❛WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU MAKE THE TEN MOST POWERFUL GODS ALIVE PLAY A GAME OF MUSICAL CHAIRS WITH ONE SEAT?❜
They fight - to the death.
They fight over three crowns and a throne with steel spiked maces. They despair a little more everyday keeping thei...
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CALCHESTER CITADEL, STEFFITH.
EDWINA
TRISTAN HAD BEEN POSITIVELY INCENSED when I suggested attending the Trial.
But he had grimly nodded, his face a silent promise of death. The furious gleam had been still shining in his eyes as he had escorted me to the Citadel, carefully holding me close to him so that I didn't trip. I left the walking stick in our chambers, for it would not do us any good to show weakness. Hesitation had still gleamed in his eyes before he entered the Hall, for I was to wait outside the doors till it was filled. Tristan would have no power as a monarch of Endollon today, and neither would Eric nor I.
Today the three of us stood before the Council of twelve - today the three of us had effectively no voice in the dispute. This was what the council had been effectively made for - to settle cases when a ruler himself was one of the accused. The other two rulers were bound by law to stand down and recluse themselves from the proceedings.
It was the highest, supreme circle of justice that Endollon had to offer.
And Thanatos was known for being a brutally harsh lord, one with a taste for vengeance.
He was a god of death and blood, and he considered it his birthright to preside over the council. Centuries had passed by without Cosmo replacing him. And that was how he left us when he died.
I could hear the hubbub and talk on the other side of the doors, where the gods would be settling down on the benches as the jury took their places. Tristan's voice rippled through my thoughts.
'Eric might withdraw the charges. He seems hesitant, but I'm not sure if he still believes Celestina did it.'
'You know Thanatos will kill me even if Eric does not press charges,' I breathed back to him through our mental bond. Thanatos was one of those who loathed my rise to power, and with people like Emerick and Deimos beside him, they would no doubt find one excuse or the other to kill me off.
'He's not going to touch you,' his voice was gritted with something sharper than glass. Then it softened a bit, like molten honey that made me feel warm. 'I love you.'
'I love you too.'
It still seemed so surreal, so new... saying those words out loud to him, not having to hold them back and restrict them to my thoughts alone. It felt like a huge weight lifted off my chest, and an orchestra of happiness fluttered in me for a moment. I was cut short as a page boy came bearing a message for the guards, who read it and nodded to me.
