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“I take it back. I can’t do this,” I muttered under my breath, overwhelmed by the weight of their devotion. My magic churned within me, wild and restless, as if rebelling against the moment.

“There’s nothing you can’t do, Thea,” Kent said softly, tugging me forward.

“You’re the most powerful person I’ve ever met, and it has very little to do with your bloodline.

You love these people, and they see that.

This is the most widely attended court event in decades because of you, because they want you representing them.

You’re their chosen leader, and they didn’t choose poorly. ”

Tears pricked at my eyes as I leaned into him briefly.

With each step, the aisle seemed longer, the platform at the end farther away.

I don’t know if I would have been able to make it from one end to the other without the help of Kent's arm keeping me grounded, but I kept walking, and I held my head high, until we reached the raised dais.

The Dragon stood waiting, his expression inscrutable as his eyes raked over me. The other Council members—Clara, Gregory, and Rosalia—flanked him, their faces solemn.

Kent released my arm and bowed deeply. “I swear my heart, sword, and allegiance to you, Lady Moore, and to the House of Hyrax. Praise the Gods, and long may the Council prevail.”

He stood, winked, and made his way to where Rankor and Iris sat in the front row.

They were the words tradition dictated, the words everyone in this room would recite before the day was over, but they meant more from him.

Kent meant those words because Kent valued me as a friend and not a Council member.

I turned to my friends, hopeful that I could express my gratitude in my expression alone, and stumbled back against the sudden rush of joy that overwhelmed me as I looked at them. Rankor’s pride was undeniable. Kent nodded at me reassuringly. And Iris… Iris’ hair was blue.

Iris’.

Hair.

Was.

Blue!

I could have screamed and jumped with elation upon looking at the cerulean waves that cascaded to her waist.

She wore a steel colored shift-style gown that clasped at her shoulders with two golden bangles and fell shapelessly to the ground.

It was a far cry from her previous choices, which often included glittering fabrics, floral applicaes or sparkling gems, but it wasn’t black.

It was progress. She was coming back to me.

“Kneel,” the Dragon commanded, his tone sharp enough to pull me back to the moment. “Lady Theadora Moore, you have come to this sacred temple for what purpose?”

I lowered myself, bowing my head as the ceremony began. The words fell over me one by one, each a link in the chain binding me to the Council.

“I wish to declare my intent to ascend to the Royal Council of Athenia.”

“Do you attest to successful completion of the qualifying trials necessary to ascend the Royal Council?”

I shivered against the memory of Hydraxan venom fighting its way out of my system. Yes, I could certainly attest to that. Briefly, I lifted my gaze to the Dragon, who glanced down at me with a devilish glint in his eyes. No doubt he was remembering my agony as well.

“I do,” I said through locked teeth .

“To serve on the Royal Council of Athenia is to serve the people of Athenia. Do you, Lady Theadora Moore, swear to protect this land and her people with your breath, magic, and soul from this moment until the moment you relinquish this role to your next of kin?”

“I do.”

“And do you, Lady Theadora Moore, swear fealty to Athenia above all else and loyalty to this Council and no one else?”

“I do.”

Each vow wrapped around me like an invisible vice, binding me tighter to the role I now held. The chamber was silent, the weight of the moment pressing down on every soul in attendance.

“And do you, Lady Theadora Moore, a daughter of Hyrax, swear that the House of Hyrax can continue this role in your stead should you no longer be able to fill this seat?”

There it was - the question I had been truly dreading.

The question was simple for other Council members.

There were dozens, if not hundreds, of other family members that could step in and fill their shoes should they be unable.

Swearing to this on behalf of their Houses was an easy promise to make, perhaps the easiest of the ceremony.

For me, it was more. For me, I was swearing to create another Descendant of Hyrax.

There was no one else to fill this seat unless I continued the family line.

That was the burden that had haunted me since the day I first arrived in Athenia.

That was the necessity that had loomed over me while I tried to delay my engagement.

That was what everyone thought was my purpose in this realm.

I was the only Descendant of Hyrax, and they were asking me to swear that I wouldn’t be the last.

“I do,” I said, my voice echoing through the chamber.

“Then rise, Lady Theadora Moore, of House Hyrax, and begin your ascension to the Royal Council of Athenia. ”

He extended a hand to me and pulled me to my feet. I expected some untoward comment to be whispered to me as I made my way to the golden dish that sat atop a pedestal at the center of the platform, but his eyes were deadly serious and entirely focused on the task at hand.

The other Council members joined us, and together the five of us formed a circle around the pedestal.

From his jacket pocket, the Dragon pulled out a golden dagger with a ruby-encrusted handle.

Without flinching, he sliced the blade across his palm and let his scarlet blood trickle into the golden bowl.

“The blood of Zion!” he announced.

“Praise Zion!” the crowd cheered.

He handed the dagger to Rosalia next, who followed his lead. The only sign of her pain at the wound was a slight purse of her lips as her blood joined his within the dish.

“The blood of Delia!” she called, bringing her eyes to the crowd, who echoed her.

Gregory was next, adding his blood to the bowl on behalf of Herea before Clara did the same on behalf of Palaemon. And then, the existing Council members turned to me.

This was it. This was the moment everyone in the world had been waiting for.

It was time to complete the Athenian Council.

Clara passed the dagger to me with an encouraging smile, and I gripped it in my fingers, ignoring the nervous energy that overwhelmed me while I raised my other hand to meet the pointed blade.

The metal pierced my skin with only the smallest amount of pressure, and I hissed through my teeth against the sting.

After only a moment of hesitation, I dragged the blade down my palm until my scarlet blood rose easily and fell in droplets out of my hand into the bowl.

I stared at it, watching as it mingled with the blood of the other Council members until it was impossible to tell which droplet came from who.

When I lifted my head, I was acutely aware of the attention that was on me. The air was thick with eager anticipation as the audience stared up at me with wanting smiles.

“The blood of Hyrax!” I yelled.

“The blood of Hyrax!” they called back to me. And as his name echoed in the temple around us, I could only wonder if he was in the Underworld, somehow aware that this was happening.