Saion approached, brows pinching with curiosity as Reaver watched with keen alertness. “I’ve never seen eyes like that.” He glanced at Rhain. “Have you?”

The auburn-haired god shook his head. “I have not.”

Everyone was staring at me, and I, well, felt like throwing myself onto the floor and pretending I was still in stasis. “Ash thinks it’s because I was mortal. But yes, they are super unique and weird—”

“And beautiful,” Ash repeated.

“And,” I stressed, “we are going to stop talking about my eyes now.”

Saion opened his mouth as he lifted a hand. Rhahar dropped coins into his palm. “Never mind.” Grinning, Saion tucked the coins into the inside of his tunic. “In all seriousness, we are so damn glad to be getting on your nerves.”

“And you have no idea how happy I am to be making really bad bets,” Rhahar added.

I laughed. “I’m only partly sorry to be the cause of you losing money.”

“I’m not at all,” Saion called as he moved to stand behind a chair.

Rhahar flipped him off.

“We are glad you have returned to us,” Theon said, and then his gaze darted to Ash. “And to him.”

My breath snagged, and all I could do was nod.

“Not to sound repetitive,” Lailah said, “but I, too, am glad you returned to us.”

I smiled and felt a knot of emotion clogging my throat as Ash watched quietly from where he stood a few feet back, not interrupting but also not straying too far. “Thank you.”

“I’m glad you’re alive and shit,” Bele shared. “Just thought I’d say that since everyone else is.”

I gave her a thumbs-up as Lailah stepped onto the dais. The goddess paused to give Jadis a quick pet where the draken still watched from behind the back of the chair. “Where is Aios?”

“She planned to be here, but Kye, the Healer, asked that she join him in Lethe,” Bele answered. “He wanted her to assist with a birth.”

Concern rose. “Is there something wrong?”

“Other than how disturbing it is that one is expected to push a nine-pound-plus babe out of an area nowhere—”

“Please, don’t go into any more detail.” Theon held up a hand, and Rhain grimaced.

Bele smirked. “Anyway, being a goddess of fertility and such, Kye likes to have her around. Makes his life easier.”

That was a relief. I guessed.

“I, too, am glad,” a quiet voice came.

The muscles on the back of my neck tensed as I turned to Rhain. The reaction had nothing to do with how things had started with us. From day one, Rhain had been wary of my presence, but when he’d learned about my original plans, his distrust—and dislike—had been all too apparent. I didn’t hold any of that against him. If I had been in his shoes, I would have felt the same way. But the way he looked at me now made me want to make a quick exit out the balcony doors. It was the warmth in his hazel eyes that had nothing to do with the aura of eather behind his pupils or the reason behind Rhain’s change of attitude toward me as he extended his hand.

My chest spasmed when my gaze met his. Breathe in. I stopped myself before I let that dread spark into something bigger and nastier, forcing myself to hold my breath as Rhain clasped my forearm. Now was not the time for any of that. “Thank you,” I managed, fixing what I hoped was a normal smile on my face as I grasped his forearm in return.

“Whoa.” He blinked several times. “Got a nice little charge with that.”

“Sorry?”

“Don’t be. Weirdly felt kind of good.” Rhain’s gaze held mine and then darted away as he bowed curtly. Pivoting, he joined the others.

Ash lifted Jadis from the chair and placed her on the floor. Crouching, she eyed Reaver with narrowed eyes as her tail swished back and forth like an irritated feline.

A heartbeat later, she launched herself off the dais and crashed into him. The older draken squawked, but all Jadis did was press her little head against his and then scramble back onto the raised floor.

“Okay, then,” I murmured, glancing up.

It took a moment for me to realize that all of them were waiting for me. Blinking, I got my feet moving and went to where Ash had pulled out a chair at the head of the table.

Molten, dove-gray eyes met mine. “Your seat, liessa.”

“Thank you,” I whispered as Reaver followed, this time brushing his head over Jadis’s.

“Why does he get to call you that?” Bele asked, adjusting her forearm sheaths. “And we don’t?”

Ash glanced up. “Because she enjoys it when I call her that.”

As Bele’s brows lifted, my cheeks caught fire. I plopped into the chair with the grace of a tree bear, and then everyone else sat. Ash moved to my right, taking his seat there. The subtle shift in positioning—in power—didn’t pass me by.

Once again, the shock of how real this was hit me as Ash placed a glass of whiskey on the table for me. It felt like a cloth had been shoved into my throat. My hands tightened around the arms of the chair as my mind sort of emptied. Or maybe there was just so much going on in my head that it felt like there was nothing.

Rhain cleared his throat. “I’m not sure who is aware of what, but many gods have been arriving in the Shadowlands the last several days, coming from many Courts.”

The cloth doubled in size as I spoke around it. “Nyktos mentioned something.”

“They are being vetted to the best of our abilities and then temporarily placed in our insulas—” He stopped himself, noting the confusion surely creeping into my expression. “You haven’t been to Lethe other than the night of your coronation. Right.” A faint pink stained his cheeks. “Insulas are homes several stories tall that house many people—up to forty or so. When you see the lights of Lethe, you’re likely seeing those buildings. I believe mortals would call them tenements, but they’re not as…”

“Poorly outfitted?” I suggested. The tenements in Croft’s Cross, the poorest district of Lasania, had these so-called apartments. They were dark, cramped dwellings not even suitable for rodents. Ezra would change what our parents should have done ages ago. “Are we providing housing because they are planning to stay?”

“Probably, since many of them will have no Court to return to,” Rhain said.

“Not all the Primals allow their subjects to leave their Courts without permission, and I doubt most would’ve sought that,” Bele spoke up. “When I left Hanan’s, it was considered treasonous. They could be imprisoned or killed upon their return.”

“Gods,” I breathed. “How many have arrived?”

“Hundreds,” Rhain answered. “Dozens more with each passing hour.”

My stomach dipped. “And we have enough housing for them?”

“For now,” Ash said. “We do.”

But would we later, if more and more continued to come? Obviously, not. I didn’t know the details of how food had been provided all these many centuries, but it took no leap of logic to assume that the goods had been imported. “What about food—?” I cut myself off. “Crops can grow here now.”

“Yes,” Saion confirmed. “And once we get some really good rainfall and the rivers return, we’ll be able to use them as a source of irrigation, allowing us to plant more. I’ve already begun to survey which areas would be best suited for such.”

“That’s a relief to hear,” I said, ceasing my wiggling in my chair. “I want everyone who comes here to have a home, whether it be temporary or long-term, and for there to be food on their plates. But it’s going to be rough until the crops can grow.” My head cocked. Could I assist with that? I was the true Primal of Life. Did that not extend to plant life? I believed so, but… “There will still be a length of time before we can comfortably provide for everyone.” Worry grew. As someone who had lived a life of limited basic essentials with an ever-increasing populace, I knew how quickly that could take its toll.

“That’s tomorrow’s problem,” Ash spoke softly, snapping me from what was sure to become a spiral of worst-case what-ifs. “One we’re already working on fixing. But we have to get to tomorrow.”