The War of Two Queens (Blood and Ash 4)

“Interesting,” Nektas murmured. “It’s real. Kolis went to Eythos, asking that he bring her back to life. Eythos refused, knowing that restoring life to the dead wasn’t something that should be done often.” His gaze centered on me, and I sort of wanted to crawl into the ground to avoid his knowing stare. “It started a bitter animosity between the brothers, which resulted in Kolis using some sort of magic to steal his brother’s essence—allowing Kolis to become the Primal of Life, and Eythos the Primal of Death. But neither were meant to rule over such things. Kolis couldn’t take all of Eythos’s essence, nor could he erase all of his. An ember of life remained in Eythos, and another ember had been passed onto Nyktos. But Eythos feared that Kolis would discover the ember within Nyktos, so he took it.”

“And placed it in a mortal,” I finished. “In the Consort. That’s why she was only partially mortal.”

Kieran leaned forward. “Then what is Nyktos? I thought he was the Primal of Life and Death.”

“He’s a Primal of Death,” Nektas answered. “But he’s not the true Primal of Death, nor was there ever a Primal of Life and Death. That was a title given to him long after he went to sleep, and not one he would’ve ever answered to.”

“I feel like I need to sit down, except I’m already sitting,” I murmured, and Casteel gently squeezed the back of my neck. So many things that Reaver had and hadn’t said now made sense. “So that’s why her name cannot be spoken? Because she’s the Primal of Life? That’s…bullshit.”

Several pairs of eyes landed on me.

“It is! Everyone is like oh, Nyktos this and Nyktos that, and the whole time, it should have been Seraphena this and Seraphena that. Did Nyktos even make the wolven? Was it even him who met with Elian to calm things after the deities were killed?”

“Nyktos did meet with the Atlantian and the kiyou wolves,” Nektas shared. “But it was the Consort’s essence that gave the wolven life.”

I stared at him for what felt like an eternity. “That’s some sexist, patriarchal bullshit!”

Casteel’s body shook against mine again. “She has a point.”

“She does.” Nektas lifted his chin. “And doesn’t. The Consort is the one who chose it to be this way. For her to remain unknown. Nyktos only honors it because it is as she wishes.”

“But why?” I demanded.

“You know…” Kieran said. “For once, I would also like to know the answer to a question she’s asking.”

I shot him a glare.

“Because of this.” Nektas spread his arms. “Everything Nyktos and the Consort have done. Everything they have sacrificed was to prevent this.”

Alarm bells began ringing inside my head.

Casteel’s amusement quickly faded. “What part of all that just went down is the this you’re referencing?”

The draken zeroed in on Casteel’s tone as his head tilted. “What Kolis did when he stole Eythos’s essence had catastrophic consequences. It prevented any other Primal from being born. The Consort’s Ascension was like a…cosmic restart,” he explained. “But only if a female descendant was born and Ascended would that restart begin anew. And it begins with you and your children if you choose to have them. They will be the first to be born Primal since Nyktos.”

“I…” I started, my head feeling as if it might spin right off my shoulders. “That is a lot.”

“It is.” Casteel’s thumb moved along the curve of my neck. “Why only a female?”

“Because it follows whoever the current Primal of Life is.”

“So if Kolis hadn’t taken Eythos’s essence, and Nyktos had eventually become the Primal of Life as he should have, then Malec and Ires would’ve been Primals?” Casteel reasoned. “But they weren’t because it took a female descendant to be born first?”

Nektas nodded, and I was glad that Casteel understood that because I wasn’t sure I did.

“But what does that have to do with preventing this?” Kieran asked.

Nektas’s gaze shifted to me. “Because what Nyktos and the Consort did to stop Kolis—what balance the Fates demanded—meant there could be no more Primals born. The why behind that, well, there’s not enough time in the realms to go into that,” Nektas said. “But Nyktos was supposed to be the last born Primal, and the Consort would be the last Primal born of mortal flesh. You,” he said quietly, “were never supposed to be.”

“Sorry?” I whispered.

The draken cracked a small grin. It was brief, but I saw it. “The plotting that brought about your creation is not something you should apologize for,” he said, his voice softening. “Malec and Ires were already well on their way to being born by that point. But what was done to stop Kolis meant that Malec and Ires could never risk children. Malec did anyway, but that…that is Malec,” he said with a sigh. “We all got lucky before.”