Page 117 of The Arcane God

She joined him in silence as the two of them watched the fire consume the man they’d both loathed so much. She thought she’d find it cathartic, but instead, she felt…sad. Sad for Ty and everything he had endured at the man’s hands, knowing that his death would never erase the evil he’d done.

“How did you know?” she asked after a while. “About your father.”

He looked over at her again, giving her a melancholy smile. “I always knew, in a way,” he said. “I always suspected, but never had any proof or suggestion to think it was any more than my anger and bitterness leading me to believe it. But then…after what Kaya told us, I knew it was the most likely scenario. My father was a healthy man, but the stomach ailment that took him was swift and brutal. I barely had time to say goodbye.”

Ena was quiet for a second, sensing his hurt at learning the truth, and feeling grief on his behalf. Because even though Cole was dead, the impacts of what he’d done remained. They always would.

“How did you know Zak would fess up?” she asked.

“I didn’t. Not exactly. But I had a feeling. Zak wasn’t always Cole’s right-hand man. He was a good uncle to me once, when my father was still alive. I always thought he followed Cole more out of fear rather than true loyalty.”

“Smart,” Ena said, eager to console him. “You did good, Ty. Really good. No one was killed. I think there’s a real chance they might accept a new king, and maybe new agreements with the witches and stryx, without any more violence.”

“I did what I could,” Ty said, shrugging. “It’ll have to be Turner’s job now.”

Ena was silent, not knowing what to say. She knew he maintained this stance that he couldn’t be king—shouldn’t be—because it would endanger her and Ladon, and she understood that. She was scared of that too. But still…having Turner be king instead of him? That didn’t feel right to her either.

“You’re really going to hand over the reins to Turner? You think he’ll be okay with that?” Ena asked, genuinely curious to hear the answer.

“You know I can’t put you and Ladon in danger, Ena. If I take over, there’s no telling if they would accept you two or not. There’s no precedence for having a witch as queen—or as anything other than a witch-slave. And daemons like to lie, so even if they said they would, we’d always be looking over our shoulders.”

“I know…” Ena said, making note of his comment about there not being precedence for later.

“But?” Ty asked, glancing at her wryly. “I’m sensing a ‘but.’”

Ena smiled despite the grimness of their circumstances. “But…” she said pointedly, “I’m starting to feel like danger can’t be avoided, Ty.”

He looked at her, turning away from the cremator, which had finished the majority of its job, to stand fully before her. “What do you mean?”

“I mean…we went over the Chasm Mountains to be safer, but then you were lost. You almost died. And then I almost went mad, and then the storms pushed us out. I’m not sure that safety exists, Ty, not truly. No matter where we are, where we live, there will be risks because, just like you said, Omnis creates chaos, just as much as it creates balance.”

She reached out to place her hand on his face, feeling the coarse hairs of his beard under her palm, and stroked his cheek with her thumb. “I love that you want to protect our family, Ty, but the truth is, you can’t. Not always. Some things are beyond your control, and I think…maybe I need to recognize that too. I was so afraid to face things that were new, and unknown, and scary, that I forgot the most important thing—I can keep myself safe. Even if circumstances change, I can handle it. We can handle it, just like you told me. So it’s not just your job to keep me and Ladon safe. It’s mine too. And with me carrying the load, maybe there’s room for you to care for your people too. Maybe we should give them a chance.”

Ty looked down, stroking his beard as her words sunk in, but something still seemed to weigh on him.

“Unless…maybe that’s not the only thing holding you back?” she asked.

Ty shook his head. “Come here,” he said, pulling her in for a hug. He wrapped his arms around her—his presence warm and safe, like home. He kissed the top of her head, and breathed her in. “I’ll think about it, okay? That’s the best I can do.”

“Okay,” Ena said, smiling to herself. That was a win in her book.

After another minute, they released one another, and walked hand in hand back up to the upper levels, ready to face the unknown of a new era together.

Chapter Forty-Three

Ty

Ty knew that Ena missed Ladon fiercely and was eager to have him back in her arms now that things had calmed down. So, after retrieving him from the waterfall cave, Ty helped the two of them settle into his chambers. Once he was assured of their safety, he went to check in with various daemons, explaining the details of what had happened to those who hadn’t heard, and inviting those who had been nominated from each level to attend a Convening to be held later that evening.

Apparently, Lara had been recruiting daemons to their side in his absence, so many were unfazed by Cole’s sudden death, and were primed and eager to participate in the meeting, which was a pleasant surprise. Of course, doing so had come at a cost for her, and him—his face was still bruised and his body sore from the beating she had delivered. That, of course, was all in the past now, and last he’d seen her and Steig, they were tearfully reuniting with their children.

He invited the witches and stryx, who had set up camp aboveground, to the Convening too, and so the next day, they all arrived in the Great Antre to discuss the future of the Underworld, and its relations with the other races.

The hum of voices as they all filtered in was new to him—he was so used to silence, or to just Cole’s aggravated voice ringing throughout the cavern, that to hear so many people talking at once, without censor, brought him a profound sense of joy.

As he approached the table, he noticed that the head of it remained unoccupied, and he left it that way, choosing to take the seat directly to the right of the throne. Everyone else strategically avoided it, too, taking his lead and filling in around the table as he did.

Ena sat to his right, and next to her was Turner, Steig, and Lara, followed by Nial, who’d been removed from his collar and chosen to record the proceedings, and the elected daemons from the upper levels and mid-levels. No imperi were in attendance, since those still in collars were not under their own free will, but Ty intended to rectify that swiftly.