Page 13 of House of Embers
“I need more information, Amond. You can’t drop a bomb like this on us and then refuse to tell us what you know.”
Amond turned his back on them. “I’ll answer your questions.After all the years of hiding my identity, I’ll let you know who I am. But I’m not here to discuss my past or how I got here. Is that clear?”
Kerrigan opened her mouth to object, but Fordham put a hand on her shoulder. She had questions. Surely he knew that they needed all the leverage they could get.
“Domara wouldn’t help this dumping pit, if that’s what you were thinking,” Amond said with certainty.
“I never thought that they would,” Fordham said.
“The Doma only care about one thing and that’s themselves.”
“But my mom…”
“Pushed you through the portal,” Fordham reminded her. He crossed his arms, closing himself off from the painful memory of Domara. “She is dealing with enough. She isn’t coming here to help.”
Kerrigan knew that and still it stung. Keres had gone up against Vulsan and He Who Reigns single-handedly. Kerrigan hated to even imagine what she was dealing with right now.
Amond furrowed his brows. “Who is your mother?”
Kerrigan and Fordham exchanged a glance before turning to Kivrin, who blanched. Kivrin ran a hand through his hair before answering, “Keres Andromadix.”
Amond went stock-still. “The daughter of He Who Reigns?” His eyes shot to Kerrigan. His mouth opened as he surveyed her features. “Blessed lords, I see it now. How is this possible? Kivrin…”
“I was stranded in Domara,” Kivrin told him. “Made Daijan by Keres. We fell in love, and then she found out that she was pregnant after she released me.”
Amond opened and then closed his mouth. “But last I knew, the daughter of He Who Reigns had no children.”
“Correct. She’s first heir,” Kivrin confirmed.
“Gods,” Amond muttered. He stared at Kerrigan in shock and awe and possibly horror. As if the very idea that she was descended from that bloodline was unfathomable.
“I know,” Kerrigan said with a shrug. Being her mother’s heir was a privilege and a death sentence. No one in Domara, least of all Kerrigan herself, wanted her to become heir. She had more important things to do.
“It’s incredible that you returned in one piece. But no wonder you’re so powerful.” He shook his head. “Keres Andromadix. Would never guess the first heir was part of the Doma dumping ground.”
“What is this dumping you keep mentioning?” Kivrin asked.
Amond shrugged. “This world is where Domara sends everything that displeases the emperor.”
Kerrigan tilted her head. “What do you mean?”
“It’s not exactly a secret,” Amond said. “Where do you think the dragons come from? Your own myth says that the dragons were sent to the Holy Mountain, and where the gods touched, the magic-immune metal tendrille was left behind.”
“That’s a literal interpretation?” Fordham said.
“Yes. And the Fae,” Amond continued. “How did you find them in Domara?”
Fordham paled. “I was the last full-blooded Fae from Alfheim.”
“Wrong. The Fae that weren’t murdered were sent away, where they couldn’t be a nuisance to the gods.” Amond shrugged.
“I could read their ancient Fae,” Fordham said to Kerrigan.
“You think the emperor sent the Fae here?”
“Where else did they come from?” Amond asked. “The only thing that belongs in this world is humans, ironically.”
Kerrigan let the news weigh on her. The hundreds of Fae houses fighting over this small island. The dragons who hated them for interfering in their affairs. The Irena Bargain that settled the dispute, pairing the first dragon and rider together.
