a snarl, like the smell of her was too much to bear. It was only the second time they'd ever been in the same room, and yet his deep-rooted personal hatred for her flowed off him in waves.

She narrowed her eyes at him in return, refusing to back down from his mediocre attempt to intimidate her. Aria was nothing if not stubborn, and Luka's reputation as an egotistical alpha male preceded him. Her entire life, she'd had to make up for her short stature with the wit, skill, and confidence of someone twice her size. This entitled dragon shifter would certainly not be the one to make her feel small.

He raised an eyebrow in challenge before returning his gaze to Selene as she continued gravely. "You've traveled here expecting the same decree as last year, I'm sure, but I'm sorry to say that is not how you will be departing this time. Mallium has decided to issue you all a test. One that, should you fail, will mean the destruction and decimation of all of Wren." She paused, a hard swallow making its way down her throat. "Consider it a larger scale of the cataclysmic event that created the land where you now sit. If you do not succeed, there will be no survivors. "

The deafening silence in the room was broken by a hysterical cackle from Dariel Brune, the general of the Wolf Province. "Is this some kind of joke?" He looked at Selene skeptically, who remained icily still.

"I assure you, General Brune, I desperately wish I was joking."

"What do you mean?" General Glacius, Luka's mother, peered at Selene under furrowed brows. "What kind of test?"

Selene took a deep breath, steeling herself. "On the next equinox, you will face a force so dark, so powerful, it will take the armies of both realms to defeat," she explained. "Mallium said, ‘When the powers of fae and shifter combine, the world will know peace. Until that day, the real test will be how you exist alongside one another in preparation.'

"By the time the sun sets tomorrow, your border wall will no longer exist. You will not have the security offered so generously by Mallium that you have failed to appreciate. And your people will be able to roam the continent as they wish. How you choose to deal with this is up to you," she went on. "But you would be wise to begin planning now. You will be shown to your resting quarters for the evening, but once the sun rises, you must leave the Solstice Sanctum and return to your lands. Our seers have other business to attend to." Selene began to turn toward the door, effectively dismissing the group of shocked faces surrounding her. Aria studied Selene's hands clasped behind her back and wondered if anyone else noticed the way they trembled ever so slightly.

"Wait, that's it?" King Arach shouted from beside Aria, his hands slapping the table as he pushed himself up and out of his chair. "This must be some kind of joke. What do you mean by a dark force ? How are we supposed to prepare if we have no information about what we are going to face? Why is he suddenly forcing our hands? This will only create chaos!" Murmurs of assent sounded through the room.

"The fae king is right, for once," Shara glanced at Arach before rising out of her chair. "You cannot walk away so quickly after dropping that information on us. If what you say is true , our failure means your demise, and the demise of your precious convent of seers," she spat. "Have you forgotten you exist on this continent, too?"

It was obvious where Luka had inherited his shattering stare. The brusqueness in General Glacius's voice challenged Selene, who slowly returned to the end of the table with a sigh of annoyance.

"Mind yourselves," Selene snapped. "You forget how long I've been in this position. I have known your parents, your grandparents in some cases. You insult me by believing I would lie to you. Not once have I ever lied about a vision. Not now, not ever. Especially not about something like this." Selene's silver glare shot daggers at Shara before she turned back to Arach. "Do you think that I wouldn't give you more information if I possessed it? Mallium left me with the same questions you have, ones he still refuses to answer," she shook her head. "I did not mince his words. When you combine your powers, you will succeed. If you want my advice, put aside your petty differences and prepare for the worst. That is all I can offer you. From the severity of the vision I received, you should count yourself lucky that you are getting any warning at all."

It was the last thing the woman said before stalking out the door and slamming it shut behind her, leaving the leaders mute with disbelief. The air in the room hung stiflingly heavy.

Who would be the first to speak? To make a suggestion of how to proceed? There was no known precedent of Allar and Denover working together, let alone strategizing against an unknown enemy. In fact, there was really no precedent of peace between the realms at all. Was peace even possible? Aria sat quietly, her hands writhing and twisting in her lap nervously.

