Page 71 of A Promise of Lies (Shadows of the Tenebris Court #3)

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Bastian

S tepping out onto the amphitheatre’s stage was like walking into a wall of noise. Chatter, cheers, gossip, all mingling with the dull roar of people crowded together, moving. Half the city was here for the announcement and the other half crowded outside.

In our planning, we’d chosen the amphitheatre instead of the royal balcony so we weren’t above our people but with them. It hadn’t been done before, but then again, neither had the rest of what we’d announce today. Sepher had cracked a joke about Kat having a poor record with monarchs and balconies. He had a point.

In the amphitheatre’s front rows were Meredine and the Convocation members. They were in for a surprise with the latter part of our announcement. But some of them had grown complacent—a surprise was just what they needed to shake them up a little.

At the end of a row, Ari and Ly stood with Amaya, bracketed by Rose and Faolán on the other side and Perry and Asher behind. With Braea gone, we’d deemed it safe for her to come to the city, but I felt better knowing our friends had her protected.

I’d overheard a conversation as Kat had helped her get ready. It turned out Sura had split before the coup, one part of her taking refuge in Dawn’s side of the palace, since Cyrus believed himself in love with her and would keep her safe. I’d heard the cringe in her voice as she’d admitted, “I think that was when I was… made.”

If not for the red hair, I would’ve missed Krae. Fully healed from Cyrus’s torture, they stood near an exit. They’d spent a little time at the palace, but mostly Sepher rode out to meet them. I wasn’t sure what they did together, but I got the impression he was getting to know his sibling.

He and Zita waved as they circled the stage, confident and comfortable in their roles. I supposed we should do the same, now I was… king. A face rather than a shadow. Real .

I nudged Kat, about to suggest it, but when I looked down, she was already smiling and waving like an expert.

Of course she was. It was probably something that had been drilled into her as a girl. Much as I hated her father’s lessons, she did look the part. The Crown of Ashes glowing upon her head. The deepest crimson of her gown. The way she carried herself, shoulders back, head high, taking up space. She belonged here. Even more than I did.

Yet after facing Braea last night, standing here felt… right. I had been serving my realm for years, and now I would do so as king. Kat had helped me realise that.

“You know,” I murmured in her ear, “we could rule, you and I. You could be a queen.”

Not breaking her stride or missing a beat of her wave, she gave me a sidelong look and replied, “I don’t want to be a queen. I’ve spent my life as a pawn in other people’s games. And a queen is still a piece on the board. I don’t want to be someone else’s toy. I want to influence the game.” She turned to me, resolute. “I want to be a player.”

Despite all the people around us and the crown upon my head, I wanted nothing more in that moment than to fall to my knees and kiss her feet.

But before I could do any such thing, we reached the centre of the stage and the cheers died down to a curious hubbub. More than once I heard the question, “Why are they wearing crowns?” We’d tried to suppress the news, but keeping rumours silent was like trying to dam a river with wishes.

“You’re up,” Sepher whispered.

I clenched and unclenched my hands, finding my palms clammy with sweat. Good gods, was I nervous? I’d talked in front of crowds a hundred times before, and yet this was different, wasn’t it? I was speaking for myself rather than as Braea’s representative. How would the people react? As far as they were concerned, I was the Serpent, the Bastard, the Shadow. Not someone to stand before them in this bright daylight. Not someone to be accepted.

Remember who you are .

And that was Bastian. The Bastard had been a tool for coping with what had to be done, but I’d come to rely on him too much, almost losing myself in the process.

It had taken Bastian Marwood, together with the woman he loved, to stop Braea from abusing this realm any longer.

Kat squeezed the crook of my elbow before taking a step away, letting me have centre stage.

I wanted to grab her hand and pull her back to my side.

But instead, I drew my shadows close and lifted my chin, surveying our audience. “People of Tenebris-Luminis. I hear the question you’re asking, and I can’t blame you for asking it. Not so long ago, I would’ve been as shocked as you are to see me wearing the Crown of Night. But I recently learned a truth that has been hidden for too long.”

I swallowed down the strangeness I still felt at announcing what sounded like such a wild claim. “The late Princess Nyx was my mother.”

The crowd erupted. Gasps, questions, my words repeated. Refusal. The pointing out of my features—my brown skin, the shape of my eyes, the way I frowned.

A new question spread. “How didn’t we see it before?”

I held my breath, waiting for quiet, as arguments broke out and merged together. Just because he’s her son, doesn’t mean he’ll be a good king. He killed the Horrors. He saved my sister when the palace was attacked. He helped my shapechanger uncle.

Kat gave an encouraging nod. “It’s a good start.”

Finally, there was the soft quiet of hundreds of folk leaning forward, waiting for more.

