Page 118 of The Arcane God

Across the table from him were the stryx, represented by Max and Xena—his mother, given her history here, had chosen not to attend—and the witches had sent Greya, Syrelle, and Cris to represent each Coven.

Ty could sense apprehension and suspicion around the table, which was understandable, but when he cleared his throat to begin talking, everyone gave him their attention.

“Thank you all for joining us on this historic day,” he began, wondering how his father would have handled this. He felt a bit silly addressing everyone so formally. “This side of the Chasm Mountains has not seen a Convening of all three races of magic in centuries, and I look forward to new relations between our peoples.” He looked around to see nods of agreement mixed with looks of skepticism, but he continued nonetheless.

“Now, first, effective immediately, I would like to propose that all daemons who are subject to it be released from imperae collars. I think this will be most conducive to a fresh slate for the Underworld as we figure out our future as a people.”

“I’m not sure you have the authority to do that,” Zak chimed in—not antagonistically, but merely stating a fact. “Only the king can do it, and as you so publicly insisted, right now, we have none.”

Ty was surprised the upper-level daemons had chosen Zak to attend as their representative, given his very recent public shaming, but he guessed old ways died hard. The man clearly still had the respect and trust of the old guard who had followed Cole, and that included most of the privileged upper-level daemons.

“True,” Ty granted. “So that brings us to our second order of business, I suppose. Who is to be king?”

“Shouldn’t it be you?” Myka, the kindhearted manager of the stables who was here representing the mid-levels, asked. “You’re the heir, Haden’s firstborn son.”

Ty looked around as they all stared at him, feeling his chest tighten at the implication, as it did anytime anyone mentioned him being king.

“I can see why you would think that, however…my circumstances have changed. While I was away, I handfasted with a witch, and she gave birth to my son. Not only is he part daemon, and part witch, but he is also part stryx.”

Eyes all turned towards the stryx with curiosity. For so many of those in attendance, this was their first time ever even hearing about a third race of magic, so they were understandably cautious of these new people.

“How is that possible?” Syrelle asked, confusion on her face as she glanced between Ena and Ty.

“Well,” Ena responded, clearing her throat awkwardly. “It’s a long story, but it seems as if my grandmother, an Aquilo witch, had relations with a stryx, thus giving me a dormant stryx heritage. And now, my son has it as well.”

“Exactly,” Ty said, attempting to end any and all further discussion of Ladon. He did not want his son brought into this mess. “And so, as you can imagine, my loyalties, while always with daemons, and what is in their best interest, are also to my family. For me to be king, Ena would have to be accepted as my queen, and Ladon as my heir.”

The daemons around the table all went silent—as he’d expected. He knew it would be hard for them to accept a witch in the Underworld in such a position of power. It was part of why, despite everything that Ena had said to him earlier about needing to embrace the chaos and unknown of their lives, he still wasn’t sure if he could put them in that position. Not only one of danger, but one of scrutiny and judgment.

“Technically, accepting your son as the heir shouldn’t be a problem, provided he is raised in the Underworld, since he does have daemonic heritage,” Nial chimed in, his depth of history and knowledge about the Underworld extremely valuable in this setting. “But no offense meant, I don’t believe Ena could be queen. She has no daemonic heritage at all, and that would be highly unprecedented. Daemons prefer their own, as I’m sure you can understand, given the history between our two races,” he said to the witches by way of explanation.

“Of course,” Ena acknowledged politely, seeming unfazed by this development, as if she’d expected it.

“So what other options are there?” Greya asked pointedly.

Ty’s eyes darted over to Turner, who was purposefully staring at his hands and looking extremely uncomfortable. They hadn’t had time to discuss this more yet, but Ty knew he was opposed to the idea of being king, and he didn’t blame him. The man did not gravitate towards leadership, but Ty hoped he would learn.

“I am next in line for the throne if Ty abdicates, and my son after me,” Zak chimed in.

“Occidens will only support a witch-friendly king,” Syrelle added with fervor. “This was part of why we agreed to participate in these negotiations. We were led to believe it would be Ty, and given his ties to witches, we were comfortable with that. We would not feel the same about a king that allowed the previous one to run rampant over the realm, disrupting the balance just for vengeance’s sake.”

Zak stared daggers at Syrelle, who returned the look in kind.

“But you cannot say the same thing about his son,” Ty offered, attempting to lower the temperature in the room. “Turner was instrumental in the breaking of the bond to Iblis. He has befriended Ena, as well as witches in the other two Covens. I guarantee he would make a witch-friendly king.”

“Turner cannot be king,” Xena stated dismissively.

All heads whipped towards her—the first of the stryx to speak. She sat there stoically under scrutiny, as only Xena could do, acting as if the suspicion and attention from so many potential adversaries did not bother her in the slightest. He’d never admit it, but he respected the hell out of his sister for it, even though he had no idea what the fuck she was doing.

“Why not?” Ty asked, confrontationally.

“Because I have claimed him,” she said matter-of-factly.

Ty looked over at Turner, who refused to make eye contact and was instead staring intently at a spot on the wall.

“Turner?” Ty asked, anger lacing his voice. “What is she talking about?”

“Huh?” Turner said, feigning ignorance. “Oh, yeah…I’ve been, uh…meaning to tell you that. But everything was so…you know,” he said, gesturing around at the chaos of the Underworld and everyone at the table.