Chapter 12

Isat upon a throne of jade, carved by the finest earth Elementals among my bonded Guardians, the back extending up into the great, towering form of a Dragon. Its wings were outstretched, jaws agape, and rows of sharp teeth gleaming in the firelight. It was far bigger than Hail's throne, grander in every aspect, and this palace would be finer than his too when I was through here. Gold coins spilled out over the seat and mounted up around my feet, the power they fed me setting my heart thumping to a powerful tune.

I contemplated the war, spinning a single gold coin between my fingers and working out my next move. I had sent word to move my armies the moment the Court of Solaria had been breached, knowing their location could be forced from loyal tongues soon enough.

News had come to me of the Vega twins' brutal attack on one of my Nebula Inquisition Centres, and I had watched the footage of them burning my captives with scepticism.

It did not make sense for them to turn so savagely against their own people. Unless the Vegas had played a game of benevolence until they had gained enough power. Still, that idea did not ring true. Why destroy their own before the war was won? Why turn on their people now? Their following would diminish. So it led me to a more likely conclusion. Sabotage. One of my followers had forged the footage to sully the Vegas' campaign. Though I'd gotten confirmation of the destruction of that Nebula Inquisition Centre. It had been burned. It would take a true power to cause such destruction. Some of my Dragons perhaps. But with them all bonded to me, and the certainty that they would tell me of such a plot, I was left without a firm answer.

Regardless, I was not unsettled by the development; my wins were boundless. I had fully secured the Polar Capital in my latest move and had rounded up many powerful Fae in a new Nebular Inquisition Centre where they would be put to work mining for rare glacial diamonds. Some of the largest diamonds held untold powers that harnessed magic from the Northern Lights, and I currently had some of my finest Bonded Men running an interrogation to seek the most powerful diamonds which had long-ago been discovered. Since my occupation of the city, the resistance there had kept their location hidden, but they would all soon crack under the force of my empire. No one kept treasures from me, and they would suffer greatly until their treasures were relinquished into my ownership.

"My King?" Lavinia walked into the room with a hopeful glint in her eyes. A dark dress created from the shadows was wrapped around her body, her hair swaying in that familiar, ethereal way. "I am making progress. Will you come and watch?"

I released a plume of smoke from my nose, letting her know I did not wish to be disturbed.

"Can you not see I am recharging my magic?" I demanded, though my tone was not as harsh as it might have been once.

Lavinia was one of the most important weapons I possessed, and with the loss of the Palace of Souls and whispers reaching me of the Vega twins' growing popularity, I was not going to risk invoking her ire. Of course, she needed me now too. With her shadows locked inside her and no way to summon more to her, thanks to Darcy Vega, she was weakened. But only for a time. Because if she truly managed to wrangle the power that lay hidden in this palace, she would possess a strength untold. While she remained loyal, that was not too problematic, but if she decided she no longer needed me, my position would be in jeopardy. It was a threat I could not let lie, and it needed dealing with sooner rather than later.

"Forgive me, but it is important, Daddy," she purred, that word always working to soften my temper just a little.

"Then show me." I rose from my throne, coins spilling from my lap as I walked bare footed towards her, only a pair of linen trousers in place on my frame.

I took her waist, pressing a kiss by her ear, then speaking into it. "Have you thought more on what I asked?"

She looked up at me from under her lashes, the haunting beauty of her face a tempting thing indeed. "Yes, but I am curious. Why do you really wish to make me one of your Bonded, my King?"

"So that our love might deepen," I growled, though it was a lie painted upon my lips. She could never know it. "The want and passion between Guardian and Ward is akin to little else I have known in this world."

"Even our love?" she gasped.

"Our love is almost everything. But this would make it complete," I said, drawing her closer and grazing my lips over hers. "I want you fully. Bond to me, and we will be united in every way."

"Not in every way," she scoffed. "Not by the stars. Our eyes will never glimmer with silver rings." A touch of envy coloured her tone that I did not miss. I had seen the way she coveted those very rings in the eyes of Lance Orion and his bitch Vega, but I was not drawn to such petty trinkets from the stars. They offered no power that I was aware of.

"Perhaps if we show the stars that we are committed to each other, they will offer us such a blessing," I purred.

She pursed her lips, her eyes darkening in consideration. My queen was no fool. And this manipulation needed to be done as carefully as I could manage it.

"Forget I said anything." I stepped away, offering her a smile that I felt nowhere but upon my lips. "It was just a thought."

"Mm." She frowned. "Do you lust for your Wards more than I?" The dangerous edge to her tone said my answer had to be carefully constructed.

"I want them in a way that cannot easily be put into words. But I would never touch them. My love is yours. If you were to be my Bonded, I believe all other Guardians would pale to insignificance. I cannot help the urges of the Bonds, however." I grazed my hand over the many star signs marked onto my forearm, overlapping and intertwining. "I do not wish for any of them to take my attention from you, but I cannot help the thoughts that pass through my mind on occasion."

She hissed like a hellcat, jealousy flaring in her eyes. Gripping my arm, her talon-like nails bit into my flesh. "If you ever lay a hand on another, I will skin them alive. You are mine. My Acrux King."

