Page 6

Sixteen Years Old

Storms. Vega controls storms.

Her wind had never felt natural—there was always a wetness to it, an electric shock that traveled up spines when she summoned a brutal gust of warm wind.

Marlena had always known there was something else, something more . And last night they figured out exactly what it was.

They stood in the pouring rain over the roaring waters of Lake Mons, just outside their home. Marlena had pushed Vega to sneak out, to test the theory she knew deep down wasn’t just a theory—her sister was, and always would be, stronger than her physically.

Vega had gotten powers her parents reminded Marlena she didn’t have constantly.

Marlena would never be good enough, never be strong enough.

Invisibility wouldn’t win battles. Wind wouldn’t help her lead the people of Aeris and Amora into a new world—into the world her parents dreamed of and had been hanging over her head since before she could remember.

They’d been reminding her all her life that she probably wouldn’t ever be strong enough to rule without them having to hover so she didn’t screw everything up.

Last night, after Vega stopped the storm raging over Stella, their parents and the rest of the capital city found out about the new power bubbling within the leaders’ youngest daughter.

This morning, a mandatory Curia meeting had been called with all the current leaders and their heirs—heirs including the boys from Ardor and Fortis, who had been hidden away from the rest of the Curia members’ kids all their lives.

Marlena had never met them, and frankly, couldn’t even think of their names. If she had to point them out in a lineup, she’d never know who to pick.

The boy from Ardor would take over his mother’s seat one day.

The one from Fortis was rumored to be the strongest warrior their people had ever seen and would one day take over his father’s position as commander of Tolevarre’s army.

If he was anything like his father, the military would continue to be more ruthless than any army in all of their world’s history.

“Marlena!” Vega shook her by the shoulders, and Marlena blinked back into reality.

“Were you saying something?” she asked, gripping the sides of the plush chair she was sitting in.

“They’re calling you in.” Vega nodded her head in the direction of their father’s voice bellowing down the decorated hall of the waiting area outside Aeris’s Curia meeting room. Pictures of past leaders and their families littered the bright walls, staring at them with beady eyes.

Marlena jumped to her feet when her snarled name echoed down to her once again, Jonan’s head popping out of the double doors. She smoothed her flowing white dress down, holding her head high as she scurried his way.

The vein in the middle of his forehead bulged. He didn’t like repeating himself .

“Sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

His dark brown hair had started to become sprinkled with grays over the last few years—it was normal since he’d started approaching 250 years old.

“Obviously,” he barked under his breath.

“Always stuck inside your head, never paying attention. What, are voices inside there keeping you preoccupied?” He grabbed her by the shoulder and shoved her through the open doors.

If you only knew.

Marlena stumbled a couple steps, her heels clicking against the tile. She regained composure quickly, her eyes settling on the long rectangular table full of watchful eyes. Her mother sat at one of the ends, her gaze boring a hole directly through Marlena’s forehead.

Jonan’s tell was the vein above his eyebrow. Ryanna’s was the fake, chipper smile plastered on her face.

S o fake.

“I apologize for keeping you all waiting,” Marlena said with the dip of her head.

She walked with poised purpose to the seat to the right of her mother. Marlena sat gracefully, folding her hands in her lap, and waited for the reason she was here to unfold.

Her eyes wandered down the table.

The Feras sat at the opposite end of the table, closest to her father.

Khort’s green eyes found hers, and the look behind them made Marlena grow cold with anxiety.

Khort was as close to a brother as Marlena would ever get—and one day, he and Vega would bring them even closer through marriage.

It had been said since the day Vega was born—she was the only one who continued to ignore any comment made about it like it was all some funny joke.

Like she could escape what their parents had planned for her.

His eyes flicked to his hands, his fingers nervously picking at the hem of the tablecloth. His parents didn’t stop him, but Marlena wanted to slap his hand away.

Stop picking, the voice droned in the back of her mind quietly. It was too loud today, and Marlena was doing all she could to drown it out completely.

“Marlena.” Her father’s voice pulled her away from fixating on Khort’s fingers. “I’m sure you’re wondering why you didn’t get to come in with the rest of the table.”