Her mother spoke first, her hands mirroring Aria's own. "We're all here now. This is obviously unavoidable, so why don't we all sit and discuss what we can—"

"Rich words coming from the woman who wants to overtake our people for your own control," General Acasia Falden interrupted the queen with venom, her icy blue eyes narrowing. Aria could feel the hurt in the panther's statement, the slight tinge of fear escaping from her otherwise stoic demeanor. A flush was visible across her bronze skin. "Why would we trust anything you have to say to us, Your Majesty ?"

At that, the room erupted. The once-regal leaders launched out of their chairs, hurling insults and curses at each other, filling the blank, white space with feral, red-hot anger. Clem and Hyla looked ready to leap across the table at any moment while Arach defended his wife against the accusations of being part of the Unifier movement. General Brune began pacing, laughing to himself and shouting about how they were all doomed. The scene was pure pandemonium.

Aria watched from her seat, dumbfounded, as decades of tensions overflowed, grateful for the lack of magic available to them in that moment. There certainly would have been some bloodshed if they'd had their powers and weapons.

"Enough!" Luka roared from the end of the table, pushing himself out of his chair abruptly. Every single face in the room snapped to him in surprise. "You're all acting like the children Mallium assumes us to be. Get yourselves together. We have a common enemy now. Once we've beaten it, we can go back to our squabbles, but right now we have bigger problems, don't you think? "

Aria blinked, mouth slightly agape at the outburst.

General Glacius cleared her throat, tucking a stray brown strand of hair behind her ear. "My son is right," Shara said, taking a deep breath, adjusting the metal General's pin—three overlapping mountain peaks—on her chest. She resumed her seat. "Arrogance and ignorance make for a deadly combination when left to fester. That , at least, we all know from experience." She looked around the room with a warning glare and the rest of the leaders began to reluctantly take their seats again. "Selene explained our time is precious in this affront," she continued. "Let us pause our prejudices, at least for a moment, to determine our next steps. Can we all agree to that?"

Aria released a sigh of relief. She didn't want to work with the shifters any more than the shifters wanted to work with the fae, but Selene's news was unfathomable. The autumnal equinox was only a few months away, not nearly enough time to prepare for a battle of the magnitude of which she spoke, whatever that battle may look like. Aria immediately thought of her colleagues at the Institute, of Taren. All of her friends that would certainly be put on the front lines. How many would they lose to secure the future of Wren?

Each of the leaders looked around the room, sizing each other up. The tension may have settled from a boil to a simmer, but it was still palpable. None of them wanted to concede that working together was their only option, and yet the inevitable conclusion remained. Either they joined forces, or they sentenced both of their realms to certain death.

Aria spoke for the first time, hiding the fear in her voice as much as possible. "Mallium said the real test would be how we prepare for the equinox. We don't have to be friends, but we do need to be civil if this is going to work. Our only chance at survival is cooperation." She looked to her parents on her right, both offering a small nod in solidarity.

General Glacius glanced at Aria's parents as well. "I don't take this threat lightly, but we will need to consult as a Council before making any rash agreements. Once we have reached a decision, I will send Captain Fulgara with word of our terms. He will act as an ambassador to your kingdom until we can determine our next steps." Luka started to protest, but must have thought better of it when his mother shot him a look.

"That seems reasonable," Joyen conceded. Aria worried that taking more time to agree to work together would just be wasting the withering amount of it they were left with as it was, but she didn't dare question the dragon or her mother out loud. "We will adjourn for now and speak with the full Royal Assembly upon our return home. Perhaps our libraries have insight into what lies ahead for us." Joyen looked to the man on her right with worry, not as King Arach Zephyr, but as her husband. Aria could see the concern running through Joyen's mind. The queen would do anything not to risk the life of him or her daughter. Even work with shifters, if that's what it took.

"Sounds like it's settled then," General Falden said abruptly, visibly upset by the concession of her Head General. "Meeting adjourned." She pushed back from her chair and made a swift exit from the room, her curls swishing behind her. The dragon general looked after her, a slight shake to her head as a seer entered the room through the open door.

