Athena paced the obsidian halls of the palace. The silk of her gown hissed against the floor like a coiled snake. Her breath was short and her heart was a frantic drum behind her ribs.
"I cannot believe this."
Her eyes stung as she passed the tapestries of the Royal Knights, an order once defined by the Speedhardt name.
"I never would've thought Kova, my Kova, would betray our kingdom."
"This has to be something that brother of his planned. Kova wouldn't do this."
She didn't call for the guard. She didn't alert the servants. She moved with a singular purpose toward the heavy iron gates of the royal vault.
"Koma is the rot." She told herself this while her hands trembled as she reached for the heavy keys.
"Kova is just caught in his wake. He has to be."
The vault groaned as she forced it open. The interior glittered with the cold light of thousands of diamond aelons. She didn't count them. She gathered the stones into a heavy velvet satchel and marched back to her chambers.
"Please, let me be right." Her shadow stretched long and jagged under the torchlight.
"Please let him still be the man I knew."
Once inside her room she stood in the center of the rug and looked at the empty balcony. "Kova," she called out. Her voice was barely a whisper.
He appeared instantly. It was a blink in reality that didn't even stir the air. He'd had the entire night on the roof to figure out his words. When he looked at her he kept it brief and affirming.
"I'm here," Kova said.
Athena didn't move toward him and she didn't look away. She held out the satchel of diamonds. Her arm was trembling under the weight.
"Look at me."
She begged him silently as the silence stretched between them.
"Tell me he didn't force you into this. Tell me you aren't really leaving," Athena thought.
"Is this really all we are?" she asked. Her voice was thick with a grief she wouldn't show. "A transaction for stones?"
Kova stepped out of the shadows. He looked at her for a long second. He wanted to tell her that he was doing this so she wouldn't have to live in a world where men like her father were the only ones with power.
"You're more than that," Kova replied. His voice was a low rasp."That's all you're gonna say?" She thought.
"I don't believe this," she said aloud. Her voice cracked as she looked at the cold stranger in front of her.
"Just leave, Kova. Don't return until you find what you want in life and don't come back as a blade for a man who is leading you blindly. Just leave."
Kova took the bag. His fingers brushed hers for a fraction of a second. It was a spark of heat in the cold room.
"I'm sorry," Kova said. His voice was low and steady. "When everything is finished, I'll come back to you."
Then he was gone.
Athena stood alone in the silence. She collapsed against the vanity, her silk gown pooling around her like a shroud, and finally let the tears fall. She wept in the dark, her shoulders shaking with a grief that the cold shadows of the room would never understand.
Kova didn't waste time. He blinked across the miles. The world blurred into a grey smear until he stood within the cold walls of the Null Haven. He walked into the room where Koma lay beneath the red mist and dropped the heavy bag of diamonds onto the floor. The sound of the stones clashing was the only rhythm in the room.
He didn't stay to watch his brother sleep. He turned and walked to the area where the Whiteflames were being held. Jester, Joker, Jala, Jin, and Juno sat in the dirt. Their faces were pale and their spirits were broken.
"You begin your training today," Kova said. His voice echoed off the stone. "Any disobedience will result in Jester losing a finger."
Juno looked up. Her eyes flashed with a spark of inherited defiance. She opened her mouth to speak or to protest. Kova didn't give her the chance. To make sure she understood the predicament she was in he moved.
In a blur of motion Kova snatched a finger off Jester's hand. The boy let out a jagged scream as he clutched his bleeding palm and collapsed into the dirt. The other siblings scrambled back in horror.
"You'll be refining those flames," Kova told Juno. He looked right through her as if she were glass. "All three. But you're going to start by mastering the Black. You wont get to be weak here."
Before she could respond Kova flicked his wrist. The air warped and a mouth of darkness opened beneath the children. He instantly sent Juno, and the others into his Void. It was a realm of endless hunger where Juno would have to fight his demons just to keep her siblings alive.
Kova turned his back on the empty space and walked toward the slab where the legendary corpse lay waiting. He looked at Lokee. She was pale. Her hands were trembling as she prepared the tools for the next phase.
"Lokee," Kova said. His voice dropped to a low cold hum. "Let's finish reviving Jaeren."