Page 50 of Steeling Light (Shadowed Debts #3)

Today I return to the void, and I leave the Steel Throne to you, Gethin.

I have many regrets in my long life, but this isn’t one.

I have done what I can to prepare you, but at some point, a man must stand on his own.

A son will always be different from his father.

May you live a long and happy life, son.

Sidon will help guide you down the hard path in front of you.

May your blade never fail, your armor never bend, and your strength never waver. I love you, son.

~Daegon Rahn, personal journals

Rhion

The claiming of a Throne is a quiet thing compared to the past three days.

Today, the current Conduits—Maeve, Echo, and Casimir—publicly decided I should be the King of Steel.

I spent hours talking to the various nobles and other Conduits, playing the part of the leader of the House of Steel, and it felt natural.

Ainslee was at my side the entire time, and while I’ve spent my life dealing with Court affairs, it was different this time. This time, it wasn’t my connection to my father that drew people toward me.

Having Ainslee at my side steadied me and made me feel more capable of filling my father’s shoes. There’s something about being around her that makes me remember that I’m not the weakling that my father has always said I was.

This is easier, and I’m glad to be away from the crowds. Here, it’s only the people closest to me. Ainslee and my generals. A few of the dwarves that I’ve worked with for centuries.

And the Throne, along with the one that lies inside it. Sidon the Strong. The creator of the House of Steel.

Everything is simpler, yet the very nature of tonight is so much more stressful. I may have been the natural choice for the next Conduit of Steel, but if Sidon doesn’t accept me, he’ll send me to the void rather than connect me to his power.

Ainslee’s standing next to me as I stare at the Throne silently. “You know that you’ll be accepted, don’t you?” she asks.

“No, I don’t. My father never accepted me.

” I know that he’d begun to go mad even when I was a child, but that doesn’t change the effect of his degrading comments for my entire life.

I don’t look at Ainslee, my vision constantly focused on my second greatest desire and greatest fear.

“My father claimed I was a bastard, that my mother was just a whore, and that his blood never ran in my veins. That’s why I was so weak. ”

“Your father was a cunt whose only goal was to hurt you. No one other than him doubts your bloodline. You’re the strongest person in the House of Steel.

You’ve been the best leader in your House for as long as anyone can remember.

Your soldiers love you. The people trust you.

Your father didn’t want to give up his seat because he was an arrogant ass, and he made up reasons for it. ”

I shrug. “Maybe you’re right, but it changes nothing. He was right about so much. He always knew things before anyone else. What if everyone else is wrong, and he was right? It wouldn’t be the first time. You can say a lot about him, but he was the greatest leader the…”

Ainslee steps in front of me, and while I can still see over her, I can’t ignore her.

I look down into those beautiful forest-green eyes.

“You stop that. Your father nearly ruined the world, and if you hadn’t killed him, he would have done it.

You’re a far better leader and a far better man than he ever was.

Don’t you dare doubt that ever again. Do you understand me, Rhion Rahn?

Your father may have been strong, but there is more to leading a House than strength.

Plus, you don’t know what it will be like when you claim the Throne. ”

I purse my lips. Maybe she’s right. “You’ve become a lot feistier since Selithar. You never would have said that to me before.”

She grins at me and stands on her tiptoes to kiss me. I lean down and press my lips to hers for just a moment before she pulls away. “I think you inspired me to shine a little brighter.”

I smile at her, and she says, “But now I need to get a bit more wine, and you need to decide it’s time to sit on a Throne. You certainly won’t do that with me talking to you.” She runs her hand over my cheek before she walks to the table with the wine pitchers.

As soon as she steps away, I look at the Throne again and try to imagine what it will be like to talk to Sidon. I don’t get long to think about it, though. Kieran steps away from the other generals.

“King Rhion,” he says with more formality than usual.

“Kieran,” I say with a nod, acknowledging him and giving him a chance to speak freely.

He looks past me, and I turn to see who he’s looking at. Ainslee. “Sir, I’m not sure whether you’re aware of it, but you’re betrothed to my daughter.”

I blink. Kieran, my most trusted general, is Ainslee’s father? The same father that abandoned her? The one who called her a whore when she was six years old? I snap to attention, all thoughts of the Throne gone.