If admitting who I was had been hard, this next part was harder. I explained how we’d all been deceived by Braea and it wasn’t the unseelie lord who’d killed Nyx but her own mother.

Silence reigned over the theatre.

One benefit of not being able to lie? No one questioned me as I spelled out the bald truth in language that left no space for ambiguity or for twisting truth into lies.

Still, I couldn’t help the shame. Shame that I’d enabled Braea so long. That I had buried myself in excuses rather than seeing the truth.

I’d dared to voice it all to Kat, and now I kept her reassurances in my heart. I had made a mistake in trusting Braea and what I thought she’d stood for so fully, but mistakes were part of living. It was good and bad. Pleasure and pain. Love and loss.

Just as I loved Sylen and carried the pain of killing him, I had loved Braea and now carried the pain of knowing her love had come at a terrible cost.

As much as I held on to control so often, I knew now—I couldn’t control her. I certainly couldn’t control everything . And, as dangerous as all that felt, the world hadn’t ended.

With renewed strength, I spoke into the shocked quiet. “And so, although it wasn’t done with the blade of Justice, Braea’s death was just.”

Heads bent together, whispers passing back and forth. I caught snippets—speculation about whether I had killed her or if it had been Kat. The city was already rife with rumour that she was the one who’d killed Cyrus, so this all fit with that narrative. I let them speculate. We’d worked together to remove Braea—it didn’t matter to me who got the credit.

“However, there was much of the unjust about Queen Braea and King Lucius’s reigns,” I went on as Sepher stepped forward, lending Dawn’s support to my words.

“And too much division,” he added. “Between the courts. Between your rulers. Between your leaders and yourselves.”

“So we have agreed a new way. One that will allow Elfhame to move forward from old divisions and fragile peace and into an era of prosperity and safety for all .” I squared my shoulders, bracing myself for the next part. The Convocation was going to hate this, but they would have a choice—melt into obscurity or take part in the new way. “To that end, rather than ruling over you, we will work together with a council—one elected by you.”

There was a beat of stunned silence, then another eruption of excited whispers.

Honestly, I was surprised Sepher had agreed to it.

But in the Convocation chamber, he’d admitted he had no interest in being king. He had only wanted power in order to keep the people he cared about safe. He knew all too well what Cyrus had been like and that eventually his attention would have turned to Celestine and perhaps even Zita. Especially once he realised Zita really had cursed him the day on the royal balcony. That was his motivation for removing his brother from the board.

It was one I could relate to.

Sepher judged his audience to perfection, only speaking up once the chatter dulled. “This marks a new era of service and of transition.”

I could tell by the way he said “service” that he wasn’t entirely convinced by that part of our plan, but once I’d explained it was the only way for us to eventually be able to step back, he’d leant in, asking, “You mean we can get our lives back?” As soon as we’d confirmed that, he’d agreed to it all.

“When power is too concentrated, it is too often abused, so although we will remain as your kings and your queen, while the council is established”—I encompassed him and Zita with a gesture, though I was sure it drew attention to Kat, too—“once power is handed over and new processes established, we will abdicate. No more heirs. No more thrones. And, thanks to the Crown of Ashes, no more monarchs who can’t look each other in the eye.”

This time, the crowd’s reaction was less of an eruption and more of a slow bubbling that rose to a simmer.

I had to admit, Kat’s suggestion had shocked me, too, at first, but after everything I’d seen since my return to Elfhame, I viewed my country differently. Perhaps it was the time away. Maybe it was Kat’s perspective.

We’d seen power abused too much. We’d lived in too much mistrust. And, personally, I had clung to the old and established, mistaking that for stability and peace, when really it was a monument to wicked gods who deserved to be forgotten.

On the front row, Celestine practically bounced on the balls of her feet, leaning in to the empty space at her side. Her breathless question reached me, “Does this new age of cooperation mean marriages across the courts will be allowed now?”

Except, I realised that wasn’t an empty space. When I forced my aching eyes to turn to it, I found Orpha, looking up at Celestine with a guarded smile.

I was just wondering what that meant when other whispers crept in. I couldn’t catch full sentences, but one word repeated over and over.

And with it, more and more eyes turned to Kat.

They’d put the pieces together and reached their own conclusion. She’d killed Cyrus and Braea. She’d cleared the way for me and Sepher. She bore the Crown of Ashes and all the power that entailed, allowing Day and Night to stand together.

I slipped to her side as the whispers became cheers. “I’d say you are a player now.”

Head cocked, she gave me a puzzled look.

“Listen to what they’re saying—what they’re calling you .”

A beat later, her eyes went wide, but I leant in and murmured it in her ear, anyway. “Kingmaker.”