Bitter disappointment swelled, its weight nearly crushing. We were offering him a chance to rule equally and live without fear. How could he reject that? But I already knew the answer. Fear. All the Primals who remained, and even the two who had left, had borne the brunt of Kolis’s anger in the past.

“Then you will stand with Kolis?” Ash demanded, his voice a cold shadow that slipped over the floor and walls.

“I’d rather not stand with him either,” he replied.

I frowned. “But you won’t have a choice.”

“Not unless he forces my hand. Until then, I will remain on my island and stay uninvolved,” he confirmed, and Saion smirked. The Primal didn’t miss that. “You don’t like my answer?”

“I’m not surprised by your answer,” Saion corrected. “You see, this is not your problem until it becomes your problem. You believe that staying uninvolved absolves you of responsibility for what will happen, but the thing is, Your Highness, doing nothing is doing something.”

Phanos’s jaw hardened as he stared at the god who’d once served him. A moment passed. “Then so be it.” His silvery gaze fixed on Ash and me. “I’m hoping I have a choice and will be allowed to leave, unlike having no choice in coming here.”

I looked at Ash, and he nodded. “You may leave,” I said. “No one will stop you.”

He hesitated, then nodded. “I wish you all the best.”

I pushed down the disappointment. “Phanos?”

The mist rising from his legs slowed. “Yes?”

“You asked me to remember what you did for me when the time came,” I said. “I will.”

CHAPTER FIFTY

“Well.” Attes cleared his throat, breaking the tense silence left in the wake of Phanos’s departure. “I assume all those who remain have done so because we are of like minds?”

There were several nods.

“Then let’s get this show on the road.” Attes stepped forward and knelt, placing his left palm against the stone floor. “I will happily reaffirm that oath.”

I jolted as essence crackled from his right hand. All thoughts of Phanos and the others vanished as raw energy licked over his palm before shifting into a pommel and then a hilt. The eather spun out, forming a long blade. He crossed the sword of eather over his chest.

“With my sword and my life,” he said, his voice echoing throughout the chamber. “I swear to you, the One who is born of Blood and Ash, the Light and the Fire, and the Brightest Moon, the true Primal of Life and the Queen of the Gods and Common Man.”

Gods, that was still such a long title.

I felt something in my chest. Something different than when he’d made the pledge before. This sensation was very similar to how the embers felt, as if a piece of Attes’s essence now resided inside me.

His gaze shifted to Ash. “And I swear to you, the Asher, the One who is Blessed, the Guardian of Souls and the Primal God of Common Men and Endings, to honor your command with the full might of Vathi.” Attes bowed his head.

The flames above the candles flickered wildly as a ripple of energy coursed through the chamber.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

A dimple appeared on Attes’s cheek.

“You may rise,” Ash said. “And you also have my thanks.”

Attes’s head lifted, and the sword of eather collapsed. Both dimples were out in full force as he rose. I was happy to see them.

Bele stepped forward, her gaze locking with mine. “I know you’re probably thinking that it’s unnecessary for me to do this.”

I was.

“But it’s not. I’m proud to do it,” Bele said, looking between Ash and me before following suit. A sword of eather appeared in her right hand. “With my sword and my life, I swear to you, the One who is born of Blood and Ash, the Light and the Fire, and the Brightest Moon, the true Primal of Life and the Queen of the Gods and Common Man. And I swear to you, the Asher, the One who is Blessed, the Guardian of Souls and the Primal God of Common Men and Endings, to honor your command with the full might,” Bele paused, raising her eyebrow sardonically, “of Sirta.”

My lips twitched as another wave of energy whipped the flames about, and I once more felt that strange sensation in my chest. “Thank you, Bele.”

“No need to thank me.” She lifted her head. “But can I rise now?”

“Yes,” I said, wanting to laugh, but my throat felt too thick to allow it.

Penellaphe followed suit, summoning her sword of eather and speaking her vows. We thanked her, and then the beautiful Primal Goddess of Love, Beauty, and Fertility cleared her throat.

“I have stood aside for too long and for too many reasons.” Her sandy-blond hair slipped over her shoulders as she knelt. “I will no longer do so.”

A sword of eather took shape, its light glittering off her smooth, yellowish-brown cheeks. “I swear to you, the One who is born of Blood and Ash, the Light and the Fire, and the Brightest Moon, the true Primal of Life and the Queen of the Gods and Common Man.” As the sensation of Penellaphe’s oath faded, I felt a part of Maia take root in my chest. Her gaze shifted to Ash. “And I swear to you, the Asher, the One who is Blessed, the Guardian of Souls and the Primal God of Common Men and Endings, to honor your command with the full might of Kithreia.” The candles’ flames rose several inches as Maia bowed her head.

I thanked her. Ash told her we were honored, and when she rose, I saw determination etched into her features.

As she moved back, the Primal Goddess of Rebirth stepped from behind the group. Rich brown hair slipped over her shoulders as she tilted her head back to stare up at Ash and me.

Eather streaked across her eyes, filling them until they turned the shade of a polished diamond. “I think both of you know that I believe in you,” she said, her lips curving into a smile, but there was something off about it. “But I cannot swear an oath to you—to either of you.”

Shock whipped through me, and the entire chamber went silent. Clearly, no one else had been expecting that response either.

“Why?” Ash asked.

“When I assisted Eythos with Sotoria’s soul, I upset the balance. My involvement shifted the future of the realms. Without it, Sotoria would’ve passed into the Vale,” she said, and I saw Penellaphe fold a hand over her mouth. “And when the balance is unequal, it must be fixed.”

“Kolis would’ve found her and brought her back.” Anger was quickly replacing my shock. “How is that not an upset to the balance?”

“It is. And based on how things have turned out for Kolis, I believe he has paid that price, just as I have had to.”

“What?” Ash demanded roughly. “What price were you forced to pay?”

Her chest rose with a weighted breath. “To right the balance, the Fates decided that I must swear a blood oath to Kolis, one that prevents me from ever using my Court against him.”

My mouth dropped open.

“What the fuck?” Bele exploded. “How is that a suitable fix?”

“I cannot answer that,” Keella stated. “But I can only assume that, in their minds, it ensures that I cannot be persuaded in—as the Fates presented it to me—‘affairs that do not involve me.’”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Which Fate made you do this?”

Penellaphe’s head jerked in my direction.

“Kyros,” she said.

Thank the gods it wasn’t Holland because there was a good chance I would lose my shit.

“I know that one.” Nektas’s lip curled. “Never liked him.”

“I wasn’t too fond of him myself.” The wan smile appeared once more on Keella’s lips. “But it is not the Fates who decide such things. It is the essence of the realms.”

Once more, I wasn’t sure how much I believed that. Holland had intervened, as had Aydun in a way. I had a feeling that even this Kyros walked that fine line.