“I was not aware of that,” I say, not putting words to the confusion and anger that’s quickly building inside me.

He nods. “I was a younger man when she was born, and I said things that were… unacceptable for a father to say. I’ve kept an ear out for what she’s done, but she’s lived within the Keep of Flames, and I’ve never been welcome there.

Now that there’s not so much animosity between the Houses, I thought it would be nice to rebuild the relationship that I so thoroughly ruined all those years ago.

I’d like to ask for her forgiveness, but I don’t know if she would allow me to speak with her.

Is there any way you would help facilitate an old man asking his daughter for forgiveness? ”

I don’t answer immediately as I look into his eyes. Kieran has been one of my most trusted generals for centuries. Ever since his son died to one of the Shade’s bargains, he’s been as loyal of a man as I could ever ask for. His strategies are sound. His ability to train leaders is unparalleled.

But Ainslee hates her father more than any other person in the world. Even when we were children, she refused to talk about him. He is a memory that she doesn’t share, even with me.

Maybe he’s changed. I’m not the same man that I was even a year ago. Ainslee has as well. Maybe reconnecting with her father would help her heal the wounds he left on her soul.

“I’ll arrange a meeting,” I say. “But until then, please stay away from her. I don’t want the memories of the past to ruin anything in the future. On that note, it’s probably best that you leave.”

He takes one more look at his daughter, and I can see the pain in his eyes. It would be good for both of them to reconnect. After his son died, he was… not well.

Kieran gives me a nod and says, “Thank you, sir. I’ll take my leave now.”

Without another look, he leaves through the side door of the Throne Room that leads to the barracks.

Ainslee gets back with two cups, one for her, and the other held out to me. “Have you made your decision?” she asks.

I finish the glass of wine in a single drink and hand her the cup with a smile. “I have,” I say. “It’s time that I claim my Throne.”

She grins and runs her hand over my forearm. “I can’t wait to hear what Sidon’s like. He’s probably the nicest dragon of them all.”

I chuckle, but I don’t say anything as I walk up the steps to the Throne that was my father’s only three days ago. A simple gray granite chair that means so much to the world and has been such an impossible goal for my entire life.

I can’t hesitate, can’t let myself give in to any of the fear that’s had me feeling paralyzed for hours. Everyone’s eyes are on me. Will he claim it? Or will he disappear and never return? Will Rhion Rahn succeed his father?

I push the doubts away, and I sit down. Power like I’ve never felt before flows through me like lightning. Not even the House relics can compare to the way it feels to even touch this piece of granite.

There’s no time to think about it, though, because I don’t see the Throne Room anymore. I don’t see my generals or the dwarves, and I certainly can’t see Ainslee.

Instead, all I can see is a strange, cottage-sized piece of stone that’s been shaped into a dragon.

Made of a white quartz that reminds me of the House of Light, it’s exquisite.

Every scale has been carved into it, and all of them seem like they should glow, but they don’t.

It’s not as big as I’d imagined a dragon to be, but it’s still huge.

The mouth still looks large enough to swallow me whole, but there’s nothing ferocious about it.

Instead, it looks… peaceful, and the lines of its jaws seem to almost be grinning.

“She’s beautiful,” I whisper and run my hand over a scale. I don’t know why, but I’m sure that this stone was carved to look like a female dragon. Maybe it’s the size. Maybe it’s…

“She is Vesper,” a deep rumbling voice says from behind me. I turn to look at a mountain of silver so large I can barely see the dragon’s face as his neck arches above me. “She is my mate. My soulbound mate.”

He moves slowly, but not so slowly as to be ponderous. No, he simply moves casually, as though I am not of particular importance—as prey or as a predator. “You are mated to… a stone ?” I ask.

The dragon lays down in front of me, his forelegs resting on the ground, and the sinuous neck snakes its way closer to me so I can look into his eye.

“My mate was killed, and when a dragon dies, its body turns to stone. It is… a remembrance. Vesper did not die here, of course, but I created this small world. Since I could not rejoin her in the void as I wished, I created a replica of her, so I could speak to her when I needed to remind myself of… my flaws .”