"I am pleased to show you to your rooms, if you would follow me," the young woman gestured to the fae, glancing nervously toward the panther shifter who was already out of view.

While the shifters made their way to their own rooms, the group of fae followed the seer toward the dormitory wing reserved for guests, located on the far side of the Sanctum. She must have been a lesser seer, as she had not offered her name. She donned the standard white, modest, full-length gown, but she did have a silver sash tied around her waist which meant she had at least earned some honors during her time. It was probably why she'd been trusted to accompany the leaders while they were there.

She kept her head down and avoided conversation as they crossed the white stone courtyard, the only decor a humble fountain in the center, as was common in most gathering spaces across Wren. The fountains provided a visual representation of life to fae and shifters alike, the water always flowing from the river that began at the Mallium Mountains on the northwestern side of the continent. A reminder of their all knowing, all powerful deity. An homage to the god who held their fragile lives in his hands, Aria recalled from one of her textbooks.

The group walked in relative silence, the only sound their pounding feet echoing across the empty square. Slowly, the group dwindled, the guards trickling into their assigned rooms until it was just Aria and her parents left, housed in the quarters furthest from the shifters. Apparently Selene didn't trust the two realms to be near each other, even to sleep.

"Your Majesties, your room is to the left. Princess Aria, yours to the right," the seer gestured politely with a slight curtsy. "I hope you find the space quite comfortable. Please don't hesitate to ask the seer stationed at the intersection of the halls should you need anything." She offered a smile that stopped at her eyes, clearly unimpressed by the presence of royalty. Perhaps her rounded ears had something to do with it.

Aria returned the smile anyway before turning to her parents, finally able to let down the wall she had barricaded in place before entering the meeting room. Her eyes began to well. She started to say something, but her mother stopped her.

"It will be okay, Ari," her mother said, placing a soft hand on her shoulder, using the nickname Aria hadn't heard since childhood. The nostalgia of it hit her like a tidal wave. "We will figure this out, we always do." Her father just pressed his lips together in a grimace, as close as she would get to reassurance from him.

Aria held back her tears, searching their eyes for any sign of confidence. "Whatever you need from me, I will do it. I can help."

"We know," Joyen said. "Now get some rest. We've got another long journey tomorrow. And an even longer discussion," she sighed, and they entered their room, leaving Aria standing alone in the hallway.

Aria stared at their closed door for a moment before turning to face her own. Her pack fell from her shoulder as she opened the door to the guest room, which was, unsurprisingly, all white. It was a compact space, nothing fancy, only meant for short-term stays of those seeking guidance from the seers. Most of the time it was just normal people—fae and shifters alike—that came to the Solstice Sanctum looking for answers to problems in their life or seeking temporary shelter during their passage through to the other realm.

The only time nobles stayed the evening at the Sanctum was times like this, which meant the rooms were not built to cater to their usual luxury. The sparse room had no decor—just a little bed, a desk, and a chair.

She plopped her pack onto the desk and looked out the tiny window toward the coast. Had it been light outside, she may have been able to see the sea from her room, like her view at home, but it was now well into the night. They had flown from one side of the continent to the other and gone straight into the meeting with no time to decompress. Her exhaustion weighed on her, but after what they'd heard today… Her mind was whirling.

Her feet started moving before she realized what she was doing. She grabbed her book from her bag and closed the door quietly behind her as she left her room and headed down the hallway, past the seer stationed at the entrance to the courtyard. She nodded, acknowledging the seer, hoping to avoid any questions. The seer offered a smile in response, looking at her curiously but not prying. Thank the gods .

The last thing Aria needed was someone tipping off her own guards that she was on the move. She needed to be alone, and she could handle herself. She was almost a member of the Guard herself, for Mallium's sake. She treaded across the stone courtyard lightly, heading toward the fountain. The sound of the water was already beginning to calm her, even from across the square.

Any time she was stressed, she used stories to escape. Until she was a teenager, her father would tuck her into bed every night. Sometimes he orally recounted fae tales and myths from centuries past. Sometimes he read to her straight from one of his favorite novels. But no matter what, she had looked forward to it, as it was one of the few things they ever did together where Arach was more of a father than a king. She missed that version of him.