Duh. “Yes, sir,” she said instead.

The table was clear of plates, food, and drinks. This was a meeting only—which meant the discussion had been serious.

“You and your sister sneaking out last night should be punished, but instead, it opened up to a deeper conversation about the fate of your seats in the Curia.” Her father’s words didn’t cause anyone to react, which meant they already knew what was coming.

Marlena kept her shock to herself, her fingernails digging into her thighs so hard when she glanced down, there were little crescent moon blood stains starting to form on her dress.

“The Curia’s ultimate goal is to ensure that our lineage stays as strong as possible. It’s why we still have the twelve original bloodlines. It’s why we marry off the children we can to the strongest in someone else’s family.” He gestured to Khort.

Marlena’s eyes wandered to the two faces she’d never seen before sitting side by side at the table across from Khort.

Two boys close to her age from families who’d kept them locked away like lost treasure. One had the skin of both of his parents, warm and dark, but his eyes were the color of bright amber. It was almost possible to see the fire he controlled simmering behind his stare.

The other… He didn’t even meet her wandering gaze. He stared straight ahead, his jawline like a sharp arrow pointing across the room. His jet-black hair was cut shorter on the sides, the top styled back and away from his face.

He looked nothing like his father, the commander of Tolevarre’s army, who sat directly beside him. Lucius’s blond hair was the color of sand on a warm beach, his eyes a gray-blue like the Sea of Ros during a storm .

The boy was a spitting image of the Viator line, of his mother sitting adjacent to his father, and his Fraus seat holder uncle across the table.

Marlena knew all the current leaders, had been in rooms like this with them hundreds of times before.

Her focus readjusted to her father, who had stopped talking to watch his daughter’s reaction. She wouldn’t give him one. Not yet.

“It is unheard of for a second child to take over rule unless a death occurs or the firstborn is unable to take on the task of leading. It has only happened a handful of times, but your mother and I believe that in this circumstance, we have no choice but to make the decision to offer Vega up as the Curia seat holder for Aeris and Amora. She is sent from the gods, hand-chosen with power we’ve never seen before. ”

The reality of his words sank in, and Marlena jumped from her chair, sending it flying behind her with a clatter. “No.” Desperation settled in, and she lost sense of the composure she was always expected to hold.

Her mother and a few others gasped at her reaction. Marlena hadn’t thought about it, acting on impulse rather than thinking it through—typical for her.

“I know the ins and the outs. This is what I’ve trained my entire life for. I am strong, and I have fought hard, worked hard for my place here.” Marlena eyed her father, ignoring the others in the room like they were the only ones in it.

“Not hard enough.” Jonan spoke, metaphorically slicing Marlena’s throat.

Ryanna reached out and gripped Marlena’s wrist. “Sit. We will put it to a vote as always.”

Marlena wiggled out of her mother’s touch, eyeing each of the Curia members boldly.

“If you listen to my parents, to what they’re saying, remember that I got both of their powers.

Powers they don’t seem to think are too small or too weak when it pertains to them.

They aren’t too weak to sit at the end of the table during every Curia meeting, pretending to be better than the rest of you.

” Speaking out against them publicly was risky, but it had to happen.

She’d been tormented by them almost all of her life—she didn’t care what they did to her later as punishment.

The voting would transpire whether she liked it or not, and if she lost, she’d be forgotten, left behind.

Marlena couldn’t imagine what her life would look like if she was removed as the ruling heir.

Would they do to Vega what they’d done to her all her life? To prepare her? Would they beat the golden child to make sure she was ready to rule? Or was that saved specifically for the daughter they wished Vega could have been? Marlena couldn’t allow her parents to lay a finger on Vega.

“Vega wasn’t born to rule. I was, and choosing her would be a mistake.

” Marlena didn’t only look at her parents.

She let her eyes wander the room, guaranteeing they knew she was talking to every single leader.

“If you choose Vega, you lose a secondary bloodline from the Caelums with two abilities, because I will never, never marry inside this room. If you think I’m to be demoted to the birthing heir, you’ve got another thing coming. ”

For Vega. I am doing this for her safety.