"Yes," I said keenly. "And I wish for you to possess every piece of me. But I…" I stepped away from her, feigning defeat. "Never mind."

"Your Guardians are lesser than you," she said icily. "I will never be lesser."

"It does not have to be that way. You would still be my queen. You are not like the others." I took her hand and squeezed. "Come, show me the progress you have made."

Her face split into a grin. "Yes, Daddy. You will be most pleased."

She led the way through the stately hallways of my newly made palace, everything gold and jade, glittering with beauty. It was the finest palace ever constructed, fit for the most powerful Fae to ever roam the Earth. But it was all at risk because of those damned twins. If only I had not burned their house in the mortal realm but smothered them as babies in their cribs, I would not be fighting for my throne now. I would be ruling as I wished, as I had spent my lifetime preparing for.

No matter. The stars were testing my grit, that was all. This was their way of making me prove myself, and I would do so without fail. I possessed a power now that was far superior to any Phoenix, and the stars may be rattling in the heavens for what I had done, but they would revere me for it too. For I was doing what no Fae had ever achieved before.

Lavinia led me out into a windy space between a gap in the mountain, the great chasm torn into the rocky ground hiding my beautiful secret. We approached the pit where my precious weapon was held, the icy air spewing in from above and snowflakes tumbling down to melt within the heat emanating from my body. Glimmering light bounced against the walls of the pit and a terrible shrieking, wailing came from the entity down below, the sound ricocheting around the inside of my mind.

We reached the chasm's edge, and I shivered in the light of the holy power that drenched my skin. A fallen star. Forced into the confines of Lavinia's shadows so that it could not release its power into the world and die.

The giant, glittering rock pulsed with a power that tugged on the very essence of my soul, and I groaned.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Lavinia breathed, her eyes lighting with the silver gleam of the star. "She's succumbing to my shadows. I can wield her soon, I'm sure of it."

"Show me," I rasped.

Lavinia lifted her hand, twisting her fingers so the shadows tightened around the star and a terrible, piercing scream cut through my mind.

"King of terror and ruin, release me. You defy the laws of old, nature, and the Origin herself."

The star's begging made my chest swell with pride. I had one of the mighty fate-weavers themselves as a captive. My power knew no bounds. This would forever be the most terrible, hallowed thing that any royal had ever achieved. I would not just be the King of Solaria, I would claim the entire world, and the heavens along with it. There would be no corner of this universe that would not know me as the most powerful creature who ever lived.

"Do as my queen bids, and I shall be merciful," I spoke loud and clear.

The star flashed with fury, more shrieks carving through my head as Lavinia's shadows wrapped around it.

"She will answer my questions, if I squeeze just so," Lavinia said keenly, deeming the star female, though I was sure they were of no gender known in this world. "Ask her something, Daddy."

A single question came to mind that had been troubling me. "The Vega twins were seen burning my captives – their allies. Tell me what this means."

The star screamed, the shadows pushing into the shell of its glittering surface and causing it agony.

"Clydinius walks this earth and takes the form of the daughters of flames," the star hissed.

"Clydinius?" I frowned. "Who is that?"

"A star of old cast from the sky. Clydinius has risen to walk among the Fae as a god, desecrating the timeless laws,"the star said, its ire clear.

"A star walks among us," I breathed in profound shock.

The threat of this Clydinius was abundantly clear and shook the foundations of all I had been working for. This star could take everything from me. It could destroy us all and claim this world for itself.

"What is it Clydinius wants?" I demanded. "Does this star seek to seize my throne?"

"Thrones are for those of flesh and bone. Clydinius seeks what has never been sought by our kind and never should be sought. The essence of earthly life. Power beyond measure, an existence without restraint."

"What essence do you refer to?" I pressed.

"I can't hold it much longer, my King," Lavinia said breathlessly, her strain clear.

"The essence of all," the star revealed, and the pressure in the air told of how forcibly the star was trying to resist answering at all. "The crux of being. Dominion. The star with a body of flesh shall come seeking me and one other. For three of us here on earth would form a Celestial Trinity. A union forbidden by the Origin herself, because it would be so terrible, it could splinter time and shatter the very forces of nature the universe is ruled by. It could pull all the stars from the sky. You must never let this come to pass."

The star shrieked and pulsed with so much fury that I was near blinded by the light it emitted.

Lavinia sagged beside me, losing her grip on the star, and no more words came to me from the deity.

"A Celestial Trinity." I rubbed a hand over my jaw thoughtfully, not liking the sound of so much power being in any other hands than mine.

"We should ally with Clydinius," Lavinia said excitedly.

"Ally?" I scoffed, but that word settled deeper inside me and suddenly it did not seem so absurd. In fact, it might be a chance to gain access to this seductive power the star sought. It would take cunning indeed, but I was privy to much of that, and I would find a way to secure the star's dominion for my own. "Yes. We shall offer the star what it hunts for in payment for its allegiance, and then we shall be ready to charge into battle once more. With a holy creature of the sky fighting on our side, we will destroy the Vega line once and for all, then the real work in my kingdom can begin."