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"Lord Skaldvindr chose me," the one in the gown said finally, though her voice trembled. "Remember that."

“He didn’t.”

She took a few steps towards her sister, but the woman turned and fled across the lawn, her skirts billowing behind her, the golden ring refracting the sunlight as she disappeared. Then, the remaining sister stood alone, frozen, watching her go. Slowly, she walked back to where I stood among the bleeding vines and sank onto the ground beside me. Her shoulders shook as she buried her face in her hands.

I felt my own hands move to comfort her, and she fell into my lap, body convulsing with sobs.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

"Valkan is dead."

Aether's words fell into the cramped meeting room like stones into still water. I watched the ripples spread across each face—Vexa's sharp intake of breath, Effie's fingers stilling against her sleeve, Rethlyn's shoulders going rigid.

"How?" Vexa finally asked.

"I killed him." Aether's tone was flat, matter-of-fact. "Along with a dozen of his Damphyre."

"You did what?" Effie shot up from her chair. "Have you lost your mind?"

"The only fertile region we had left," Theron rasped from his corner, "and you murdered its Lord?"

"There must have been a reason," Rethlyn said, but uncertainty drenched his tone.

"Of course there was a reason," Vexa snapped.

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Mira cut in. "The political chaos this will cause? The Council will demand?—"

"I don't care what the Council demands." Something in Aether's voice made them all fall silent.

"Then explain it to us," Raven said quietly. "Why?"

Aether's jaw tightened, and for a moment I thought he wouldn't answer. Then his eyes found mine, something dark and violent crossing his face. The others followed his gaze, and suddenly I felt the weight of every stare in the room.

Effie was the first to notice the bandage peeking above my collar. Her eyes widened, then narrowed to slits. "He didn't."

I tried to shrink away from their scrutiny, but it was too late. Understanding bloomed across their faces, followed immediately by horror, then rage.

"That monster," Effie breathed, all color draining from her face. "He actually?—"

"He deserved it. That's the last I will say on the matter. We have other things we must discuss," Aether cut in, though his voice still carried that dangerous edge. "Because we have a plan to move forward, but Urkin won't go along with it."

"What do you mean, won't go along with it?" Vexa asked, though her eyes kept darting to my collar, her fingers still tight on her weapon belt.

"I'm done taking orders from him." Aether's words seemed to press against the walls. "He's served this realm well for thirty years, but he's stuck in the past, unwilling to listen to new approaches. If we continue down his path, we'll destroy everything we hope to save."

"You're talking about desertion," Rethlyn said carefully.

"I'm talking about survival." Aether's gaze swept the room. "The arcanite towers—we have to stop trying to destroy them."

"Stop destroying them?" Theron pushed himself straighter in his chair. "That's our entire strategy."

"A strategy that will fail." Aether's voice hardened. "Because if we destroy those towers, all of that stored essence will either be destroyed or lost to Sídhe forever."

"How do you know this?" Mira asked.

"Because we found something in Draxon." Aether paused, his eyes finding mine again. "Something that changes everything we thought we knew about this war."

"What exactly did you find?" Raven leaned forward.