Page 132 of Crown of Wrath

Hazel stands on one side of me and my Uncle Trevor sits at a table in front of me. The last two people with House of Earth bloodlines flowing in them. “Why are you here?” Hazel whispers to me. “Can’t someone else do this?”

I shake my head. “No. It’s important that we change things. Even Rhion agrees that the four Houses working together is necessary so we never have another Shattering.”

“But it’s been three days since Cole…”

I turn to her, anger filling my expression. “I know exactly how long it has been. It changes nothing. I’m going to feel like this for the rest of my life, so why wait?”

She can hear the fury in my voice, and she doesn’t say anything else, her head bowing in sorrow for me. I turn to Casimir, who’s sitting at one of the long tables in front of me, and I give him a quick nod. He stands up, and everyone becomes very quiet.

“My fellow Immortals, it’s time that the leaders of each House decide who the next Conduit of the House of Steel will be. This is the first time it has been done this way, but we are setting the precedent. My generation of Conduits failed, and the world cannot survive another Shattering. It cannot survive another war between Great Houses. It is only by working together to make decisions we’ll prevent it. Brenna stayed too far away. Roderic refused to work with the rest of us. Gethin thought he was above us all. I was not strong enough or clever enough to unite everyone. That won’t happen again, and it begins now.”

He looks at me, and the crowd follows his gaze. I stand up, one hand hooked in a claw and the other holding the burned piece of wood. “I suggest that Rhion Rahn be considered to lead the House of Steel. It’s what Prince Cole planned, and I agree. He is the strongest with a Steel bloodline. He ended the tyranny of Gethin. I cannot imagine a better person suited to be the Conduit.”

Echo stands up, and she looks out of place here. The storms in her eyes hold maturity that many of the people in this room don’t understand, though. She’s known what her purpose in life was since the day she was born.

“I agree with Queen Maeve. He is the best choice.” Her words carry through the Throne Room even though few in the room would give her a moment’s pause on the street.

Casimir solemnly states, “I also agree with Queen Maeve. That is a unanimous decision. Prince Rhion will claim the Throne and become the King of Steel. Let his rule be one of peace rather than war.”

People cheer, and I sit back down as Rhion climbs the stairs. Hazel glares at him, having heard of the things that he’d done through the years. Rhion ignores her, which is probably the smartest way he could deal with that situation.

“Thank you,” he says softly. “I…”

“You’re the only option I trust,” I respond quietly enough that no one other than he and Hazel can hear. A wave of pain flows through me, and I grit my teeth, my nails digging into the stone again. “You are strong. You are clever. You have been trained to be the King of Steel. Anyone else would be a mistake. That doesn’t mean I like you, but I will work with you.”

He nods to me. “I’m sorry,” he responds. “Cole was…”

“Cole is dead.” I interrupt him again, not caring what he has to say. “Because of you. You get everything you want because it’s what is best for Nyth, just like Cole wanted, but Cole is dead, and I’m left miserable. So do me a favor and keep his name off your tongue. You don’t deserve to be allowed to speak his name, and I’ve nearly killed you twice now. Try not to tempt me into doing it a third time because he won’t be there to stop me this time.”

The words come out as a hiss, and Rhion’s eyes shimmer with the challenge. For the first time, he’s really appraising me, and he’s not entirely sure that he’d come out of that conflict as the winner. My Earth senses follow every emotion and thought that wanders into his mind in that time, and I know he doesn’t back down from me because of the challenge. He backs down out ofrespect for me and for what Cole sacrificed to make sure that I sat on this Throne.

It looks like he’s going to say something else but then thinks better of it. Instead, he gives me a nod before walking away, and I’m left with my nails raking the stone armrest again as I cradle the piece of wood in my other hand.

He moves to talk to Echo, and I let a wave of pain course through me without tensing the hand holding the piece of wood. The first times the pain had racked my body, I’d been terrified that I’d squeeze the last bit of Cole I have left and crush it into nothing.

Now I’m learning to fight through the pain and control myself. I can function even though every muscle in my body aches from it.

Lee walks up to Rhion as he talks to Echo and presses her body against him. The necklace he gave her as a betrothal present hangs between her breasts, the elegant Steel dress showing more than a little cleavage.

It’s hard watching them. One of Cole’s best friends and the man who is the reason he’s dead together. Cole would be happy for them. He always liked Rhion, and he loved Lee. He’d never be angry at them for smiling and laughing together, even though he died because of their failures.

But I’m not Cole.

I’m not that good or kind. I’m not able to set my emotions aside that well. Maybe if I’d died and Cole had lived, the world would be a better place. Maybe he would be stronger than me and could separate his emotions from what was best for the people he cared about.

But I’m not Cole.

I am the Queen of Earth, and everything inside me wants to go cold again. It wants to lash out and let anger rule. My shadows barely trickle from my fingertips any longer. Even the thought ofCole is one of protectiveness and solitude rather than lust-filled desire.

So I watch the crowd of people here rather than take part. I whisper, “You should be here instead of me. You should have been the one to survive. You were so much better than me.”

It’s like I can hear him. A phantom voice that isn’t real.You were always the one who had to survive. You were stronger than me. You’re the reason the world is still standing, but now you need to remember yourself. Go train, Maeve. Pick up the spear again. See me at the end of it just like all those afternoons together.

A tear runs down my cheek as I remember the vision he left me.Imagine me at the end of your spear. I stand up, and for the first time in three days, I can feel him again. I can feel the way his hand would feel against me.

Shadows splay from my fingertips, surrounding my feet in them. I imagine seeing his body, and revulsion courses through me. Then I’m falling through the world into the void.

I don’t go back to my chambers to change into training clothes. No, I need something else that’s far more important than clothes. I go to the hidden space in the Keep of Flames that Cole had used as a place of solitude. It’s the only place I’ve felt safe to keep the relics in, and I pick up the Burning Brand and Steel Gauntlet, the two relics whose powers I’m not already capable of wielding. I slip the Gauntlet on over my left hand, and a sense of pride wells up inside me. That’s the activation emotion of Steel.

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