Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
“Oh, my gods,” I murmured, rubbing my brow.
“Hey, cheer up!” Bele exclaimed with one of her too-wide smiles. “I’ve heard Maia has gotten better. For example, there are fewer…adult parties.”
Ash laughed as he took a drink.
“Wow.” And here I thought my mother was a bad Queen. “Do I even want to know how bad the cesspool that is Veses’ Court is?”
“Veses rules like Embris one day and Phanos the next,” Ash said. “Her Court is as bad as Hanan’s was.”
Bele sighed.
“No pockets of…goodness?” I asked. “How is that possible?”
“All who had an ounce of morality in them are here.” Rhain shook his head. “The same with Kyn’s Court. Those who disagreed either joined Attes or came here.”
“So, you’re telling me that all those who remain in Veses’ and Kyn’s Courts are…what? A lost cause?” I took in the somber expressions. “Seriously?”
“I wouldn’t say they are a complete loss,” Ash stated. “Perhaps some can be reached, but when Kolis first took the embers, switching places with my father, it disturbed the balance. Death ruled over life, and life ruled over death. All Primal power has a good and a bad side to it. And with all the Primals being weakened, it made it far easier for them to succumb to the poisonous sides of their natures,” he reminded me. “And then that poison spread to those who served them and the mortals they interacted with. Most of them are not who they once were or were born into a society that embraces that toxicity.”
“I get that. I do. It’s not really their fault, and blah, blah bullshit. Whatever.” Frustration joined the anger as Bele widened her eyes. “We basically only have two Courts that appear to have any sense of a greater good. Then we have one Primal who really doesn’t seem to care about his Court, as long as it doesn’t cause him trouble. Another who rules so strictly the entire Court has a bedtime and punishment for not adhering to such is—”
“Sometimes death,” Rhahar filled in.
Good fucking gods. “Another Court is pretty much a giant adult party with a dash of murderous tendencies, and two more are just complete garbage fires—”
“Don’t forget my Court,” Bele interrupted. “I have about a hundred good ones in Sirta.”
“My apologies.”
Bele smiled and flicked her wrist. “Accepted.”
“So, we have two decent Courts and one really underperforming Court,” I corrected. Bele’s eyes narrowed as I turned to Ash. “That leaves me with just one question.”
“I truly cannot wait to hear what it will be,” Ash murmured as he eyed me over the rim of his glass.
“Why are we even bothering with these Courts and not just seizing them?”
“Now, that is the Sera I was expecting,” Bele said, and Saion nodded in agreement.
“After seizing them, what would we do?” Ash countered, lowering his glass.
“Put someone else in charge? Like one of them,” I suggested, gesturing at those around the table.
“Uh,” Lailah started.
Ash held up a hand. “I don’t think the Primals who rule over those Courts would take too kindly to that. They would fight back. We might have to kill them.”
“Then I could Ascend another god to take their place,” I countered.
Rhain’s gaze sharpened on me. “Or you could take the Court as your own. The Primal of Life can take a Court. And with the energy going to you, it would lessen the impact of there being no Primal to rule.”
I started to ask how that was even done, but with a tingle in the skin behind my ear, the knowledge came in a flash of images. I frowned slightly. Taking another Court required no ceremonies or words. All I had to do after draining the Primal was take their eather into me before it released. Not that I was complaining. It was just…the process was frighteningly simple.
“But not even Kolis did that,” Rhain added after a moment.
Ash looked over at him.
“Technically,” he corrected. “But having a Primal of Life that just takes on the Primal influence of other Courts doesn’t sound like something you would want to do.”
It wasn’t.
“Not only that, but it is unlikely we could defeat those Courts and Kolis with Attes, Keella, and one really underperforming Court,” Ash pointed out. “Not only do we need as much support as we can get, but you also want things to be different. Would that be any different?”
“No.” I sighed. “I wasn’t being serious.”
Ash’s head tilted as he took a drink.
“Okay.” I rolled my eyes. “I was only being fifty percent serious.”
His lips twitched as he placed his glass on the table. “So, are we in agreement? Summon the Primals?”
Murmurs of approval rose around the table, and I nearly slumped in my chair with relief.
“Then what comes next?” Bele asked.
“I think you will enjoy this answer.” I met Bele’s stare. “We remove Kolis from the throne.”