Chapter 5 - THE KING WHO KNELT FOR THE WRONG REASON
Elara stared at Theron’s white ribbon.
Her mother was alive.
The knowledge should have filled her with happiness.
Instead, it made the last eighteen years feel unbearably cruel.
“Where is she?” Elara asked.
Theron hesitated.
“Below the Hall of Ashes.”
“Then take me there.”
“Elara—”
“NOW!”
Her golden mark flared.
The candles surrounding them burned bright blue.
Theron lowered his head.
“Your mother is imprisoned within a barrier tied to the ancient seals. If you approach without understanding your power, Malrec may use you to destroy it.”
Elara stared at him.
“Then teach me.”
A distant roar shook the chamber.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
Kael reached for his sword.
“What was that?”
Theron closed his eyes.
“The First Prison is weakening.”
Elara remembered the voice of the spectral king.
“The spirit told me to run.”
Theron looked troubled.
“What else did he say?”
“He called me Princess. He said he failed my mother.”
The scholar stared.
“Interesting.”
Elara frowned.
“Why?”
“Because King Aurion died centuries before your mother was born.”
Silence settled across the chamber.
Kael looked toward Theron.
“Perhaps he meant his descendants.”
“Perhaps,” the scholar answered.
But his expression suggested uncertainty.
Elara stepped closer.
“You’re hiding something again.”
Theron sighed.
“The truth is, child, history remembers Aurion as the greatest ruler who ever lived. But the oldest records describe him differently.”
He opened a second book.
Its pages were brittle, its text written in a language Elara had never seen.
At the center was a drawing of the Golden Hand.
Below it stood seven crowned figures.
Not one king.
Seven.
“What does that mean?” Elara asked.
Theron traced the image.
“Some scholars believe Aurion did not create the seven celestial seals. They believe he took control of them.”
Kael frowned.
“From whom?”
“The people who built the original covenant.”
Elara looked toward the mysterious figures.
“Who were they?”
Theron shook his head.
“Every record of their names was destroyed.”
Another roar shook the floor.
This time, it came from directly beneath them.
Kael approached the tunnel entrance.
“We need to leave.”
Theron gathered the books.
“There’s an ancient aqueduct beneath the west wing.”
Elara looked toward the map.
“And where does it lead?”
“Beyond Valtherion.”
“To my mother?”
“No. To the first place where you can learn to control the flames.”
Elara felt anger rise.
“You’re asking me to abandon her.”
Theron looked directly at her.
“I’m asking you to become strong enough to bring her home.”
She wanted to argue.
But then she remembered the Golden Hand.
The way its power had overwhelmed her.
The guard she had thrown across the throne room without meaning to.
She had no control.
If she faced Seraphine now, she might kill herself before reaching the prison.
Elara reluctantly nodded.
“Where do we go?”
Theron opened the map.
“The drowned kingdom of Nareth.”
Kael stared.
“That city was destroyed three hundred years ago.”
“Not destroyed,” Theron answered. “Hidden.”
He pointed toward a passage beneath the mountains.
“The second celestial flame remains there.”
A metallic crash interrupted them.
The hidden chamber door burst inward.
Sir Aldric entered.
His armor was blackened.
His eyes glowed violet.
Behind him stood six royal executioners.
Kael drew his sword.
“Aldric!”
The commander raised a blade covered in shadow.
“Prince Kael, by order of the Queen, you are charged with treason.”
He turned toward Elara.
“And the servant girl is sentenced to death.”
Then a second voice emerged from Aldric’s mouth.
A voice older than any living kingdom.
“The vessel must not reach Nareth.”
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Elara felt the Golden Hand’s mark burning.
And she realized the enemy knew exactly where she intended to go.