"Where are you going, little sprite?" a gruff voice jeered from behind her. Startled, she spun around to see Luka Fulgara towering over her, his dark hair falling in waves down to his shoulders, let loose from the bun that had held it during the meeting.

Aria straightened in defense at the insulting nickname, a derogatory term shifters reserved for only the weakest fae. She cursed Mallium and the Sanctum for taking away her ability to feel his footsteps behind her. Hugging her book against her chest, she offered him a glare. "I don't owe you any information, so kindly blow your smoke in someone else's direction." She turned back toward the fountain and continued her walk, not allowing him any more attention. But his steps became heavier as he followed. He just couldn't leave well enough alone.

"What, you don't want to stare at me some more—?"

Aria turned on her heels, causing him to stumble as he stopped himself from colliding with her. "If I'm not mistaken, I was out here first. So if my presence offends you so much, why don't you go back to your room? Or better yet, back to the barren lands where you belong," she snapped. "I don't know what your problem is, but stop making it my problem, too. We have enough problems as it is."

"You don't know what my problem is?" Luka threw his arms up in disbelief. "That's rich, Princess, " the words sparked at his lips. "You and your murderous family are my problem ! But you're so blinded by your perfect little life in your perfect little castle, you wouldn't understand a problem if it bit you in the ass," Luka bared his teeth in a way that told her they would have been sharp points had he been able to shift. His fists were clenched so tightly she was surprised he hadn't pushed talons from the tips of his fingers out of sheer will.

But Aria still wasn't impressed. "Whatever you think you know about me, you don't," she rolled her eyes. "So take your puffed up ego elsewhere and let me enjoy my evening walk before we invite an unwanted audience," Aria warned, glancing at the seer who was nervously watching their exchange from the courtyard entrance. "And the next time you'd like to accompany me for an evening stroll, just ask. It's much easier than watching me from your room until you can corner me," she tilted her head with a smile. "While I'm sure that might attract suitors in the shifter world, we don't find predatory behavior attractive," she said, looking him up and down with feigned pity.

"As if I would ever deign to sleep with the likes of fae," he scoffed in disgust, glancing at the book still clutched in her arms. He met her eyes with disdain. "Keep your fantasies to yourself, sprite."

Aria held back a wince, wishing she'd covered the title better. She'd been so close to being able to sit and read her book by the fountain, and now here she was, being berated in the middle of the courtyard. This whole day had gone horribly wrong. "Well, if we're done here, you've ruined my attempt to decompress, so I'm going back to the quiet of my room where I don't have to answer to random men with a superiority complex set on interrogating me," she scolded, moving around the broad-chested dragon shifter. She almost expected him to block her from leaving, but he stayed firmly planted where he stood with his arms crossed as she walked back toward the hall entrance.

Aria was relieved when she made it to her door successfully, only pausing to wish the frazzled seer a good night. So much for that, she thought, slamming her door behind her.

***

Luka watched Aria leave, not sure whether to be frustrated by her reaction or impressed by the fact she had stood up to him, as so few in his own realm were brave enough to do. She'd been almost eerily quiet during the entirety of the decree meeting, enough so that when she did finally speak, he was intrigued to find her voice so steady. Not emotional, like the rest of the room had been .

Why? What was she hiding? Did she know something the rest of them didn't? It seemed unlikely, but he'd been determined to ruffle her feathers and see if he could shake something loose from that calm demeanor. Even if he knew his mother wouldn't have approved of his… unconventional methods.

But his courtyard confrontation hadn't gone how he'd anticipated. Aria obviously wasn't intimidated by him like he'd expected her to be. If anything, she just seemed annoyed. Which, he supposed, he could understand if she truly was just out there to relax. To read a shifter romance, no less. Now that had surprised him. Maybe even more than the fact she'd held her ground.

It wasn't often that someone stood up to him, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't sometimes wish for a challenge. Suddenly he was very glad he'd told Evelyn to look through the princess's room, because the small, fae woman from Allar was proving to be quite the challenge, indeed.